Asking Tough Brand Safety Qs, Defining Creator vs. Influencer, & More

Twice a year Magellan AI and Sounds Profitable publish an update to The Podscape, an infographic designed to provide a bird’s-eye view of the podcasting industry at large. The deadline for submitting any changes or new companies for the end-of-year update is Friday, November 29th. Submitting to the Podscape is free and open now!

Why the ad industry is redefining what it means to be a creator vs. influencer by Antionette Siu

As content creation has evolved since the early days of vlogging and social media posts, the original definition of “influencer” (one who shares their personal life and influences viewers) has become restrictive. Influencer agency Billion Dollar Boy CMO Becky Owen proposes there are three distinct categories that have formed: influencers, creators, and makers. Creators being those who mix their personal brand with their production skills, and ‘makers’ being those pulling the strings of the emerging subgenre of ‘virtual’ influencers using virtual avatars and AI-generated content.

Should marketers ask harder questions of their brand safety and ad verification partners? by Sam Bradley

Over the past two years marketers have increased their focus on demanding transparency in their media buying, such as an outcry this summer regarding ad verification companies being slow to address ID spoofing and made-for-arbitrage sites. Despite shortcomings, marketers tell Digiday current brand safety and ad verification tools are useful, but require a level of vigilance to maintain and catch issues. Goodway Group president Jay Friedman proposes one of the roadblocks to further transparency with both is companies doing the mental math and deciding holding brand safety/ad verification vendors accountable can be more trouble than the outcome would be worth.

As for the rest of the news…