Google’s I/O showcases bold AI integration across products: The announcements show its marketplace strength but it’ll need an effective monetization strategy to beat the competition.

Major players like TikTok, Meta, and Google unveiled new partnerships, AI innovations, and streamlining solutions. Here are three key developments you may have missed.

Advertisers accuse Meta’s AI of wasting their entire ad budgets: The Advantage+ Shopping Campaign isn’t living up to promises and points to a dubious future for AI agents.

B2B event marketing is essential and highly engaging, but ROI challenges persist. Marketers should choose the right event format, use technology and AI for better results, and integrate events into broader marketing strategies.

Meta raises AI stakes: Meta AI has a competitive advantage over ChatGPT in potential distribution and could eventually provide new surfaces to serve ads.

It takes time to learn a new technology and sometimes, along the way, stumbles happen. As the role of AI in marketing grows, brands must be transparent about how, where, and when they are using the technology. Nearly half (49%) of CMOs in North America plan to focus more on using AI in strategy, creative, and content development for media use over the next 12 months, according to an August 2023 Dentsu survey conducted by B2B International. Here are three missteps brands have made with AI and content creation and what brands can learn from them.

In 2024, a perfect storm of technology, business, and consumer behavior trends will conspire to intensify the challenges of protecting brands on digital media.

In the third of five reports in our “Payments Ecosystem 2024” collection, we unpack how the lines between POS hardware and software are disappearing as providers push the innovation envelope.

Generative AI will “supercharge our creativity,” said VML chief innovation officer Brian Yamada. He believes the tech will improve marketers’ ability to tell stories, but it will also raise new privacy concerns.

Brands and marketers have an increasingly prominent presence at the annual technology, arts, and culture festival in Austin, Texas, which this year took place from March 8 to 16. We break down the key topics that drew the most attention from attendees.

Payment providers are tapping genAI to personalize marketing offers and virtual assistants while streamlining customer checkout. These tools could help providers monetize transaction data and help merchants drive sales.

AI-driven personalization is one of the top trends US digital retailers believe will impact their business this year. It’s tied with an increased focus on omnichannel tools like SMS, according to December 2023 data from Bolt.

Virtual banking assistants like Bank of America’s Erica are taking design cues from ChatGPT and Google Gemini as banks look into adding conversational AI.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss how copyright lawsuits could down OpenAI (or the whole industry), whether publishers will land on The New York Times side of the generative AI (genAI) copyright debate or on the Axel Springer and Associated Press side, and how copyright will impact the creative arts. Tune in to the discussion with our analysts Evelyn Mitchell-Wolf and Yory Wurmser.

Advertisers have put genAI to work on a bevy of tasks. But the resulting efficiency gains are not yet changing media plans. And genAI’s vaunted media creation capabilities are being used differently by small agencies and large ones.

Apple tests AI-powered ad buying: Its tool focuses on App Store ads and allows advertisers to set budgets and cost per user before automatic placement.

Though apparel and accessories is the third fastest-growing product category we measure—growing 3.9% to reach $616.37 billion in US sales this year—retailers need to find creative ways to court consumers as they remain price-sensitive.

B2B email marketing is already ingrained with AI technology. But marketers still need to overcome challenges, adopt innovative strategies, and embrace this technology as a helpful and increasingly essential tool.

Hyper-personalization has long been an ambition for retailers—and the rise of generative AI means 2024 could be the year implementation accelerates across the industry.

Walmart makes a huge acquisition in hopes of taking on Amazon’s retail media dominance, while Amazon keeps churning out generative AI innovations. Plus, Target tries to steal share from Walmart’s prowess on attracting deal-seeking shoppers. Find out who else earned a spot in our Unofficial” Most Interesting Retailers List, a monthly ranking revealed on an episode of the “Behind the Numbers: Reimagining Retail” podcast.