CDP Institute

Not all AI news relates to ChatGPT and its generative AI cousins. Google Performance Max has been using AI for years to optimize search ad placement, claiming an 18% higher conversion rate than manual placements. They recently added campaign-level brand exclusions, expanded comparative performance testing, new video editing tools, and enhanced reporting.

Other Google news is less positive. The company has not-very-subtly registered its opposition to a Canadian law requiring that it pay news outlets for using their materials by running a “test” that blocks some users’ access to Canadian news sites. Meta tried something similar in Australia last year with predictably poor results.

While we’re beating up on Google, let’s mention this Mozilla study that found almost 80% of 40 popular Google Play Store apps showed a discrepancy between their Google Data Safety Form and actual privacy policy. The differences were serious in 40% of the apps tested. The study also criticizes Google policies including reliance on self-reporting by app developers and loopholes such as failing to require reports of sharing data with “service providers”.

Doctors and nurses are the world’s most trusted professionals.  Business leaders are among the least.  So Amazon’s intent to transform U.S. health care with its One Medical acquisition poses an interesting challenge.  They just completed the deal, following a wait for anti-trust approval.

Scoot, which just changed its name from Preciate, promises to make online meetings more like live events.  Introverts of the world may be horrified by features like moving through a virtual space and voices getting louder as you get closer.   They just raised $12 million shiny new dollars to match their new name.

You might think that all customer success platforms are designed to maximize productivity, visibility, and collaboration, but Vitally says it’s the first.  They’re especially proud to pull together all customer data and include project management tools.  They announced a $30 million Series B, bringing total funding to $39 million.

The CDP industry isn’t immune from the general tech slowdown: 38% of firms showed a reduced headcount in the latest CDP Institute Industry Update report. Cuts were concentrated among the largest and fastest growing firms, suggesting an adjustment to lower expectations. It’s not all bad news: funding held up and the industry still grew over-all.

The pandemic was boom time for the online events industry, and few boomed louder than Hubilo. Their Linked-In headcount is down about 7% from the peak but they’re adjusting. Latest move is to buy fielddrive, which helps to manage live events. Price was not announced.

The Walmart vs Amazon horse race is always fun to watch. Latest news is that Walmart reported $2.7 billion in ad sales for last year, an impressive 30% increase but still far behind Amazon’s $37.7 billion.

What kind of idiot would copy the self-destructive business choices that Elon Musk is making at Twitter?  No need to wonder: Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg announced a paid “blue badge” service for Instagram and Facebook accounts in Australia and New Zealand, with plans to roll it out globally.

Customer experience is shifting from a departmental to organization-wide focus, according to this very interesting CMO report for Optimizely.  CEOs now are directly in charge of CX at 28% of organizations, up from 7% the year before, while the number marketing, sales, and dedicated CX leaders in charge has dropped.   Unified data is the highest CX tech priority although CDPs rank far behind AI, campaign management and CRM on the list of planned investments.

Here’s a look at CX priorities from the customer service point of view.  Intercom found that 76% of respondents said their current tech stack holds them back from meeting their goals, with 73% specifically citing improved integration as a priority.  While better training was the top solution to meeting customer expectations (53%), more automation also ranked high on the list (43%).