The Drum: Nearly 90% of consumers no longer trust influencers
Is this why Pinterest basically avoided (~9:43) the word “creator” in its last investor call? (A stark turn from previous calls for the inspiration platform.)
Or maybe it finally realized it’s social bookmarking, not media.
More ads in more places.
Walmart: more self-checkout screen and in-store radio spots
Uber: not really new placements (though video is still new-ish and others might be coming), but more advertisers using the platform
Giphy?: new ad platform rolling out later this year
The race for a generative AI-powered smart assistant is on.
Axios: Google Assistant to get an AI makeover
Axios: Amazon wants Alexa to bring AI into the home
It was bad timing for Microsoft that Cortana was sunset before the OpenAI partnership. But maybe The Windows Co wants to focus on enterprise and workplace solutions (where voice can be inconvenient).
This is another space where Apple could dominate had Siri not been left to languish. Siri + generative AI + market saturation + Airpods = conversational computing platform
Sometimes it’s a good reminder that just because if works somewhere else, doesn’t mean it will work here, for you.
But he may be missing a major point: The US isn’t China and WeChat’s success may not be replicable.
Business Insider: If Elon Musk understood anything about China, he’d know his attempt to make X a super app like WeChat is doomed to fail
As the cookie gods severed their ties to the marketing world, watching as the idols made in their image crumbled, they decreed: “and ye, soon unto everything will be an ad platform”
According to [Intuit] advertisers can potentially reach over six million QuickBooks Online customers in the US through the network
The network is touting the depth of Intuit’s data which it says allows it to identify business insights sooner than insights currently available from commercial business databases.
MediaPost: Intuit Launches B2B Ad Network Targeting Small Business Owners
For platforms, it’s all about attribution and proving ROI (/ROAS) in a world of increasing privacy.
For Google (/YouTube), enter Engaged-view conversions:
Engaged-view conversions are counted when a user watches at least 10 seconds of a skippable in-stream ad (or watches the entire skippable in-stream ad, if it’s shorter than 10 seconds) and then converts within the Engaged-view conversion window.
Google: About Engaged-view conversions
#TikTokMadeMeBuyIt
Or maybe it didn’t
Search Engine Land: Study: TikTok loses popularity as ecommerce search engine / Amazon’s popularity has grown as the starting point for product searches, including those in younger generations.
Sometimes telling people not to do what you want them to do is the right move.
Unless they’re already loyal customers / users, then it’s more likely to backfire.
Nudge Podcast: Feel free to ignore this episode
Missed this in Netflix is lowering ad costs bit:
Netflix has had preliminary discussions to sell ads through other partners, in addition to Microsoft. Netflix is reworking its pact with Microsoft to reduce the revenue guarantee.
I still think an in-house solution is their best option, at least long-term.
WSJ: Netflix Reworks Microsoft Pact, Lowers Ad Prices in Bid for Growth