April 2025 Summaries

The batch push API is a new, scalable way to publish distinct push notifications to thousands of devices or browsers in a single API request, allowing for faster delivery, higher throughput and lower network overhead. It enables developers to deliver a high volume of distinct notifications efficiently without compromising on performance. By consolidating multiple push notifications into a single API call, the batch push API reduces latency and network overhead, improves throughput, simplifies application logic, scales reliably and supports growing user bases. The API is available via REST at `POST rest.ably.io/push/batch/publish` with an array of objects specifying recipients and payloads for each notification.

At Ably's February fan engagement event, Sam Renouf, CEO of the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO), observed that motorsports can transform from a two-hour show to an engaging experience by layering in data and real-time metrics. This transformation is now being applied across various sports, including endurance sports, where organizations are using real-time data to create immersive fan experiences. The PTO's approach of combining real-time data with audience understanding transformed what was initially considered "like watching paint dry" into a compelling narrative. By delivering meaningful, contextual data at critical moments, companies can balance personalization with cost and create value exchange around data, ultimately driving effective fan engagement. Key takeaways include prioritizing decisive moments, focusing on genuine value, and balancing personalization and cost to implement sustainable real-time fan engagement strategies.

Fan engagement strategies are evolving rapidly, and organizations need to focus on creating genuine value for their customers. According to Carlo De Marchis, a veteran of the sports media industry, successful organizations will need to focus not only on capturing attention but also on creating high-engagement fan experiences that deliver real meaning. This involves designing for strategic realtime moments rather than just delivering data, and adopting a value-exchange mindset where fans are given something in return for their data, such as personalization or exclusive access. A key framework for creating tailored value is to understand who your most valuable fans are, differentiate your owned platforms by creating experiences that aren't possible on social media, choose technology that enables meaningful fan experiences at the right moment, design for moments not just volume, and innovate monetization models that align closely with fan desires and willingness to pay.

Ably Pub/Sub has introduced server-side batching and conflated subscriptions to help reduce costs and performance challenges associated with high-scale, high-frequency messaging. These features enable developers to process high-frequency updates more efficiently without sacrificing accuracy, reliability, or latency. Server-side batching groups multiple messages into a single batch before sending them to subscribers, reducing message count and bandwidth usage, while conflated subscriptions deliver only the latest update within a defined interval, minimizing unnecessary data transfer and optimizing bandwidth usage. These optimizations work together to help developers handle high-throughput messaging more efficiently without sacrificing performance or real-time accuracy.