Lab Weekly - 08/09/2024
The Future of Real Estate; Plus, the latest news about Google, Meta, AI, and some cool stats
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The Future of Real Estate
As people have adapted to new ways of living in this post-COVID era, their expectations and preferences for housing have also evolved. In tandem with broader economic incentives and lifestyle changes, such as the end of Zero Interest Rate Policies (ZIRP) and shifts in homeowner mindset, these evolving trends are driving significant changes in the real estate market.
In case you missed it…
The Crucial Differentiator in the AI Search War
The burgeoning AI search war carries far-ranging implications for the future of the web and digital advertising. Everyone needs the latest news content to keep their AI search engines up-to-date, and access to quality content has become an increasingly important differentiation point.
What’s Next for the Entertainment Industry?
This summer has been one of turmoil and reorganization for Hollywood. Still recovering from the historical double-strikes that put the industry on pause last summer, the entertainment industry is trying to realign its streaming-led business model with the post-streaming-wars market reality. The streaming services are all in on ads, yet Hollywood needs to look both outward and inward to find its future.
The Rise and Fall of a “Brat Summer”
Last week, brat summer breached barriers of its online niche and crossed over into the mainstream news cycle, thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris embracing the Brat memes as she launched her presidential bid. What is brat summer? Why is it having such a cultural moment? And what brands can learn from its rise and fall?
Google Loses Search Antitrust Case In Blow To Digital Ad Juggernaut [Marketing Dive]
On Monday, a federal judge ruled that Google engaged in illegal practices to preserve its search engine monopoly, such as striking deals with other companies to be the default search engine choice. Google reportedly pays Apple $18 billion a year to be the default choice on Safari. In an era where big tech regulation is increasingly in the spotlight, the consequences of this landmark decision and the legal precedent it establishes will be closely watched. Given how much AI is already transforming the search market, it will be interesting to see if this decision opens more leeway for Microsoft’s Bing or Perplexity AI to increase their market share against Google.
Interestingly, what this case doesn’t cover is how Google will be punished for being a monopolist. If this decision hold, an injunction will likely be filed against Google around making these type of deals to be the default search engine, but that would bring collateral casualties like Apple or Mozilla, the company behind FIrefox, as it’d deprive them of the profits they could’ve made from a deal with Google. Apple, of course, will be totally fine, given how huge and profitable it is. Mozilla, on the other hand, could be facing an existential threat, as its deal with Google reportedly accounts for nearly 80% of the company’s entire revenues. If no injunction is filed to stop Google, then the alternative is an EU-style pop-up screen asking people to choose their preferred search engine, which typically does nothing other than annoy customers, most of whom will just choose Google anyways. Essentially, there’s no easy solutions here.
Related: Google pulls Gemini AI ad from Olympics after backlash [The Verge]; Google introduced new models for its open-source Gemma line, saying they outperform LLMs that were trained on more parameters [Decoder]
Meta Is Offering Hollywood Stars Millions for AI Voice Projects [Bloomberg]
This move from Meta is reflective of the rise of multimodal AI and the currently under-utilized entertainment use cases of AI chatbots. With Google absorbing Character.AI through licensing and hiring, it would seem like more big tech companies are going to further explore chatbots’ entertainment value.
By integrating recognizable voices into its AI tools, Meta aims to enhance user engagement on its platforms, differentiating its offerings from competitors like Apple's Siri and Amazon's Alexa. The company sees this as a way to create more personalized and enjoyable interactions, positioning itself as a leader in the next generation of AI-driven digital assistants.
However, the negotiations must have been complex, as Meta seeks broad rights to use these voices, while the actors' representatives push for stricter limits. This tension highlights broader industry concerns about the ethical implications of AI, particularly in Hollywood. It will be interesting to see what Meta will come up with once they secure the rights, especially since they recently scrapped the initial batch of AI chatbots based on celebrities and influencers, after they fell flat with users.
Related: Amazon Music debuts Maestro, an AI-powered playlist generator, and Topics, which helps users find podcast episodes by topic [TechCrunch]; Free users of ChatGPT can now generate up to two images per day with DALL-E 3 [The Verge]
Google Releases New TV Streamer To Replace Chromecast [Forbes]
The new $100 Google TV Streamer, set to ship on September 24, offers enhanced performance over the Chromecast with Google TV, along with support for advanced smart home standards like Thread and Matter. This upmarket move indicates Google's intention to compete in a more premium segment of the streaming market.
The discontinuation of Chromecast, which was first launched in 2013, comes as Google faces intense competition from a crowded field of streaming devices. The rise of competitors offering more sophisticated and feature-rich devices likely influenced Google's decision to pivot away from Chromecast's simpler, budget-friendly model. Instead, by pivoting to a premium device, and citing the Nvidia Shield as a goal to strive toward, Google aims to appeal to users who value higher performance and advanced features, potentially taking aim at devices like the Nvidia Shield, which has long been regarded as a top-tier streaming option.
Related: Google unveils Gemini-based features for Google Home [The Verge]; Roku plans to launch a free, ad-supported 24/7 sports channel [THR]
Situational Awareness:
Amazon, Google and Microsoft are buying out the struggling AI startups through licensing deals [WSJ]
Depending on how you read it, this could either be a sign that the AI bubble is bursting, or that the current regulatory scrutiny is forcing struggling startups to look for a bailout without regular acquisitions.
TikTok launches TikTok Spotlight, in-app hubs for movies and TV shows [The Verge]
They'll offer ticketing details and other information on users' videos about the movies and shows in question. If this takes off, it could become a channel for TikTok to grab some entertainment ad dollars from the likes of IMDB or Fandango down the line.
Etsy plans to begin testing its first loyalty program in September to boost sales [AP News]
Loyalty programs are typically a good way to draw in more sales from hardcore fans. But if you ask me, What that site really needs is a better search engine and stronger curation to improve its product discovery experience.
Ikea’s immersive “sleepeasy” experience to open in New York [Blooloop]
Ikea is commendable for trying something new in experiential retail. Too bad it’s not an overnight sleepover experience, like some museums would offer for school kids.
5 Gum, Zedd tease hidden bodega rave with social media scavenger hunt [Marketing Dive]
Kinda love the idea of combining a social media scavenger hunt, which is admittedly a bit trite in 2024, with an ultra-exclusive, intimate concert as the reward. Any brand that wants to have a brat summer should get Charli XCX to do a DJ set in some abandoned Bushwick warehouse.
Humane’s AI Pins are being returned faster than they are sold. The Verge reports that Humane's products have brought in about $9 million in sales, but $1 million worth of product has been returned; Between May and August, more AI Pins were returned than purchased. Only about 7,000 AI Pins are estimated to be still in customers' hands at the moment.
The Washington Post looked at nearly 200,000 English-language conversations from the research dataset WildChat, which includes messages from two AI chatbots built on the same underlying technology as ChatGPT. They found that 21% of the users are using chatbots to aid creative writing, 18% are using it to help with homework, and 17% are using it as a search engine for information.
According to a new report from CreatorIQ and TikTok, which measured earned media value (EMV) on TikTok over a 12-month period that ends in February 2024m Amazon ranked first with a TikTok EMV of $1.03 billion, followed by brands like the NBA, NFL, Sephora, Fortnite and Barbie, Marketing Dive reports.
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