Marketers have grown more fearful of artificial intelligence since the pandemic began, according to R.R. Donnelley research. Concern that AI or machine learning would limit their personal growth grew from 14% in late 2019 to 59% in mid-2020. Worry that AI and ML would reduce creativity and intuition grew from 27% to 68%. Lots more here of interest.
No-code app builder Airtable has raised a $185 million Series D, bringing its total to $355 million. The company also announced more automation and data management features plus “low-code” custom apps that require writing JavaScript. Make of that what you will.
Our final pairing is GumGum and Dentsu Aegis, who partnered to find that contextual ads are more cost-efficient than behavior-based placements. The test was exceptionally well-designed and documented, which isn’t always true for such studies. The answer matters because many advertisers are wondering whether contextual targeting can replace behavioral targeting, which relies heavily on those soon-to-vanish third party cookies.
Products to connect ad impressions with sales results are usually limited to one ad type and one sales channel. You can add VideoAmp and TransUnion to that list: they’ve launched an offering that links VideoAmpt’s TV viewer data with TransUnion’s TruAudience purchase data. VideoAmp can also use the data to optimize media plans in real time.