On this week’s episode of The MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire’s Rachel Smith and Lindsay Rowntree are joined by Tom Simpson, VP, brand and exchange, APAC, AdColony, to discuss the latest news in ad tech and martech.

On this week's episode:

- Yahoo Japan and Line have merged in a bid to tackle competitors, coming from the US and China. Line - consider a super utility app since the platforms enables many functions in addition to messaging - is popular in Japan, Taiwan and Thailand, amongst other SEA countries. The merger is effectively being powered by Softbank, who own Yahoo Japan, and Naver Corporation who own Line. The companies say this will enable them to concentrate on building out other products and functions including AI powered activities, search, payment functions and financial services. How will this position Line against other super utility apps in the region? Is feels as though Softbank has never ending depth to their pockets, but will this be one investment that will yield results for them?

- Disney's Hulu posts impressive revenue numbers on the back of their hybrid ad funded and subscription model platform in the US. The platform has made USD$670m (£516m) in ad funded revenue and USD$1.27bn (£979m) in subscriptions, proving the value of a diversified approach as streaming wars in the US continue to advance. Will Disney+ dilute Hulu's offering going forward since it launched to impressive subscriber numbers a few weeks back? What about the international business and market place here? Will this open the door for ad funded content across other streaming services, but will this need to be nuanced market by market since the US has a high tolerance to advertising frequency?

- Amazon's advertising team is building a live video content offering in the US, in a modern day take on QVC style shopping channels. Further enhancing their ability to offer brands end-to-end production on advertising and marketing, the offering is hosted in their live studios in NYC with a special focus on shopping holidays and occasions like Black Friday & Cyber Monday. Is this Amazon doing all they can to keep brands within their 'walled garden'? What are the targeted media and advertising opportunities here in a live streaming environment, and is it an innovation that will take off?

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