Gokul Rajaram shares his OpenAI ad strategy

Gokul Rajaram talks OpenAI and ads

Former Google and Meta ad tech executive (now venture capitalist) Gokul Rajaram — known to many as simply “Gokul” — appeared on the most recent episode of the World of DaaS podcast with LiveRamp founder Auren Hoffman.

Among the discussion topics: how Gokul would implement advertising in OpenAI’s ChatGPT.

He first stressed the importance of identity in the implementation (beginning at 7:54) and then went deeper (lightly edited):

“I think the big question for these assistants (i.e. chatbots) is going to be where to show them, how to introduce them into the experience. I know some of the larger AI apps have been experimenting, and a bunch of them have pinged me over the last few months, and we’ve discussed different things.

Gmail is a great example…

Gmail, because I was involved a little bit in helping them think through advertising on Gmail. I don’t know if you ever clicked on ad in Gmail, but Gmail actually does quite well in advertising.(…)

I think that’s the best practice: where you have to intermix and interleave content and ads in the same spot.

That’s what I think web publishers didn’t do well: they would always put a banner out on the right and none of us can ever remember back in the day what the hell that banner ad said because we all got ad blindness quickly.

So the key is to not get ad blindness and prevent it – never have the notion of an ad slot. Every slot can have some content and some ads. You just don’t know when, and it’s determined by the algorithm or the AI.

But that’s the most important thing: make sure there are no ad spots.

That’s why on Facebook, I think, the beautiful thing is as you’re scrolling, you never know whether an ad is going. It’s not like every five pieces of content. It’s a smart feed.”

Listen to more on the Apple Podcasts app. (9/9)

From tipsheet: This is a great listen. Gokul really gets into the question of answer engines and ads. He recalled a “engagement budget” that Mark Zuckerberg gave the ads team as advertising was introduced on Facebook (“how much engagement degradation he was willing to permit.”). One could visualize OpenAI CEO Sam Altman or CEO for Applications Fidji Simo doing something similar as they navigate balancing the need for revenue and user trust.

Magnite buys AI CTV startup

Supply side platform (SSP) Magnite announced the acquisition of startup streamr.ai yesterday for an undisclosed sum. The AI-enabled platform describes itself as unlocking “the power of CTV advertising” for small- and medium-sized businesses.

Magnite will offer streamr.ai’s technology to its ecosystem partners working with SMBs, including agencies, retail media networks, publishers operating buyer marketplaces, and DSPs.

Read the Magnite press release.

A blog post from streamr.ai pre-acquisition shed light on the startup’s use of Model Context Protocol (MCP) which connected the company to Xandr and Magnite’s self-serve CTV ad platform, ClearLine, to:

“Create campaigns with AI-generated creatives“
“Configure retargeting pixels and build segments“
“Launch seamlessly across DSPs“

The acquisition brings two product- and engineering-focused executives into Magnite with streamr[dot]ai’s CEO Jonathan Moffie (read his LinkedIn comments on the acquisition) and CTO Frank Turano.

Inuvo ad operations executive Eric Tilbury offered his take on the acquisition on LinkedIn:

“I was wondering when SSPs would start acquiring creative solutions. Creative development is a major bottleneck, especially when inventory requires specific specs, and Magnite is streamlining biddable CTV pause ads. This seems like an easy, straightforward, and effective way to generate creative for a relatively new ad unit. I’m not suggesting they will exclusively use Streamr’s solution for pause ad generation, but as an outsider, it appears to be the low-hanging fruit.”

Eric Tilbury, Inuvo on LinkedIn (9/9)

See streamr[dot]ai’s pause ad templates.

From tipsheet: A key benefit of AI enablement is that the more powerful the technology gets, the more it can do for the one-man “band.” And, as Mr. Tilbury noted, “pause ads” may be a key element of this acquisition, too. Ultimately, Magnite wants to attract small and medium-sized CTV ad budgets. SMB budgets are growing with AI tools for CTV creative and self-serve inventory access.

OpenAI’s ChatGPT versus Google

Yesterday, anecdotal reports showed that either Google Search remains well ahead of ChatGPT, or ChatGPT still has plenty of room to grow.

“Despite ChatGPT’s explosive growth, nearly all of its users also turn to Google, per new Similarweb data shared by SEO consultant Brodie Clark. In August:

95.3% of ChatGPT users visited Google

4.3% of Google users visited ChatGPT”

AI developments

Veo 3 and Veo 3 Fast – new pricing, new configurations and better resolution (9/9) – Google for Developers blog
Mistral raised a €1.7B Series C at an €11.7B valuation; ASML led the round with €1.3B to become its biggest shareholder, joined by a16z, DST, Nvidia, and others (9/9) – Mistral
OpenAI Executives Rattled by Campaigns to Derail For-Profit Restructuring (9/9) – The Wall Street Journal

Healthcare DSP DeepIntent gets funds for AI

Adweek’s Kendra Barnett reported healthcare demand-side platform DeepIntent sold a $637 million majority stake to London-based PE firm Vitruvian Partners to fund AI product development. Read more.(9/9)

“DeepIntent said it planned to use the new capital to build out and integrate generative AI tools within its tech stack. These developments will build on the company’s proprietary platform, which combines media decisioning with AI tools and clinical data,” according to Barnett.

In “A Letter on our Future” on DeepIntent’s website, founder & CEO, Chris Paquette, addressed AI:

“I believe that the advent of new technologies, including generative AI, has given us another tool that — when used responsibly to convey fact and truth — will generate an immense positive impact on the lives of patients. This technology will allow us to scale up our ability to personalize the way our clients story-tell, connecting patients and providers with health information that resonates in new, more relatable ways than ever before…”

Read the press release. (9/9)

From tipsheet: Not sure if this investment is about DeepIntent building technology or finding liquidity. A little of both, perhaps.

Propel Media bought DeepIntent in 2017 and this isn’t the first attempt the combined company tried to find a partner and/or acquirer. DeepIntent almost sold in 2023 to healthcare data provider IQVIA, but the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) shot it down in a lawsuit. The FTC claimed the acquisition would have given IQVIA an “unfair advantage in programmatic advertising of products to healthcare professionals.” Read more from January 2024.

Salmon: “AI Mode” as “default” does not make sense

In a note to investors, New Street Research lead analyst Dan Salmon reviewed ongoing AI search innovation and said that Google turning to “AI Mode” as default — as was suggested by a Googler on X — likely requires clarification. The AI Mode experience would turn off millions of users looking for the traditional search experience, according to Mr. Salmon.

He added:

“What we expect [Google executive Logan] Kilpatrick is hinting at in his ‘soon :)’ post is that GOOGL could give users the option to make AI Mode default. This would make lots of sense — assuming the cost to serve an AI Mode/gen AI answer continues to fall – as power users could save one click getting to their preferred interface when on a browser.”

From tipsheet: Needless to say, Google must weigh the significant ad revenue implications of any cutover to “AI Mode” as default.

AI product releases

Pixability Launches pixie, the First Agentic Curation & Optimization Solution for YouTube (9/9) – press release
DOOH: Jolt enhances platform with AI capability for advertisers (9/9) – Digital Signage Today

Autumnal call-to-arms

On LinkedIn, CEO Dave Helmreich teased a post he made on “creative SSP” TripleLift’s company blog regarding trends he sees this fall in ad tech.

Mr. Helmreich noted “four major shifts”:

“The Creative Revolution“
“Retail Media’s Maturation (335.5% CTV growth!)“
“The Google Reckoning (it’s not ‘if’ anymore – think ‘settlement’ vs. ‘remedy’)“
“AI Getting Real (finally) This September feels like a turning point. The question isn’t whether change is coming—it’s whether we’re ready to lead it.“

Read more on LinkedIn. And then, read the blog post. (9/9)

Publishing: AI piracy settlement on hold

Anthropic’s $1.5 billion settlement with book authors has been put on hold by Judge William Alsup. According to Bloomberg, “Alsup said he was ‘disappointed’ that the parties left ‘important questions’ for the future, including a list of works covered by the deal and the processes for notifying potential class members.” The judge gave the parties a September 15 deadline “to submit a final list of works, which currently stands around 465,000.” Read more. (9/8)

More: Bartz v. Anthropic PBC (3:24-cv-05417) – Court Listener

Could Amazon Be on a Path to Take Over TV Ads? (9/9) – Mike Shields, Next in Media
Retail media is gaining ground in search amid the AI wave. Can it last? (9/3) – The Trade Desk’s The Current
Online travel platforms prepare for rise of artificial intelligence ‘agents’ (9/9) – Financial Times
Lance Armstrong’s VC Firm Invests In AI-Powered Health Care Ad Tech Startup BranchLab (9/8) – AdExchanger
M&A: Marketing agency Incubeta Acquires Consultancy RocketSource Expanding Human-Centered AI Capabilities – press release