iWorld
Irdeto and Alibaba Cloud Make It Easy to Securely Deliver OTT Content and Services
MUMBAI: Alibaba Cloud, the cloud computing arm of Alibaba Group, has selected Irdeto Rights to simplify OTT content protection for its customers. Irdeto’s multi-DRM solution, including ChinaDRM, PlayReady, Widevine and FairPlay support, will enable content owners and operators to quickly deploy OTT services. Alibaba Cloud will utilize Irdeto Control, the head-end of Irdeto Rights, to manage and protect the customer’s video content. Alibaba Cloud is the world’s third-largest provider of public cloud services, providing video services to hundreds of thousands of global companies, including OTT operators, online education companies and short video companies—live, on-demand and content distribution platforms.
Competition in China’s OTT market is at an all-time high with close to 229 million people subscribing to a streaming service in 2018. In addition, the global subscription OTT market is set to grow 24% in 2018. This trend is fueled by growing internet penetration rates, faster connectivity speeds and a broad shift in consumer preference towards internet-based video consumption. With more options to choose from, subscriber churn rates are high. As a result, premium content and a high-quality user experience across as many devices as possible are key differentiators that are necessary for operators to maintain a competitive edge. Irdeto and Alibaba Cloud help operators not only in China, but across the globe, stay ahead of competitors through quick delivery of OTT services while also ensuring that premium content remains secure.
Li Bin, Senior Technical Expert at Alibaba Cloud, said: “Alibaba Cloud Video Cloud provides stable, high-quality and scalable video services for customers in the multimedia industry. Through cooperation with Irdeto, we have enhanced the security of audio and video content. For the first time, we launched a video cloud service for copyright protection of all-platform video content in China. This new product greatly simplifies the management of content providers and operators on the content supply of various devices and improves the security of content supply."
Irdeto has worked closely with Alibaba Group since 2013 to support anti-piracy initiatives on Alibaba Group’s e-commerce platforms. Just last month, Youku, the Alibaba-owned online video streaming service provider, selected Irdeto Rights for ChinaDRM to safeguard premium content delivery.
“Innovation is critical for operators to succeed in today’s competitive pay TV market,” said Bengt Jonsson, Senior Vice President, Sales & Services, Irdeto. “We want to work with companies like Alibaba Cloud who foster this innovation by providing their customers with secure, premium services. We are thrilled to work with Alibaba Cloud to help operators protect and accelerate the release of new content while also enabling new business models that will increase efficiency and drive revenue.”
Irdeto Rights, a solution in the Irdeto 360 Security portfolio, is a proven multi-DRM and policy management solution that addresses content challenges at both the headend and client side. It supports all leading commercial DRMs, as well as common encryption standards of MPEG DASH, and unique security technologies optimized to work at peak levels of demand. Irdeto Rights provides operators with increased market reach by supporting all major DRMs, including Microsoft PlayReady, Google Widevine, Apple FairPlay and ChinaDRM.
iWorld
Meta introduces new AI tools to boost discovery-to-purchase journey
From shoppable Reels to generative video, platforms get smarter at turning attention into sales.
MUMBAI: Meta is turning “scroll and stop” into “scroll, stop, and shop” and it’s using AI to make the whole journey feel almost effortless. The company has announced several new tools and enhancements designed to help brands guide people from discovery to purchase more effectively, while delivering more relevant and personalised experiences across its platforms.
Creators can now add product links more broadly on Instagram Reels, turning their content into shoppable moments. Businesses in 22 countries, including India, will soon be able to share their product catalogues with creators, opening up a new sales channel for brands and fresh monetisation opportunities for creators.
The Creator Marketplace has also been upgraded with enhanced target audience filtering, integrated with Ads Manager. This helps businesses quickly find creators who are a strong match for their goals. Campaigns using Partnership Ads deliver, on average, 19 per cent lower CPAs, 13 per cent higher click-through rates, and 71 per cent higher median brand lift.
Meta is expanding Reels Trending Ads inventory with new content categories including TV & Movies, Travel, Business, Finance & Investments. According to Meta’s analysis of 59 studies, Reels Trending Ads delivered an incremental 6.6 percentage point Ad Recall lift compared to control groups.
AI-Powered Shopping Enhancements
- Product Set Optimisation is now in testing, allowing retail media networks to promote specific products with detailed reporting. Early results show 17 per cent lower median seller cost per purchase.
- Product Showcase is being expanded so marketers can upload one image or video and let Meta’s AI automatically add relevant products as a carousel when it improves performance.
Meta is expanding its generative AI capabilities with:
- UGC-style videos featuring avatars and voiceovers
- Easier voiceover translation and text overlay translation in a single streamlined flow
- New tools to automatically turn product catalogues into dynamic video ads for Reels
Early testing of the Advantage+ creative video generation tool showed a 10 per cent increase in CTR and 8 per cent increase in CVR on average. Campaigns using catalog product video saw 20 per cent more conversions per dollar, while Reels placements with catalog product video delivered 33 per cent higher incremental conversions.
Industry voices welcomed the updates. Vikas Chawla of Social Beat called Partnership Ads a “flywheel” for authentic content that converts. Niti Kumar of Spark Foundry and Sadhvi Dhawan of Blink Digital highlighted the power of Reels Trending Ads for cultural relevance and guaranteed share of voice. Ramasish Bhowmik of Adbuffs noted that Meta’s GenAI tools are giving teams a clear competitive edge.
In a world where attention is fleeting but shopping intent can spark in seconds, Meta is betting that smarter AI will help brands turn discovery into decisions faster than ever. The message is clear: the future of advertising isn’t just about reaching people, it’s about reaching them at exactly the right moment, with exactly the right product.
