Social networking platforms have been locked in a battle of one-upsmanship over the past year, with Facebook reporting that its videos get 3 billion daily views, and Twitter expanding its video capabilities using Periscope. NowDigiday reports that Pinterest is looking to join in by fully supporting video ads.
In the same way that both Twitter and Facebook have autoplaying video ads that start on mute, Pinterest could feature videos as part of its broader approach toward creating targeted advertising. Brands may be able to promote video pins that fit into experiences like how-to and cooking videos.
However, the challenge is in growing Pinterest as a video platform, but it’s already off to a good start. Last year, Pinterest reached 100 million monthly users, and was listed among the top three social media platforms where they spend the most money, largely due to the “buy” button that was added to its app in June. Furthermore, the use of pins, formed around avariety of categories, makes it the perfect platform for native advertising that blends in with the rest of the content.
Last year, Pinterest began its support of Cinematic Pins, which work similarly to animated GIFs, except they only move when users scroll up and down the screen. Although the ad format was impressive from a creative standpoint, and test by big name brands like Target and Wendy’s, it’s uncertain how effective they are.
Doug Neil, executive VP of digital marketing at NBCUniversal states that, “Video does interest us more.” The entertainment media company is considering Pinterest as a promotional platform for its upcoming movies.
Video is bound to boom on Pinterst, which will help it grow to further match up against rival services like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
While smartphone use is always on the rise, and increasing number of consumers are getting their content from different sources, which include computers, tablets, and mobile devices. So, it’s important for brands to reach out through all of them. To this end, Adweek reports that 2016 will be the year when targeting one specific kind of device will be out, replaced by cross-device programmatic advertising.
Internet advertising reached an all-time high of $50 billion in 2014, with one-fifth ($10.1 billion) made up of programmatic ad revenue. That trend isn’t likely to go down anytime soon, especially as programmatic video continues to grow across different channels. To put things into perspective, eMarketer predicts that programmatic display ad spending will grow to $21.55 billion in 2016, and hit $26.78 billion in 2017.
Businesses like the Red Roof Inn hotel chain are already investing heavily in cross-device advertising, doubling its ad spend to 40 percent this year. Kevin Scholl, Red Roof Inn’s digital marketing director states, “it’s about really maximizing our spend to make sure the audience we’re engaging with are people we know are going to have a need and will want to get served up an ad for one of our properties.”
Red Roof Inn joins brands like Project Rubicon, the mobile game publisher Zynga, and the car-sharing company Zipcar, in increasing its cross-device budget this year. It wouldn’t be surprising if more companies followed suit in marketing toward the variety of screens consumers have at their disposal.
Even though ad bots don’t look like they do too much damage when they appear on a user’s screen, they could very well become a nightmare to companies this year.
While “basic bots,” as they’re called, don’t pose much of a threat, more sophisticated ones are, according to Marketing Land. Per a joint report conducted by White Ops and the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), these ad fraud from these bots could lead to a big loss for companies and marketers, to the tune of $7.2 billion. The report shows that participants that took part in the study ended up losing around $10 million apiece.
As you can see from the map below, bots are pretty well scattered across the United States, with a majority on the East Coast. Most of them seeming to go after higher-value impressions, including video.
One example of this points out a 39 percent increase in “bot fraud” when CPM’s manage to generate around the $10 range, and indicates that “bots are successfully fooling viewability measures” by matching up with human behavior patterns.
These bots have a number of effective methods, including exploiting the cookies in users’ systems to act as humans with detection and prevention systems and spoofing viewability, getting by list-based prevention technologies with programmatic buys.
That said, the numbers behind bots are certainly alarming, as broken down below:
Programmatic display ads had 14 percent more bots than the general average.
Programmatic video ads had 73 percent more bots than the general average.
Direct video ads, which could be measured, were 59 percent less likely to have bots than the general average.
Direct display ads were 14 percent less likely to have bots than the general average.
Bots seem to come the most from residential computers, followed by corporate IP addresses, per what the ANA found out. Bot traffic comes in the strongest in residential areas by leaps and bounds above other categories.
With that, the report has come up with ways for companies to progressively battle these bots, including utilizing technology that works hand-in-hand with anti-fraud policies and guidelines. Regardless, some companies should be prepare for the massive damage they could do over the next few months.
The report indicates that growth on the Facebook-owned photo/video site has shown a decrease in growth by 88 percent, while engagement has also dropped by 61 percent. As shown chart is below, the numbers have been in a relatively steady decline over the past few months.
“If you want to achieve a great growth on Instagram, you do need to consider alternative tactics,” the report explains. “Organic growth will not get you far.” It also makes note that influencer outreach is very much worth considering, especially now that advertising is open across the board on the site. Artists like Skrillex, Diplo and others have used Instagram to increase fan engagement.
Not all the news was negative. The report also notes that Instagram still has a notable lead over Facebook and Twitter when it comes to follower growth, showing an increase of .23 percent. It’s small, but still positive and above Twitter’s .09 percent and Facebook’s .14 percent for the month of December. Locowise also noted that engagement rate for Instagram was higher, with 1.08 percent from total followers, compared to .1 percent for Twitter and .37 percent for Facebook.
As far as what users like to look at the most on the site, images continue to dominate over video. Over 91 percent of posts on the site for December were made up of images, and got response from users, with 1.1 percent engagement from all followers. That’s higher than the 0.83 percent from those that watch videos.
Locowise noted that Instagram is looking to expand its Spotlight Compilations section in an effort to increase both engagement and growth, while increasing its video exposure with more creative efforts.
It may also look into a more social option on the site, as 97.4 percent of all the engagements on Instagram merely consist of “likes,” rather than given commentary.
The report also noted a side article that discusses what brands do differently on Instagram to be effective, such as Mercedes’ provocative car campaign, Microsoft’s focus on Xbox imagery and H&M’s focus on products instead of models.
There’s certainly a lot to consider here, but if companies can take the right steps needed to engage the audience, then they can find something that works on Instagram.
The fall holidays usually get most of the marketing attention, but spring is a time for the video games excitement to heat up again. Here are some of the top games to start off 2016 and help players shake off some of the winter chill with the heat of challenge and competition.
XCOM 2
Originally expected as a fall holiday release, XCOM 2 is the highly anticipated follow-up to the hit strategy game from 2012. In it, players are in charge of an elite organization tasked with defending Earth from an alien invasion.
The game’s announcement was preceded with an air of mystery, using a teaser site that extolled the accomplishments of a medical gene therapy company called The Advent Administration, which promised to “..create a world free from hunger, pain, sickness, and war. We believe in a global community of happy and comfortable citizens.” However, the website showed glitches, which later turned into a full “hack” by XCOM to reveal the truth about the alien agenda and the fight to save humanity.
XCOM 2‘s reveal was followed by a series of interviews discussing the game’s new features. It was also one of the main attractions of the first Firaxicon, a fan convention held in Baltimore, Maryland last September celebrating Firaxis games like Civilization. 2K Games has been steadily revealing the new units and gameplay features as we draw closer to the February 5th release date. A tie-in novel, XCOM 2: Resurrection, was published in November, and the digital deluxe edition, which includes bonus content and an art book, was revealed in December.
Far Cry Primal
Far Cry Primal‘s mysterious promotion seemingly came out of nowhere, starting with a 24-hour livestream of a cave painting that gradually zoomed out to reveal more creatures and figures. That video reportedly drew in 11,000 viewers despite a leak that gave away the game’s title.
The game will take players back to the Stone Age, where they must battle for survival. However, they will be able to tame animal companions, like a Saber-Toothed Tiger, to fight alongside them. Fans also got a good look at how everyday items stand up to the incredible crushing power of a wooly mammoth.
Ubisoft also revealed a steelbook deluxe edition of Far Cry Primal that includes a map of the prehistoric land and the official soundtrack.
Hitman
Like true professional, Hitman’s announcement took audiences by surprise during Sony E3 2015 presentation with a teaser trailer featuring the main character (Agent 47) running through the snow, while scenes of potential missions flashed. It was soon followed by a second video that demonstrated the game’s huge open world and the incredible variety of choices players will have at their disposal to end the lives of others.
Square Enix revealed last week that the new Hitman game would be an episodic series, featuring a selection of exotic locations for players to explore. The first chapters will release in March, preceded by a beta period in February.
Uncharted 4: Thief’s End
Not counting the remastered collection, Uncharted 4 will be the first game in the series to be developed specifically for the PlayStation 4 console, and is said to be the final installment. The game was first announced in 2013 with a short teaser trailer during a PlayStation event livestream.
Since then, there has been strategically timed trailers at major events like E3 revealing the graphics, scope and other details like the 2016 release, creating more excitement and hype each time — especially the lengthy E3 2015 gameplay video.
Last fall, Sony released a special Uncharted PlayStation 4 bundle that includes the console, theUncharted Collection (which remasters all three of the previous games), and access to the Uncharted 4 multiplayer beta, all to get fans ready for the April launch of the finale.
Battleborn
Gearbox first announced Battleborn in the July 2014, fresh from the success of Borderlands 2 and the release of the Handsome Collection, which brings together both Borderlands 2 andBorderlands: The Pre-Sequel for next generation consoles.
Set to release in May, Battleborn will be a competitive shooter featuring unique characters that use both ranged and melee attacks. Although the game will feature a story-based campaign, there is much excitement around its competitive aspects, and how it will measure up against other shooters. That was soon put to rest with a large infographic that illustrates the immense scope Battleborn will have to offer.
Quirky characters have been revealed at a steady pace, including the mech driving penguin, Toby, which was first shown at last December’s PlayStation Experience. The developers also ran an international #IAMBATTLEBORN contest, where fans were encouraged to dress up as characters and submit short videos of themselves doing an original taunt. The winner got their taunt put into the game. Of course, the potential downside is that the winner will likely be taunted by their own taunt.
The report, conducted by Frank N. Magid Associates, shows that about 70 percent of Americans between the ages of eight to 64 play video games, and out of that group, 18 percent have watched some form of eSports programming in one form of another, either by viewing online or attending a devoted event. That’s double the number reported from a couple of years back, when only 9 percent took part in an eSports event.
It’s not just pointing to a specific genre either, as events featuring games like League of Legends, DOTA 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive have each gotten their own level of attention, between fierce competition and the offering of big prize money – sometimes in the range of seven digits.
“I have watched eSports gamers grow from unknown kids with no money to their names, to a big business with paid teams and leagues, record-breaking stream numbers, seven-figure sponsorships, million-dollar prize winnings and global media exposure,” said Stan Press, managing director for Magid. “The eSports industry is primed to grow at an incredible pace over the next few years.”
The chart below shows a much more specific breakdown of eSports viewership, with the higher numbers coming from male gamers, although a strong amount of females tune in as well. What’s surprising about these numbers is how many older viewers tune in, with the 35-to-64 age group showing over 50 percent with both total mention and viewership.
For that matter, this secondary chart also points out which video platforms are being used to watch eSports activities – and Twitch makes up a good amount of those, with 38 percent of viewers tuning in to some sort of competition on a daily basis.
As far as what games players prefer to watch in action, EA Sports’ FIFA soccer games topped the list by 51 percent, followed by Call of Duty at 43 percent, and League of Legends andSuper Smash Bros at 41 percent each.
ESports is definitely going a long way in 2016. Even ESPN, a channel that once considered it to be not of interest, recently introduced a new division devoted to the online competitions, which could easily spread over into its TV programming in the months ahead – just as it did withHeroes of the Dorm last year.
The NPD Group has revealed its December 2015 sales numbers for the video game market, and while not all the statistics provided by the group are gangbusters, they indicate that sales of both hardware and software are still going strong. The report is broken down into bullet points below:
The combined cumulative sales of both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 managed to eclipse the previous generation of consoles (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) by 47 percent. Both systems had a strong holiday season, increasing gradually from 38 percent in October to 47 percent for both November and December.
That said, there was a small decline with hardware sales, showing a four percent decrease in both console and portable systems. However, this current generation of consoles grew by two percent over the previous year.
Overall, December 2015 proved to be the best month yet for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One unit sales, with a strong year overall. The Wii U also contributed to make it the strongest selling month for hardware, beating November’s previous record.
Although physical software sales dipped by two percent overall, console software showed an increase by two percent, and current gen-software for Xbox One/PlayStation 4 showed an increase by 52 percent, with a total net increase of $73 million in sales overall.
Despite the dip, physical software sold well across the board for all three platforms (Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U) throughout the year, with some notable December launches showing an increase of 111 percent in sales for the month, including Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six: Siege and Just Cause 3. Activision’s Call of Duty: Black Ops III also showed notable growth over the previous year’s Advanced Warfare entry.
Other games that did well through the holiday season included Star Wars: Battlefront(likely due to the success of The Force Awakens), Grand Theft Auto V (which continued to sell well despite releasing a year prior) and Fallout 4, which became the second-highest selling title for Bethesda, behind the previous console generation’s role-playing hit The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Accessory sales saw an increase over the year, growing 12 percent with new releases for point cards, interactive toys, headsets and game controllers. Interactive toy-based games, like Disney Infinity 3.0 and Skylanders: Superchargers, saw an overall increase of 13 percent over the previous year, while controllers and other gamepad-type accessories showed 44 percent growth over 2014’s sales. Headsets saw the biggest increase of all, growing by 77 percent, thanks to models released by Turtle Beach and other manufacturers.
Overall, it was a slightly up and down year for video game sales and accessories, but numbers remain steady enough to indicate that they’re still loved by players of all ages. 2016 isn’t likely to slow down, with many releases set to come out over the next few months.
The top ten selling video games for 2015 are as follows:
[a]listdaily has discussed virtual reality at great length in the past, including the financial boon that will come from the introduction of various headsets this year. However, the team at Goldman Sachs recently published a huge report indicating that it’ll be bigger than anyone imagined – and it could surpass television’s numbers by as soon as 2025.
The report shows that the virtual reality market could reach as much as $80 billion by that time, pointing out several key factors in its success. The highlights from the report can be found below:
Adoption. Even though adoption for virtual reality headsets is likely to be slow at first (mainly due to the cost of around $600, based on Oculus’ selling model), it will ramp up, based on the chart below. It shows just how long it took for smartphone and tablet sales to perk up upon their introduction in the market, with VR headsets showing a similar, but slower, increase.
Accelerated uptake. With the the chart below, accelerated uptake, as the report notes, is expected to be based around numbers, such as “volume adoption framework” and future pricing for models – especially considering that PlayStation VR and HTC’s Vive don’t have finalized pricing just yet. While the base sits around $80 billion, the “accelerated uptake” could go as high as $182 billion.
Usage. While video games will be a primary focus for these virtual reality headsets, Goldman Sachs notes that they can be used for other purposes as well, including entertainment, augmented reality, and even practical uses like health care and real estate. The chart below shows just where these markets break down, and while video games have a whopping $11.6 billion forecast, there are others that will easily find their place, like live events ($4.1 billion) and video entertainment ($3.2 billion). Military, education and health care have a distinctive part of the chart as well.
Price decrease. Some people are balking at the idea of purchasing a virtual reality headset upon release, mainly due to high pricing. However, Goldman Sachs estimates that prices will drop on these head-mounted devices over the next few years, making them affordable. The chart below breaks down just how conveniently priced tablets and smartphones have become since their introduction, even though top-of-the-line models like the iPhone 6S and the iPad Pro continue to command a high price. It just shows there will be balance in the market down the line – although budget-priced items like the Google Cardboard do make virtual reality reasonable to try out.
Learning from the past. Virtuality arcade machines and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy attempted to make their way into a mainstream market, introducing virtual reality to an awaiting public. However, their failure is noteworthy, and something today’s market can easily learn from.
“So what has changed that differentiates the current state from the 1990’s flop?” the company asked. “The answer is the technology, in our view.” It noted that with more powerful computers, better immersion and a relatively cheaper cost for building, there’s a far better chance it will “catch on” this time around.
“Fundamentally, virtual/augmented reality creates a new and even more intuitive way to interact with a computer,” the company noted. “In the world of virtual/augmented reality, the controls of the computer become what we are already familiar with, through gestures and graphics.”
Potential. There are many uses already in mind for virtual reality, and companies are already working on ways for better immersion with it. Microsoft’s HoloLens technology promises to be involving and creative, while Facebook, which purchased the Oculus Rift technology in a whopping $2 billion deal, considers Oculus Rift a “teleporter” tool, according to Business Insider. And that’s a far cry from the weird video games that emerged in the 90’s, with deluxe sized headsets and weird, contained cabinets. There’s more involvement now.
“We continue to believe that VR/AR is poised to be the next computing platform. And like the transition from desktop to mobile, it will be disruptive…” said analyst Ben Schachter, in a note sent out from Macquarie Bank on the report. “The first half of 2016 will see the most significant progress on VR/AR ever.”
He also discussed how more people could be swayed by the technology after trying it out. “We have been fortunate to be in the relatively unique position of having tried the latest versions of almost all known devices,” he explained. “And while each has its pros and cons, it is clear that progress is being made.
Now it’s just a matter of time to see how virtual reality sinks in. One thing’s for sure – it certainly isn’t the Virtual Boy all over again.
It seems like a lifetime ago since ESPN president John Skipper declared that eSports was not a sport. “It’s not a sport — it’s a competition. Chess is a competition. Checkers is a competition… Mostly, I’m interested in doing real sports,” he told Re/code.
The broadcast company seemed to backtrack April of last year by televising the Heroes of the Dorm finals on ESPN2, marking the first time a collegiate eSport has been put on television. Then in the fall, former ESPN CEO Steve Bornstein was made head of a new eSports division created by game publisher Activision Blizzard, and has said that eSports are “larger than most major sports, and will grow to be bigger than all of them.”
All these events and more seemed to be building up to today’s announcement of ESPN Esports, a new vertical on ESPN.com dedicated to eSport event coverage from League of Legends to Halo. If fans have been waiting for a sign that eSports have gone mainstream, then this move by ESPN should be it.
Estimates show that the eSports could be worth $1 billion by 2017, and it’s not hard to see why. In 2015, The International DOTA2 Championship set records with a prize pool worth $18 million. The League of Legends World Championship 2015 final match is said to have drawn in 36 million viewers globally.
ESports has exploded into a major phenomenon, and it has reached a point where it’s no longer a question of whether or not it should be taken seriously as a sport. Instead, companies are wondering how far it will rise, and how to best take advantage of the industry as it continues to grow. One possible challenge is in the viewership make-up. As a July 2015 EEDAR report explains, the majority of viewers watch eSports to see high level competition and ways to improve their own game. However, only a minority of viewers are attached to any particular team or player, which is a distinguishing feature from traditional sports, where there are big stars and teams that are supported with great fanaticism.
Streaming sessions have become wildly popular as of late, between broadcasts on gaming channel Twitch and live-streaming through Periscope and Meerkat. Now, Mobcrush wants a turn, as it has launched its long-awaited streaming service for Android.
VentureBeat has reported that the company has launched its streaming service, allowing users to stream any mobile game directly from a compatible device with version 5.0 or higher for software. It enables game video capture, picture-in-picture camera usage (for those gamers that like to show off), the ability to swap between camera and game view, a privacy screen, real-time game chat (as pictured above) and a number of tools for moderation purposes.
The service is also compatible with those who only have version 4.1 and up, with the ability to view live streams and chat with a number of broadcasters across many games, including Minecraft: Pocket Edition and Vainglory.
Supported devices for the service include many Samsung devices (like the S6 and S6 Edge), and various LG Nexus models, ranged 5 to 9.
With the service, Mobcrush hopes to compete with the likes of Twitch and Kamcord as it attempts to secure a spot in the whopping $30 billion mobile game market. Its hopes are to see mobile streaming get as secure a spot as PC game streaming, although it may take a while to reach the 100 million monthly active users that Twitch currently attains.
If it can get its spot, however, Mobcrush should make a pretty penny from the deal, although estimates weren’t given on earnings just yet. With all its features, however, it’s certain to get plenty of attention. Now the only question is if the company will launch similar features for Apple’s iPhone devices at some point. Guess we’ll have to wait and see
In the meantime, Android users are encouraged to check the app out.
“If you want to achieve a great growth on Instagram, you do need to consider alternative tactics,” the report explains. “Organic growth will not get you far.” It also makes note that influencer outreach is very much worth considering, especially now that advertising is open across the board on the site. Artists like Skrillex, Diplo and others 
Learning from the past. Virtuality arcade machines and Nintendo’s Virtual Boy attempted to make their way into a mainstream market, introducing virtual reality to an awaiting public. However, their failure is noteworthy, and something today’s market can easily learn from.
