Good morning. Before you hit the weekend, read up on the most important advertising stories of today.
1. People are beginning to talk seriously about Google’s search business becoming less relevant. Google could become a victim of death by a 1,000 cuts as users increasingly opt for more niche forms of search.
2. Google’s new Inbox app is going to really annoy advertisers. The email app bundles brand emails into a “promos” bucket, which means email marketing just became that little bit harder.
3. The Guardian’s CEO has slammed the BBC for what he deems “distortive dominance” over UK media. But Andrew Miller has a solution to the problem: he says the BBC should open up access to its repository of live video feeds and archives for commercial rivals to use.
4. Snapchat’s COO Emily White says she’s not a fan of native advertising, which she thinks “tricks” users. That’s why Snapchat is running its ads in the Stores section of the app, rather than in personal conversations between friends.
5. Coca-Cola’s top marketer Joe Tripodi is retiring. After seven years at the helm, CMO Tripodi is leaving the company to “learn more and contribute more going forward,” he said in a letter to colleagues.
6. Under Armour is becoming a viable threat to Nike. The sports brand has been aggressively investing in high-profile endorsement deals and building up its women’s business. The strategy appears to be working, according to its latest quarterly results.
7. Here’s why you probably won’t get hired at Google. Brain-teaser interview questions, consistent protocol and a special hiring committee combined make Google near impenetrable when it comes to getting hired.
8. Facebook has launched a new standalone app called Rooms. It lets users create forums to discuss content they are interested in. The app is like a consumer version of business communications app Slack and could be a way for brands to have conversations with their customers about certain topics like cooking or beauty in a more relaxed environment than the Facebook page.
9. WPP is to launch a second programmatic trading desk that will give its GroupM media agencies another option besides Xaxis, Mumbrella Asia reports. The new trading desk will cater for more performance-focused advertisers, sources tell the trade publication.
10. Mobile adtech company Ampush has just announced triple digit (185%) year on year growth to $200 million run rate spend on its in-feed advertising platform. Its Q3 mobile advertising trends report also revealed that its clients’ mobile advertising budgets increased 233% year on year and that CPM pricing is up nearly a quarter (23%) to $4.90, driven by continued adoption of mobile ad units.
