Cox Media Group (CMG), a marketing agency, admitted that it listens to user voice data using “Active Listening” software via smartphone microphones. The data is then used for ad targeting. The agency reportedly has access to more than 470 sources, including LinkedIn. CMG claims that the disclaimer of its software is ‘often included' in the fine print of the terms of services when downloading a new app or update.

Jeff Geerling recently expressed his concerns about unauthorized use of his voice through AI technology in a blog post titled "They stole my voice with AI." He discovered that Elecrow, a company he had previously collaborated with, had used an AI-generated voice that closely resembled his own to narrate promotional videos without his consent. This revelation came after a viewer alerted him to the Elecrow video, which featured a voice that sounded familiar but was not his own. Geerling noted that he had a positive history with Elecrow, having reviewed their products in the past, and he hoped that the use of his voice was an unintentional mistake. However, he raised significant ethical concerns about the implications of AI voice cloning, especially given the lack of legal precedents addressing unauthorized use of someone's voice. He referenced a notable case, Midler vs. Ford, which established that using someone's voice in commercial works without consent is illegal. In his post, Geerling emphasized the importance of respecting creators' rights and suggested that companies should hire voiceover artists or collaborate with content creators rather than resorting to voice cloning. He expressed his intention to reach out to Elecrow to request the removal of the videos featuring the AI-generated voice and to clarify whether they had intentionally trained the AI on his content. The blog post also included updates on the situation, indicating that he had received a response from Elecrow's CEO, which he planned to address in a follow-up post. Geerling's experience highlights the growing concerns surrounding AI technology and its potential to infringe on individual rights, particularly in the realm of content creation and personal branding. In the comments section, readers shared their thoughts, with many expressing outrage at Elecrow's actions and offering support to Geerling. Some suggested that the use of AI voice cloning without consent is a serious ethical violation, while others pointed out the broader implications of such technology in the digital landscape. Overall, Geerling's situation serves as a cautionary tale about the intersection of technology, ethics, and intellectual property rights in the age of AI.

90% of ad buyers are shifting personalization tactics as a result of increased privacy legislation and signal loss, with ad budgets increasingly allocated to channels that leverage first-party data, such as CTV, retail media, and social media. One challenge marketers are likely to face as they focus more on first-party data is a lack of interoperability between these channels, which makes it harder to assess effectiveness.

Magellan AI's Q2 Benchmark Report highlights a 22% YoY increase in podcast advertising spending, with 1,516 new brands joining the space. This surge is driven by rising podcast popularity, effective ad models, and increased ad loads per episode. Direct response advertising accounts for 44% of spend, while brand awareness campaigns have grown to 54%, with a 15% YoY rise. Top advertisers include BetterHelp, Amazon, and Shopify, with Mint Mobile entering the top ten. The gaming industry, along with jewelry, eyewear, and real estate, saw the highest growth in ad spending.

AI company ElevenLabs has launched a Reader app featuring voice-overs by digital versions of deceased celebrities, stirring questions of morality and legality in AI's use in media. While partnerships with estates enable monetization, concerns about authenticity and ethical implications persist. The emergence of such technologies heralds a potential expansion in markets such as audiobooks, where celebrity voices drive demand.

Tech companies like Google and Meta are updating their privacy policies to use public and possibly private user data to train AI systems as they navigate a complex landscape of privacy laws and user consent. Backlashes have occurred as users and creators are fearful about the use of their content in training AI that could potentially replace them. The tensions highlight emerging challenges in AI development, data privacy rights, and the balance between innovation and ethics in the tech industry.

Regulators argue Meta's new ad model fails to offer a less personalized alternative as required by the Digital Markets Act.

Meta's ad-free subscription service in Europe is facing regulatory issues as the Consumer Protection Cooperation Network finds it misleading. The service, designed to let users opt out of ads and data tracking for a fee, has been criticized for pressuring users and lacking clear information. The EU Commission has ruled that the plan does not comply with the Digital Markets Act, and Meta must address these concerns to avoid potential fines.

Snapchat has announced a range of new partnerships with third-party data tools to help ad partners make the most of their ad campaigns, despite signal loss due to recent mobile privacy changes. Snap will serve as a key mobile platform partner for Snowflake’s Marketing Data Cloud, which will provide advertisers with encrypted, privacy-safe, and effective ad measurement. The brand is also partnering with AppsFlyer on an advanced privacy-centric measurement solution.

An Australian investigation into Meta's privacy practices has resulted in the company's admission that it has been scraping public posts, photos, and comments from both Facebook and Instagram for the past 17 years. This data was used to train its generative AI model.

Hootsuite is set to acquire Talkwalker — the leading listening solution — to usher in a new era of social media performance. While the vast majority of businesses are on social media, most cannot connect to business impact that truly matters. With Hootsuite and Talkwalker together, social media marketers will have access to the broad cultural context, competitor intel, and specific customer feedback needed to perform.

Google is developing a two-hop proxy to enhance privacy for Chrome users, a move that has major implications for advertisers. For ad location targeting, advertisers will only have the option to target regions designated by Google, which won't be accurate. The proxy will mask users' identities, meaning advertisers will not be able to distinguish between genuine and bot traffic. Google is increasing its collection of uniquely valuable location data, which could increase advertising costs.

OpenAI has signed licensing deals with The Atlantic and Vox Media, allowing their content to train its AI models and be shared in ChatGPT with proper attribution.

Spotify has unveiled its first in-house creative agency, Creative Lab, to help brands craft custom marketing campaigns and is testing generative AI ads. This initiative aims to attract advertisers by offering innovative ad formats and the ability to reach Spotify's 615 million listeners. The new AI tool, "Quick Audio," will allow brands to create scripts and voice overs using generative AI.

Cissy Jones, a renowned voice artist, co-founded Morpheme to offer ethical AI voice modeling after her voice was used without consent. Morpheme ensures actors consent and are compensated for AI-generated vocal content. The broader industry's rush to AI adoption may sideline human talent and ignore actors' rights. As the video game industry integrates AI, Sag-Aftra union negotiations aim to protect performers' consent and fair compensation.

Cissy Jones, a renowned voice artist, co-founded Morpheme to offer ethical AI voice modeling after her voice was used without consent. Morpheme ensures actors consent and are compensated for AI-generated vocal content. The broader industry's rush to AI adoption may sideline human talent and ignore actors' rights. As the video game industry integrates AI, Sag-Aftra union negotiations aim to protect performers' consent and fair compensation.

Costco is building out an ad network built on its trove of loyalty membership data, using its 74.5 million household members' shopping habits and past purchases to power targeted advertising on and off its website. The wholesale retailer is still testing such capabilities, and it's fielding offers from potential ad-tech vendors, but the move signals that the third-largest retailer in the US could become a formidable player in the already deeply fragmented retail media space, which is estimated to reach $166 billion by 2025, and responsible for 20% of all digital media spend this year.

AI advancement poses a significant threat to the adtech industry, with its ability to filter out ads, potentially reducing the $1 trillion in annual revenue that companies like Google, Meta, and TikTok currently enjoy. This series explores how AI disrupts the crucial ad inventory by appealing to consumers' desire for ad-free content and questions the stability of Big Tech's business models. The analysis delves into AI's effects on ad consumption, which has implications for major players like OpenAI, Microsoft, Apple, Meta, and Alphabet.

Google launched a closed beta in Search Ads 360 for off-site retail media campaigns. It claims to have created a privacy-centric way for participating brands to use their first-party data to fuel AI-powered Performance Max campaigns. Google said it will expand the beta to more retailers globally over the upcoming months and support additional retail media campaign types, including Microsoft campaigns.

Elon Musk has announced that his AI company is training its Grok LLM using a powerful AI training cluster, aiming to create the most powerful AI by December. X is collecting user data by default to train Grok. This can be disabled via a setting only available on the web app. There are concerns about AI 'inbreeding' and chatbots reaching their peak amid growing discussions on AI data usage and potential regulatory impacts.

US media company Fox Corp. launched Verify L2 to track online content usage. Verify allows media entities to register content, grant usage rights, and verify content provenance, focusing on content ownership and journalistic integrity. It was deployed using Gelato Rollup-as-a-Service as a Polygon CDK validium. Time, the first third-party publishing partner to be onboarded, plans to use Verify for content licensing and verification.

In the evolving data privacy landscape, it is an illusion to think it’s possible to evade compliance through obscurity. This article discusses changes in regulators' stances and real-world cases like DoorDash's investigation over customer data shared with marketing companies. It emphasizes key themes that are on top of regulators' agenda, including transparency, opt-out requests, sensitive information from kids, and manipulative design patterns.

Meta is negotiating with celebrities like Awkwafina and Judi Dench to use their voices for its AI digital assistant, seeking extensive usage rights across its platforms. Striking a deal could mean millions in fees for the actors, with safeguards from SAG-AFTRA for AI-generated likenesses. The company aims to present these AI features at its Connect conference in September, after recently canceling a celebrity voice chatbot project.

As AI-powered chat programs like ChatGPT and others become prominent, marketers need to prepare for negative brand mentions in search queries. Tracking how large language models perceive brands and measuring "share of model" will become crucial. Marketers will need to optimize content to align with model preferences and establish metrics comparable to traditional marketing indicators.