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- 🔎 Googles "Ad Library" + Ad Violation, ☁️ Q1 Software Trends, 🤖 Unity's AI Marketplace
🔎 Googles "Ad Library" + Ad Violation, ☁️ Q1 Software Trends, 🤖 Unity's AI Marketplace
The new Google Ads Transparency feature is a game-changer for digital marketers and advertisers.
Kristoffer Lindström
June 28, 2023
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Top headlines today:
Googles Ad Violation
Waze Layoffs
Unity's AI Marketplace
Q1 Cloud Software Trends
Google's "Ad Library" Released
and more...
🌐 Big Tech
Google allegedly breached its standards in video ad placements on third-party websites, with approximately 80% of these placements violating the promised criteria, according to Adalytics' research. The company disputes these findings, stating that the research is inaccurate and doesn't represent their advertiser safety efforts. Brands like Johnson & Johnson, American Express, and Samsung were among those whose ad placements did not meet Google's advertised standards, leading to demands for refunds.
Meta is launching extensive parental control tools for Instagram and Messenger, including time-monitoring and insight into their child's contacts. Parents can check their child's Messenger contacts and privacy settings, receive notifications about reports made, and even supervise blocked contacts. Meta is also testing additional safety features.
Google is making cuts to the Waze team as it transitions the company's ad system to Google's. The layoffs will reportedly affect roles in sales, marketing, operations, and analytics. Waze, which has over 500 staff, confirms these layoffs but does not reveal exact figures.
Google has reportedly terminated its augmented reality (AR) glasses project following mass layoffs and the departure of AR/VR chief Clay Bavor. The tech giant now aims to focus on providing software for other companies' hardware products, including Android "XR" for headsets and "micro XR" for glasses.
Apple has raised the prices of iCloud storage subscriptions by approximately 25% in numerous international regions.
🤖 AI & Emerging Tech
Google-owned DeepMind is developing a chatbot named Gemini, potentially rivaling OpenAI's ChatGPT. DeepMind's Gemini plans to combine the strengths of AlphaGo with large model language capabilities, innovating in reinforcement learning.
Baidu's latest foundation model, Ernie 3.5, reportedly outperforms OpenAI's ChatGPT on several key measures, including general abilities and certain Chinese-language capabilities. The Beijing-based company has been publicly beta-testing its ChatGPT rival for three months, boasting increased training and inference efficiency. Ernie Bot is being integrated across various business lines, with a $140 million venture fund established to invest in similar startups.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, reportedly plans to evolve the chatbot into a "supersmart personal assistant for work," capable of tasks like drafting emails and documents in a user's style. This move may set OpenAI against Microsoft, its primary partner, investor, and cloud provider.
Unity Technologies announced an AI software marketplace, causing its shares to increase by 12%. The marketplace will allow Unity's game developers to incorporate AI tools from independent companies, and AI companies can distribute their software through Unity's Asset Store.
💰´Tech Market Pulse
The latest trends in cloud software include decreasing growth and net retention, with sales efficiency seeing a significant spike in Q1. However, Free Cash Flow (FCF) margins have steadily increased. The industry median valuation is 6.0x of projected next twelve months’ revenue, while the future growth rate is 15%.
Robinhood is reportedly cutting 7% of its full-time employees, marking the third round of layoffs since 2022. This follows Robinhood's recent acquisition of credit card platform X1.
💡Insights & Analysis
Understanding the significance of strategic pricing is often ignored in the commercial world. With the e-commerce landscape evolving and B2B brands venturing into D2C channels, it is crucial to improve pricing maturity. Brands can significantly increase profits by merely adjusting prices.
The new Google Ads Transparency feature is a game-changer for digital marketers and advertisers. By providing visibility into competitors' ads, users can gain valuable insights into their competitors' strategies, thereby enabling them to refine their own ad campaigns based on what's working in their industry.
This level of transparency fosters a more competitive environment, creating more effective and creative ad campaigns. Ultimately, it can help businesses optimize their ad spend, improve their return on investment, and achieve better results.
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