Pratyush Ranjan’s Post

The EDPB Opinion on "pay or consent" strongly recommends what they call the "Free Alternative Without Behavioural Advertising" (FAWBA): "This alternative must entail no processing for behavioural advertising purposes and may for example be a version of the service with a different form of advertising involving the processing of less (or no) personal data, e.g. contextual or general advertising or advertising based on topics the data subject selected from a list of topics of interests." [75] They keep referring to it as a "further alternative," and say that businesses should consider it if they want to charge for another alternative without behavioural advertising. But if FAWBA is offered, what's the point of calling it a "further alternative"? Doesn't FAWBA satisfy the requirement of providing an "equivalent alternative" to consent making it largely irrelevant what other options are provided? Isn't FAWBA meant to remove the risk that a user would be "forced" to consent to the free option with behavioural advertising? In other words, once there is a FAWBA, the business could, e.g., charge as much as they want for the "no ads whatsoever" option and that would be fine on the EDPB's view. (I assume no further information/transparency issues). No? 💡 UPDATE: Another thing that occured to me regarding alternatives to consent is how strange paragraph 126 looks. In it, the EDPB says that not only the alternatives to consent should be not *degraded* compared to the consent option, but it's also problematic if they are *better*! (Think, e.g., of Facebook/Instagram offering not just "no personalised ads" but "no ads whatsover" to paid subscribers). How does this remark make sense from the perspective of consent being freely given? Isn't the whole point that if you make an alternative to consent as attractive as possible, then you *reduce* any "pressure" to consent?

The AI Revolution Won't Kill Traditional Advertising — But It May Democratize It The breathless hype around AI-generated advertising suggests a wholesale transformation of the $630 billion global advertising industry. The reality is more nuanced. Here's what's actually happening on Madison Avenue and beyond. "AI is raising the floor, not the ceiling," posits Tom Goodwin. Anyone with a laptop can now create decent advertising. But 'decent' is the operative word here. The Math Behind the Myths Despite evangelical predictions about AI slashing advertising costs, the numbers tell a different story. Media placement—not creative production—accounts for 80-99% of most campaign budgets. When a major brand spends $10 million on a campaign, AI might reduce that to $9.2 million. Nice savings? Sure. Revolutionary? Hardly. The Democratization Effect Where AI truly shines is in democratizing access. Small businesses that once cobbled together amateurish assets can now produce professional-looking campaigns. It's like giving everyone Photoshop skills overnight. But having the tools doesn't automatically make you David Ogilvy, Lee Clow, or Bill Bernbaugh. The Dark Side of Good Enough Industry veterans point to an uncomfortable truth: AI exposes how many marketers were getting by with mediocre work. It's creating a 'good enough' epidemic. When you can mask essential competency gaps with AI, there's less incentive to develop deep strategic thinking. While AI theoretically enables infinite campaign variations, the limiting factor isn't technology — it's data. Most brands lack the granular customer insights needed to make hyperpersonalization worthwhile. "We're building Ferrari engines for go-kart tracks." AI isn't going to replace the advertising industry — it may help to reorganize it. But here's the paradox: Most agencies trying to force AI into their existing workflows see only modest efficiency gains. The real revolution requires rethinking the entire creative and production process from the ground up. Those who add AI as another tool in their traditional toolkit are missing the more significant opportunity: the chance to reimagine how advertising gets made fundamentally. The winners in this new landscape won't be those with the best AI tools but those who best understand AI's real value: elevating the baseline while leaving plenty of room for human creativity at the top.

Rediscovering Joy in Advertising: 'AI-R MAX' explores what would happen if you put helium in your Air Max 🪽💨 Remember when ads made us smile instead of preach? The era of Sony's bouncing balls and Cadbury's drumming gorilla? 'AI-R MAX' is bringing that magic back, and here's why it matters for our industry. The Power of "What If?" It all started with a simple question: "What if you put helium in Air Max shoes?" This whimsical thought sparked a campaign that prioritizes fun over function, using AI to bring impossible ideas to life. That fusing of pie in the sky thinking and genuine novelty, puts the film in the same space as memes - the currency of the internet. AI can fold an idea out of virtually any touch point and can react to real-time commercial fluctuations with real time creative, and be entertaining! Why Entertainment-First Advertising Works: - It Stands Out: In a sea of purpose-driven campaigns, pure entertainment catches the eye. - It's Shareable: People spread joy, not lectures. - It's Memorable: Emotional connections last longer than logical arguments. - It Taps into Human Nature: We're wired to seek out moments of delight. The 'AI-R MAX' Approach: - Embraces absurdity and imagination - Uses AI as a creative partner, not just a tool - Focuses on creating feelings, not just conveying messages - Challenges the notion that every ad needs a deep purpose The Big Question for creatives When did we decide that advertising couldn't be fun anymore? 'AI-R MAX' is a wake-up call for our industry and a strategic advantage over most brands and creative work. Maybe It's time to ask ourselves: "Are we making ads people want to watch, or just ads we think they should watch?" Moving Forward As we navigate the future of advertising in a time where AI is already filling the need for human oversight, let's not forget the power of pure, unadulterated fun. 'AI-R MAX' shows us what's possible when we prioritize entertainment and let our imaginations run wild. The key learning is simple: in a world full of messages, be the memorable moment. #Advertising #CreativeMarketing #AIinAdvertising #BrandStorytelling What are your thoughts? Has purpose-driven advertising gone too far? Can advertising be fun and entertaining just for joy?

How contextual AI is rewriting the rules for digital advertising

CTV, Retail Media, and Walled gardens are reshaping the online advertising landscape. The open web is no longer the dominant force, prompting industry shifts ahead. #CTV #RetailMedia #WalledGardens #OnlineAdvertising #DigitalMarketing #TrustAndSafety

CTV, Retail Media, and Walled gardens are reshaping the online advertising landscape. The open web is no longer the dominant force, prompting industry shifts ahead. #CTV #RetailMedia #WalledGardens #OnlineAdvertising #DigitalMarketing #TrustAndSafety

Yesterday, it struck me that the advertising business model faces an existential crisis driven by how our society and technologies evolve. The current model, especially in social- and traditional media, distorts decision-making with perverted incentives, turning users into resources instead of stakeholders. This fuels clickbait, fake news, and sensationalism, eroding the trust between people and organizations meant to inform them. However, people like free stuff regardless of quality, so this won't cause a crisis. Ad models thrive on keeping users engaged—like doomscrolling on TikTok or falling into a YouTube rabbit hole. However, when we search for specific information, such as on Google or in news articles, these platforms manipulate us into longer searches or reading times by withholding key details. Most articles could be half as long and still as effective. The past decades have been all about making everything available to everyone, all the time. We can command the world with our thumbs, and we’ve become addicted to screens that are great for advertising. However, we’re transitioning to a world where AI assistants will fetch information directly, tailored to our preferences, bypassing the need for extensive browsing. Imagine the impact on display ads once personal AI assistants can deliver precisely what we need without us jumping through hoops. It’s what we’re doing at Omnai for news and what Perplexity is doing for search. When this transition happens, and I’m sure it will, I predict that the ad industry as we know it will have to fight for survival. While the ad industry may adapt, its current state creates more harm than good. Even as it finds ways to survive in an AI-driven world, we need to find a balanced approach rather than having corporations have extreme and indirect power over media organizations and their consumers, as they do now. So, instead of wishing for the advertising industry to die in the fight (as I previously have), I hope consumers realize their attention is being mined like a resource with invisible long-term consequences. That regulators, backed by research, will act against these perverse incentives. And that business owners will explore alternatives to ad-based models, like Omnai’s pay-what-you-can approach, which balances profitability with accessibility. With a collective effort, we might stand a chance at creating change. But until then, let me leave you with a book to read and a question to ponder while you read it; Jonathan Haidt's The Anxious Generation is a gut-wrenching look at the impact of technology on younger generations and the hidden costs of our screen-driven lives. Meanwhile, ask yourself: If something isn’t worth paying for, is it truly worth having? And while you wait for your book to download or arrive by mail, feel absolutely free to challenge me or elaborate on anything here. This is still a fresh thought, and I’d love to refine my thinking 🙌

Show me someone who thinks Advertising will die because of AI and I'll show you someone who doesn't understand how Advertising and Brands work. - They’ve never taken a look around their house. - They’ve never spoken to people about how they buy what they buy. - They don’t know what they don’t know.  - They are the sort of people who think that everyone hates Ads, rather than realizing the power they offer. - We don't make rational decisions. - We still need confirmation of our choices. - We still need to know what and how to feel about things we own ( in some categories) - We don't have sufficient interest in 99% of the things we buy to search them. Are we going to research our fabric softener, a brand of superglue, the best scented candle. We use Brands to save ourselves from collapse. - We still need to inform people that our products and services exist. - We need to create interest in the very first place to know how to look   - In many instances we need to know that other people know about the brands we own to demonstrate status. - Advertising helps product makers get distribution with retailers. - Advertising helps us establish confidence and scale. Now remember. AI will bring in amazing changes to advertising. It will change the way that ad made, a bit, for some companies. It will change the way that some ads are placed and measured and improved and learned from. It will change the way that we search for some things. It will change the way that we decide on some things. But thinking that advertising will die because of AI, is like thinking that advertising will die because of Search or the internet. Instead it’s a wonderful new lever of opportunity to think around, something I’m spending a lot of time doing for my clients. Using a comedic image from Gen AI to show we've got a way to go

Quick read regarding the evolution we are seeing in online advertising. The open web is becoming less and less of the advertising landscape with the majority of content consumption happening in the walled gardens. Facebook, Instagram and TikTok are capturing views. It explains why more companies are trying Retail Media or trying to create their own walled gardens. I would also attribute some of Google focus on AI as not just because it is the shiny new toy, but as trying to fashion their own version of a walled garden instead of the simply the destination where users 'launch' into the open web. https://lnkd.in/gaCsEtZN

The only way to keep your ads profitable in 2024 👇 Before we created AdCreative.ai, we had a marketing agency in Paris that grew from 0 to $1.2M ARR in 6 months. We doubled and tripled our clients’ ROI while decreasing our workload all at once. Our secret sauce was the technology behind AdCreative.ai, an AI model that connects to your ad accounts and understand what works for you, then generates editable, conversion-focused ad creatives in seconds. Meta, Google, LinkedIn, Pinterest—wherever you are advertising, it’s too competitive these days. This means your creatives must be the better than your competitors who target the same audience if you want to get that click. And to find better creatives, you must test tons of creatives a week. Unless you have a dedicated graphic design team trained in conversion rate best practices, it is not possible to produce this volume of visuals and videos to test. This is exactly why we created AdCreative.ai. In paid advertising, creatives matter the most, and it’s time you automate this through AI if you want to compete with companies that have large agencies or teams behind them.