Technology, hardware, and gadgets. WiFi speakers, digital dashboards, and more.
The JACK brand, one of the few remaining independent commercial radio groups in the UK, is announcing a deal with Targetspot which will allow advertisers to access JACK’s digital audio inventory programmatically for the first time. Continue Reading
Nielson is announcing a new vertical for its Gracenote division: Gracenote Audio On Demand. The company describes this as a comprehensive dataset which is “the catalog of reference driving podcast services with the ability to enhance navigation and discovery capabilities.” In other words, Gracenote is doing for podcasting what it has historically done for music — catalog the entire medium with metadata. In this case the dataset identifies and locates podcasts according to topics, personalities, and other criteria. Continue Reading
Tech company AdsWizz is announcing a new layer to its AudioMatic and AudioServe digital audio advertising platforms. Called Dynamic Creative Optimization, it allows advertisers to use targeting data to generate over 10-million (that’s not a typo; ten million) ad creative variations which personalize advertising to listeners. Click for details. Continue Reading
Global streaming music leader Spotify has selected Cisneros Interactive to exclusively manage the advertising service portfolio of Spotify in Latin America, one of Spotify’s most important and fast-growing markets. Continue Reading
AdsWizz is announcing a couple of enhancements to its AudioMatic platform — which is a self-serve programmatic planning and ad-buying platform for major agencies building podcast campaigns. One of them automates and scales host-read ads, and the other address brand safety. Continue Reading
A frightening audio commercial for the movie’s sequel wasn’t expected to play during the “Classical Lullabies” playlist on Spotify. At least, the mother who was soothing her young child didn’t expect it. Ad targeting gone awry? A poorly classified playlist? Or was it the sponsor’s fault? Continue Reading
We received news today from Napster/Rhapsody thast BMW is bringing the global on-demand audio service into its cars in eight European countries. The service brags of 60-million tracks and 20,000 audiobooks. One interesting aspect of this is the apparent ease-of-use in getting and using the service. Continue Reading
Audio is entering a new golden age, ushered in by smart speakers, new content choices, and voice control interfaces. Guest columnist Bob Maccini offers statistics and perspectives. Continue Reading
Instreamatic is announcing a partnership with Federated Media. In the deal Federated will sell Instreamatic’s interactive voice advertising opportunities to advertisers. Federated’s inventory will be added to Instreamatic’s voice ad exchange. Continue Reading
iHeartMedia is having a busy CES, and released a swarm of information about new apps and integrations into specific car models and controlling vehicle operating systems. Of interest is not only iHeart’s voracious appetite for partnerships and reach, but also the variety and diversity of platform players competing for real estate in car dashboards and the systems. Continue Reading
The Consumer Technology Association has released its annual forecast for 2020. The report projects that the consumer tech industry will see $422 billion in retail revenue this year, which would be a record-high and a 4% increase from the 2019 result. Continue Reading
The Canadian version of the streaming radio app has exceeded a key milestone: one-million downloads. Radioplayer Canada is a property of Corus Entertainment, a major Canadian radio/media group. Nearly 500 Canadian radio stations have streams on the multilingual app. Continue Reading