Today in Digital Marketing - Is the Future of Digital Advertising a Single “Remix” Button?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's Thursday, April 20th. Today, are we getting closer to ad managers with just one button? Microsoft drops Twitter from its social media platform. Why Europe wants your brand to stop running issue-based ads. Snapchat bets the farm on AI filters. And how much you stand to make from the Facebook class action settlement. Spoiler alert, it ain't much. I'm Todd Maffin. That's ahead today in digital marketing. Well, it was only a matter of time before the robot overlords came for Google ads.

Starting point is 00:00:32 The Financial Times reporting today that the company is set to integrate generative AI into its ad manager in the coming months, joining the growing list of other major companies adopting the technology. According to an internal presentation obtained by Media, the new AI tech, which uses large language models similar to those behind Google's BARD chatbot, will be used to generate ads across various platforms, including search pages, YouTube, and Gmail. Here's how it'll work. Marketers will provide creative content for an ad campaign, like images, video clips, written copy, and so on, which will then be remixed by Google's AI to produce algorithmically generated ads that target specific audiences. The report noted that the new offering will be integrated into Performance Max,

Starting point is 00:01:17 which already uses a rather opaque system of programmed automation to determine ad placement, budget allocation, and simple ad copy creation. There are concerns that the new AI push could result in false or misleading content being promoted in ads, especially given that these chatbots are prone to hallucinations. For instance, I asked ChatGPT to tell me about myself, and it got most of it right. Then it started going a little haywire, at one point reporting that I am a trained wine sommelier, which I assure you I'm not. That sort of mess up is funny when it's about yourself,

Starting point is 00:01:53 not so funny when it starts making things up about your brand or the products you sell. Google says, no worries, it has plans and safeguards in place to prevent misinformation, but did not provide details on those. While Google continues to push its AI, some marketers might be losing their go-to reports. The company announced yesterday that it will soon drop the Page Experience report,

Starting point is 00:02:25 Mobile Usability report, and Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool within Search Console. But the Core Web Vitals and HTTPS reports will still be available. The original Page Experience report was introduced in 2021 for mobile pages, and a desktop version was added last year. Now the report will be removed completely and replaced with a new page linking to general guidance about page experience. This December, it will also retire the mobile usability report, the mobile-friendly test tool, and the mobile-friendly test API.

Starting point is 00:02:50 Why the changes? Well, according to the company, the reason for discontinuing these tools is not that they're no longer relevant, but because there are now several other resources available for evaluating mobile usability, like Lighthouse from Chrome. Still, heads up if this may affect your reporting

Starting point is 00:03:04 in the coming months. 100 seconds into flight. It's been a bad 24 hours for Elon Musk. As we prepare for stage separation. One of his SpaceX rockets blew up. Though weirdly, when it did explode, everyone at SpaceX for some reason thought this was great. Also blowing up, part of his $44 billion play toy named Twitter. Microsoft announced yesterday that it will remove Twitter from its Digital Marketing Center management element starting next week,

Starting point is 00:03:47 meaning social media managers will no longer be able to schedule or post tweets or manage ads through Microsoft's social platform, which could result in some Microsoft Business Suite users reducing their ad spend on Twitter. While the company is not given an official explanation for the decision, it is believed to be due to Twitter's updated and quite expensive new API pricing. Elon Musk is not happy. He responded to a post about the news alleging that Microsoft illegally used Twitter data to train AI models and that he plans to take legal action. As an early investor in OpenAI, Musk has repeatedly expressed his frustration that his $100 million investment has turned the company into a $29 billion business. As Social Media Today points out, with Microsoft's large stake in OpenAI and integration of ChatGPT into its tools, Musk apparently wants to restrict OpenAI's access to Twitter data, which has been used to fuel its generative AI models, while also increasing how much it costs for companies to access the same.

Starting point is 00:04:52 That seems to be what Musk is implying here, that Microsoft, as a beneficiary of OpenAI's expansion, is profiting off Twitter data, which he'll be looking to claw back, unquote. One thing is certain, though, as more brands and third-party tools leave the platform, Twitter's ad business continues to be on shaky ground. Do you have business insurance? If not, how would you pay to recover from a cyber attack, fire damage, theft, or a lawsuit? 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 00:05:39 Get customized coverage today starting at $19 per month at zensurance.com. Be protected. Be Zen. The European Union's proposed political advertising regulations aim to increase transparency and ensure users know the source of an ad. But these regulations may have unintended consequences for commercial issue based advertising. An interesting think piece up on Adweek.com today looks at the dangers brands face from the EU's new ad rules. Under some of the proposals, any content that's likely to influence an election outcome could be considered political advertising and therefore subject to regulation. The report notes that this broad definition could hinder brands from engaging in issues-based ad campaigns that highlight causes like sustainability or diversity or inclusion. Brands often use these campaigns to demonstrate

Starting point is 00:06:26 shared values with consumers, but this new legislation would make compliance challenging. According to a report, brands could be required to monitor upcoming voting events at national and local levels, as there is no obligation for member states or the EU to provide information on them. This would add an additional layer of complexity and legal risk for businesses, as they'd need to understand and consider the criteria around political ads. As a result, some brands may soon have to consider

Starting point is 00:06:54 avoiding running issue-based advertising at all, limiting the range of voices. A few updates from Snapchat. First, the company is opening up ad revenue sharing to more creators. Last year, the platform tested a program that offered some creators a share of revenue from ads that appeared between their stories posts. Now, creators with 50,000 followers and 25 million monthly Snap views can participate in the program as long as they post a minimum of 10 stories monthly. Snapchat is also introducing public stories, which lets users over 18 share their content publicly to reach a larger audience. And finally, Snapchat is jumping on the generative AI bandwagon too with new augmented reality lenses that are powered by the AI tech. Users can now transform

Starting point is 00:07:42 themselves and the world around them into an animated sci-fi scene through a new cosmic lens. And that will bring us to the lightning round. YouTube has released new updates for Shorts to make the app consistent on both Android and iOS devices. iOS users will now have the option to choose a specific frame as their Shorts clip thumbnail, while Android creators can now respond to choose a specific frame as their shorts clip thumbnail, while Android creators can now respond to comments with a short of their own. Meta has agreed to pay $725 million to settle a class action lawsuit that accused the platform of allowing access to private information. And yes, you can sign up to get a portion of that settlement,

Starting point is 00:08:21 as long as you were a Facebook user in the US.S. between May 2007 and December of last year. But due to the large number of users involved, individual payouts are likely to be peanuts after legal fees and other costs are deducted. Blue Sky, the Twitter alternative, now has an Android app. But if you want to access the platform, you will need to join the waitlist or get an invite code from a friend. You can find us on Blue Sky at todayindigital at bsky.social. That will do it for the day. I'm Todd Maffin. Thanks for listening. See you tomorrow. One, be calm. Two, get under shelter. Three, don't run.

Starting point is 00:09:14 Obey your air raid warden. Four, stay home. Five, keep off the highway. Six, don't fall. Stay home. Five. Keep off the highway. Six. The phone. Obey your air raid warden. There are rules that you should know. What to do and where to go.

Starting point is 00:09:39 When you hear the sirens blow. Stop, look, and listen Seven, the smoke Eight, of all the kitties Most of all Obey your air raid warden

Today in Digital Marketing - Is the Future of Digital Advertising a Single “Remix” Button?

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