Project Agora Partners With Taboola For A New Native Content Solution- ‘Explore More’
Publishers have a new toolin their monetization kitty with the launch ofProject Agora’snew Native Content Solution,Explore More.
Over 15,000 websites use Project Agora’s Native Content feature in partnership withTaboolato drive revenue, increase engagement and page views, and acquire new customers.
What is Explore More?
‘Explore More’ is designed to make mobile users, who are visiting the publisher’s site directly from social media and apps to stay longer and re-engaging them before they exit with the relevant content recommendation.
Explore More serves organic and sponsored content. However, they feature 70% organic content which increases organic re-circulation and improves revenue.
How Beneficial is it?
Explore More has impressive results on smartphones and Tablets.
On Smartphones, it brings 60% uplift in RPM (Revenue per Thousand Pageviews) and 100% uplift in Organic CTR whereas, on Tablets, it brings a 45% uplift in RPM and 30% uplift in Organic CTR.
如何使用它?
It is simple to use for publishers already working with Project Agora by just adding the Explore More feature to the website. Project Agora’s expert team will undertake all the processes, and there is no work needed from the publisher to start seeing immediate results.
Project Agora’s Publishers such as protothema.gr, alon.hu, a1.ro, alwatanvoice.com have already upped their game by implementing Explore More on their mobile websites
Dimitris Tsoukalas, Regional Director MEA, Project Agorasaid,
“More than 19 of Project Agora’s publishers, in the Middle East and Africa, have already upped their game by implementing Explore More on their mobile websites. In their battle to retain users for as long as possible and increase ad-revenues, Explore More is a no-brainer, quick win for publishers.”
Also Read:Project Agora Co-founds the New EMEA Video Advertising Platform- Union
Shopify Revenue Surges As Pandemic Brings More Business Online
E-commerce platform and payment provider Shopify reported its first-quarter revenue that surpassed analysts’ estimates as more businesses moved online to survive coronavirus pandemic.
The Ottawa-based company Shopify said in a statement thatsales grew by 47% to $470 millionfrom the same quarter a year ago. However, analysts expected revenues to come to around $443 million
The key metric ofgross merchandise volumewhich represents all goods sold on the platform 46% to 17.42 billion compared to the previous year. Again, beating analysts expected volume to $16.68 billion.
While sales were booming, the company still posted a net loss of $31.4 million or 27 cents a share. However, on an adjusted basis, the company posted a profit of $22.3 million or 19 cents per share for the first quarter of 2020 compared with an adjusted profit of $7.1 million or six cents per share for the same period last year.
CEO Tobi Lutke said in thequarterly release,“我们正在尽可能快to support our merchants by re-tooling our products to help them adapt to this new reality. Our goal is that, because Shopify exists, more entrepreneurs and small businesses will get through this.”
Moving Online
Shopify reported a fall of 71% in gross merchandise volume through its store point-of-sale as stores shut down due to pandemic between March 31 and April 24. Companies also downgraded from Shopify Plus to lower-priced plans.
Also,it throws light on the drop in point-of-sale purchases from the brick and mortar stores questions the sustainability of online switch. It provides store based point-of-sale systems to merchants to operate from a single platform in order to maintain online store and sales.
It is closely observing consumer spending habits online and the ability of brick-and-mortar retail merchants to shift sales online. According to the company statement, Shopify retailers managed to replace 94% of their store volume with online sales.
“Retail merchants are adapting quickly to social-distance selling, as 26% of our brick-and-mortar merchants in our English-speaking geographies are now using some form of local in-store/curbside pickup and delivery solution, compared to 2% at the end of February.”
Chief technology officer Jean-Michel Lemieux noted the surging demand and had U.S. Black Friday-type of traffic as businesses have used Shopify to stay afloat as nationwide lockdown forces retail store closure across the world.
Impact of COVID-19
This pandemic has strained small and medium-sized businesses and accelerated the shift of buying habits to eCommerce. Shopify introduced many initiatives to support merchants and help entrepreneurs start a business online during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, including, offering tools to businesses to open their own digital store online across channels including social media.
An extended 90 day free trial for new sign-ups, gift card capabilities to merchants, and introduction to in-store or curbside pickup and delivery options for greater flexibility in the movement of inventory between different locations.
The company stated that the new stores created on the platform grew 62% between March 13 and April 24 versus the prior six weeks, driven by both first times and established sellers. But is also added,
“It is unclear how many in this cohort will sustainably generate sales, which is the primary determinant of merchant longevity on our platform.”
What analysts have to say
Few analysts still don’t see Shopify profitable enough in the future to justify the current stock price. They believe the rally is overdone.
Barry Schwartz, chief investment officer at Baskin Wealth in Toronto notes that as they grow, the company will face fierce competition from rival Amazon. He added,
“They’re up against some very heavy hitters and I don’t think those guys are going to let Shopify win everything.”
“Buying it here at that valuation, you’re essentially saying, ‘I don’t care.’
Canaccord Genuity downgraded the stock, with a warning “we’re not entirely convinced” that gross merchandise volume “is as bulletproof as perceived.”
Facebook Post Strong Earnings in Q1’20, Exceeds Analysts Projections
Its earnings season and Facebook has some relatively good news on that for the investors. It has impressively beaten Wall Street expectations on revenue and earning per share (EPS). Facebook ad revenue grew by 17% Y-o-Y despite the instability in the digital ad market due to COVID-19.
Image Credit: Facebook
Why does it matter?
Interestingly, Facebook was able to beat top and bottom-line revenue expectations amid the coronavirus crisis showing how its business is strong and growing. However, the company didn’t provide specific revenue guidance for Q2 due to the ongoing uncertainty but offered a snapshot on the revenues of upcoming quarters.
- Meanwhile, Facebook said that the current rise in engagement will continue but the usage will come down once the stay-at-home orders are lifted.
- The digital advertising industry has taken a hard hit due to shelter-at-home orders globally. Facebook said in a statement, “We experienced a significant reduction in the demand for advertising, as well as a related decline in the pricing of our ads, over the last three weeks of the first quarter of 2020.”
Let’s talk numbers
- Earning per share (EPS):$1.71 vs. $1.75 per shareforecast by Refinitiv
- Revenue:$17.74 billion vs. $17.41 billion forecast by Refinitiv
- Daily active users (DAUs):1.73 billion
Image Credit: Facebook
- Monthly active users (MAUs):2.6 billion
- Family Monthly Active people (MAP):2.99 billion monthly users across its family of apps. This metric helps to measure Facebook’s total user base across its main app, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp.
- The average revenue per user (ARPU):$6.95
- Other revenue:$297 million which is driven by sales of VR headset ‘Oculus.’
- 现金和现金等价物:$60.29 billion
What lies ahead?
- Facebook is the third internet company that posted strong Q1 results after Snapchat and Google despite the hindrances in the digital ad market. This shows big internet companies will keep dominating the advertising ecosystem due to the pandemic.
- CCS Insight chief operating officer Martin Garner believes the impact of the virus will lead companies to use digital services from advertising to collaboration.
“………..Although Google and Facebook will take a hit from Covid-19, we expect them to be leading indicators of recovery, as digital advertising and other services show early growth in economies getting back to normal.”
Tech Giants Set To Lose billions in Ad revenue because of Coronavirus
The coronavirus has spread to 175 countries around the world, and it shows no sign of a slowdown. The virus has effectively shut down all major events around the world and has a major impact on the ad tech industry. Ad spending is falling off the cliff thanks to the disruption caused by the pandemic – major tech giants like Twitter, Google, Facebook, and others are expected to face the brunt of the slump in terms of losing billions of dollars in ad revenue this year.
Why we care:The losses aren’t going to weaken the companies but will put a dent in the extraordinary growth which everyone has experienced over the years.
Numbers speak louder:Cowen & Co. analysts estimate that the two internet giants together could see more than $44 billion worldwide ad revenue evaporate this year. They predict the following losses:
- Facebook:Drop of $15.7 billion, 19% down from the previous estimate.
- Google: Down by $28.6 billion, an 18% decline from the previous estimate.
- Twitter:Down by $701 million, 17.9% below estimate
- Snapchat:Drop by $977 million, 31.8% down from the previous estimate.
Global advertising revenue grows in the ballpark of the GDP rate. Therefore, the global economic slowdown directly affects the global advertising market.
The tech giants were forthcoming with the investors on the expected losses and here what they have to say.
- Facebookexecs said in theirblog postthat the company has “seen a weakening in our ads business in countries taking aggressive actions to reduce the spread of COVID-19.
- Twitterannounced in the精准医疗ss releasethat the company is “withdrawing its revenue and operating income guidance for the first quarter of 2020, due to the growing impact of COVID-19 on the global operating and economic environment and their effect on advertiser demand.”
That said, Both Google and Facebook will continue to make profits even with double-digit revenue drops. Analysts think the largest tech companies could emerge stronger from the coronavirus crisis than ever because of their healthy balance sheets.
U.S. Ad Revenue Growth Forecasts, FY2020
| All media | Forecast pre-epidemic | Forecast March 2020 |
| Excluding cyclical events (Olympics, elections) |
4.4% | -4.4% |
| Including cyclical events | 6.6 | -2.8 |
| DIGITAL | ||
| Excluding cyclical events | 10.9% | 3.5% |
| Including cyclical events | 11.4 | 3.9 |
| Digital search | 11.6 | 4.5 |
| Digital social | 17.2 | 8.7 |
| Digital video | 14.2 | 8.3 |
| LINEAR MEDIA | ||
| Excluding cyclical events | -4.4% | -15.0% |
| Including cyclical events | 0.0 | -11.7 |
| National TV – excl. CE | -2.7 | -13.0 |
| National TV – incl. CE | -0.4 | -12.7 |
| Local TV – excl. CE | -4.5 | -14.4 |
| Local TV – incl. CE | 12.8 | 0.9 |
| Radio | -2.3 | -14.1 |
| -17.0 | -25.4 | |
| Out of home | 3.7 | -11.8 |
Image Credit: Axios Visuals
What is driving the news:All the advertising-based businesses are facing the COVID-19 risk but those who are dependant on the self-service advertising revenue from small businesses, which are now shut down will be highly affected in the short term.
As quoted in AXIOS, Vincent Letang, executive vice president and director of global forecasting for Magna Global, the media buying unit of global ad agency IPG said,
“In the first half of the year, digital media vendors will feel the heat. But I still think they will recover more strongly than traditional media in the second half.”
advertisi科技平台使他们的收入ng on social media and search which will take a hit in the short term for two reasons:
1. They are self-serve which means anyone can buy ads through the automated platforms at any time without any contract. Therefore, unlike TV ad contracts, there are no policies in place and brands have to adhere to when pulling the plug.
2. Mostly the ads are purchased by small businesses. Letang expressed his views to Axios,
“Hundreds of thousands of small businesses who probably count for 70% of social and search, they will stop advertising for weeks as they are closed. For some of them, it will be hard to come back, as many won’t have the liquidity to start marketing.”
What’s the future: Analysts expect overall ad revenue to go down by 4.4% excluding cyclical events due to the coronavirus impact on the economy.
Growth in the digital ad market is dominated by big tech companies like Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat will emerge from the crisis strongly in 2021.
Magna精准医疗dicts linear ad sales to decrease to 6 percent and digital media to grow 8 percent.
