Reminder: You are seeing this premium content because you are a subscriber to MediaPost's Research Intelligencer and/or a member of the Center for Marketing & Media Research. This content cannot be viewed by non-subscribers/non-members.

In an “investigative sweep” announced Friday, California Attorney General Rob Bonta has sent letters to app operators that allegedly fail to allow consumers to opt out of sharing their data.

“This year’s sweep focuses on popular apps in the retail, travel, and food service industries that allegedly fail to comply with consumer opt-out requests or do not offer any mechanism for consumers who want to stop the sale of their data,” Bonta's office stated Friday.

Bonta added that the focus on mobile apps is due to “the wide array of sensitive information that these apps can access from our phones and other mobile devices.”

The investigative initiative also targeted businesses that didn't process requests consumers made through an authorized agent.

“Businesses must honor Californians’ right to opt out and delete personal information, including when those requests are made through an authorized agent,” Bonta stated Friday.

The California Consumer Privacy Act, which was passed in 2018 and later refined by the Consumer Privacy Rights Act, give consumers the right to tell companies not to share or sell their information for a host of purposes, including online behavioral advertising.

Regulations issued by former Attorney General Xavier Becerra require companies to honor global do-not-sell requests, as opposed to requiring individual site-by-site opt-outs. Last year, Bonta specifically directed companies to honor requests sent through the “Global Privacy Control" -- a tool developed by privacy advocates that enables web users to opt out of the sale of their information on a universal basis.

This was double the decline of same period a year before -- 71,000. Charter now has 15.2 million video customers.

Another major pay TV provider -- Comcast -- posted a 11.2% decline in video subscribers (440,000 customers) earlier this week.

Now with 92% of the publicly traded pay TV companies reporting their fourth-quarter results, Michael Morris, media analyst at Guggenheim Securities, writes that cord-cutting continues at a steady rate.

“Quarter-to-date, distributors have reported combined net video subscriber declines of 857,000, excluding virtual MVPDs, compared to 1.14 million in second quarter 2022 and 1.22 million fourth quarter 2021.”

He adds that over the past 12-month period, distributors have lost 8.4% of the subscribers (4.14 million subscribers). The industry lost 8.0% in the third quarter.

Those services yet to report are the virtual pay TV providers Hulu, YouTube TV, and fuboTV, which have historically been gaining share -- but typically not enough to reverse the effects of overall industry-wider cord-cutting.

Charter posted stronger results for its broadband business -- 3.9% higher in revenue to $5.6 billion -- and inched up 1.1% in subscribers (105,000) to now total 30.4 million internet subscribers.

Charter also had better results than Comcast the day before, which reported a 23,000 loss in residential broadband subscribers.

All this helped to maintain Charter’s average monthly residential bill -- at $114.20 a month, just slightly up 0.1% compared to the prior-year period.

Charter witnessed major growth revenue from mobile business, which was up 39% to $876 million, and advertising sales -- 24.6% higher to $558 million -- due to the midterm political advertising gains in the period.

Charter’s fourth-quarter revenue grew of $13.7 billion grew by 3.5% year-over-year.

However, net income attributable to Charter shareholders was down 26% to $1.2 billion, with the broader free cash flow metric sinking 50% to $1.1 billon.

Charter stock price was down 2.8% early morning on Friday to $399.08.

Skai, an omnichannel platform for performance marketing, and Tinuiti, a large independent performance marketing agency, released separate reports this week highlighting data and trends from Q4 2022. 

Search and YouTube advertisers are looking toward connected television (CTV) to broaden their performance marketing campaigns.

Tinuiti's data, which highlights trends among the customers it supports, shows strength in connected TV -- specifically on YouTube. Spend reached 26% in Q4 2022 -- up from 19% a year earlier. While total YouTube spend increased just 3% YoY in Q4 2022, it was up over 34% for CTV.

Tinuit’s report notes that those gains were offset by decreased spending on desktop, as the platform’s share of spending fell from 26% in Q4 2021 to 17% in Q4 2022. Phone share of YouTube spending increased two points to 50% over the same period. Tablet spend share fell by a little under one point.

Apart from YouTube, CTV plays a larger role in the streaming video ad market. CTV accounted for 34% of streaming video ad spending across both real-time bidding and traditional inventory in Q4 2022, up from 24% a year earlier.

Mobile devices -- including both phones and tablets -- generated 44% of streaming ad spending in Q4 2022, down from 52% in Q4 2021. Desktop streaming spend share held up better on non-YouTube platforms, coming in at 21% in Q4 2022, down just three points from a year earlier.

Tinuiti data also shows that growth in Google's search ad-click remained relatively steady during the past year-and-a-half, but weakening pricing growth led to reduced spending across Google’s text and Shopping ads.

Average CPCs were up by as much as 36% YoY in 2021, as ad prices rebounded against soft performance a year earlier.

In Q4 2022, average search ad CPC was up just 2% YoY. With Google search ad clicks up 8% in Q4, search spending increased 10% YoY -- down from 15% growth in the earlier quarter.

While the growth rate of CPCs in Google search slowed compared with 2019, Google search CPCs were up by 28% for retailers compared with Q4 2022.

Retail CPCs fell nearly 20% Y/Y in the early days of the pandemic before recovering over the second half of 2020. CPCs rose sharply throughout 2021 before stabilizing relative to 2019 levels in early 2022.

High inflation remained one of the biggest concerns during the quarter. Growth in retail average order values (AOVs) from Google Search Ads slowed since it peaked in the mid-teens in Q2 2021.

During the next year-and-a-half, AOV growth slipped to under 4% YoY to start Q4 2022.

After rising a bit in November due to strong Cyber Week results, AOV growth fell to just 2% Y/Y in December 2022.

Even text ad-click growth remained sluggish. Spending on Google search text ads rose a mere 9% in Q4 2022 -- down from 13% growth a quarter earlier. Text ad-click growth trailed that for Google Shopping ads since the second half of 2021, and this continued through Q4 2022.

Text ad clicks were up just 2% in Q4 -- down from 6% growth in Q3. While Shopping CPC growth continued to decelerate in Q4, text CPC growth remained at 7% Y/Y with some advertisers reporting that CPCs for their brand names are back on the rise.

Skai published its Q4 2022 Digital Marketing Quarterly Trends report on Thursday, analyzing market trends that defined Q4 2022.

According to Skai, strategies, diversification, competition, inventory, and the economy likely helped to reduce prices in aggregate.

Data shows the volume of ads that served up online, and the number of ads receiving a click among Skai’s clients rose in retail media, search, and social channels compared with Q4 2021 and Q3 2022.

Total impressions for the paid social channel grew 57% year-over-year (YoY), and retail media and paid-search impressions grew 45% and 22% YoY, respectively. Clicks showed similar growth in each channel.

Skai’s data also shows that advertisers were more likely to see lower YoY ad prices in Q4 than higher prices across channels.

Some 79% of paid social advertisers in Skai’s analysis had a lower cost-per-thousand impressions (CPM) than in Q4 of 2021. In retail media and paid search, 53% and 48% of accounts paid a lower cost per click (CPC) in Q4 2022, respectively.

Spending increased during Q4 2021 in all channels, but lower ad prices yielded lower growth rates than previous quarters. Retail media spend saw the biggest increase, up 34% YoY, but 17% quarter over quarter. Total investments in paid search grew 7% YoY and 21% QoQ.

"Extremists” are trying to “cripple the advertising industry and eliminate it from the American economy and culture.” That's according to David Cohen, CEO of the ad organization Interactive Advertising Bureau.

Speaking this week at the IAB's annual leadership conference, Cohen offered some pointed criticism of politicians, privacy advocates and Apple -- which since 2021 has prohibited app developers from tracking iPhone users without their express consent.

“Washington D.C. leaders including Amy Klobuchar and Ted Cruz will throw our industry under their campaign buses, if we let them,” he said, according to a transcript of his remarks. “And by 'this industry,' I don’t just mean digital marketing, media and advertising - I mean all media and entertainment, all advertising, and all the consumer and B2B brands that depend on them.”

Cohen went on to warn against the American Data Privacy and Protection Act (ADPPA), a federal privacy bill that would have outlawed some forms of behavioral advertising.

“I’m here to tell you that if the national data privacy law (ADPPA) that made progress at the end of 2022 had passed, it would destroy our industry,” he said. “Big Tech, Small Tech and everything in-between Tech.”

Last July, the House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced the bipartisan bill by a vote of 53-2, but the full House did not vote on the measure, and the Senate did not hold hearings on it.

The IAB leader also condemned the nonprofit Accountable Tech, describing it as "one of the more virulent anti-advertising groups trying to shut down the ad-supported internet."

In 2021, Accountable Tech petitioned the Federal Trade Commission to outlaw “surveillance advertising” -- including serving ads to consumers based on their activity across sites. Consumer Reports and the Electronic Privacy Information Center backed that request in a joint FTC filing.

Cohen also had some sharp words for Apple, accusing it of trying “to smother the advertising industry.”

It's no secret that the IAB opposed Apple's decision to require developers to obtain consumers' consent before tracking them.

In Europe, IAB France went so far as to bring an antitrust complaint over Apple's consent setting, which rolled out in 2021.

On the other hand, advocacy groups -- including Nobel Peace Prize winner Amnesty International -- told Apple they supported the opt-in approach to mobile tracking.

In any event, Apple clearly intends to stay the course for the foreseeable future. Just this week, the company released a five-minute ad touting the iPhone's privacy features, including the one that only allows tracking after users consent.

In the past few years, TikTok has become one of the popular social media apps in the United States, though its ownership by a Chinese technology company has invited scrutiny from lawmakers and cybersecurity professionals. Its popularity also has inspired rivals, including Google’s YouTube and Meta Platforms’ Facebook and Instagram …

Reminder: You are seeing this premium content because you are a subscriber to MediaPost's Research Intelligencer and/or a member of the Center for Marketing & Media Research. This content cannot be viewed by non-subscribers/non-members.

People in the U.S. are facing one healthcare dilemma after another, and retailers keep looking for new ways to help. The latest to tap this trend is supermarket giant Kroger, which is wading into the scientific research business, starting with a large colorectal cancer effort.

And Dollar General, which operates in many rural and underserved markets, is teaming up with DocGo, a provider of mobile health services, offering walk-in services and appointments at health vans parked outside three locations.

Kroger's first trial effort partners with Persephone Biosciences, actively recruiting people for colorectal cancer gut and immune health observation. Called the Argonaut clinical study, the goal is to identify microbiome-based biomarkers that might indicate colorectal cancer. The effort begins in the Toledo, Ohio, area, selecting customers of Kroger pharmacies and patients at locations of the Little Clinic, its health services brand. The Cincinnati company plans to add participants through more locations throughout the year.

Between Kroger's grocery sales and extensive network of pharmacists and healthcare professionals, "we are positioned at the nexus of food and healthcare, which provides us with the unique opportunity to increase access to clinical trial opportunities," says Colleen Lindholz, president of Kroger Health, in its statement. "We envision a future where our work transforms the clinical trial landscape and provides expanded trial access."

This particular study aims to explore how the bacteria living in the gut might influence cancer risk. The company says clinical data may help develop personalized medicines and identify cancer-specific indicators. That could lead to new treatments, such as utilizing food as medicine.

The idea is that the company offers a much larger footprint than many health institutions, with 51% of Kroger stores located in socially vulnerable areas. It says it's well positioned to support such trials, with the ability to offer virtual care visits, digital tools and personalized communication to help retain study participants.

The Dollar General's news is quite different, but also based on increasing health options in areas some might call healthcare deserts. The company, which hired its first chief medical officer in 2021 and has gradually been advancing its health agenda, is working with DocGo. It is operating mobile clinics outside three of its stores in Tennessee, offering appointments for preventive care, such as check-ups, vaccinations and screening, and walk-ins for urgent care.

While many retailers offer healthcare services, mobile units are quite different. Dollar General, based in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, has close to 19,000 stores in 47 states. And its DGwellbeing effort, which includes expanded square footage and up to 400 more health-related products, offering health-related products, has rolled out to more than 3,000 stores.

Medical Economics reports that the pilot is the retailer's latest effort to serve customers closer to home. And while many other retailers are already offering more health options, Dollar General has a geographic advantage, with 75% of the U.S. population living within five miles of one of its stores.

The company quotes its chief medical officer, Albert Wu, MD: "These clinics demonstrate our ability and desire to work with our customers to bring affordable health and wellness closer to home, while equally establishing Dollar General as a trusted partner where customers can access health services."

Cross-channel marketing platform Cordial is partnering with Snowflake, a data cloud company, to list its data offering Snowflake Marketplace.

Joint customers can unify their data and make it available across their business ecosystem, the companies say. 

The integration makes “traditional sharing methods obsolete, eliminating the need to move or copy data, rebuild schemas or manage data pipelines with traditional extract, transfer and load (ETL) solutions, which are costly and labor intensive,” says Jeremy Swift, CEO and co-founder of Cordial.  

Cordial helps brands communicate in personalized ways via email, SMS, mobile app, and and other channels. 

The new arrangement provides joint customers with access to customer data, allowing then to monitor engagement trends and consumer behaviors. Also, data access can be extended bi-directionally, enabling users to query and use data from Snowflake in the Cordial platform.  

Swift adds, “This means marketers can spend more time activating their data rather than managing it.” 

One joint client is Purple. “Sharing data that used to take hours, now only takes a few minutes to complete," says Hyrum Ward, manager of data engineering at Purple. "All our valuable first-party data from Cordial is now instantly available and query-able alongside our hundreds of other data sources in Snowflake, so we can easily marry up a variety of data points to gain new insights about our business."

Email is by far the most trusted channel, beating SMS and digital advertising. But people are suspicious of brands in general when it comes to privacy judging by The Optimove 2022 Trust Of Online Retailers Survey, a study released Thursday. 

Of the consumers polled, 55% do not trust brands with their personal information -- up from 48% in an Optimove survey conducted last summer. Moreover, 77% say they will unsubscribe from brands if they feel their data is being misused. 

And 41% of consumers believe that trust between brands and consumers is diminishing, while 35% say it remains the same and 24% say it is improving.

Yet 32% use and shop brands they mistrust every day. And 32% patronize brands they don’t trust, although they try to avoid them. 

The most trusted marketing channels are: 

• Email — 67% 
• Mobile Notification—39% 
• Direct mail (snail mail) — 34%
• TV Advertising — 34% 
• SMS — 33% 
• Website Advertising — 27%
• Digital Advertising — 27% 
• Newspaper/Magazine Ads — 24% 
• Billboard Advertising — 15% 

In line with that, consumers are most comfortable sharing these personal details: 

• Email — 53% 
• Gender — 52%
• Age — 49% 
• Phone — 25%
• Purchase History — 23% 
• Home Address — 20% 
• Income — 17%
• Social Media Profiles — 14% 
• Browsing History — 14%

Despite that willingness to share data, consumers fear they lack control once they do so. They believe: 

• I am in control of personal information I share — 36% 
• The brand is in control of personal information I share — 36% 
• Neither I, nor the brand, is in control of personal information I share — 28% 

But almost all consumers say that control is important, 51% extremely so. 

What do consumers fear the most when shopping online? They say:

• My financial information will be stolen — 49%
• My identity will be stolen — 33%
• I will be overcharged and not able to recoup funds — 11%
• I am not scared and do not have need to protect my personal information — 4%
• I will accidentally sign up for a subscription program and not realize it — 3%

What can brands do to instill trust? Consumers are reassured when:

• The brand has a policy that my information will not be shared — 56% 
• The brand asks “permission” to offer suggestions — 31%
• The brand knows me and recognizes what I have bought/browsed for in the past — 6%

Yet shoppers seem indifferent to privacy notices, saying:

• I scan and read only the pertinent information — 32% 
• Sometimes I glance at it — 28% 
• I always read every detail — 26%
• I NEVER read it — 14% 

Optimove surveyed 406 U.S. consumers in the fourth quarter of 2022.