Advancing AI; Facebook Search Changes Favor Content

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On the heels of Facebook’s new “Big Sur” ad servers for AI computing and Google’s quantum computing technology for AI and predictive search marketing, IBM has opened access to Watson, its AI engine, via a set of API integrations. These tech power players can’t nail down precise end goals or use cases, but they all clearly see advanced AI capabilities as one of, if not the, killer applications for future marketing platforms. More at Fast Company.

Throwing Its Weight Around

Blake Ross, former Facebook product director and Firefox co-founder, has an insightful Medium post evaluating recent Facebook product changes. The social giant recently announced a new local search application that was hailed as a “Yelp killer,” but it’s not actually seeing any internal prioritization (though it did knock $200 million off Yelp’s market cap). Facebook has also started ranking content and shopping opportunities over humans in its search bar. It gets less attention than the phantom Yelp killer, but it’s far more consequential. Read it.

Back To Basics

In India, Silicon Valley product expansion requires building infrastructure. For instance, Alphabet is working with the Indian government to add Wi-Fi to rail stations and investing in “Project Loon,” which aims to spread Internet to rural towns with high-altitude balloons, which in turn are in a heated race with Facebook’s Indian Internet expansion plans. The WSJ’s Newley Purnell cites a McKinsey report showing more than 1 billion Indians without Internet, “and Google is keen for new users to engage with its services, including search, Gmail and video service YouTube.” More.

Time To Make The Content

Content marketing is no longer an editorial quagmire or a vague hypothetical. It’s here and almost every major publisher has embraced some form of sponsored content creation. Which means it’s time to start thinking about standards and best practices for the quasi-journalistic, client-facing role. Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Alexandra Samuel assembles a list of what she sees solidifying in the space. Check it out.

But Wait, There’s More!