$100 million usually seems like a lot of money although maybe not today. In any case, it’s what automated machine learning vendor DataRobot raised in its Series D last week, bringing total funding to $225 million. The point being, marketers should realize there’s plenty of AI technology outside of their own little valley.
Conversica, which creates automated “intelligent assistants” for online tasks such as qualifying leads and scheduling meetings, has raised a $31 million Series C, bringing total funding to $87 million. Conversica agents are more natural than your average chatbot.
And since we’re on the topic, marketers also feel they’re throwing away a good portion of the data they do collect, says geolocation data provider Digital Elements. More than half felt they could increase revenues if they could use an extra 25% of the data they currently throw away. Most of the study focuses on IP location data, which 71% said was very important but just 39% are using fully.
Procrastinators of the world can throw a party whenever they get around to it: Google has once more pushed back complete third-party cookie deprecation. The new target is “early next year.” Reasons for the delay include concerns expressed by U.K. data regulator Information Commissioner’s Office, an ongoing inquiry by the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority, and widespread discontent in the advertising ecosystem.