Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
Work The Core
Google Search liaison Danny Sullivan says the next Search core update is expected in “the coming weeks,” Search Engine Roundtable reports. There is no set deadline because updates go live after testing and an approval process.
This is all normal, but Google and web publishers are on edge because the past few core updates precipitated massive changes to search monetization and resulted in some independent publishers being crushed. The AdExchanger newsletter previously covered the plight of HouseFresh, a product review site focused on air purifiers, which saw its high Google Search rating plummet, losing out to larger publishers and cynical platforms that farmed its content.
This time, Google is getting ahead of the news. Sullivan met with the founders of HouseFresh and of Retro Dodo, which does reviews of retro video games, in an attempt to repair Google’s standing with web creators. Brandon Saltalamacchia, Retro Dodo’s founder, referred to it in a blog post as “A Brief Meeting With Google After The Apocalypse.”
Saltalamacchia is optimistic Google actually wants to help creators. But mainly he relays how Sullivan warned creators to avoid being “suckered into courses or SEO audits” by vendors and consultants whose aim is to sow doubts about Google.
Too Slow
The TV industry moves slowly. But it’s going FAST now.
Har har.
Free ad-supported TV (FAST) has gained a ton of viewership hours over the past two years, while paid streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and Max are flat or down in terms of market share, according to Nielsen’s The Gauge, its benchmark for TV viewership.
This trend is partly the result of YouTube being big enough for its FAST growth to move the entire category. But others have also gained a lot of viewership market share, including Tubi and The Roku Channel (a free network for Roku streaming device owners).
According to LightShed Partners, a media equity research and investment firm, FAST dynamics are becoming clearer.
For instance, Tubi and YouTube are big on personalization. What viewers see is determined by what they’ve viewed in the past and how they rated other movies or shows. But Pluto TV, a FAST service owned by Paramount, has lost ground, which LightShed attributes to the fact that it mimics traditional TV – as in, a bundle of live, linear feeds and not on-demand content.
AI, AI Everywhere (But Not A Drop To Drink)
Artificial intelligence isn’t a new phenomenon by any means. But the hype right now makes it difficult for ad agencies to thoroughly evaluate and implement AI platforms or service providers for their businesses.
According to Digiday, many agencies are testing these tools via their own closed sandbox environments, with a focus on maintaining the security of the brand’s data. Some agencies, like Razorfish, won’t officially sign off on a deal until they’re confident sensitive information won’t be used as “training fodder” for other LLM development.
Even so, agency leaders still worry about problems posed by the technology itself. Take AI’s tendency to hallucinate responses, for example, or the potential IP violations that could stem from unwittingly using copyrighted data or plagiarizing ad creative.
To say nothing of how AI-generated images still don’t always have the right number of fingers, notes one Digiday source.
But Wait, There’s More!
Taboola strikes a deal with Apple to power native ads within the Apple News and Stocks apps. [Axios]
Disney Advertising renews its agreement with media brand Mecenas to create more diverse content – and, of course, run ads against it. [Adweek]
Gen Z’s love affair with tech jobs is over. [Business Insider]
Human uncovered a fraud operation dubbed “Konfety” that used more than 250 Google Play decoy apps to hide “malicious twin” apps. [The Hacker News]
You’re Hired!
Kraft Heinz hires former PepsiCo CMO Todd Kaplan as marketing chief for North America. [Ad Age]
Sandy Welsch, formerly of FlyWheel, joins GroupM’s Global Commerce Executive team. [release]
AI marketing platform Jasper appoints Melody Meckfessel as its new CTO. [release]
Azerion hires Mark Taylor as head of CTV in the UK. [release]
