Articles by: "Research Team—DCN"

How Millennials Get News

March 16, 2015 Research Team—DCN

Millennials consume news and information in strikingly different ways than previous generations, and their paths to discovery are more nuanced and varied than some may have imagined according to a new report by the Media Insight Project, a collaboration between the American Press Institute and the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

Among the study’s findings:

While Millennials are highly equipped, it is not true they are constantly connected. More than 90 percent of adults age 18-34 surveyed own smartphones, and half own tablets. But only half (51 percent) say they are online most or all of the day.
Email is the most common digital activity, but news is a significant part of the online lives of Millennials, as well. Fully 69 percent report getting news at least once a day — 40 percent several times a day.
Millennials acquire news for many reasons, which include a fairly even mix of civic motivations (74 percent), problem-solving needs (63 percent), and social factors (67 percent) such as talking about it with friends.
When Millennials want to dig deeper on a subject, search is the dominant method cited by 57 percent (and it is the one cited most often as useful), followed by news sites (23 percent). Only 7 percent cite checking Facebook to learn more.
And when Millennials do dig deeper, the most important qualities that make a destination useful are that they know the source well (57 percent) and that this digital source is transparent and rich with references and links (52 percent).

Read the API’s full report, How Millennials Get News: Inside the habits of America’s first digital generation.

Industry-Research | Perspectives | Research

Sharethrough Takes A Neuroscience Perspective to Look at Mobile Native Advertising

March 11, 2015 Research Team—DCN

Sharethrough, a software company that enables leading websites and apps to manage their in-feed, native ads, commissioned a study “A Neuroscience Perspective: Asessing Visual Focus, Message Processing & The Ability To Strengthen Associations Through Mobile Native Advertising” from Nielsen to determine how consumers visually process mobile ads. What’s interesting about this particular study is that instead of the usual survey-based research, it applied eye tracking and neuroscience—the study of subconscious reactions in the brain—to mobile advertising.

According to Sharethrough:

Unlike survey-based mobile measurement, which evaluates a consumer’s conscious reactions to ads, neuroscience taps into the brain’s subconscious reactions as well. This is critical: the subconscious is the motivating force behind many of our actions, including which brands we buy from.

To understand the effectiveness of mobile advertising, the study (conducted in accordance with Nielsen’s proprietary methodology) compared native ads and banners, both placed in-feed. Nielsen worked with ﬁve premium advertisers, including Boeing, creating mock ads from similar creative elements that were optimized for each format. Study participants were shown a video simulating the experience of scrolling through an editorial feed. The feed is paused and the participant is shown either a native ad or an in-feed banner. Using a combination of EEG data— measurements of neural activity in the brain—and eye tracking, Nielsen quantiﬁed where and how the participants’ focus was being directed.

Among the key findings, which Sharethrough explores in more detail, are:

Native Ads Appear to Receive Two Times More Visual Focus than Banners
Banners Are Processed Peripherally
Native Ads Are Being Read
Native Ad Headlines Can Be Optimized to Trigger Associations
Brand Assets Impact Brand Resonance Lift

Quartz’ Alice Truong takes a look at the research in her article:
Scientific proof that no one pays attention to banner ads

Industry-Research

Pew Looks at Local News in a Digital Age

March 6, 2015 Research Team—DCN

The Pew Research Center has just released its latest report,
“Local News in a Digital Age,” which:

…takes a microscope to the information streams in three news environments across the United States: Denver, Colorado—a highly educated urban area of more than 2 million with internet adoption above the national average and a large Hispanic population (19%); Macon, Georgia—a metro area of 175,000 with a substantial share of black residents (41%), an unemployment rate above the national average, and a local university working to serve as a hub for journalism innovation; and Sioux City, Iowa—a city that spans three states and has a predominantly white population of just 125,000. These cities are not meant to be extrapolated to the United States as a whole, but rather serve as a set of case studies on the ebb and flow of daily local news that speak to the diversity of modern American cities.

Pew breaks the results out into several distinct mini reports:

Some of Pew’s major findings include:

One of the greatest disparities occurs not across metro areas, but within them: that of race and ethnicity.
In all three cities, some local entities outside of journalism, particularly within government, are using the Web in part to serve as news providers.
Citizens are a part of the news process but mainly as quoted sources or as disseminators of news in social media.

Industry-Research | Research | Revenue | Video

FreeWheel Q4 2014 Video Monetization Report

February 26, 2015 Research Team—DCN

FreeWheel, a Comcast-owned ad serving platform servicing many major TV and cable networks and online video services, including A&E Networks, Discovery Communications, ESPN, NBC Universal and Univision, has released its Q4 2014 Video Monetization Report.

The report found that 2014 digital video growth was driven by ultra-premium content – new seasons of shows and live streaming. This was closely related to growth in TV Everywhere authenticated viewing.

Key findings include:

Live viewing grew 297% year-over-year, driven by strong growth in Sports streaming and News simulcasts.
First-run broadcast shows attracted far more viewers this quarter than the year prior, as seen by a 67% increase in digital video ad views.
Over-the top (OTT) streaming devices, overwhelmingly used for long-form and live viewing, overtook tablets, accounting for 8% of all video ad views.
Authenticated viewing grew 591% year-over-year, as 56% of all video ad views on long-form and live content now come from behind authentication walls.

Industry-Research

Digital a Major Factor in 5.9% Uptick in UK Ad Market

February 24, 2015 Research Team—DCN

The UK ad market saw steady growth in 2014 largely thanks to digital media’s +15.5% increase over the period, according to Standard Media Index (SMI), which reports on actual spend data from the world’s largest media agencies. After softening in the third quarter of the year as a result of lower post-World Cup advertising budgets, a strong fourth quarter propelled the market to round out the year up +5.9%.

SMI’s report covers television, social media, print media, radio and cinema.

Television fared well in the UK showing growth in all four quarters of 2014. The TV sector’s winner was ITV, which holds 43% of the ad spend share, and grew +9.9% YoY in 2014.

Digital was definitely the darling of 2014. According to SMI:

After showing single-digit growth figures in Q3 for the first time in years, digital ended 2014 with a +16.1% upswing in Q4. It increased +15.5% YoY in 2014.

Within digital, investment in social media advertising grew by +38.4% in 2014, video increased by +34.8% and mobile gained +22%. Direct display advertising declined slightly by-2.3% due to an increasing portion of display advertising being bought programmatically. Programmatic grew +65.4% this year and +67.1% in the final quarter.

Industry-Research

Playing Well: Research on the Role of Fun and Games in the Media

February 23, 2015 Research Team—DCN

A new report released looks at online media can best leverage games and quizzes to attract and engage audiences. Play the News Fun and Games in Digital Journalism was funded by the Tow Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and written by Maxwell Foxman. It describes specific intersections between games, play, and journalism, highlighting strategies, products, and sites of playful activity in the current news landscape with the goal of elucidating this pervasive phenomenon. Projects developed by the likes of The Washington Post and Mother Jones, and playful newsrooms like BuzzFeed, help illustrate some of the techniques journalists use to engage, inform, and educate readers through play. The report also counsels journalists, developers, and editors about the best ways and means of incorporating games and play into the newsroom.

Industry-Research

Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content: Examining the Role of News Websites

February 18, 2015 Research Team—DCN

“Going Viral” is a phrase often bandied about in the world of media today. Rarely is it construed as a bad thing. However, in a paper funded by The Tow Foundation and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, Craig Sliverman examines the role of news websites in filtering (or failing to filter) erroneous information that spreads like wildfire in social media. In his paper “Lies, Damn Lies, and Viral Content How News Websites Spread (And Debunk) Online Rumors, Unverified Claims, and Misinformation,” Silverman writes:

News organizations are meant to play a critical role in the dissemination of quality, accurate information in society. This has become more challenging with the onslaught of hoaxes, misinformation, and other forms of inaccurate content that flow constantly over digital platforms.

Journalists today have an imperative—and an opportunity—to sift through the mass of content being created and shared in order to separate true from false, and to help the truth to spread.

Unfortunately, as this paper details, that isn’t the current reality of how news organizations cover unverified claims, online rumors, and viral content. Lies spread much farther than the truth, and news organizations play a powerful role in making this happen.

…There are also widely used practices in online news that are misleading and confusing to the public. These practices reflect short-term thinking that ultimately fails to deliver the full value of a piece of emerging news.

He goes on to offer key findings about common bad practices as well as exploring in depth many examples of viral content and the role that the news media played in spreading the “bad news.”

Industry-Research

Cisco Releases Mobile Forecast Offering Worldwide Behavior Predictions

February 9, 2015 Research Team—DCN

Cisco has released its VNI Mobile Forecast highlights, 2014-2019, which it presents in an interactive map that allows users to filter by region or country.

Among the many data highlights offered are:

Mobile Data Traffic

In North America, mobile data traffic will reach 3.8 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 956 million DVDs each month), up from 562.5 Petabytes per month in 2014.
In Middle East and Africa, mobile data traffic will reach 3.0 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 761 million DVDs each month), up from 199.5 Petabytes per month in 2014.
In Latin America, mobile data traffic will reach 2.0 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 509 million DVDs each month), up from 200.9 Petabytes per month in 2014.
In Western Europe, mobile data traffic will reach 2.4 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 604 million DVDs each month), up from 341.4 Petabytes per month in 2014.
In Asia Pacific, mobile data traffic will reach 9.5 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 2,376 million DVDs each month), up from 977.4 Petabytes per month in 2014.
In Central and Eastern Europe, mobile data traffic will reach 3.5 Exabytes per month by 2019 (the equivalent of 874 million DVDs each month), up from 242.3 Petabytes per month in 2014.

Percentage of Smart Connections

In North America, 60% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 72% in 2014.
In Middle East and Africa, 41% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 11% in 2014.
In Latin America, 61% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 20% in 2014.
In Western Europe, 66% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 48% in 2014.
In Asia Pacific, 53% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 24% in 2014.
In Central and Eastern Europe, 58% of mobile connections will be ‘smart’ connections by 2019, up from 18% in 2014.

Mobile Traffic Per Capita

In North America, mobile traffic per capita will reach 10,259 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 1,571 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 46%.
In Middle East and Africa, mobile traffic per capita will reach 1,933 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 142 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 69%.
In Latin America, mobile traffic per capita will reach 3,106 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 322 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 57%.
In Western Europe, mobile traffic per capita will reach 5,692 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 816 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 47%.
In Asia Pacific, mobile traffic per capita will reach 2,303 megabytes per month by 2019, up from 247 megabytes per month in 2014, a CAGR of 56%.
In Central and Eastern Europe, mobile traffic per user will reach 8,299 megabytes per month by 201

Perspectives | Research

ANA Finds Marketers Will Increase Native Spend, Ethics Essential

February 3, 2015 Research Team—DCN

Citing contextual relevance as the main benefit, 63% of marketers plan to spend more on native advertising over the next year according to the ANA’s (Association of National Advertisers) 2015 survey report “Advertising Is Going Native.” Eight in 10 marketers surveyed by the ANA employ native advertising via articles, and roughly six in 10 use native video and photos. Consistent with earlier DCN research among media companies on best practices in native advertising, the ANA found that “Disclosure and transparency are major concerns about native advertising that keep respondents up at night.”

According to the ANA:

Two-thirds of respondents agree that native advertising needs clear disclosure that it is indeed advertising. Only 13 percent feel that such disclosure is not needed.
Both the publisher and the advertiser have a responsibility to ensure disclosure.
Three-fourths of respondents feel that there is an ethical boundary for the advertising industry when it comes to native advertising.

Industry-Research

Video Ads Effective Despite User Multitasking

January 27, 2015 Research Team—DCN

New academic research “Seeing the Big Picture: Multitasking and Perceptual Processing Influences on Ad Recognition” finds that a certain type of users can recall video advertising as effectively when they are exclusively viewing the ad as when they are splitting their their time between watching the ad and performing another task on the computer.

Industry-Research | Research

TRUSTe: 79% of consumers are concerned about about the idea of personal information collected by smart devices

January 16, 2015 Research Team—DCN

The newly released TRUSTe’s 2015 U.S. Internet of Things Privacy Index focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT) and captures consumer attitudes and concerns on privacy, security and data collection through smart devices.

IAB Hosts Discussion of its State of Viewability Transaction 2015 Position Paper

December 19, 2014 Research Team—DCN

IAB held a call to discuss its new State of Viewability Transaction 2015 position paper. In addition to reading out the principles outlined in the paper, Randall Rothenberg, President and CEO of IAB, and Sherrill Mane, SVP of Research, Analytics and Measurement at IAB answered questions from the call participants.

Below are the topics addressed along with key insights from the discussion.

Scope of the principles:

IAB principles do not specify who should be responsible for covering the cost of viewability vendor services.
The issue of fraudulent traffic is outside the scope of the viewability discussion, although these issues do overlap at times. TAG (Trustworthy Accountability Group) was created specifically to address the issues of fraud.
The principles apply to desktop (display and video) transactions and do not cover mobile.
IAB is not making any recommendations on how viewability should affect pricing.
IAB generally limits the principles to measurable impressions – some formats, e.g. sponsorships, cannot be measured and are thus outside the scope.

How IAB arrived at the 70% viewability threshold for measured impressions:

As the position paper specified, the core aspiration of the 3MS initiative was to have 100% of traded impressions be deemed viewable by the MRC. IAB consulted a group with the IAB board (primarily composed of sellers), who have recommended that a 70% viewability rate was achievable at this point in time. IAB recognizes that 70% will be difficult for some publishers, but they think this is achievable. At the same time if a publisher thinks that they can do better than 70%, IAB encourages them to do so.

Dealing with unmeasurable impressions:

IAB has cautioned against extrapolating any metrics from the measurable impressions to unmeasurable impressions.
As per the example to principle 3 in the published position paper, unmeasured impressions should be billed for as fully viewable impressions (though not contributing towards the 70% viewability threshold for the measured impressions).

Next steps IAB will be undertaking to pave the road to 100% viewability:

IAB has assembled an additional group of leaders to monitor the impact of viewability on publishers and course-correct if necessary (as the position paper specified, IAB are looking to revisit the principles at least twice a year).
The industry is not yet at a level of sophistication where there can be a standard test suite that is run across all vendors to establish measurement consistency. IAB is working with the MRC and is encouraging its members to share data with the MRC to help them address the variability in measurement rates between vendors.

Impact on agencies:

IAB thinks that the 100% viewability guarantees demanded by some of the agencies are unreasonable and will only hurt efforts to collaborate and fixed measurement throughout the system.
Asked how IAB would recommend agencies to communicate to clients the endorsement of paying for 30% of inventory that was not viewable, Rothenberg advised agencies to always reference the MRC “Viewability Implementation Considerations”, issued on 16 October 2014, which state that 100% viewability is an unreasonable expectation at this point. Rothenberg advised agencies to educate clients on the current technological limitations of this space and the need to absorb the discrepancies in measurement.