CDP Institute

Another day, another CDP offering data warehouse integration. Today’s subject in mParticle, which has introduced Warehouse Sync to share data with cloud data warehouses like Snowflake. Like other CDP vendors with similar offerings, mParticle sets itself up to provide the data warehouse with unified profiles they lack and to feed profiles to downstream applications using its existing connectors.

When EU regulators ruled in December that Meta lacked legal basis for behavioral ad targeting, it was just a matter of time before they had to change their approach. That time has come: starting next week, Meta will give EU users the option to opt out of targeting based on behaviors. Consumers elsewhere will still be denied the choice.

Regulators aren’t the only masters that Meta must serve.  Advertisers pay the rent, and they’re increasingly worried about brand safety and suitability.  To appease that dragon, Meta has just released tools to give them more control over what kind of content their ads appear near.  AI-driven, of course.

Twilio has launched a real-time identity resolution solution, Segment Unify, that generates unified customer profiles within the Segment CDP and shares them with external systems via a Reverse ETL capability. Highlighting Reverse ETL features has become an increasingly popular tactic among CDP vendors who face aggressive competition from stand-alone Reverse ETL products.

Many SaaS companies are currently shifting from feature-based to usage-based pricing. But why choose? Just-launched billing platform Orb lets them offer either or both. In addition to flexibility, the system saves SaaS companies the cost of developing their own pricing systems. The company just closed a $14 million Series A, bringing total funding to $19.1 million.

You knew this was coming: an AI-based service that tailors spoken advertising to the current context of the listener. Instreamatic uses location, time of day, current activity, and other variables as inputs to an auto-generated ad script that’s read in an auto-generated voice in a podcast, game or other medium. The creep factor is strong in this one.

Unpack that Sexy Librarian costume: International Fact-Checking Day is April 2 and the party planning is in full swing.  Google is adding to the fun with five new ways to verify search results, including easier ways to learn more about the source and the author, see diverse opinions, and be warned when available information is limited.  They’re also partnering with the Public Library Association, Teen Fact Checking Network, and International Fact-Checking Network to support year-round fact-checking excitement.

True fact: Mark Twain never said “A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.” But, whether it’s true or false, data sloshes around world today as easily as the tides – unless government regulations get in the way.  Data protection vendor Protegrity just launched a “borderless data solution” that helps companies move their data without breaking the rules.

It’s true that messaging platform Klaviyo has a vested interest in promoting email and SMS, but that’s no reason to question their survey finding that email is the most widely used ecommerce marketing channel – if just barely beating organic social, paid social, and SEO.  Email also tops the ROI rankings, although paid search and paid social account for a larger share of marketing budgets.  Klaviyo also reports strong growth for SMS, although it’s in the middle of most of the rankings.

U.S. consumers haven’t shown much interest in buying on social media platforms but they’ll still respond to social media ads so long as they can complete the purchase elsewhere.  Snap seems to have recognized the distinction by partnering with Kargo Commerce, whose specialty is dynamic creative optimization.

Instacart has been building out its marketing solutions for some time now, taking advantage of its direct connection with consumers as they plan their grocery purchases.  The company has added new options for marketing campaigns and loyalty programs, including an option to join a grocer’s new loyalty program from within the Instacart app itself.  It has also added three service tiers, from self-serve to strategic partnerships, to help grocery marketers with different levels of need.

The European Commission has published new rules penalizing companies for false environmental claims, although some critics say the rules are too watered down to matter.  But maybe companies don’t need to make the claims at all: GfK found that more than half of consumers couldn’t name any brand that is working to improve the environment, and that companies with poor records are viewed as favorably as companies with good ones.  Go figure.