Fried Bids, Digital News - 6-14 May 2024

This is my personal selection of the most interesting articles published from 6th-14th May 2024. Let me know what you think in the comments. If you want to receive the 50+ news full newsletter, please reach me through Direct Message.

DemandGen Gains Placements Controls

Google has introduced new creative controls for video ads in Demand Gen campaigns, allowing advertisers to choose where their videos appear across different ad formats like in-stream, in-feed, and Shorts. This gives marketers more control over their brand storytelling by enabling them to select the best format for their brand. The feature, released in beta, allows advertisers to "prefer" specific formats for each of their video assets. This helps ensure assets meet format requirements and enables optimization of winning creative elements for each placement. The new capabilities were first spotted by a Google Ads expert, and are aimed at providing advertisers with greater flexibility and better performance in their video advertising efforts on Google platforms.

AI Overviews Reshape Google Search Results

In May 2024, Google announced the rollout of AI-generated overviews in US search results, powered by a new Gemini language model customized for search. The updates aim to reinvent how people discover and consume information, offering adjustable overviews, multi-step reasoning for complex queries, built-in planning capabilities, and AI-organized search result pages. The new features allow users to ask detailed questions, such as finding the best yoga or pilates studios in Boston with information on intro offers and walking times. Google reports that people have already used AI Overviews billions of times through Search Labs, and the company plans to bring them to the general search results for hundreds of millions of US users this year.

Instagram Trumps TikTok for User Acquisition

According to a global survey conducted by app marketing solution Zoomd in February-March 2024, marketers prefer to use Instagram over TikTok for video-based user acquisition. 79% of respondents allocated at least 75% of their user acquisition budget to Instagram, compared to 25% at most for TikTok. However, 53% of respondents said they worked with both platforms in 2023. The survey also found that 50% of mobile marketers use AI to optimize up to 60% of their user acquisition ads, and 56% use influencers and creators for user acquisition. Additionally, 69% of respondents plan to increase their budgets for retargeting and retention campaigns by up to 20% in 2024, despite the challenges posed by new privacy-driven app tracking changes.

Walmart and Disney Join Forces for Precise Ad Targeting

In a new partnership announced on May 8, 2024, Walmart Connect, the retailer's media business, will allow advertisers to use Walmart's shopper data to target audiences on Disney's streaming platforms, including Disney Plus and Hulu. Through the integration of Walmart's data with Disney's proprietary Audience Graph tools, advertisers will be able to better target and measure the performance of their advertising campaigns. This deal aims to provide marketers with enhanced customer insights and more effective ad targeting, while theoretically maintaining user privacy by using clean-room technology to combine the datasets. The partnership is part of Walmart's effort to expand its advertising business and further integrate its retail data with major media platforms, following its recent acquisition of smart TV maker Vizio.

New Streaming Bundle Offers Disney, Hulu, and Max

Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery are teaming up to offer a new streaming bundle in the US this summer that will include Disney Plus, Hulu, and Max. The bundle will provide both ad-supported and ad-free options, though the pricing details have not yet been announced. This partnership comes at a pivotal time for the streaming industry, as companies shift their focus from subscriber growth to revenue generation. The bundle aims to provide consumers with more choice and value, especially as streaming services continue to increase in price. Additionally, Disney's ESPN will offer a live sports streaming service in partnership with Warner Bros. Discovery and Fox this fall, further expanding the companies' collaboration and integration in the streaming landscape.

Podcast Ad Revenue to Reach $2 Billion in 2024

According to the IAB's "U.S. Podcast Advertising Revenue Study: 2023 Revenue & 2024-2026 Growth Projections", podcast ad revenues grew at a slower pace of 5% in 2023 to reach $1.9 billion, due to a challenging advertising climate that particularly affected mid-tier companies. However, the industry is projected to return to double-digit growth of 12% in 2024, reaching over $2 billion in revenue, and is on track to hit nearly $2.6 billion by 2026. The growth will be fueled by initiatives such as improved measurement, programmatic advertising, live events, and the continued development of video podcasts. Comedy and sports continue to be the top-performing content genres, while CPG and retail brands have seen revenue increases, demonstrating the medium's ability to deliver at scale and build authentic connections with niche audiences.

GA4 Now Works with Imported Audiences

Google has streamlined the process for using imported user data to build audiences in Google Analytics 4 (GA4). This new capability allows data uploaded via user ID or client ID to be used to qualify users for GA4 audiences immediately, without the need for them to first visit the website or app. This bridges the gap between an organization's customer database and GA4 audience strategy, as previously, imported offline user data could only inform analysis, not directly build audiences. Now, data like loyalty status or purchase histories can be used to instantly create valuable audience segments for remarketing and other use cases. Google cautions against uploading personally identifiable information, and the imported data can overwrite values with subsequent uploads or data collection.

Check DOJ vs Google Ads in 20 Slides

According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), Google has harmed search advertisers through its monopolistic practices. The DOJ argued in the U.S. vs. Google antitrust trial that Google manipulated ad auctions to increase its own revenue, effectively inflating costs for advertisers. The DOJ presented evidence demonstrating how Google used tactics like "format pricing," "squashing," and "RGSP" to artificially inflate bid prices, as well as how the lack of search query visibility made it difficult for advertisers to optimize their campaigns. The DOJ's closing deck outlined how Google's actions led to a more than doubling of Google Search ad CPCs between 2013 and 2020, harming advertisers in the process.

OpenAI Debuts GPT-4o for Text, Speech, and Video

OpenAI has announced a new flagship generative AI model called GPT-4o, which stands for "omni" and refers to its ability to handle text, speech, and video. GPT-4o provides "GPT-4-level" intelligence but improves on GPT-4's capabilities across multiple modalities and media. It greatly enhances the experience in OpenAI's AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, allowing users to interact with it more naturally, interrupt it, and receive real-time responsiveness in a range of emotive styles. GPT-4o also upgrades ChatGPT's vision capabilities, enabling it to quickly answer questions about images, software code, and even live sports games. The model is more multilingual, twice as fast, and half the price of GPT-4 Turbo, with higher rate limits. GPT-4o is available in the free tier of ChatGPT and to subscribers of OpenAI's premium plans, with enterprise-focused options also in the works.

Sponsored Images Outperform Reels on Instagram

According to Digiday+ Research, influencers on Instagram have seen higher engagement rates on sponsored posts featuring still images compared to those using short-form Reels videos. The research, conducted in collaboration with social media management company Dash Hudson, analyzed data from 15 influencers' Instagram and YouTube channels from January to December 2023. The findings show that sponsored still images had the highest engagement rate, with beauty content performing particularly well. Carousel posts, which allow for multiple images or videos, also saw high engagement, especially for fashion and other non-beauty categories. The research suggests that Instagram users, particularly in the beauty industry, may prefer visual inspiration and industry news over in-depth tutorials, leading to better performance for image-based sponsored content.

Google I/O 2024 Showcases Next-Level AI Innovations

At Google I/O 2024, the tech giant unveiled a range of new AI capabilities and updates across its products and services. Google introduced Gemini 1.5 Flash, a faster and more capable version of its flagship Gemini AI model, which can now be used within Google Workspace apps like Docs, Sheets, and Gmail to fetch information and assist users. The company also showcased Project Astra, a multimodal AI assistant that can understand visual input and perform actions on the user's behalf. Additionally, Google announced Veo, a generative AI model that can produce 1080p videos based on text, image, and video prompts, as well as Gems, a custom chatbot creator for the Gemini platform. Furthermore, Google enhanced Android's capabilities with AI-powered scam detection and the ability to answer questions about on-screen videos, while also integrating Gemini Nano, a lightweight version of Gemini, into Google Chrome to assist with content creation.