Edition #492
Lots of AI changes in flux, WhatsApp sponsored content on Netflix & Microsoft Ads 2.0.
I think it’s kind of interesting that Google is talking about re-building search with AI at its core. It makes sense, AI slop could mess up results, what’s the best tool to handle it? AI itself. Checks out. Google has also been hitting its stride with its AI solutions.
BUT also, Microsoft opted to scrap Xandr DSP, in light of just building for the new world of personal, agentic & conversational advertising. Why try to build that, on top of the current pipes, when you can just build for the new media world.
This is a huge risk for the eco-system, because, who else has the resource to make a change like this? The Trade Desk certainly has benefited from shifting advertisers to Kokai. You have to imagine Viants growth has been aided by their chat interface. But for everyone else?
Microsoft also has a close relationship with OpenAI – and the oldest ad stack for LLMs, having put it in CoPilot early on. It turns out Microsoft is well positioned for the future of advertising. And as a friend said to me, Microsoft can’t really touch anything that isn’t billions of dollars in opportunity, it could be big.
Maybe time to recheck out the Microsoft Ad stack.
Notable stories this week
- How Getty Images Is Evolving for a New Era of Content
- Branded searches ‘most resilient’ to Google AI Overviews.
- Brooklyn Nets have launched a new media company called Type Set Brooklyn.
- Uber Ads hits $1.5 billion run rate as it hires first head of measurement.
- AI Overviews have doubled.
- Microsoft on shifting to conversational, personal and agent ads. Ari with the through line on the Microsoft post.
- What do you have to believe about Google Search.
- A peek inside Vevo’s growing programmatic ad business.
- EU ruling: tracking-based advertising by Google, Microsoft, Amazon, X, across Europe has no legal basis.
- Walled Gardens Are Winning Because Brand Marketers Want More Easy Buttons.
- Google is re-thinking their search stack from the ground-up with LLM taking a more prominent role. And analyst believes Google AI mode will soon replace traditional search.
- ESPN announces launch of new streaming service. And Time to launch a longevity franchise.
- Forget IPs: using cryptography to verify bot and agent traffic.
- Advertisers hit back at Elon Musk’s ad boycott lawsuit, saying X disrupted its own business and ‘alienated’ customers.
- The Trade Desk unfurls OpenSincera.
- TV’s big week is here, and YouTube is a looming presence.
- How Google forced publishers to accept AI scraping as price of appearing in search.
- DoubleVerify sues Analytics, alleging defamation.
- Elon Musk’s apparent power play at the Copyright Office completely backfired.
- AI Will Replace Marketing Jobs As CMO Budgets Stagnate, Says Gartner.
- TheAtlantic adding subscriber benefits through Apple Podcasts.
- Podcast industry is twice as large as previously estimated.
- Google working on a Pinterest-like feature.
- Kokai adoption, high programmatic adoption market share drives Trade Desk’s results.
- CNN’s new streaming service will debut this fall.
- First-party tags in seconds: Cloudflare integrates Google tag gateway for advertisers.
- Microsoft Advertising is closing the Xandr DSP, layoffs pending.
Deals/M&A
- Former Google, MNTN Execs Raise $5.5M to Help Brands Build TV Ads With AI.
Campaign of the week
- Netflix sponsored show, TheSeat, sponsored by WhatsApp. First time seeing this! WhatsApp, because it (organically) was part of the story behind singing Kimi.
- Apple is customizing Apple Maps in Monaco, ahead of their GP and to celebrate their F1 movie.
View all 2024 best campaigns.
Smartest commentary
- “There is no upper funnel anymore … Everything is becoming mid-funnel,” where reach and frequency combine to drive business outcomes.” –Bill Wise, CEO, Mediaocean.
Datapoints of note
- Around 20% of Time’s website visitors in April came to read a story about health or science, he said. A recent editorial survey of readers found that aging was the number one topic they wanted to learn more about. Time’s health email, with 270,000 free subscribers, is its second-largest newsletter.
- Google is 15 scrapes for 1 visitor. OpenAI is now 1,200 scrapes for 1 visitor.
Events
- Media breakfast coming up in May, let me know if you want to join.
View all 2024 datapoints of note.
That’s it for this week.
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