Title

AWS re:Invent 2022 - Ad technology innovation with NBCUniversal and FreeWheel (ADM201)

Summary

Stephanie Lazor from AWS introduces the session on ad tech innovation.
Ryan McConville from NBCUniversal discusses the complexity of modern TV ad buying and the creation of their "One Platform" ad tech platform.
NBCUniversal's platform integrates various content distribution endpoints, enabling advertisers to target audiences across different media.
The platform combines the benefits of big tech (automation, targeting) with premium content delivery.
NBCUniversal has developed three product suites: NBC Unified (data and identity platform), AdSmart (media planning), and new measurement products.
Jeff Bernard from NBCUniversal details their cloud migration journey, cost savings, and the development of their ad technology stack.
Xinyu Huang from FreeWheel shares their experience with AWS, focusing on compute infrastructure and storage cost management.
FreeWheel's migration to AWS Graviton instances resulted in significant cost savings and performance improvements.
S3 Intelligent-Tiering helped FreeWheel manage storage costs effectively as data volume grew.

NBCUniversal's ad tech evolution reflects the industry's shift from traditional linear TV to a complex digital ecosystem.
The "One Platform" approach signifies a trend towards unified advertising platforms that can handle cross-media planning and buying.
NBCUniversal's cloud migration to AWS was driven by the need for scalability, especially for events like the Olympics, and resulted in a 40% cost reduction.
FreeWheel's use of AWS Graviton instances and S3 Intelligent-Tiering demonstrates the potential for cloud services to optimize performance and manage costs in ad tech.
The partnership between NBCUniversal, FreeWheel, and AWS highlights the importance of collaboration between media companies and cloud service providers in the ad tech space.
The continuous innovation and release of new AWS services, such as new instance types, are crucial for companies like FreeWheel to maintain efficiency and cost-effectiveness.
The session underscores the significance of data-driven decision-making and the use of AWS services to handle the increasing scale and complexity of ad tech infrastructure.