Putting AI results into search pages

This week we have five stories including the testing of SGE results within standard Google search, the IAB on in-game advertising, Spotify looks to e-learning, and artists using Sora.

Google has started putting ‘AI’ answers into general search results

Google launched SGE - Search Generative Experience, it’s AI-assisted search results - in May last year, as a separate, stand alone service on a different page. Now it has started to show these results for a subset of queries, on a small percentage of search traffic in the U.S. Microsoft has already started to include its own ‘Copilot’ results into the main search page within Bing, so the colonisation of search by generative AI is real and may soon start to make a real impact. From my own experience of using Copilot (SGE is not yet available in Europe), the results are good, but maybe not that different, in that Copilot loves to create a list for you, in a similar way to ‘traditional’ search. The difference is that the list is presented as a well written paragraph or series of short items.

We still don’t know what impact these new sorts of results will have on how people use search, because the vast majority are still using the traditional results, but one thing I have noticed from writing newsletters is that the more text you write around a link, the fewer people see a need to click on the link itself.

Related - Google search is getting more advanced - including new personalised tips for people searching for fashions, and the ability to create travel itineraries.

The IAB’s report on in-game advertising in the US

A new report on in-game advertising shows how there is increased interest from brands, and it is seen as a trusted and brand-safe channel. Of course, it’s the IAB job to promote digital channels like this, but the document makes some good points about the growing maturity of the medium, and how it can be used throughout the purchase journey. While there aren’t any actual case studies, there are some advertiser verbatims, for example “The games advertising campaign led to an increase in customer acquisition, with a 20% increase in new customers and 10% increase in repeat customers.” from a consumer electronics advertiser.

Spotify looks to education

Spotify seems to be turning itself into a super app for content. Music, podcasts, audio books - and is now testing education. New video courses, made in partnership with the BBC, Skillshare and others, will offer users initial lessons for free, and then a fee to watch in full. UK members can now browse what is on offer, including lots of music-related ones like ‘Turn basic ideas into release-ready records’, learning to play instruments, DJ-ing, digital art, and more general ones like how to build a business. This seems to be a UK-only test so far, and the e-learning market is very competitive, but Spotify has the established user-base to make it work,

A new report on the climate impact of out of home media

Outsmart, the OOH trade body, has produced a new report in partnership with KPMG, looking at the carbon footprint of their industry. It found that Per impression, OOH emits less carbon than all other media measured, and while it does obviously use energy to power its sites, this is actually very low compared to other available channels. It is good to see that the media industry is starting to produce more reports and tools on this vital topic; the full report has some useful charts comparing different media.

Download it here

Thanks to Helen Bull for the link!

& finally - short films made with Sora

OpenAI unveiled Sora about six weeks ago, and has just released some new films made with artists and independent filmmakers. While there are some glitches and spottable errors, it is amazing to see what the tech is capable of. Watch this 80 second film ‘air head’ - it genuinely would not look out of place at an indie film festival or in a director’s reel.

We still don’t know what the plan is for Sora, but based on this it could be a very powerful tool for professional creators to use.

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