Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
GVPeeved
Sometimes it feels like there’s no scandal big enough to stop advertisers from spending on Google media.
But that’s not been the case following the recent Adalytics report on the Google Video Partner (GVP) program report, which revealed that YouTube campaigns include web video placements with seriously low-quality formats and media.
David Mirsky, media director at Crispin, Porter & Bogusky, tells Adweek that, since the report came out, “all campaigns that were running on GVP are being reevaluated based on performance against primary KPIs” and where those ads have run.
But that’s easier said than done. Even if YouTube advertisers can opt out of the GVP inventory pool, Google’s automated ad systems, including Performance Max and Video Action Campaigns, serve ads to GVP with no controls for the advertiser.
The real wait-and-see is whether Google takes strong measures to improve GVP supply quality. The ocean of low-CPM inventory helps Google’s RoAS because the platform can claim credit for purchases that would have happened anyway, when perhaps all Google did was serve a below-the-fold ad to a random website.
Pixel Dust
Last summer, The Markup reported on hospital and health care-related sites transmitting Meta pixel data used for targeting ads and profiling users.
To be fair, there are legitimate uses that have nothing to do with advertising, including making note of what type of appointment a patient has signed up for and following up with messaging.
Still, the report revealed a major flaw among companies that handle sensitive site data. Many automatically consent to Meta’s default site pixel purposes rather than setting stringent rules on the data.
Now, a group of Democratic senators and House Rep. Katie Porter will soon release their own report with similar findings, according to CNN. The report is focused on tax-prep companies, such as H&R Block, TaxSlayer and TaxAct, that transmit filing data to Meta – everything from gross income and tax refunds to which buttons and text fields people click in the software.
These types of reports could affect how other verticals approach the use of Meta’s pixel.
Marketers at mortgage providers, buy-now-pay-later companies, sports betting services or any organization with a purview on sensitive web browsing are officially on notice.
Get Thee Back, Copycat
Generative AI is here to stay. But it shouldn’t mean the end of human creators.
Adobe is pushing for a federal anti-impersonation law that would prevent AI from training on or copying a creator’s work, Axios reports.
Firefly, Adobe’s AI image generator, uses only Adobe stock images, licensed content and public domain content that is not protected by copyright, per the company’s general counsel, who testified before Congress on the matter yesterday. Adobe also appends a tag so that AI-generated content is labeled as such.
Copyright concerns have swirled around generative AI since it burst on the scene last November. Artists, composers and writers are lobbying for protection and compensation.
Earlier this week, eight anonymous plaintiffs filed a class action lawsuit against Google, accusing it of trawling websites for copyrighted work, which it uses to train its AI systems. Meta, Microsoft and OpenAI have also faced lawsuits over training their chatbots on books, open-source code and art without permission.
But Wait, There’s More!
Meta is set for a showdown with the EU over allegations that it crushed competition from classified ad rivals. [Bloomberg]
Tumblr is in the red, losing $30 million a year. [TechCrunch]
TikTok content and ads come to Redbox kiosks. [MediaPost]
And speaking of TikTok, employees in China apparently accessed Australian user data. [The Guardian]
You’re Hired!
Goodway Group hires Marc Ducnuigeen as chief client officer. [release]
Carat US names Cristina Charles as EVP and head of growth. [release]
