Alphabet-owned Google and Microsoft are inserting ads into their AI experiments without giving them the option to opt out of participation, an approach that has already unsettled some brands and sparked further backlash from the industry. ad buyers told Reuters.
Two tech giants are racing to modernize search engines powered by artificial intelligence that can generate written answers to free-form queries. The process will transform the way advertisers reach consumers through ads on search results, a market estimated to grow 10% this year to $286 billion, according to research firm Magna.
Microsoft is testing ads in the Bing AI chatbot, which it began rolling out to users in February, by rearranging some of the traditional search ads and inserting them into AI responses, the company said.
Google’s advertising general manager Jerry Deschler said in an interview in May that the company will use existing search ads to experiment with ad placement within AI Search Snapshot. This is an early test feature called Search Generative Experience, which first became available last month. . Google said advertisers cannot currently opt out of the test.
Both companies said they are in the early stages of testing ads with generative AI capabilities and are actively working with advertisers and seeking feedback.
Ad buyers say some advertisers are wary of spending marketing budgets on features available to a limited number of users. Advertisers typically want to control where their ads appear online and are careful about appearing next to inappropriate or inappropriate content.
Microsoft and Google said existing guardrails on search engines, such as lists of blocked keywords that prevent ads from appearing in queries, also apply to AI search features.
Both companies have been pouring billions of dollars into generative AI, making it important to make money from the technology. This includes investments in other AI companies, such as Microsoft’s multi-billion dollar bet on OpenAI, developer of popular ChatGPT, and Google’s $400 million stake in OpenAI competitor Anthropic. is
Jason Lee, executive vice president of brand safety at media agency Horizon Media, which has worked with brands such as insurer GEICO and Corona beer, said testing new ad runs without obtaining consent from brands was not an option for advertisers. said it was a disturbing act for Another ad buyer at a large ad agency also said the practice is not considered standard in the industry.
Ad buyers familiar with the matter said several major advertisers responded by temporarily increasing their ad spend from Microsoft. In it, Wells Fargo continues to keep part of its advertising budget out of Microsoft, the person added.
Wells Fargo did not respond to a request for comment.
Lynne Kjolso, Microsoft’s vice president of global partners and retail media, said in an interview that the company wants to make the introduction of the new Bing ad format as “seamless” as possible without creating additional work for advertisers. said he was aiming for
Microsoft recently launched hotel ads on Bing chatbots and is working to introduce ads for other industries such as real estate, he said.
Advertiser concerns are also more tense as technology platforms increasingly offer AI solutions that may have to give up some control over advertising, although they may produce better results for advertisers. have an impact on
“This isn’t the first time Google and Bing have expanded their networks while limiting advertiser control,” said Samantha Aiken, paid search supervisor at marketing agency Code 3.
For example, many in the industry prefer Google’s P-MAX tool, which uses AI to automate optimal ad placements from multiple Google services, rather than asking advertisers to set up different ad campaigns. She said she sees it as an analytical discovery tool and an analytical “black box.” That’s because the algorithmic model doesn’t reveal how it decides where to serve ads.
Three ad buyers shared Microsoft’s Transparency Report, which describes what search terms triggered brands’ ads to appear in generative AI experiences, or how their ads performed compared to traditional search ads. He said he was concerned about the lack of reports showing what he had shown.
Two of the ad buyers said Microsoft representatives accepted their concerns but did not provide a timeline for when a more transparent report would be available.
One ad buyer who requested anonymity about private conversations with business partners said, “Advertisers can’t just go and pull out a report and see how often they’re being seen[in the Bing chatbot]. ‘ said.
Kyorso said the transparency report was a top request from ad agencies and was “a priority” for Microsoft’s product teams.
“We take seriously what additional measures and controls we need to give our advertisers,” she said, adding that the sales team is partly It added that it is actively cooperating with the brands of
Two media buyers at major ad agencies said they questioned how the search giant would prevent ads from appearing on AI responses containing “hallucinations” or misinformation.
Bing’s web information can act as a “foundation” mechanism for large-scale language models, which can actually reduce the risk of hallucinations, Cholso said.
