The wave of tech industry layoffs rolled closer to CDP-land with news of a 10% reduction in staff at Salesforce. The company blamed over-hiring in anticipation of growth that is no longer anticipated. CDP vendors have largely avoided public layoffs, although we do hear scattered tales of unannounced reductions.
Third-party cookies may be vanishing, but other third-party data is more available than ever. Consumer purchase data compiler IRI reinforced the point with separate deals to (a) provide Meta with brand- and product-level sales data to measure results of Facebook and Instagram ads and (b) offer 1,500 IRI-built individual-level audience segments to TV ad buyers through Experian.
Dentsu-owned Merkle is selling its Response Management Group (RMG), which offers direct response data capture, customer care, and fulfillment, primarily to non-profit and government clients. The 600-person RMG was part of Merkle’s original business, which has now evolved into a 14,000-employee tech-based customer experience agency. Buyer is Moore, a 5,000-person specialist in fund-raising marketing and production.
It’s one year since Google started showing ads in its now-familiar AI Overviews. They’ve now added them to AI Mode, a newer option that handles more complex queries. AI Mode will also offer a bespoke shopping experience, with agentic AI to track price and purchase when it fits your budget.