Meta

Nov 1, 2024 ∞

Some of your ads feel more expensive lately?

This might be why:

The Harris campaign has instead focused its digital spending on larger platforms like Google and Meta, where it has spent over $280mn this year. The vast amount of political spending on those platforms — already more than $1.5bn

I’m not sure how they’re defining “this year” since the Harris campaign technically started in July when Biden suspended his campaign.

$280 mil in 3 months?

Either way, a lot of money putting pressure on the auction algorithms.

via Financial Times

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Oct 31, 2024 ∞

Meta is developing its AI search engine (and apparently has the “most-used AI assistant in the world”).

Now OpenAI is fully launching ChatGPT search

ChatGPT can now search the web in a much better way than before. You can get fast, timely answers with links to relevant web sources, which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for. This blends the benefits of a natural language interface with the value of up-to-date sports scores, news, stock quotes, and more.



Search is now about your preferred interface, experience, and engine.

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Oct 29, 2024 ∞

Meta is developing an AI search engine, to be embedded in its Meta AI chatbot. The company has reportedly been indexing the web for at least eight months. 




Meta AI currently uses Google and Bing’s search engines when it fetches users answers about current events, financial markets, and sports.

This highlights a few things:

• Search is no longer a platform, it’s a feature.
• Users want answers, not necessarily options.
• Google will not be replaced by a copycat. It will be chipped away at by new, novel alternatives and user dispersion across other channels. (and maybe by antitrust)
• Meta continues to reduce reliance on other companies wherever it can. The true realization of this will be a hardware platform, likely in the XR space.
• For brands / creators, having your content on the web—preferably on a platform you own—where it can be crawled is once again the path to relevance. (see: Gwern)

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Oct 28, 2024 ∞

Meta’s plan for growth among younger demos:

• Discovery
• Utility

Surface content like an entertainment app (social media is basically TV now).

Do the classic “Meta experience upgrade” on things like marketplaces, forums (Groups), and events.

Network effect + massive infrastructure = advantage

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Oct 22, 2024 ∞

Ben Thompson on Meta:

Market = time & attention

Differentiation = horizontal services that capture more time and attention than anyone

This is what makes the Zuck’s Bucks machine run.

It also means whatever captures attention and increases time spent gets rewarded.

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