Billed as a conversation among CMOs, this CES panel — moderated by Consumer Technology Association VP of Marketing & Communications Melissa Harrison — drilled down into how major brands and advertising technology companies are integrating artificial intelligence into their pipelines and organizations. They agreed that, although this is still at the beginning stage and requires experimentation, those who are frozen and have not yet started engaging with AI will quickly be at a learning curve disadvantage. Still, panelists emphasized that AI will not replace human creativity. Continue reading CES: How Brands and Marketers Are Integrating AI, Creativity

Brands Mastercard and MGM Resorts International, the Ad Council and advertising technology company XR Extreme Reach (XR) gathered for a CES panel discussion on how real-time AI metrics can help increase representation in ads, thus boosting greater marketing ROI and audience trust. It was moderated by The Female Quotient Chief Executive Shelley Zalis, whose company collaborated with XR to unveil, in October, the Representation Index (RX) to measure inclusivity in global advertising. XR’s SVP of Enterprise Solutions Kristin Wnuk was also there to describe her company’s work in the space. Continue reading CES: Utilizing Real-Time AI to Measure Representation in Ads

When it comes to gaming, Microsoft is not just about Xbox, the popular gaming console it introduced in 2001. Microsoft VP of Global Revenue & Business Planning Jonathan Stringfield wants brands to know that they can reach a broad ecosystem of gamers not just on its console but on mobile devices and PCs. “Consumers expect to be able to watch entertainment across platforms,” he said during a CES 2025 panel discussion. “That’s what we’re doing in the gaming space. And that’s a space that is exploding — not just in overall numbers but who those gamers are.” Continue reading CES: Microsoft Courts Brands for Its Three Gaming Platforms

At CES on Monday, Comcast unveiled Universal Ads, an advertising platform aimed at being an “easy button” for small- and medium-sized businesses to buy ad time on traditional TV’s streaming businesses, with the goal of luring them away from social media and digital outlets. In addition to Comcast’s own NBCUniversal, additional partners include DirecTV, Fox Corporation, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNBC Senior Media & Tech Correspondent Julia Boorstin moderated a panel with Comcast and some major partners who explained why they signed on to the new platform. Continue reading CES: Comcast Debuts Universal Ads, Inks Media Partnerships

During the COVID-19 pandemic, gaming enjoyed a tremendous surge in popularity — a high point that has suffered somewhat of a dip in the last year. However, gaming executives are bullish on their 2025 prospects. “During the pandemic we saw double digit growth in mobile, PC and console,” explained Sensor Tower SVP of Gaming & Entertainment Chirag Ambwani. “And now, in the last six months, we’re seeing gaming coming back to growth after that slight dip.” Better, some trends are highlighting the growing importance of gaming, suggest the experts. United Talent Agency’s Michelle Kim moderated a CES panel on Gamevertising to address the latest trends. Continue reading CES: In-Game Sponsorships, Gamified Promos Build Brands

CTA President Kinsey Fabrizio introduced X Corp. CEO Linda Yaccarino and journalist Catherine Herridge for a CES keynote conversation on the social media company established by Elon Musk in 2023. Herridge skipped the pleasantries and went straight to the news that Meta was abandoning third-party fact checking, and replacing it with Community Notes, adopting X’s policy on the topic. “Mark [Zuckerberg], Meta, welcome to the party,” said Yaccarino. “How exciting when you think Community Notes are good for the world. It couldn’t be more validating that Mark and Meta realize this.” Continue reading CES: X Corp. Chief Exec Linda Yaccarino Talks Social Media

Twelve Labs has raised $30 million in funding for its efforts to train video-analyzing models. The San Francisco-based company has received strategic investments from notable enterprise infrastructure providers Databricks and SK Telecom as well as Snowflake Ventures and HubSpot Ventures. Twelve Labs targets customers using video across a variety of fields including media and entertainment, professional sports leagues, content creators and business users. The funding coincides with the release of Twelve Labs’ new video foundation model, Marengo 2.7, which applies a multi-vector approach to video understanding. Continue reading Twelve Labs Creating AI That Can Search and Analyze Video

Pika Labs has updated its generative video model, Pika 2.0 adding more user control and customizability, the company says. Improvements include better “text alignment,” making it easier to have the AI follow through with intricate prompts. Enhanced motion rendering is said to deliver more “naturalistic movement” and better physics, including greater believability in transformations that tend toward the surreal, which has typically been a challenge for genAI tools. The biggest change may be “Scene Ingredients,” which lets users add their own images when building Pika-generated videos. Continue reading Pika 2.0 Video Generator Adds Character Integration, Objects

Santa Monica-based Snapchat announced a new Monetization Program for content creators this week that will feature expanded revenue opportunities and evolving rewards. Beginning February 1, creators that have at least 50,000 followers and post at least 25 times each month to Saved Stories or Spotlight videos will have the option to place ads in videos that are longer than one minute. Eligible creators would also need to meet one of the following criteria in the most recent month: 10 million Snap views, one million Spotlight views, or 12,000 hours of total view time. According to Snap, Spotlight video viewership is up 25 percent year-over-year. Continue reading Snapchat to Empower Creators with Video Monetization Plan

Nielsen is now offering a cross-media U.S. ad performance view that takes into account advertising on controversial social platform TikTok. As a result of the integration advertisers and agencies will, for the first time, be able to compare ad performance on TikTok across all screens, including digital, CTV, and linear. The analytics will be parsed via Nielsen ONE, a cross-media platform that debuted in alpha in May 2023 at which time it was scheduled for broad release in late 2024. Nielsen says the TikTok integration will provide “independent and verified reporting of demographic data” for campaign measurement via Nielsen ONE. Continue reading TikTok Pacts with Nielsen to Measure Cross-Media Advertising

In a deal said to be reshaping the global advertising industry, Omnicom has reached a definitive agreement to acquire a major rival, the Interpublic Group (IPG), in a stock-for-stock transaction. If the deal receives regulatory approval, the New York-based ad giants will combine to form an agency that will be the largest in the world, bringing together ad legends TBWA Worldwide and McCann Worldgroup for what CNBC estimates will be more than $26 billion in annual revenue. The merger joins “world-class, highly complementary data and technology platforms” at a propitious time, thanks to seismic, AI-driven advances in marketing and adtech. Continue reading Omnicom Will Acquire Interpublic in Major Ad Industry Merger

Perplexity is expanding the publisher program associated with its AI-powered search engine. Added to the list of participants who will share ad revenue and access performance data are Adweek, LA Times, Mexico News Daily, The Independent, Germany’s Stern, the World Encyclopedia and about 10 other media brands. They join existing partners including Time, Fortune and Der Spiegel. Emphasizing its ongoing investment in publishers, Perplexity named Jessica Chan, formerly with LinkedIn and its content partner program, as head of publisher partnerships. News of Perplexity’s content deals appears to be generating mixed feelings in newsrooms. Continue reading Perplexity Expands Publisher Program Despite AI Controversy

After years of focusing on AI infrastructure, Amazon is plunging into the frontier model business with the Nova series. The new family of generative AI models includes the text-to-text model Amazon Nova Micro and Amazon Nova Lite for fast, mobile-friendly apps, and at the upper echelon the multimodal Amazon Nova Pro and Amazon Nova Premier for processing text, images and video. Amazon, which is heavy into production via Amazon Studios and MGM, is also launched two specialty models focused on “studio quality” output — Amazon Nova Canvas for images and Amazon Nova Reel for video. Continue reading Amazon Dives into Generative AI with Nova Foundation Models

Walmart has closed its $2.3 billion all-cash acquisition of smart television maker Vizio. The deal increases the retail giant’s media clout, signaling an expansion of its video-based advertising efforts and interest in content-based marketing. “The acquisition of Vizio and its SmartCast operating system allows Walmart to serve its customers in new ways to enhance their shopping journeys,” Walmart said in concluding the deal, initiated in February. Walmart’s media efforts to date have focused around Walmart Connect, which works with brands to position ads across Walmart.com and in the company’s U.S. stores. Continue reading Walmart Closes $2.3 Billion Acquisition of Vizio, SmartCast OS

Subscription-free streaming platform Plex — which features more than 600 channels, movies and TV shows — has redesigned its user interface to emphasize discovery and personalization. The new look is available in preview on mobile, with a public rollout planned in the weeks to come. “For personal media pros, we’ve centralized media libraries into a dedicated tab,” explains Plex, noting it’s added an option to save favorite libraries and quickly access power-user features. The Watchlist now has a dedicated spot in the navigation bar. Customers are using Plex to “find any title, anytime,” then linking it across services or adding it to the Watchlist. Continue reading Free Streaming Video Platform Plex Redesigns User Interface