The OG vs. GPT
OpenAI’s ChatGPT will launch a web search engine, which sounds like more of a frontal assault on Google compared with ChatGPT’s typical query style.
But instead of launching as a standalone product, the web search results will be part of the existing ChatGPT interface, The Verge reports.
Last week, during a quarterly earnings report, an investor asked Alphabet’s top brass why it forces its generative-AI results – which Google calls AI Overviews (AIOs) – into the preexisting Google Search pipeline, rather than testing the products separately.
The answer is the same for Google and OpenAI: scale.
During the call, Alphabet bragged that its AIOs are being used by more than one billion people. But that’s not surprising considering AIOs appear at the top of traditional Google Search pages. It’s not unlike how Google can now boast that YouTube Shorts get 70 billion views per day … because it plays them on loops to YouTube viewers.
Meanwhile, Adam Fry, ChatGPT’s search product lead, tells The Verge the company currently has no advertising or paid promotion for the product, and there are “no plans” to incorporate ads.
Sure.
Priced Out By Politics
This year’s $12-billion-plus deluge in political advertising has priced brands out of certain markets, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Particularly on TV, CTV and Meta’s apps, the added demand is forcing smaller brands to switch up their creative, target cheaper inventory, avoid running ads in swing states and, in some cases, delay campaigns until the election is over.
“They just cannot compete in this environment where their dollars don’t go as far and share of brain is fearfully low,” says Christine Rousseau, managing partner at ad agency Fancy.
Lalo, a baby and toddler product brand, has seen Meta’s rates double and triple in the final stretch before the election, so it pivoted to Amazon and TikTok, which banned political ads.
Tandem, a financial-planning app, likewise noticed higher prices for Meta ads, but stuck with the platform. However, Tandem shifted to more “fun” creative to break through the clutter of political messaging, says CEO Michelle Winterfield.
Rowing machine manufacturer Hydrow is less put off by higher prices than “the difficulty in your message penetrating,” says CMO Diana Cino. Hydrow switched to influencer marketing and podcasts, where costs are less prone to election-related fluctuations.
Adults Only
Pundit-packed news aside, what kind of content goes well with political advertising?
Porn, apparently.
A new campaign led by the Freedom to Watch (FTW) PAC is posting ads specifically on high-trafficked adult content websites in an attempt to warn mostly young, male audiences about what Trump’s “Project 2025” might do to those sites.
Project 2025, a policy report laid out by the conservative think tank The Heritage Foundation, seeks to criminalize anything it defines as pornography, as well as contraceptive pharmaceuticals like the Plan B pill.
FTW isn’t the only group targeting conservative porn-related policies right now. There’s also Artists United for Change, which is working with adult entertainment actors on a similar campaign. But FTW’s ads have generated a surge in search queries about a “Trump porn ban” in several key battleground states, according to Google Trend data.
It’s enough to make one wonder what other content opportunities political advertisers have been missing out on. For example, is it too late to blast out ads to parental websites regarding plans to deregulate baby formula and reduce access to school meals?
But Wait! There’s More!
Walgreens’ media chief calls out TikTok virality as “all a lie.” [Adweek]
Nielsen gets MRC approval to integrate first-party streaming data into ratings. [Ad Age]
The digital ad market is booming due to AI advancements and political spending, but – surprise! – Big Tech platforms are benefiting more than publishers. [Axios]
The EU has launched formal proceedings against Temu over illegal products. [The Guardian]
The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission has approved Google’s request to be exempted from Canada’s Online News Act for five years in exchange for a $100 million annual payment to Canadian journalists. [CRTC]
FuboTV shares fall after North American revenue fails to live up to expectations. [MSN]
Streaming video platform Twitch announces new content classification guidelines for “politics and sensitive social issues,” which includes “intermittent” conversations about sex, gender, race and religion. [release]
