Home Daily News Roundup Too Many Copilots?; Amazon Goes Beast Mode

Too Many Copilots?; Amazon Goes Beast Mode

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Marketing On Autopilot

Companies that build AI-powered marketing software have been framing the technology as a friendly helper. Nothing to fear here, just an eager “copilot” ready to serve.

The AI “copilot” that first comes to mind for most people is Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot of the same name. GitHub, meanwhile, which is owned by Microsoft, likewise has GitHub Copilot.

But “copilot” has become far more than a Microsoft product name; it’s been co-opted by many different AI solution providers.

Snowflake called its SQL assistant that launched last year “Snowflake Copilot,” while another cloud infrastructure service, Appian, created Appian AI Copilot in 2023. This month, out-of-home DSP AdQuick released a new AI-based campaign manager called, you guessed it, “AdQuick Copilot.”

And just this week, Endlss, an influencer marketing campaign software platform operated by Penny AI, launched its AI-based version. You know what it’s called; no need to say.

The outlier is Perplexity, which in 2023 introduced Perplexity Copilot, but rebranded to Perplexity Pro Search the following year.

Guess that’s one way to stand out in a crowd of copilots.

Don’t Rate The Player, Rate The Game

One of the funny things about streaming media is that nobody really knows what makes a hit show.

It’s not like back in the day when ratings were issued every week. Today, seemingly hit shows can be canceled for obscure reasons, and it’s hard to understand whether expensive productions are worth it.

Which is why the influencer marketing and reality TV industries were eagerly waiting to see how “Beast Games,” a game show created and branded by MrBeast, would play out with Amazon.

The signs are encouraging. “Beast Games” was picked up for two more seasons, Business Insider reports. MrBeast, whose real name is Jimmy Donaldson, is reportedly now asking for more than $150 million a season.

YouTube and social creators are increasingly assembling studio-quality production capabilities, and Amazon giving its go-ahead to “Beast Games” could encourage other streaming platforms to sign production deals with YouTube stars.

As of now, there’s one other notable example of a successful crossover from YouTube to streaming: Ms. Rachel, who hosts a Sesame Street-esque kids show on YouTube that’s also a huge hit on Netflix.

But there will no doubt be more stars to come.

Keep Calm and Peri-on

As recently as last year, sustainable programmatic advertising was a big trend. People were talking about it, at least. Now, not so much.

Even startups that were founded to reduce carbon emissions in the bidstream are emphasizing other aspects of their tech.

Take Greenbids, which was acquired by public digital advertising company Perion for $65 million this week.

In the press release about the deal, Greenbids is described as “a cutting-edge AI platform that creates custom algorithms for campaign-level optimization across walled garden platforms such as YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, as well as leading DSPs such as Google DV360 and The Trade Desk.”

To be fair, a more efficient supply chain is better for the environment. But that doesn’t appear to be why Perion bought Greenbids.

According to Perion CEO Tal Jacobson, Greenbids not only helps expand Perion’s addressable market but also gives brands more control and transparency over how their budgets are being spent.

Reducing waste and increasing ROI is especially “meaningful to advertisers and brands in uncertain financial environments,” Jacobson said.

And right now, the only thing certain is uncertainty.

But Wait! There’s More

The biggest week in TV ad sales is here – and guess who’s dominating the conversation? (Answer: YouTube.) [Business Insider]

Google is developing a Pinterest-like feature for storing fashion images and design ideas. [The Information]

The Daily Mail is using a new analytics dashboard from Sovrn to improve the value of its inventory by focusing on attention, transparency and actionable insights. [AdMonsters]

You’re Hired!

Marketing and analytics data platform Adverity hires Lee McCance as chief product officer. [release]

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