Marketverse #5
Sponsored answers and what will happen with Google's ATM?
February 10, 2023
Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is one of the most value accretive inventions in the history of media and advertising. It started with a few innocent sponsored links. Now, most of the pages with our search results are ads and Google products. SERP = Google's ATM.
No wonder Google is terrified of a conversational AI that can answer consumers' questions. How can you insert ads into that? Sponsored answers? Who's going to read an answer that is basically a lie? We're all accustomed to sponsored lists of links: someone is paying for their website to be higher in the ranking. But what happens if someone pays for the answer to our question to be different?
Microsoft knows that AI will change search once and for all, and it's most probable that this business won't be as profitable as it is now. That's not their problem, though. To paraphrase Nadella: The gross margin of search will drop forever. For Microsoft, it's incremental, but Google has to defend it all.
Szymon Paroszkiewicz
HI's founder
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🇺🇸 The AI-supported Bing is here
The martech world has been gossiping about it for several weeks, and now Satya Nadella, Microsoft's CEO, has made it official: AI solutions known from ChatGPT will be used in Bing. “It’s a new day in search. (...) The race starts today, and we’re going to move and move fast,” said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. He pointed out that web search has been the same for years. AI can change it dramatically by providing better, more accurate and up-to-date results in a shorter time. Bing will also be able to answer users’ questions. The brand new search engine from Microsoft can seriously damage Google’s core business. Shortly after the news Bing’s app has seen a tenfold increase in downloads.
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🇺🇸 Google picks up the gauntlet
Google wants to challenge ChatGPT with its own AI chatbot. "Bard seeks to combine the breadth of the world's knowledge with the power, intelligence, and creativity of our large language models," - Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, wrote in a blog. He also added that AI will be used in Google’s search engine. "Soon, you'll see AI-powered features in Search that distil complex information and multiple perspectives into easy-to-digest formats, so you can quickly understand the big picture and learn more from the web."
🇪🇺 Will online political ads in Europe be regulated?
After the European Parliament fixed its negotiating position, Europe moved a step closer to having specific regulations on online political ad targeting and transparency. MEPs expressed their hope that an agreement could be reached in time for the regulation to be in place for the 2024 European Parliament elections. “Platforms would be banned from running opaque ad delivery algorithms to determine who should see a political ad; they would only be able to select recipients randomly in the pool of people delineated by the targeting parameters chosen by the sponsor.”
🌏 Who are de-influencers?
What do influencers do? They mainly promote products. But recently, de-influencers have been gaining popularity on social media - especially on TikTok. Instead of persuading people to buy, they advise their audience what is better not to purchase. Such de-influencers are, for example, disappointed consumers or specialists in some field, dispelling myths (often reproduced precisely by influencers), e.g. dermatologists describing harmful, but popular on the Internet, skin care methods. Videos on TikTok with the hashtag #deinfluencing have already exceeded 68 million views.
🇸🇪 Klarna and Paris Hilton
Y2K is nothing more than an acronym referring to the return of 2000s fashion. Many brands are now trying to use this trend to promote themselves, but it may come as a surprise that Swedish fintech Klarna is among this group. It has partnered with the Y2K symbol: Paris Hilton. The celebrity, who started her career in the 2000s, is promoting Klarna's services - the whole campaign is an exaggerated reference to the 2000s. Feeling old already?
🌏 It’s not a good time for middle managers
Layoffs are underway in Silicon Valley and across the tech industry, and the group that is particularly at risk of losing their jobs are middle managers, Bloomberg reports. On top of that, they are under increasing pressure both from above, as they are required to do more with less, and from below - as they have to enforce return-to-office policies or set rules for hybrid work. A recent survey by Slack Technologies showed that mid-level professionals are the most exhausted group of workers. As many as nearly half (43%) of those surveyed said they suffer from the burnout.
🇫🇷 Criteo is trying to sell itself
Criteo is an advertising ecosystem known primarily for its cutting-edge solutions in the area of retargeting. The company is looking for potential buyers. Criteo collects data through partnerships with companies, ad agencies and brands, and makes money by charging advertisers when consumers click on personalized ads. However, the company is preparing for the phasing out of cookies, which is why it is investing in its fast-growing retail media business, which involves working directly with retailers' websites. Who could take over Criteo? Among those on tap are Shopify and The Trade Desk.
🇪🇺 The Great Resignation continues
According to a survey performed by Berlin-based Leapsome towards the end of 2022, 86% of EU professionals (and 76% of US professionals) plan to give notice in the next 12 months. Why are so many people looking for new jobs? European survey respondents did not mention compensation, access to benefits, or a lack of work-life balance – these factors ranked in second and third place, respectively. In the first place there was a poor performance review process.
🇪🇺 Will the EU impose tough regulations on AI?
Thierry Breton, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, told Reuters that the sudden rise in popularity of apps such as ChatGPT and the associated risks require the development of appropriate regulations. This is the first time a senior EU official has referred to the popular AI tool. EU officials are currently working on the first piece of legislation that directly addresses the AI market. AI systems would be given one of four categories describing the risks associated with their use: unacceptable, high, limited and minimal risk. The regulations under development would apply primarily to high-risk systems.
🇬🇧 Famous director and a smartphone
Ridley Scott is an award-winning film director and producer known for such productions as Blade Runner, Gladiator and House of Gucci. As part of his collaboration with Samsung, the filmmaker recently created a short film, which he shot entirely on the Galaxy S23 Ultra smartphone. How did it work out for him? See for yourself.
Galaxy S23 Ultra: 'Behold' by Sir Ridley Scott
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