In this newsletter, you’ll find:
Let’s dive in: 👇
Another day, another antitrust lawsuit. This time, the FTC and 17 states have accused Amazon of using their growing influence to actively harm consumers and suppress businesses.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) argues that Amazon's policies unfairly favor the company and lead to higher prices and reduced service quality.
In response, Amazon defends its practices, while industry experts suggest that the FTC's case may have limited substance.
Pilothouse’s Lead Amazon Media Buyer weighed in saying that the FTC’s argument “doesn't have much teeth.”
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SEO consultant Gagan Ghotra recently revealed that Google has inadvertently been indexing publicly shared conversations from its AI chatbot Bard.
Ghotra alerted users about the issue, advising them to avoid sharing personal information in Bard conversations to prevent unauthorized access through Google search. Despite Google's assertion that this indexing was unintentional and that they are working to rectify the situation, the conversations remain indexed, raising significant privacy and data security concerns.
A Google research scientist emphasized that only explicitly shared conversations were public, but Ghotra pointed out that users were unaware these would be indexed by Google.
The Bard share feature, introduced in July, allows users to share conversations, with a disclaimer advising against sharing confidential information. However, no information was provided about the potential indexing by Google, leading to further scrutiny and criticism of the tech giant's handling of user data and privacy.
Please, and we mean please, do not share sensitive information when using AI chatbots. Let this be your bat signal to keep private information private.
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In the most recent episode of All Killer No Filler, Eric and the Pilothouse Google team went all in on Google.
They emphasized the significance of early audience setup, the robust capabilities of PMAX and Demand Gen campaigns, and the unmatched potential of platforms like YouTube for top-of-funnel awareness. 👌
🏛️ Audience building
One of the key takeaways is the critical importance of setting up new audiences well in advance. “If you don't start now, you're not maximizing, and it costs way more. If you're trying to build your funnel in Q4, it'll cost a lot more.”
AKA, if your goal is effectiveness and cost-efficiency for your campaigns this Q4, early planning should be numero uno on your list.
🎯 Google performance max
The conversation also highlights the multifaceted utility of PMAX campaigns.
Utilizing PMAX campaigns across the entire funnel allows you to not only focus on immediate conversions, but also target individuals engaged in high-level searching.
This approach ensures a more extensive and more effective reach, enhancing the potential for conversions over time.
❣️ TOF + YouTube = match made in heaven
YouTube emerges as a powerful platform in the discussion, specifically for top-of-funnel awareness.
Even a five-second exposure before a user skips an ad can make a significant impact.
Sure, five seconds is a brief window, but even that brief window can be enough to engage and introduce viewers to your brand (and potentially lay the groundwork for future interactions and conversions!).
The pod is filled with so many Google goodies - including lifestyle videos to garner attention and Demand Gen campaigns (set to launch in October).
🎧 Eager to get the full scoop and go all in on Google? Click here to listen to the full episode.
📹 An inside look at Amazon’s Prime Video ads set to drop next year. Amazon estimates that the initiative will generate 155M monthly viewers for featured brands.
📸 Facebook and Instagram will get new AI-powered tools. Restyle and backdrop are two highlights coming to Instagram providing more creative agency to users.
🤖 Google rolls out new generative AI training courses. The new courses will be featured as two new learning paths in Google’s Cloud Boost Skills training catalog.
🛍️ A new report alleges eBay has been irresponsible towards the environment as over 300K products meant to hide vehicle emission data were sold on its marketplace.
♾️ Meta launches a refreshed logo for Facebook. The design is meant to represent a “more confident” iteration of Facebook’s signature blue.
Have you heard our latest podcasts?
Don’t forget to rate the DTC Podcast on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️)
Got an awesome DTC brand story to tell? Calling all brand-side founders and team leaders! Fancy joining us on the DTC Podcast as a guest? Tap the link to toss in your application.
DTC Newsletter is written by Rebecca Knight and Michael Venditti. Edited by Claire Beveridge and Eric Dyck.
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