💾 Gen AI vs. Mad Men

Google Ads Introduces Generative AI Tools For Demand Gen Campaigns

Google announced the rollout of new generative AI capabilities for Demand Gen campaigns in Google Ads on April 16th.

The tools, powered by Google’s artificial intelligence, will allow advertisers to create high-quality image assets using text prompts in just a few steps.

The AI-powered creative features aim to enhance visual storytelling to help brands generate new demand across Google’s platforms, including YouTube, YouTube Shorts, Discover, and Gmail.

The generative image tools are rolling out globally to advertisers in English, with more languages coming later this year. Advertisers can provide text prompts to generate original, high-quality images tailored to their branding and marketing needs.

This is just the latest in a string of announcements about new tools that should be on your radar. Small businesses and agencies operating with leaner teams can now create a high volume of diverse, on-brand image assets with minimal design resources. 

For brands, generative AI tools open up new creative possibilities with a level of image sophistication that was previously too time-and resource-intensive to produce. The ability to iterate rapidly on visual ideas can lead to more impactful ad creative.

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👮‍♀️ Google is cracking down on third-party apps that block YouTube ads

Google began ramping up its crackdown on ad blockers last year when it started restricting YouTube video playback for people using ad-blocking software. 

The company is now expanding that crackdown to cover third-party apps that let users stream YouTube videos while skipping all advertising.

👀 How GenAI Is Poised To Disrupt $30 Billion CTV Advertising Industry

Connected TV (CTV) is one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital advertising, expected to grow 25% this year to more than $30 billion. Advertisers are flocking to the channel for its ability to combine the storytelling power of the big screen with the real-time metrics and optimization capabilities of digital.

But CTV advertising is still in its early days. And it is about to get a whole lot smarter and more effective thanks to, you guessed it, GenAI. Performance for advertisers and higher revenue for publishers could follow.

👎 Meta, Google, X, TikTok, Apple still failing with ad transparency

Ad transparency tools requested by watchdogs are still vague on 11 major tech platforms, leaving users vulnerable to misinformation ahead of the election year. 

A recent study by the non-profit organization Mozilla has shown that most of these repositories are still lacking clarity and functionality.

2023 U.S. Digital Advertising Industry Hits New Record, According to IAB's Annual Internet Advertising Revenue Report

Internet advertising revenues reached a record-high of $225 billion, increasing by 7.3% year-over-year overall (YoY) between 2022 and 2023, according to the newly released "IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report: Full Year 2023," conducted by PwC. 

The report found that Q4 saw the highest growth rate of 12.3% from the year prior (4.4%), with revenues rising to $64.5 billion.

It’s important to put those numbers in context, and the folks over at AdExchanger have done that for us.

US digital ad revenue grew at a slower rate in 2023 compared to 2022, hampered by inflation, climbing interest rates and advertising industry layoffs.

From CTV to audio to programmatic, multiple ad formats saw some form of correction from the pandemic’s sky-high revenue growth. Overall revenue growth also paled in comparison to 2021’s runaway post-pandemic growth of 35.4% YOY.

Still, US digital advertising revenues broke records in 2023, reaching a new high of $225 billion. “We are still growing at a healthy clip,” said Jack Koch, SVP of research and insights at the IAB. “We’re seeing a bit more of what we’re used to seeing – a normalization.”

Encore, Encore!

For some reason, whenever I admit my mistakes live on a webinar, subscribers show up in droves. So that's why I am going live next week with an encore webinar that will show some of the major mistakes I've made with my marketing over the years and how I've turned my data lemons 🍋 into marketing lemonade lately. 

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by all the numbers behind marketing and wondered if there is a light at the end of the tunnel to turn them into a clear path forward, not like Neo viewing the Matrix, then I encourage you to join me on Thursday, April 25th, to see the method to my madness. Let's turn that 😕 into a 😊.

Register here

• The Future of Marketing' with Bloomberg Media – Ep2: mastering insight and data tools. - The Media Leader on YouTube

• AI Based search, Attribution and Faster editing. - Marketing Over Coffee

• Nerd Alert: Nostalgia in Advertising - The Marketing Architect Podcast

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