Sam’s Club parent Walmart is expanding its own retail media offerings through a deal with Innovid, which specializes in delivering connected TV ads. Innovid technology will power Walmart DSP, which helps people buy ads on the Walmart Connect retail media network. The deal covers ads targeted at Walmart customers but delivered outside of Walmart’s own website.
Deep thinkers in the advertising world recognize that a single ad is rarely the only reason someone makes a purchase. But one-touch attribution is irresistibly simple. Sam’s Club has just announced it will link in-store purchases to online search ads within its retail ad network, giving many marketers what they want even if they know better.
It’s not all good news in retail media land. Gap is shutting down its retail media network, according to press reports. The troubled retailer will focus its resources on more pressing issues such as logistics and fulfillment.
“Ask Meta AI anything” is what you now see instead of the traditional search bar across Meta apps such as Facebook and Instagram. Meta AI will still perform the basic search function but will also answer questions and chat with you. It should hardly be a surprise when a tech company launches a genAI solution these days but this is a bold challenge to Google and Open.ai (it’s also available as a standalone tool at Meta.ai).