Data analysis platform Looker has announced special applications for digital marketing and Web analytics. The applications, now in public beta, provide prebuilt data structures and analytics. Looker combines data from multiple sources and makes it available for analysis and visualization. But it stores the data in a SQL database, making it more limited than most Customer Data Platforms.
AI-driven marketing language generator Persado has added story-telling to its skills. But don’t get too excited: it’s not describing a sequence of events like what happened on its summer vacation. Rather, it’s writing copy snippets that reflect brand voice, seasonal themes, audience interests, and campaign goals. Still, it’s a step towards better AI-written copy. And, for now, what happened in Vegas still stays in Vegas.
Here’s an excellent NTT Data survey on attitudes towards big data. You won’t be surprised that consumers are skeptical: while 65% of business executives said big data will be used to help consumers, just 40% of consumers agreed. The skepticism is justified: 80% of executives said their company gives strong protection to corporate data but just 42% said consumer data is strongly protected. Lots more about what’s creepy and how consumers are protecting themselves.
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.