The Week in Data Marketing, MarTech and AI: November 15, 2024 edition

Welcome to The Week in Data Marketing, MarTechand AI, a weekly roundup from Quad Insights that sums up the latest news surrounding the technology-driven transformation of marketing.

Meta offers new usage option with "less relevant" ads - and cuts the price of ad-free subscriptions - in the EU

The owner of Facebook, Instagram and What's App just announced a new usage model designed to address concerns about data privacy from the European Union. Meta just announced it is introducing a new option for using the platforms for free in the EU that limits the amount of information provided to advertisers. The result: "ads may be less relevant to a person's interest," according to a Meta blog post. Under this option, ads will be contextual-only - based on what a person visits on Facebook or Instagram, and relying on data points such as age, location, gender and ad engagement. Meta is also cutting the price of web and app ad-free subscription plans introduced a year ago. Kelvin Chan of The Associated Press reportsthat the new options apply to 18-and-over users in the EU as well as Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.

Further reading

• "Meta will roll back its 'pay or consent' ad model in the EU"(Silcon Republic)
• "Europe's DMA forces Meta toward 'less personalized ads'"(TechCrunch)
• "Netflix used to not have ads, now it's 'celebrating' two years with them"(The Verge)

Stat of the week: 32.6%

That'sthe shareof internet users who also use generative AI, according to eMarketer. Thenumber is projected to grow to almost 38% in 2025.

The regulatory year ahead in data privacy and cybersecurity

State and federal responses to consumer concerns over data privacy will continue in 2025 even with a new presidential administration taking office, according to Foley & Hoag, a New York law firm. Attorneys in the firm's privacy and data practice predict that states will continue pressing privacy and cybersecurity regulation and enforcement even as federal agencies dial back on rulemaking. Global regulatory developments are likely to outpace U.S. policymaking, the attorneys wrote, adding that "whatever may happen with privacy law, the continued adoption of AI tools will impact much of organizational data management."

More on data regulation

• "California agency announces sweep on data broker compliance"(Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP via JD Supra)
• "CFPB Report Details Carveouts for Financial Institutions in State Data Privacy Laws"(CFPB press release)
• "There's Always Next Year? The Outlook for National Privacy Law in the US"(Corporate Compliance Insights)

Waymo shares data to help advance self-driving vehicles

Waymo, the autonomous driving technology company, wants consumers - and its industry peers - to know that it's leaning into data to help it make a better, safer product. The subsidiary of Alphabet, which also owns Google, has compiled and studied what it calls the "largest dataset of its kind" to understand the risks facing pedestrians, cyclists and others vulnerable to injury from traffic. Waymo and its partners reconstructed 335 accidents involving collisions between cars and "vulnerable road users" in six U.S. cities. Their study was just published in the Traffic Injury Prevention Journal. "Autonomous driving companies can use this data to evaluate an AV [autonomous vehicle] system's performance in simulations ahead of deployment and to measure its safety impact compared to human drivers," per a Waymo blog post.

Further reading

• Previously: "Waymo launches its AI research model for self-driving operations"(Teslarati)
• ICYMI: "Is a future with self-driving vehicles closer than we think - researchers aim to find out in study"(Ohio University)

AI-powered "answer engine" Perplexity introduces advertising

The convergence of legacy internet models with artificial intelligence continues to accelerate. Perplexity, which bills itself as an "AI-powered answer engine," just announced that it's experimenting with delivering ads to users in the U.S., Kyle Wiggers of TechCrunch reports. The ads will be labeled as "sponsored follow-up questions," Wiggers notes, and will be positioned to the side of AI-generated answers to questions. Initial partners in the test include Indeed, Whole Foods, Universal McCann and PMG, per Wiggers. (Last week, ChatGPT introduced ChatGPT Search, which returns answers with relevant website links in real time. See: "The Week in Data Marketing, MarTech and AI: Nov. 8, 2024 edition.")

See also: "AI search marketing strategies - how Google, ChatGPT and Perplexity are forcing brands to adapt"(Ad Age)

More AI news

• "How autonomous AI pipelines will transform marketing campaigns"(MarTech)
• "AI is taking ad targeting to a new level. Here's how"(Quartz)
• "Inside Coca-Cola's first AI-generated TV ads"(Ad Age)