The partnership names adMarketplace as Mozilla's preferred partner to sell its privacy-preserving homepage tiles, and expands the relationship into additional surfaces.

Mozilla, the privacy-focused tech company behind the Firefox browser, and adMarketplace, a search advertising company, have announced the expansion of their advertising partnership. This collaboration focuses on sponsored tiles and Firefox's new tab experience, aiming to innovate privacy-preserving but effective advertising solutions.

• Partnership Background:

  • Mozilla and adMarketplace have been collaborating since 2019.
  • The partnership aims to seamlessly connect the privacy-oriented Firefox browser with brands.
  • Provides accurate measurement to advertisers without compromising user privacy.

• Purpose and Vision:

  • Mozilla's effort to raise the bar on the digital advertising industry.
  • Focus on creating high-value advertising opportunities that preserve user privacy.
  • Mozilla's commitment to innovating privacy-preserving ad solutions.

• Statements from Leadership:

  • Adam J. Epstein, co-CEO and President of adMarketplace:
    • Highlights Firefox as an ideal partner for innovation.
    • Emphasizes the joint commitment to creating an ideal user experience.
    • The expanded partnership aims to revolutionize the user's new tab experience.
  • Katherine Bose, Vice President of Business and Corporate Development at Mozilla:
    • Recognizes the significant transformation in the online advertising industry.
    • Stresses the need for innovation where privacy and advertising can coexist.
    • Expresses enthusiasm for partnering with adMarketplace to bring privacy-preserving ad solutions to more advertisers.

The expanded partnership between Mozilla and adMarketplace represents a significant step towards revolutionizing the digital advertising landscape. By combining their expertise, the two companies aim to deliver innovative, privacy-preserving advertising solutions, enhancing the user experience on Firefox's new tab page while providing effective opportunities for advertisers.

• Global entertainment & media (E&M) industry revenues rose 5% to US$2.8 trillion in 2023 and projected to hit $3.4 trillion in 2028
• Advertising revenues projected to top $1 trillion in 2026, with revenues in 2028 to represent double the revenues of 2020
• Streaming service usage and uptake continues to rise, but market players look to consolidation, live sports, password-sharing crackdowns and ad-based revenue to drive growth as industry competition intensifies
• Gaming remains among the fastest growing E&M sectors globally: largely driven by Asia-Pacific, revenue expected to top $300 billion in 2028. In-person events such as global cinema projected to return to pre-pandemic levels as live-music buoyed by global tours
• Global E&M industry looks to Generative AI to drive new revenue streams and transform business models

Despite economic headwinds, technological disruption, and increased geographic and industry competition, the global entertainment & media (E&M) industry has continued to grow in 2023. According to PwC's Global Entertainment & Media Outlook 2024-28, total revenues rose by 5% in 2023 to US$2.8 trillion, outpacing overall economic growth. The report, covering 11 revenue segments across 53 countries and territories, projects global E&M revenues to hit $3.4 trillion by 2028, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.9%.

• Advertising Revenue Growth:

  • Advertising revenue is projected to hit $1 trillion by 2026.
  • Advertising will account for 55% of total E&M industry revenue growth over the next five years.
  • Internet advertising grew by 10.1% in 2023 and is expected to rise at a 9.5% CAGR through 2028, making up 77.1% of total ad spending.

• Streaming Services Adaptation:

  • Streaming services face increased competition and challenges in consumer uptake.
  • Global subscriptions to over-the-top (OTT) video services are expected to rise to 2.1 billion in 2028 from 1.6 billion in 2023.
  • Streaming services are exploring new revenue models, including ad-based variants, live sports, and cracking down on password-sharing.

• Regional Market Insights:

  • The US remains the largest market for consumer spending and advertising, with a 4.3% CAGR to 2028.
  • Rapid growth is seen in China (7.1%), India (8.3%), Indonesia (8.5%), and Nigeria (10.1%).

• Gaming Industry and Live Events:

  • The gaming industry continues to grow, with revenues reaching $227.6 billion in 2023 and expected to top $300 billion by 2027.
  • Asia-Pacific is the largest regional market for gaming, expected to reach $181.8 billion by 2028.
  • Live music and cinema are key growth sectors, with significant increases in revenue from events and box office sales.

• Technological Disruption and Opportunities:

  • The E&M industry is leveraging new and emerging technologies like Generative AI.
  • Businesses must innovate to stay competitive, focusing on value creation through technology.
  • Generative AI can enhance advertising and drive new business models and creative processes.

The global E&M industry demonstrates resilience and growth despite various challenges. Key drivers include advertising revenue, adaptation of streaming services, regional market expansions, and technological advancements. Companies must continue to innovate and leverage new technologies to capture their share of the growing revenue pools and meet evolving consumer demands.

Building and maintaining customer loyalty will be a top priority for marketers in the golden quarter according to AppsFlyer’s new State of eCommerce report

AppsFlyer has released the 2024 edition of its State of eCommerce App Marketing report, offering valuable insights into the shifts in consumer habits and marketing budgets. The report highlights the industry's evolution and identifies key trends that brands should harness to drive metrics like app downloads and purchases during the upcoming peak shopping season.

Economic Stability and Mobile Commerce Growth

As the global economy stabilizes, mobile commerce growth appears promising. Marketers have the opportunity to cultivate and nurture customer loyalty, with AppsFlyer’s research showing significant post-first purchase engagement. Despite only 1 in 10 consumers converting during peak seasons for iOS, nearly 60% evolve into loyal customers.

Key Findings

• Non-Organic Installs and Remarketing:

  • Non-organic installs on iOS increased by 60% in 2023.
  • Marketers focus on the first week post-install for remarketing activations, achieving a 40% conversion rate on the first day and exceeding 75% within the first week.

• In-App Purchases (IAP) Growth:

  • In-app purchasing increased by 15% during the 2023 holiday season compared to Q4 2022.
  • Purchase volumes surged by 21% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023.

• Ad Investment and iOS Dominance:

  • Total ad investment in 2023 reached $6.6 billion, highlighting improved marketing confidence.
  • iOS users fueled a 60% year-over-year increase in non-organic app installations and a 21% rise in IAP rates, outpacing Android’s 21% and 9% respectively.
  • Ad spend on Apple devices climbed by 43% over 2023, while Android saw an 18% decrease.

• Global and Regional Insights:

  • Large Asian companies drove a 125% increase in iOS non-organic installs in Q2 and Q3 2023.
  • The US dominated the global stage due to higher Cost Per Install (CPI) rates.
  • The share of paying users on Android rose to 7.71% during the 2023 peak season, compared to 4.77% in the same period in 2022.
  • iOS paying users increased to 9.85% during the 2023 holiday season, up from 8.45% in 2022.

Strategic Shifts in Mobile eCommerce Advertising

Sue Azari, Industry Lead for eCommerce at AppsFlyer, notes that as the global economy stabilizes, brands are swinging back towards paid marketing for user acquisition instead of relying heavily on owned channels. This shift illustrates the impact of eased economic concerns and the need to stand out against competitors. With new players like Temu entering the market, brands are increasing their spending on promoting shopping apps.

The AppsFlyer 2024 State of eCommerce App Marketing report underscores the dynamic nature of the mobile eCommerce advertising landscape. As the peak 2024 holiday rush approaches, brands must focus on remarketing to drive long-term rewards from lasting customer loyalty. Leveraging the insights from this report can help brands navigate the evolving market and achieve their customer engagement goals.

Marketing and artificial intelligence (AI) follow closely behind

The 2024 Investment Management Compliance Testing Survey, published today, highlights the top compliance concerns for investment management professionals. This year, electronic communications surveillance and off-channel communications have emerged as the primary focus, surpassing the Marketing Rule. The survey, now in its 19th year, is a joint project of the Investment Adviser Association, ACA Group, and Yuter Compliance Consulting.

Top Compliance Concerns

The survey identified several key compliance topics, reflecting the SEC’s examination, enforcement, and rulemaking priorities:

• Electronic Communications Surveillance/Off-Channel Communications (59%)
• Advertising/Marketing (57%)
• AI/Predictive Analytics (46%)
• Cybersecurity (37%)
• Private Funds (16%)
• Conflicts of Interest (10%)
• Vendor Due Diligence (8%)
• Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) (8%)
• Anti-Money Laundering (AML) (6%)
• Books and Records (6%)

Industry Focus on SEC Examinations

The survey reveals a strong industry focus on SEC examinations, with 83% of respondents having undergone an exam or being currently examined in the past five years. The top focus areas in recent SEC exams include:

• Books and Records (58%)
• Advertising and Marketing (57%)
• Conflicts of Interest (50%)

Enhancements in Compliance Programs

Investment advisers are proactively enhancing their compliance programs:

• Mock Exams: 65% of respondents have conducted or intend to conduct mock SEC exams. Of those, 85% reported that mock exams helped prepare them for actual SEC exams and identified areas for improvement.
• Increased Testing: The top areas of increased testing align with SEC focus areas:
  • Electronic Communication Surveillance/Off-Channel Communications (73%)
  • Advertising/Marketing (65%)
  • Cybersecurity (57%)
  • Vendor Due Diligence (44%)
  • Books and Records (36%)

Notable Insights from Industry Leaders

• Amy Yuter, Managing Principal of Yuter Compliance Consulting: "The survey provides valuable testing and control ideas, trending insights, and practical enhancement opportunities for the industry."
• Carlo di Florio, ACA’s Global Advisory Leader: "The focus on off-channel communications highlights the need for robust electronic surveillance strategies. Investment advisers prioritizing compliance and industry best practices are better positioned to navigate regulatory complexities."
• Karen Barr, President and CEO of IAA: "The survey reflects increased testing in critical areas as compliance officers’ workload expands significantly."

The 2024 Investment Management Compliance Testing Survey underscores the evolving priorities and challenges in the compliance landscape. With a focus on off-channel communications, advertising, AI, and cybersecurity, investment advisers are enhancing their compliance programs to meet regulatory expectations and mitigate risks. The survey serves as a comprehensive resource for identifying top compliance concerns and best practices in the investment management industry.

UserTesting continues to advance its end-to-end platform, delivering greater flexibility in insight gathering, enhanced enterprise sharing capabilities, and improved audience targeting.

UserTesting, a leader in experience research and insights, has unveiled substantial updates to its Human Insight Platform in the July 2024 product release. These enhancements aim to boost efficiency, foster collaboration, and streamline insights sharing across product development stages.

Key Innovations

1. AI-Powered Survey Capabilities

   • Branching Logic: Enables adaptive surveys that adjust questions based on respondent feedback, enhancing the relevance and depth of insights.
   • New Question Types: Includes image tasks and matrix questions to offer clearer, more engaging feedback options, enriching the depth of gathered insights.

2. Screener Guidance

   • Real-Time Suggestions: Enhances audience targeting effectiveness by providing recommendations to refine screener questions, ensuring more efficient survey targeting and actionable insights.

3. Enterprise Sharing Enhancements

   • Confluence Whiteboards Integration: Facilitates alignment among product, design, and research teams by embedding UserTesting videos, highlight reels, and clips directly within Confluence whiteboards.
   • Tag Management System: Provides robust control over insights labeling, grouping, and standardization, streamlining the process of identifying themes within UserTesting data.

UserTesting's Focus

Michelle Engle, Chief Product Officer at UserTesting, emphasized the platform's role in revolutionizing product and experience development. The updates empower businesses to deepen customer understanding and make informed decisions through advanced AI capabilities and enhanced survey flexibility.

The July 2024 release marks a significant step forward for UserTesting, enhancing its platform to drive efficiency, collaboration, and decision-making across organizations. These improvements underscore UserTesting's commitment to empowering businesses with deeper customer insights for successful product innovation.

Continuing its mission to deliver flexible and powerful marketing solutions, Optimizely, a leading digital experience platform (DXP) provider, has announced the launch of its new SaaS CMS featuring the innovative Visual Builder. This latest offering expands Optimizely’s solutions, allowing customers to choose between SaaS and PaaS based on their unique business needs.

1. Visual Builder: Empowering Marketers

• Effortless Design: Drag-and-drop interface for easy layout customization.
• Advanced Content Modeling: Structure and configure content to enhance user journeys.
• Multi-Channel Management: Centralized management of websites, apps, and more.
• Template Management: Reuse templates for efficiency and consistency.
• Customizable Workflows: Tailor approval processes to team needs.
• Automatic Upgrades and Scaling: Latest innovations with minimal upgrade costs.

2. Optimizely Graph: Enhanced Content Management

• Faceted and Fuzzy Search: Improved content exploration and discovery.
• CDN Content Delivery: Fast, global content availability.

3. Strengthened Partnerships

• Vercel Collaboration: Advanced deployment, scaling, and performance monitoring with Vercel.
• Frontend Hosting: Options for leveraging Vercel or Netlify for hosting frontend experiences.

Optimizely’s new SaaS CMS and Visual Builder represent a significant advancement in digital marketing solutions. By offering a user-friendly design experience, advanced content management features, and a robust partnership ecosystem, Optimizely is setting a new standard in the DXP market. Marketers can now enjoy greater creativity, speed, and independence, ensuring they are well-equipped to meet the demands of today’s competitive landscape.

SoundStack, a leading independent audio-as-a-service (AaaS) company, has announced a significant partnership with Barometer, the only independent brand suitability and contextual targeting solution for podcast advertising. This collaboration introduces curated "supply packs" in SoundStack Marketplace, aimed at helping buy-side partners connect with their target audiences more effectively.

1. New Partnership Overview

• Strategic Alliance: Collaboration between SoundStack and Barometer to enhance podcast ad targeting.
• Curated "Supply Packs": Buy-side partners can now access curated podcast shows that align with their advertising goals.
• Podcast Movement Panel: Joint presentation at Podcast Movement this August, moderated by Flightpath CEO Sean Howard.

2. Barometer’s Role and Benefits

• Transparent Supply Data: Barometer provides data that enhances the SoundStack Marketplace’s ad exchange capabilities.
• Contextual Segmentation: Data categorizes podcasts by host gender, content category, genre, keywords, topic sentiment, and brand safety.
• Improved Ad Targeting: Enhanced options for demand partners to find the most relevant podcast content.

3. SoundStack Marketplace Features

• Large Inventory: Access to over 14,000 publisher partners and six billion monthly global audio ad opportunities.
• Tech-Agnostic Platform: Barrier-free ad trading for better results across demand partners, tech platforms, and audio publishers.
• Reach Extension Campaigns: Effective ad campaigns with curated podcast content.

4. MOSAIC Initiative

• Supporting Diversity: SoundStack's involvement in the MOSAIC initiative to connect advertisers with diverse podcasts.
• Increased Ad Revenue: Categorization with Barometer data aims to help diverse podcasters earn more from their content.

The partnership between SoundStack and Barometer marks a major step forward in podcast advertising. By combining SoundStack’s extensive audio ad marketplace with Barometer’s detailed contextual targeting data, this collaboration offers advertisers more effective ways to reach their audiences and supports diverse podcasters in earning more ad revenue. The upcoming panel at Podcast Movement will further explore these advancements and their impact on the future of podcast advertising.

Mural, the leading visual work platform designed to enhance team collaboration and innovation, has announced Leigh-Margaret Stull as its new CEO. This appointment comes at a pivotal moment as Mural seeks to expand its impact and drive further growth in the dynamic market for collaboration tools.

1. New CEO Appointment: Leigh-Margaret Stull

• Excitement and Vision: Leigh-Margaret expresses enthusiasm about joining Mural and her belief in the company’s mission to transform teamwork and business strategy.
• Experience and Expertise: Over 25 years of leadership experience, including roles as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Product Officer at CareerBuilder.
• Skills and Achievements: Proven track record in growth, innovation, and operational excellence, with a strong focus on user experience and leveraging AI and emerging technologies.

2. Leadership Transition

• Predecessor: David Baga steps down after growing Mural into a vital tool for businesses.
• Board’s Confidence: Jeff Lieberman, Managing Director at Insight Partners, highlights the Board’s confidence in Leigh-Margaret’s leadership capabilities.
• New Opportunities: Leigh-Margaret’s appointment comes as the demand for innovative collaboration solutions continues to rise.

3. Leigh-Margaret’s Goals for Mural

• Customer and Employee Focus: Emphasis on aligning Mural’s growth strategies with customer needs and enhancing the work experience for employees.
• Passion for Collaboration: Leigh-Margaret’s personal and professional background reflects a deep commitment to collaboration methodologies and hybrid work environments.
• Future Vision: Aims to inspire the Mural team and community, leveraging her expertise to elevate Mural’s collaboration culture.

4. Mural’s Expanded Expertise and Offerings

• LUMA Institute Research: Mural’s platform benefits from decades of research to support creative and human-centered collaboration.
• Professional Services: Tailored solutions for unique needs and workflows.
• Collaboration Approaches: Incorporates agile methodologies and a suite of tools to enhance organizational productivity.

Leigh-Margaret Stull’s appointment as CEO marks a new chapter for Mural, one focused on leveraging her extensive experience to drive growth and innovation. As the company continues to lead in the visual work platform space, Leigh-Margaret’s leadership is set to enhance Mural’s offerings and expand its impact in the evolving market for collaboration tools.