Personalization vendor SmarterHQ has released an identity resolution framework to track customers across time, channels and devices. They’ve always gathered data from multiple sources so presumably what’s new is improved matching methods. Maybe more interesting is that they consider identity resolution a feature worth promoting. File it under the same heading as Tapad repositioning itself as a CDP.
Amazon has spent a reported $1billion-plus to acquire video doorbell maker Ring, whose technology could help drop packages inside of shoppers’ homes. Now we know why Amazon has rejected calls to #BoycottNRA: it wants to sell Ring to home security-obsessed NRA members. Or at least prevent them from taking potshots at Amazon couriers.
Is it morally reprehensible to treat gun control as a business case study? Probably. But marketers have a long tradition of seeking private gain from public problems. Here’s one now: a study from IBM iX, the company’s “next-generation experience design and digital consultancy”, explaining how brands can take advantage of the “belonging deficit” plaguing modern society. Conveniently, they found “what’s good for people is also good for brands.” Two thumbs up.
Nearly one-third of major news publishers have blocked generative AI tools from reading their content. But that’s a drastic measure which could also exclude their results from conventional search engines. Microsoft has just given publishers the option to block access by Bing Chat without also removing their content from search results. We’ll see if competitors do the same.