Our AI Future

It should be obvious by now, but soon The Platforms will be AI everything. They already push for algorithmically-controlled dynamically-generated ads, soon those will be hooked up to generative AI and the potential of individually customized one-time ads will be realized.

Also, Google is still flailing left and right to match the other giants’ AI moves.

Hey Bing Chat, Show Me Traffic

Soon you’ll be able to see how much traffic BingGPT drives to your site.

Bing Chat specific referrer strings will start getting passed to Bing Webmaster Tools and other analytics tools (like Google) next month. At least for BWT. External tools should get it at the same time, but “should” is a dangerous word when predicting the whims of the tech giants.

Meanwhile, Google taketh away:

Google Search Console To Drop Page Experience Report, Mobile Usability Report & Mobile-Friendly Tests

Digits for Dollars

Unsurprisingly, shoppers are looking to save these days.

Faced with soaring inflation, which reached 10.4% in February, 80% of consumers in the U.K. now regularly use their smartphones to access stored loyalty cards and coupons while shopping in physical stores, compared to 79% for the U.S., 73% for France and 72% for Germany.

What‘s the benefit for brands? Sweet, sweet first-party data. Just remember that this too is customer service.

Given the current economic climate, consumers have become more willing to share information and connect with brands in exchange for targeted, cost-saving offers and convenient experiences. This represents an opportunity for retailers to expand their understanding of customers to better cater to their needs, preferences and wishes.

Over to digital, what makes ecommerce convenient?

• Gen Z wants easy to use promos/coupons
• Millennials want to store payment info
• Boomers+ want customer service

In general, shoppers find ecomm more convenient than in-store.

Drop It Like It’s Hot

YouTube is adding a new Product Drops feature to livestream shopping. Looks perfect for piquing interest, which should mean more eyes sticking around to see the reveal.

Viewers will be able to see a mystery product tagged at the product shelf and product list until it gets revealed. As the product gets close to its availability date and time, you’ll see a timer bar under the drop title and description. You’ll be able to pin the product to the chat at or after the drop time.

EU = Uh Oh?

If you advertise in the EU, you should read this piece about the potential unintended consequences for brands of the new proposed rules around political advertising.