BuzzFeed

With no-click generative AI search gaining steam, here’s how publishers can thrive when search traffic disappears.

Perplexity AI, the generative AI search engine trying to out-Google Google, began rolling out its ads products last week. Plus, An AI-powered shoppable ad platform is causing problems for readers of BuzzFeed Australia.

BuzzFeed took another lap around its AI-related talking points as its advertising business took another lap around the drain.

In today’s newsletter: The “user agent” concept is dead; principal-based buying is just arbitrage by another name; and a deep dive into BuzzFeed’s doomed acquisition of Complex.

In today’s newsletter: Criteo’s investors clamor for a sale; the FTC fines VPN provider Avast for deceptive data practices; air quality-focused site HouseFresh laments the state of online search.

Publisher frustrations with the algorithm-driven internet are boiling over – and the rise of generative AI-powered search, which rarely links to the stories it scrapes, will cause irreparable damage.

As stiffer competition between social media companies shuts out publishers that depend on social traffic, BuzzFeed’s ad revenue drops 35%.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Variation On A Theme Google launched a new Performance Max search feature called “search themes,” a rare opportunity to learn from the black box that is PMax campaigns. Search themes are broad terms that can inform targeting, even if the company doesn’t bid […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The Results Are In YouTube told clients earlier this month about plans to start billing some of its video inventory based on its own co-viewing numbers starting in January. Now the buy-side backlash is rolling in, Ad Age reports. This plan “contradicts the […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. No Labels Amazon is dropping a large portion of its private-label products: 27 of its 30 clothing lines will soon be gone, The Wall Street Journal reports. On the one hand, who cares? It’s not like anybody notices the Amazon private labels. “Oh […]