The 10 things in advertising you need to know today
1. Vice CEO Shane Smith says there will be a "bloodbath" of media consolidation in 2017. Smith said the company is building a war chest so it can go out and "buy market share."
2. WPP posted better-than-expected net sales in the first half of the year, helped by the weakness of the post-Brexit pound. Net sales grew 3.8% in the period to £5.6 billion ($7.4 billion), versus the 3.2-3.3% expected by analysts. Profit before tax was down 40.1% in the period to £425 million ($561 million) as the company took on writedowns, mostly due to its investment in measurement company comScore last year.
3. Google is going to start punishing mobile sites that serve up full-page interstitial ads. It will downgrade those sites in its mobile search results.
4. Google's choice to downgrade sites with mobile full-screen ads is kind of strange because it thinks they are OK elsewhere. Google offers full-screen in-app ads on its AdMob platform.
5. The producer of Jeremy Clarkson's new car show "The Grand Tour" revealed 11 key details about the Amazon series. There will be a "Game of Thrones" stunt and the producers have been keen to avoid copying any "Top Gear" segments, for fear of copyright issues with the BBC.
6. Facebook's new app for teenagers has a worrying problem. Anyone can pretend to be a teenager.
7. Netflix had the perfect response to "Manbang," the so-called "Netflix of North Korea." When asked about Manbang, Netflix responded: "We are bummed we didn't think of that name first." Netflix US also changed its Twitter bio to "Manbang knockoff."
8. A VC firm redesigned its website to say "F--k Trump." "Donald Trump's anti-immigration statements are diametrically opposed to the core values of entrepreneurship. And at CRV, we've had enough," the firm's blog post said, adding: "The CRV partnership? - ?united and unanimous? - ?rejects Donald Trump's candidacy for President of the United States."
9. Facebook, Google, and other online platforms will cost UK publishers £500 million by 2026, according to a report from OC&C Strategy Consultants. That's around 10% of UK publishers' revenues.
10. Facebook is getting into header bidding, according to The Information. It will integrate the Facebook Audience Network into a third-party ad tech company's header bidding wrapper, the report says.