Measurement and competition
On the measurement front, Amazon announced partnerships with iSpot and VideoAmp. It also touted Amazon Marketing Cloud, its version of a data clean room that brands use to connect their first-party data to Amazon audiences. Amazon has been making significant upgrades with the marketing cloud, the DSP and the publisher direct deals, making it possible to run ad campaigns and then get a good read on the effect of those campaigns on sales. Amazon wants to enable brands to track results even when sales happen outside Amazon’s own e-commerce store, Moss said.
The idea is to help brands “plan, optimize, and measure campaign outcomes … across Amazon properties and third-party stores,” Amazon said in an announcement ahead of its NewFronts.
Amazon’s ad business grew 21% to $9.5 billion in the first quarter of the year. Meanwhile, Google’s total ad business dipped but was basically flat year over year in the first quarter, at $54.6 billion; and YouTube’s ad revenue declined 2.6% to $6.9 billion. Amazon and Google are competing in digital video, commerce-related advertising and ad tech. YouTube even got its own NFL rights last year, when it scored Sunday Ticket, which comes to the service this year.
Amazon is trying to extend the amount of ad space it has, and part of that strategy was on display in its NewFronts pitch. Amazon announced it would release 100 Amazon “Original Series” to Freevee viewers. The programs, including “Wheel of Time,” “Reacher” and “Troop Zero,” were initially created without ad breaks for paying Prime Video subscribers. Amazon has long been blurring the boundaries between Prime Video and ad-supported viewing.
At last year’s NewFronts, Amazon announced “Bosch: Legacy” would stream to Freevee, after the original “Bosch” program was produced for Prime Video. Amazon also announced virtual product placements at last year’s NewFronts, which was a way to insert brands into shows in post-production.
