Lab Weekly - 08/18/2023
Sports-betting platforms as media channels; plus, news about Amazon’s AI reviews, Robotaxis in SF, Netflix starts streaming video games, along with some latest stats on streaming vs. TV
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Sportsbooks as Media Companies
Brands can reach sports audiences via online betting platforms, which are increasingly trying to become media companies themselves by incorporating sports content. Still, interested brands need to beware of the potential brand safety concerns associated with sports betting. Read this latest original piece by Thomas Trudeau, Director of Innovation Partnerships at the Lab, to learn more about this rising force in the sports media ecosystem.
In case you missed it…
Decoding The Barbenheimer Phenomenon
The viral Barbenheimer trend revived mass passion for going to the movies, but whether or not this is a one-off depends on whether Hollywood will learn the right lessons from its success.
Threads Is An Overnight Success — Now What?
Some quick follow-up notes on the prospects of Meta’s “Twitter Killer” and Twitter’s responses so far
Meta Enters The AI Race With An “Open” Approach
What Is LLaMA 2 and what does Meta’s open-source approach mean for the competitive landscape of generative AI
Amazon Begins Rolling Out AI-Generated Review Summaries [Engadget]
Amazon is finding a new use case for generative AI, namely, to summarize the customer reviews on products being sold on the company’s flagship ecommerce site. Available on a wide number of products for many US shoppers on mobile devices, the AI tech will condense all the customer reviews into one digestible paragraph. Which makes sense, since no one has the time to read through dozens of user reviews just to make an informed purchase decision.
In addition to the summary text, Amazon will also highlight key product attributes as clickable buttons. For example, if a customer wanted to know about the product’s “ease of use” or “performance,” they could tap a button to see just those reviews that mention those keywords. This is similar to a feature that Amazon has already had for a while, which was presumably not generated by an AI. Still, it’d be nice to find the source of the keywords and read them in the context of each review.
Generative AI will no doubt have a big impact on the product review and recommendation cottage industry. Generative AI can be used to analyze customer data, such as purchase history and first-party search history, to generate more accurate and personalized recommendations. Moreover, it can also be used to create interactive experiences, such as AI-generated virtual try-ons and real-time Q&A sessions, to help customers to better understand how products will look and feel before they buy them.
Of course, these AI-generated summaries can only be as good as the reviews they ingest, and like most ecommerce platforms, Amazon has struggled with curbing fraudulent and misleading reviews on its website for years. Earlier this week, the company announced a new set of initiatives aimed at proactively stopping fake reviews before being seen by a customer. Still, if Amazon wants to ensure the accuracy of AI-generated summaries, it should probably make sure the reviews themselves are accurate to begin with.
Related: Amazon is making its own chips to offer generative AI on AWS [CNBC]; Newegg’s ChatGPT-powered review summaries could help you pick your next PC part [The Verge]
Cruise And Waymo Win Robotaxi Expansions In San Francisco [TechCrunch]
Big news for self-driving cars: California regulators have approved Waymo and Cruise to expand their self-driving taxi services in San Francisco. This means that the two self-driving tech companies will be able to operate their vehicles without a human safety driver on board at all times. This is a major milestone for the self-driving car industry, as it is the first time that such a permit has been granted in a major US city.
Still, there is no denying that we’re still nowhere near the self-driving, mobility as a service (MaaS) future that many in the auto industry have prophesied. Still, hitting this regulatory milestone proves that the self-driving car industry has still got some momentum to keep pushing forward. It is quite self-evident that, as we inch closer to real autonomous driving, people will likely spend more time consuming media in their cars, especially video and video games, as they will no longer need to focus on driving. This obviously creates new opportunities for media companies and brands to reach consumers, and to prepare for that future, testing how to do so in the backseat of a robotaxi is a logical first step.
Related: Mercedes-Benz is the first automaker to get approval to sell partially autonomous vehicles in California [The Verge];
Netflix Starts Testing Video Game Streaming [The Verge]
The video game industry’s gradual shift towards a cloud-based streaming model continues, as Netflix reportedly starts testing cloud gaming in Canada and the UK. The service, which is currently in beta, allows subscribers to play a limited number of games on their TVs, smartphones, and tablets. Since the games are streamed from Netflix's servers, users won’t need to download or install them, which may help encourage more casual sampling of the games among viewers. Testing cloud gaming makes sense for Netflix, since it is already a global streaming service with superb tech stacks that ensures data-efficient streaming.
Netflix is betting on video games to expand its service and increase the overall value of its subscription. In order for this strategy to work, it needs to convince users that it is a multi-media entertainment destination. As the streaming wars wind down, Netflix has emerged as both a winner and a loser — it’s a winner in the sense that it is still the streamer with the biggest global subscriber base; it’s a loser in the sense that not only is the streaming model unprofitable, the company has turned into the No. 1 target in the ongoing Hollywood union strikes. Diversifying its content offering could be a smart move is a pivotal moment like this. But the question remains, can Netflix produce the type of games that attract its vast user base to play? Perhaps that is better than the endless scrolling of trying to find something good to watch.
Related: Netflix’s new virtual game controller iOS app hints at TV gaming [The Verge]; Netflix adds text-based 'Heart of Stone' game to its Discord bot [Engadget]
It’s been a big week for interesting stats on streaming services:
In a first for linear TV viewing, cable and broadcast usage fell below 50% in terms of total share among U.S. viewers, according to Nielsen’s July 2023 report. Streaming services, on the other hand, accounted for 38.7% of total U.S. TV usage, the report found, making a record high for the category.
Free ad-supported TV streaming services are booming, 1 in 3 U.S. viewers tune in to services like Freevee, Pluto TV, Tubi, the Roku Channel and Crackle are seeing significant growth. According to Samba TV’s latest State of Viewership report, 1 in 3 U.S. users subscribe to free ad-supported TV streaming (FAST) services. Notably, Amazon’s Freevee saw the highest viewership growth in the first half of 2023 compared to competitors, as it was up 11% year-over-year.
Has streaming become more expensive than the cable bundles? Analysis by Financial Times reports found that a basket of the top U.S. streaming services will cost $87 per month this fall, vs. $73 a year ago; the average U.S. cable TV package costs $83 per month. Still, cable bundles are an all-or-nothing deal, where the streaming services are still sold a la carte.
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