DIAL: Digital Innovations Awesome List (March 2018)

At Centro, we know that keeping up with the trade pubs and latest trends can be tough and time consuming. To make that easier, we’ve compiled all the articles, reports, and other bits of awesomeness you may have missed, but should definitely read. Enjoy our latest list below!

Welcome to the Post-Text Future (21 min read)

This series of short articles explore the current and future impact of an increasingly visual internet through audio, video, and richer graphics. From memes to camera searches to voice-based interaction, how will consumers search, discover, and share as new tools become available to help them convey their thoughts, and find things they want or never knew they needed? And how can marketers keep up with consumer trends?

Facebook's Algorithm Has Wiped Out a Once Flourishing Digital Publisher (5 min read)

When your business is heavily dependent on another company, it’s often not a matter of if this spells trouble, but when. Online publisher Little Things, which focused on upbeat news content, learned this lesson as Facebook made changes to their news feed algorithm. With Facebook shifting from passive content toward more posts from friends and family, will this lead to more challenges for publishers who rely heavily on Facebook as a primary traffic source?

The Value of Publisher Data is Skyrocketing (6 min read)

More and more major publishers are identifying new ways to use their site visitor data not only to help their editorial teams, but also to improve the consumer journey for brands they work with. The data ranges from declared audience data (primarily from registration information) to consumption data on the site. Many big publishers like Condé Nast, Meredith, and Hearst (featured in this article) are building out their content development practices, which could be viewed as competing directly with agencies, and building out their technology practices, which could be seen as competing with some players in the ad tech space.

In a Multiscreen World, One Screen is Trending Downward (1 min read)

This year, we’ll consume more content on the many screens available to us, but for the first time ever we’re starting to multiscreen less on our laptops. It may come as no surprise that smartphones win as the go-to second screen while watching TV – with 8.6% growth this year. Tablets will grow steadily at 3.9%, while laptops will see a decline for the first time at -0.4%. Cross-platform buys are still smart, but keep in mind that mobile reigns supreme when someone also has the big screen on.

AI Realities & Futures in Retail (5 min read)

Retailers have been traditionally product-driven, transaction-focused businesses, but industry disruption is occurring as some forward-thinking retailers deploy AI to power central decision-making, smarter merchandising, and marketing personalization at scale. Those who have seen success (the disruptors) have taken a pragmatic approach to breaking down their business problems, a targeted approach to solving specific aspects, and building upon both for greater overall impact. Start small, then move to larger problems. It may a bit early to call it a revolution, but the possibility for one is there.

Blockchain and Programmatic Advertising (4 min read)

Could the unchartered territory known as blockchain transform the way we conduct business for programmatic? The promise of greater transparency in both the supply chain and actual ad delivery sounds enticing, but could the potential challenges of scale, security, and lack of regulation present a new set of problems for the industry to address if widespread adoption did occur?

The Seven Deadly Sins of AI Predictions (15 min read)

Robots are coming after you. The best case scenario is they take your job, and the slightly dystopian outlook is they destroy all the humans. Either way, our future looks bleak. Or does it? Read about the seven mistakes that lead to unwarranted fear (and misunderstanding) according to the former director of Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory at MIT (not Centro’s MIT, but similarly prestigious).

Nearly Half of U.S. Households are Now Amazon Prime Subscribers (2 min read)

New data from Kantar estimates that an impressive 45% of households in the U.S. (or 56.9 million homes) are paid Amazon Prime subscribers. What’s more, according to Feedvisor, 1/4 of Prime members make a purchase on Amazon at least twice per week, with nearly 1/3 of Prime members visiting the site on a daily basis.

March’s DIAL is also available as a PDF. Download it here!