Salesforce And IBM Team Up On AI; Facebook Is Ready To Pay For Original Video Programming

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign-up here.

Cross-Pollination

Salesforce and IBM have joined forces on AI. Each company will let the other’s anthropomorphized AI (Watson in IBM’s case, Einstein in Salesforce’s) play in its sandbox. For example, USA Today reports, “an insurance company running Salesforce could use real-time weather updates from Watson to warn customers about impending bad weather. Or Watson’s retail industry data could combine with Einstein’s customer-habit information to create targeted campaigns for shoppers.” More. Related in AdExchanger: IBM Chief Digital Officer Bob Lord on Einstein: “Salesforce will always be a strong competitor, but we’ll be able to get more Watson APIs out to the market faster.” Read that.

Blue Tube

Facebook is ready to pay for original video programming that would stream inside its app. A Digiday report describes Facebook’s outreach to would-be production partners. In those meetings, its head of global creative strategy, Ricky Van Veen (a College Humor co-founder), has described a “spotlight module” that would display a rotating smorgasbord of TV-like content within the Facebook mobile app. But Van Veen has not been given a blank check, apparently. One unnamed source said, “They are trying to find that sweet spot where the content feels premium enough for advertisers to love it, but it’s obviously financially safer than funding a bunch of ‘Game of Thrones.’” Read it.

Search High And Low

“Most search advertisers spend the vast majority of their budgets with Google, perhaps sprinkle in a bit of Microsoft’s Bing, and call it day,” writes Mike Shields of The Wall Street Journal in a piece suggesting Google may be losing its iron grip on search. Category-based intent on Amazon and Pinterest is “starting to erode Google’s dominance,” says Forrester analyst Collin Colburn. “The true mystery is, really can there be a third player here?” asks Todd Bowman, Merkle’s search marketing director. “We are prepping our clients for that reality.” More.

Not Snap For Work

When marketers take issue with Snapchat’s dearth of advertising transparency, it typically involves metrics like verified views, shares and video durations … but don’t forget good old-fashioned brand safety concerns. Snapchat may have grown up in some ways, but, as Ad Age reports, a series of family-friendly brands have recently seen their ads pop up next to nude videos and porn stars. Snapchat isn’t alone here: Facebook/Instagram and Twitter have also found themselves in hot water due to advertising against illicit content, but Snapchat faces unique challenges in securing brand safety guarantees. More.

But Wait, There’s More!