Author: Geek Planet

[ad_1] In the age of synthetic social, it’s getting harder to tell the difference between AI and human-generated content. Despite the AI hype, the influx of synthetic social (and mounting backlash to so-called AI slop) isn’t resulting in more, lucrative brand deals for creators according to the five influencer agency execs Digiday spoke with for this piece. Over the past year, AI-powered video apps like OpenAI’s Sora or Meta’s Vibes have developed further into the uncanny valley with machine-made, personalized social media content. Marketers are interested but largely hesitant to make synthetic social part of their marketing toolkit mainstays. “It’s…

[ad_1] Job cuts made at Brandtech group media agency Jellyfish may be the latest symptom of a contracting advertising and marketing job market. The company cut as many as 50 roles at the end of October, following a slowdown in client spending, Digiday has learned.“Our existing clients were spending less money, some of those were retracting  the projects that they had planned, and that obviously led to a revenue hit,” said one exec whose role was cut in the layoffs and who spoke on condition of anonymity. Jellyfish confirmed the cuts. “Like everyone in marketing, our business is dynamic and…

[ad_1] In the era of synthetic social, where AI slop has flooded timelines, brand marketers and agency execs have largely shrugged off concerns. The low-effort, mass produced, AI-generated content, known as AI slop, could have ripple effects on the marketing industry — misinformation, brand copyright, IP and social media saturation. Still, marketers seem unfazed, according to four brand marketers and agency execs Digiday spoke with for this piece. “AI or otherwise, the key is to make content that audiences gravitate to,” said Haley Schluter, head of North America for Buttermilk influencer agency, in an email to Digiday, later adding, “It’s…

[ad_1] Disney kicked things off by announcing that Disney+ subscribers will soon be able to spin up their own content using its characters. A former video game studio head chimed in to note that younger audiences are already using this stuff. And TikTok added more fuel by confirming its testing controls that lets users adjust the amount of AI-generated material in their feeds — an update that landed alongside the revelation that more than 1.3 billion videos on the platform now carry an AI label.  All of it points to an entertainment pipeline being retooled in real time, where the…

[ad_1] As the data center faces unprecedented demand and a critical shortage of skilled technicians, energy tech firm Schneider Electric has launched an initiative to recruit and train 400 U.S. military veterans for customer-facing service roles supporting data centers, power systems and critical facilities. The timing couldn’t be more opportune. Data center demand is projected to grow 33% annually by 2030, while the industry struggles to find qualified candidates for increasingly complex systems. Veterans already comprise 7.2% of Schneider’s U.S. workforce, exceeding the federal benchmark of 5.1%. The company was recently named a 2025 Gold Military Friendly Employer. Those who…

[ad_1] This Black Friday and Cyber Monday, it’s more likely shoppers turn to ChatGPT to help with their holiday wish lists. Over the past year, AI platforms have gone mainstream with more users using them to research products, compare brands, hunt for deals and even automate purchasing.The changes in how people shop online has caused marketers to reconsider their SEO strategies to maintain brand visibility in the new zero-click search landscape. As this year’s holiday shopping season gets underway, it could prove to be a major inflection point in determining if AI search can be a tool from discovery to…

[ad_1] Creators and the creator economy aren’t going anywhere, given the market has truly embraced just how important they are to the industry, and it’s no longer a nice-to-have.Which is why Digiday has charted how the creator economy is expected to expand in 2026, including revenue, the types of creators brands are planning to work with, along with what platforms will be key for that content. U.S. annual creator economy ad spend set to rise by around 18% The IAB’s latest report noted that this year, the U.S. annual creator economy ad spend is set to reach $37.1 billion. But…

[ad_1] Snap, like the rest of the platforms, has spent the last year nudging marketers further toward automated advertising. Next year, it plans to keep pushing, with creative now squarely in its sights. It’s the next big focus for the mobile messaging app, which has already automated much of the plumbing behind media buying, including bidding and budget reallocation. Now, it’s turning its attention to the ads themselves. “We’re thinking about how we bring the power of AI into that creative production and creative expression on the platform, because that’s where the magic really happens,” said Abby Laursen, Snap’s senior…

[ad_1] Amazon is positioning Twitch as a defining asset in its CTV ambitions, folding the platform’s hard-to-reach audience and live-video inventory into the same pitch it uses to sell Prime Video and Fire TV. That marks a clear break from not all that long ago. At Amazon’s 2024 upfront, executives walked advertisers through an expanding video portfolio, but Twitch — despite having been in the fold for a decade — barely registered. The omission was telling then. The inclusion now is even more so. Page two of the Twitch section of Amazon DSP’s latest pitch deck, starts putting that audience into…

[ad_1] In the latest “every surface becomes shoppable” news, more platforms are inking deals and rolling out shoppable ad formats across the open web. As more media environments become points of purchase, attribution and measurement remain the thorn in the side of commerce execs. In early December, Pinterest announced a partnership with Walmart that allows Pinterest users to add recipe ingredients straight to their cart on Walmart.com to be picked up or delivered. Around the same time, Albertsons Media Collective, the grocery chain’s retail media network, rolled out similar offsite-to-cart tools. Its new “add-it” technology allows users to add products,…