YouTube Shorts is getting a free Veo 3 upgrade that will let creators generate high-quality AI video clips using text prompts. The news was announced by YouTube CEO Neal Mohan at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where it was positioned as a means for brands to transform how advertisements are produced. Veo 3 functionality will be integrated “later this summer,” according to Mohan. The Google DeepMind video generation model has been made available for use in YouTube Shorts starting with Veo 2. With Veo 3, the platform gets audio capability and what Mohan describes as “vastly improved” video quality. Continue reading Google Adding AI Video Generator Veo 3 to YouTube Shorts

Disney has become the latest entertainment giant to put ad inventory on offer through Amazon DSP, the tech giant’s demand-side platform that connects advertisers to channels for programmatic as well as premium ad purchasing and analytics. The integration, to be implemented in the coming months, links the Disney Real-Time Ad Exchange (DRAX) with Amazon DSP, providing direct access to inventory across platforms including Disney+, ESPN and Hulu along with data insights from both companies. The deal is one of many such alliances announced in proximity to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, where Roku, Netflix and Yahoo also signed up with Amazon DSP. Continue reading Disney Integrates Real-Time Ad Exchange with Amazon DSP

Amazon Ads has entered into an exclusive deal with Roku that will provide “advertisers access to the largest authenticated CTV footprint in the U.S.” The offering will be powered by Amazon DSP — the company’s omnichannel marketing solution. The integration combines Amazon Fire TV users with Roku’s customers for logged-in reach to what Amazon estimates is 80 million Connected TV households, which equals just over 80 percent of CTV households, according to Comscore data. Addressability will also be enhanced across top streaming services integrated with the two operating systems. The deal was announced during the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. Continue reading Amazon Teams with Roku for Exclusive CTV Advertising Deal

Meta Platforms is opening its WhatsApp messaging service to advertising. The company revealed that three ad modules will roll out gradually. The ads will be positioned under WhatsApp’s Updates tab, a section discreet from WhatsApp’s users’ message inboxes and private chats. The Updates tab is also the entry point to WhatsApp’s Status feature, which lets users share photos, videos and text that disappear after 24 hours, similar to Instagram Stories. Meta says the Updates tab gets 1.5 billion visitors per day. The company is also seeking to monetize WhatsApp’s Channels feature by offering paid subscriptions and promoted Channels. Continue reading Meta Platforms Is Gradually Bringing Advertising to WhatsApp

Fox Corporation’s Tubi free ad-supported streaming service has partnered with Kickstarter to support independent filmmakers raising funds on the crowdfunding platform. The deal will bring more than 20 Kickstarter-funded films to Tubi for an exclusive period beginning this fall. As part of the arrangement, Tubi has joined with Kickstarter to launch the FilmStream Collective fund, which will channel completion funds to filmmakers active on the platform. Tubi reaches over 97 million monthly active users worldwide with FAST entertainment in the form of on-demand movies and TV episodes, including original content. Continue reading Tubi Is Joining Forces with Kickstarter to Support Indie Films

Two weeks after its global rebranding of GroupM to WPP Media, the bespoke London-based marketing behemoth is launching Open Intelligence, an “AI identity solution” that WPP says will better target viewers with privacy-conscious solutions that more effectively message on behalf of its clients. Built around what WPP calls “the industry’s first Large Marketing Model,” Open Intelligence is “trained on the world’s largest and most diverse set of audience, behavioral, and event data,” culled from WPP’s decentralized partnership network. “Our model learns continuously from trillions of signals across more than 350 partners in over 75 markets,” the company claims. Continue reading WPP Media Launches Industry’s First Large Marketing Model

Hollywood heavyweight Jeffrey Katzenberg has thrown his support behind an AI advertising startup called Creatify, leading its Series A round with $1.5 million via WndrCo. Katzenberg is also taking a board seat at the two-year-old firm, which claims more than 1.5 million global users and 10,000 teams using its tech to create social media-centric video ads, leveraging AI avatars and real-time testing. Marketing teams can use its tools to “spin up high-quality video creative in minutes (not weeks),” the company claims, mentioning a client that uses Creatify to generate 1,000-plus ads per month. Continue reading Katzenberg’s WndrCo Invests $1.5M in AI Ad Startup Creatify

An internal OpenAI document revealed as part of a discovery demand in the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google reveals OpenAI’s plan to turn ChatGPT into the public’s primary Internet interface. Although heavily redacted, the document effectively reveals OpenAI’s goal is to have ChatGPT replace Google Chrome and Search with an “AI super assistant that deeply understands you and is your interface to the Internet.” Aside from bolstering Google’s position that it has competition and is not an impregnable monopoly, the information contained therein provides an in-depth look at OpenAI’s roadmap. Continue reading OpenAI Seeks to Make ChatGPT New Gateway to the Internet

YouTube is integrating Google Lens, allowing viewers to search elements of what they see while watching YouTube Shorts. The visual search enhancement aims to provide more ways to unearth information and discover content in an interactive, intuitive way. YouTube provides an example involving a Short filmed on location that features landmarks a viewer may be interested in visiting. In this example, users could ask Google Lens for related information to learn the name of the destination and helpful details regarding its culture and history, results that would appear over the video content as a visual overlay. YouTube began rolling out the Lens feature in beta to all viewers last week. Continue reading YouTube Shorts Powers New Visual Search with Google Lens

Florida-based Infinite Reality, the metaverse startup that acquired music service Napster in March for $207 million, has rebranded itself as Napster Corp. and launched a division called Napster AI that plans to foster fan interactivity and virtual experiences through its AI products and services, starting with the beta release of Napster Spaces. The new division leverages agentic AI tech of a company called Touchcast that Infinite Reality acquired last month for $500 million. Its flagship product, Mentor, “is a complete AI learning and development department at a click of a button.” Built using OpenAI models and delivered on enterprise-grade Azure, Mentor was introduced in November at Microsoft Ignite. Continue reading Infinite Reality Rebrands as Napster and Launches Agentic AI

Google is launching AI Mode for its search platform, an interactive tool that functions much like a chatbot, allowing users to fine-tune queries with follow-up prompts. In the next few weeks, an AI Mode tab will appear in Google Search and in the Google app search bar. Following the introduction of AI Overviews last year, the company began experimenting with AI Mode early this year. “As we’ve rolled out AI Overviews, we’ve heard from power users who want an end-to-end AI Search experience,” explains Google in detailing the evolution of AI Mode. The new tool will also test various ad placements. Continue reading Google Is Reimagining Search with Launch of AI Mode in U.S.

Warner Bros. Discovery had something old and something new to introduce at the TV Upfronts, reverting back to the name HBO Max a little after two years of being known as Max. The company also rolled out a new advertiser tool, WBD Storyverse, unlocking its 100 year-old asset vault “to help brands emotionally connect with audiences using beloved characters and IP with new twists.” WBD says it “will work strategically with partners” to identify good fits with “fan-favorite” content that can be used in new ways to “capture the magic of the original IP through a branded lens.” Continue reading WBD Rolls Out Advertiser Storyverse, Reintroduces HBO Max

Netflix told Upfronts attendees its ad-supported tier now reaches more than 94 million global monthly active users, including more 18-34-year-olds than any other U.S. broadcast or cable network. The total grew by 20 million since November, when Netflix last publicly shared the tally. Making a case for ad support in a competitive market, Netflix President of Advertising Amy Reinhard added that the streamer’s U.S. users are “highly engaged, spending an average of 41 hours per month on Netflix.” The ad-supported tier was added in November 2022 and costs $7.99 per month (versus $17.99 monthly for the entry level ad-free plan). Continue reading Netflix Enters Third Year of Ad Tier with 94 Million Active Users

Amazon’s second Upfront presentation featured a lineup of Hollywood celebrities including Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jason Momoa and Jamie Lee Curtis joined by sports stars such as Travis Kelce and John Cena. The streamer announced that “Spider-Noir,” the Marvel series starring Nicolas Cage, debuts on Prime Video next year, while the post-apocalyptic drama “Fallout” returns for a third season. The Academy of Country Music Awards will call Prime Video home for the next three years. The ad-supported version of the streaming service has added 15 million monthly customers since January 2024 and now reaches about 130 million U.S. households monthly. Continue reading Amazon Touts Prime Video Subs, Series and Sports at Upfront

As part of a larger push to boost its global subscriptions, Google’s YouTube is pilot-testing a discounted two-person Premium plan with select users in France, Hong Kong, India and Taiwan. The tier’s pilot program, which allows users to share their YouTube Premium or YouTube Music Premium membership with another household member (13 years or older) without committing to a family plan, comes as the platform looks to diversity beyond its advertising business. YouTube is testing whether the plan, similar to the Duo offering from music streamer Spotify, would be appealing to couples or roommates looking to minimize costs while maintaining separate accounts. Continue reading YouTube Tests Two-Person Premium Tier to Help Grow Subs