Today in Digital Marketing - ChatGPT: The Lump of Coal in Google's Ad Business

Starting point is 00:00:01 It is Thursday, December 22nd. Today, Google finally begins to see AI as a threat. Twitter may be blocking your brand's security access. The two companies threatening the current ad industry duopoly. And TikTok says its people in China are totally not using the app to spy on Americans. Except for a couple of people. I'm Todd Maffin. Here's what you missed today in digital marketing. Google is worried about the impact AI like ChatGPT might have on its lucrative search engine ad business. The New York Times is reporting that company executives declared what they call a code red, which is a top level company wide priority. According to internal

Starting point is 00:00:40 documents obtained by the Times, Google's CEO has upended the work of numerous groups inside the company to respond to the threat that ChatGPT poses to its search business. The report noted that Google's trust, safety, and research divisions have now been tasked with supporting the development and launch of AI prototypes and products. Others have been tasked with building AI products that generate art and graphics, like OpenAI's Dally. The move to build out its AI product portfolio comes as industry experts discuss whether ChatGPT does have the potential to replace the search giant. Google has not responded to a request for comment. When you start a social media account for your brand, often one of the first things the platform wants is a phone number for verifying you and using two-factor authentication. That can be tricky when you're just one person on an entire marketing team.

Starting point is 00:01:35 Whose number do you give it? What happens if that person leaves or changes their number? That's why many organizations have used virtual numbers to register a brand account, the most common of which has been a Google Voice number. But now, Twitter appears to be blocking Google Voice numbers from using two-factor authentication. Engadget reported yesterday the move could be related to Musk's aggressive efforts to eliminate bot accounts, but it does catch regular and perfectly innocuous users in the crossfire. Twitter also recently blocked 30 mobile carriers globally, which cut off access to thousands of accounts, including legitimate ones using those wireless carriers for 2FA.

Starting point is 00:02:18 Musk claimed the carriers initiated bogus texts to inflate Twitter's contractual obligations for SMS. Quote, Basically, there are telcos who are not being super honest out there in other parts of the world who are basically gaming the system and running like two-factor authentication SMS texts over and over again and just creating a zillion bot accounts to literally run up the tab so that Twitter would SMS text them. Unquote. All that to say, if your brand uses a Google Voice number for its Twitter registration, you may want to check up on it and consider switching to a different number.

Starting point is 00:02:56 In the midst of Elon Musk's somewhat erratic overhaul decisions, we're all aware that many brands have pulled their ad spend. But how have brands' organic strategies shifted? According to new data from software company Amplify, there has been a big drop in brand posting behavior on the platform this year, with the biggest drop occurring after the Elon Musk takeover. The study found that while 80% of brands were tweeting at least weekly during mid-October this year, only around 60% were tweeting in early November. The steepest drop in organic posting

Starting point is 00:03:26 came in late November, after Musk tweeted a graphic image. One example, McDonald's decreased tweets posted from October to November by almost three quarters. Target decreased posting by 98%. Customer relations, though, seem to be one space where companies are still tweeting as usual. Amplify's CFO noted that accounts created specifically for consumer support have not paused activity at the same rate as other corporate accounts. So what's next for organic Twitter? Amplify says it seems many brands are taking a wait-and-see approach as the platform's future remains unknown. The data comes from Amplify's analysis of more than 2,300 Twitter brand accounts. No business or profession is risk-free. Without insurance, your assets are at risk from major financial losses, data breaches, and natural disasters.

Starting point is 00:04:29 Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. This year may mark the end of Google and Meta's duopoly. Axios reported this week that Google and Meta are expected to bring in less than half of all U.S. digital advertising this year for the first time since 2014. Back in 2017, the two companies captured 54% of digital ad spend in the U.S. This year, though, dropped to 48%, according to data from Insider Intelligence. Up until now, Google and Meta's duopoly over digital advertising seemed almost

Starting point is 00:05:05 invincible. While the two ad giants aren't going away anytime soon, Thomas Germain from Gizmodo suggests we are entering a new era in the online world. Quote, there are a lot of reasons for the change, but my two favorites start with the letter A. Perhaps you've heard of them, Amazon and Apple. When you hear those names, ads probably aren't the first word that pops into your head unless you work in marketing. Amazon and Apple are probably the most significant corporate ad industry disruptors in the last 10 years. Thanks to their efforts, digital advertising is undergoing a sea change, unquote. By 2024, Amazon is expected to capture 13% of all U.S. digital ad dollars. Meta is expected to capture 18%.

Starting point is 00:05:50 YouTube announced several updates yesterday in its final Creator Insider Report of 2022. First, the platform is expanding its Shorts Remix report to Desktop, which is currently only available in the YouTube Studio app on mobile. Next up, the platform is adding new insights to its key metrics display in YouTube Studio, including likes and subscribers. Prior to the update, only impressions were shown on the key metrics card. The company is also launching a new live streaming overview section to the YouTube for Creators site with guides, tips, pointers, and so on to help your brand get started on live streaming overview section to the YouTube for Creators site with guides, tips, pointers,

Starting point is 00:06:26 and so on to help your brand get started on live streaming. And finally, YouTube is rolling out some new posting options with an expansion of quizzes, as well as the iOS rollout of its stickers and graphics overlays. And that will bring us to the lightning round. Google has announced that it is making its video blurring privacy tool now available as open source. It is available on GitHub. It can be used to disguise objects like license plates, tattoos, and so on. ByteDance says some of its employees obtained U.S. TikTok user data, including from two reporters, in order to find the sources of suspected leaks of internal conversations. They got IP addresses and other data of reporters from BuzzFeed and the Financial Times.

Starting point is 00:07:09 The FBI is urging people to install an ad blocker. It warns that cyber criminals are using search engine ad services to impersonate brands and direct users to malicious sites that can steal login credentials and other financial information. If you are looking for a gift for that hard-to-please marketer in your family or colleague, you can get them a gift subscription to the Premium Podcast. Just go to todayindigital.com slash premium or tap the link in the show notes. Today is our last episode of the regular newscast. Rest assured we are not leaving you high and dry though A special documentary will be in your feed tomorrow

Starting point is 00:07:48 I'm Todd Mappin, thank you for listening See you tomorrow Talking by the fire And I'm shaving up with the wires Round and round the memory of innocence. Ringing on the roof. Sounds like a dream of childhood. Can I reach back and grab the happiness of Christmas?

Today in Digital Marketing - ChatGPT: The Lump of Coal in Google's Ad Business

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