On Ad Age, Garett Sloane covered ad technology companies’ recent efforts to integrate Nvidia chips into their platforms as they look for an AI edge.
He wrote on Linkedin yesterday:
“AI giant Nvidia is known for making eye-popping deals with major tech players, but it’s also made some quiet moves into ad tech. Supply-side platform PubMatic has been discussing its close relationship with Nvidia, as has Next Net, the marketing tech platform.
Nvidia seems to be carrying the weight of the AI boom on its shoulders, so any moves it makes are closely watched.
Now, Nvidia is co-developing AI technology with PubMatic that could be useful to the wider programmatic community.
Next Net is using Nvidia’s computing power to help small businesses implement GEO strategies to serve ChatGPT and other LLMs…”
Read more on Linkedin. (November 25)
More: Nvidia’s quiet ad tech deals point to its next big move in AI – Ad Age (subscription)
From tipsheet: This is reminiscent of Netezza (eventually acquired by IBM) and its servers in the early days of programmatic where the powerful servers were bought by ad tech companies looking for a programmatic edge.
From tipsheet #2: Nvidia has been targeting ad tech with a dedicated marketing team. See a job posting from June.
LLMS & CHATBOTS
Developments
- Google Further Encroaches on Nvidia’s Turf With New AI Chip Push (November 25) – The Information (subscription)
- “We’re delighted by Google’s success — they’ve made great advances in AI and we continue to supply to Google. NVIDIA is a generation ahead of the industry — it’s the only platform that runs every AI model…” (November 25) – NVIDIA on X
- OpenAI and Perplexity are launching AI shopping assistants, but competing startups aren’t sweating it (November 25) – TechCrunch
PLATFORMS
Meta: SMBs moving faster than large advertisers
On the Mobile Dev Memo podcast last week, analyst Eric Seufert discussed Meta’s Business AI tools with Simon Whitcombe, Meta’s VP of its global business group in North America. As always with Mr. Seufert, the dynamics of data-driven performance marketing — which arguably reach across brand marketing — were front and center.
First announced at Advertising Week in October, Meta’s Whitcombe explained that the new Business AI tools and Business AI Assistant (chatbot) were aimed at workflow rather than the already powerful ad ranking and delivery capabilities of Meta’s platform. He outlined three areas of workflow opportunity:
- Creative and using AI for creative generation
- Audience insights.
- Campaign optimization
The strategy speaks to simplifying and automating the campaign process and, to date, SMBs have been quicker to adopt the new AI tools than large advertisers, according to Mr. Whitcombe:
“I think most businesses we work with — large businesses — are beginning to experiment with tools, begin to try things out, but maybe not moving as quickly as medium-sized and smaller businesses.
Many of the large businesses are experimenting with their own agentic experiences. I was in a room of partners just last week and (…) every CMO in the room raised their hand and said, yes, we’re experimenting. But it’s, ‘Are they using them in production, right?’
They’re beginning to test them in production. I think that’s where it’s been a little bit slower.”
Hear more in the Apple Podcasts app. (November 18)
From tipsheet: As Eric Seufert pointed out, large advertisers are bigger, more “ossified” and so it’s not surprising that they’re moving more slowly. Importantly, there is an unlock yet to come when large advertisers do finally get their arms around AI.
TECH
AdCP meetup in NYC
The organizers behind Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) are hosting a meetup at Horizon Media’s New York City offices on Thursday, December 18.
The event page reads in part:
“Join us for our first AdCP community meet-up. This is an opportunity for builders, stakeholders, and industry leaders to gather and share recent developments, discuss progress, share demos, and foster connections community-wide…”
Sign up page is here. (November 25)
MEASUREMENT
AEO/GEO tips & tricks
If you’re interested in the answer engine optimization (AEO) or generative engine optimization worlds of AI search, Profound strategy executive Josh Blyskal dropped a helpful party trick on LinkedIn yesterday.
He began:
“Everyone in AEO/GEO should know how to do this: looking at ChatGPT’s network logs. This is how I catch changes before they hit the news. It’s not complicated, and you should be doing it too…
Here’s how:
1. Go to ChatGPT, write your query and press enter.
2. Copy the ID of the chat from your URL bar, it will look something like this: “6925bce2-6858-832f-aff1-a972d36142bf”
3. Open the ‘Inspect’ tool by right clicking anywhere in the window
4. In the inspect tool, navigate to the network tab from the elements tab
5. Paste the ChatGPT chat id into the search bar
6. Refresh the page
7. Look for the ChatGPT chat ID in the search results in the network tab, there will be two entries that look the same, click the one with the ORANGE icon. That’s it. You’re in.
Some of my favorite Cmd+f searches I do (things I look for):
– search_queries: These are the query fanouts ChatGPT is generating from your prompt. This is gold. You can see exactly how the model is interpreting your question and what it’s actually searching for. If you’re doing prompt research, this is where you validate your assumptions…”
Now, get more searches he recommends on LinkedIn. Also, make sure to SEE THE VIDEO. (November 25)
This is worth the effort if you’re interested in AEO/GEO.
Related: The case for and against AI-driven SEO in the zero-click era (November 25) – Digiday (subscription)
PLATFORMS
GPUs are for ads
Former Facebook manager Dave Morin, who co-created the Facebook Platform and Facebook Connect, appeared on the World of DaaS podcast with Auren Hoffman yesterday.
Morin — today, mostly a VC — still has a sharp viewpoint about his former employer including the reasons behind Meta’s transformation once Apple instituted its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) privacy feature in 2021.
“Meta, I think – it was like they lost 30 percent or more overnight when this Apple change happened. They were in a really intense business predicament.
Necessity is the mother of all invention. So they just said, ‘Well, why don’t we take all these GPUs that we were buying to do other things and point them at ads, and see if we can actually do better at recommending content and ads to users that way. And, we’re seeing it work with TikTok, so why wouldn’t it work for us?’
It worked. It turns out it worked wildly, and you could argue that they’re actually the greatest beneficiary of AI technology right now. They’re the only ones with a business that AI is just crushing.”
Hear more on the Apple Podcasts app. (November 25)
From tipsheet: What if all of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s capital expenditure for AI ends up being for ads? Defend the citadel.
TECH
Automation brings ad budget for creators
Arthur Leopold, CEO and co-founder of Agentio, told Next in Media that creators are running into “all the complexity around dealmaking, brand safety, etc.” and that once AI gets more involved in the process, current budget trends should shift to the benefit of the creator.
According to Next in Media’s Mike Shields:
“[Leopold] said thanks to ad tech and LLMs, ‘We could actually automate the friction and eliminate all the challenges marketers have to deal with to build and scale creator programs.’ The company has started with a 90-second brand integration unit on YouTube which he calls ‘and insanely performant ad.’ Agentio is able to deploy $500,000 budgets in 24 hours, he said.”
Read “The Creator Ad Tech Paradox” on Next in Media. (November 21)
From tipsheet: The creator’s AI opportunity mirrors that of the SMB marketer’s with automation effectively and efficiently connecting marketing budgets.
MORE
- “The Rise of AppLovin: The Most Valuable and Most Controversial Company in AdTech” (November 25) – Ric Longacre, Credera on Medium
- Interview: Snowflake’s Dennis Buchheim reimagines data measurement for the AI era (November 24) – Dennis Buchheim on The Trade Desk’s The Current
- BuzzFeed Asia Selects DeeperDive From Taboola’s Gen AI Answer Engine Built for the Open Web (November 25) – press release
- “NYT Advertising Blows Past Google Search To Build Its Own Destiny” (November 24) – MediaPost
- Is there an AI bubble? Should you care? (November 6) – Peter Horan