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Trade Desk has released a report titled ‘Elevating your Digital Marketing Strategy with AI’. As per the report, media fragmentation can fuel growth for audience-centric advertising. There are many advertisers who are seeking greater agility and cross-channel measurement capabilities.


The report also highlighted that the scale of the open internet was prioritised over the convenience of walled gardens.


A transformation has been unfolding since the early 2010s. Programmatic advertising emerged and flipped the script on conventional methods by marrying data and automation.


Digital advertising has transitioned from relying on guesswork to making data-informed decisions that power the delivery of more relevant ad impressions. As per the report, programmatic has since set the tone for ad agreements, where direct deals take place between advertisers and media owners, including social platforms. 


Many advertising leaders are convinced that the audience-led programmatic approach is a significant advancement in data-driven advertising. They are urging brands to pivot. Only 15 percent of India’s advertising spend is funnelled into the open internet, indicating a significant untapped opportunity for brands looking to connect with audiences where they spend their time, stated the report.


As per Anil Pandit, EVP, Head of Programmatic, Data, and Tech Publicis Media, “If you’re looking to layer multiple attributes, the best strategy is private marketplaces and open market. Unlike PG, they provide the control needed for precise targeting. The open market also helps you maximise outcomes when you have to achieve multiple KPIs.”


According to Om Jha, head of media strategies and partnerships PepsiCo, “Given the heavily fragmented nature of India’s media ecosystem, programmatic advertising is essential to reaching audiences effectively.”


The programmatic landscape is adapting to advertiser calls for greater agility and the ability to measure ads across channels. These demands reflect the need for a more open and accountable advertising ecosystem.


Modern programmatic, an advancement from the conventional PG approach, empowers brands to assess and compare ad performance across different channels on the open internet such as news/websites, music streaming, OTT/CTV, and online gaming. In this way, advertisers can allocate budgets in a more effective manner for optimal outcomes.


Arvind B Sainath, head of marketing effectiveness and media/digital planning, Diageo, stated, “When it comes to PG, assessing ad performance is akin to students grading their own homework. I’d much prefer the objectivity of the open internet. The independence and transparency that come from external verification give credence to our success.” 


Shashidhar Sharma, head of programmatic, GroupM, said, “Programmatic advertising has changed the way brands orchestrate their presence across display, video, mobile, and social media. This multi-channel approach ensures a cohesive brand experience that reflects the diverse preferences of the Indian consumer.”


A striking 600 million consumers in India are spending their time surfing the vast expanse of the open internet. The open internet is not controlled by any individual, business, or government body. It refers to online media properties (websites, platforms, and apps) across gaming, news, blogs, music, and OTT/CTV.


Walled gardens are closed ecosystems that are controlled by a few tech giants. They own the content and media and have full control of the technology used to target, place, and measure ads. These include Google, YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, etc.


Prabhvir Sahmey, Senior Director, Samsung Ads, stated, “Programmatic advertising has transformed the way we launch large-scale campaigns. It allows us to connect with a vast audience rapidly, bypassing the slower, traditional publisher-by-publisher approach.”


Brands advertising on OTT/CTV are 33 percent more likely to be perceived as premium compared to video ads on walled gardens.


Consumers are also 17 percent more likely to purchase products advertised on news/ websites compared to ads on social media.


Projections indicate that global programmatic ad spend will likely reach $919 billion by 2027, and 84 percent of this spend will be transacted programmatically. Notably, India’s programmatic ad spend share grew 72 percent in the past five years (2019 to 2023) and is expected to encompass 44 percent of all digital ad spend in the country by the end of 2024.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/how-it-works/godrej-reports-net-loss-of-rs-1893-crore-for-the-march-quarter-30893.htm">Godrej reports net loss of Rs 1,893 crore for the March quarter</a>

600 million Indian consumers embrace the open internet: Trade Desk

Microblogging platform X will now allow users to limit replies to verified users. Elon Musk had announced this move on May 5, in an attempt to avoid spams and bots.


Taking to X, where he replied to a post put out by DogeDesigner on the latest update, he said, “This will improve the quality of your replies.”


In the last few months, as per a media report, there was a rise in spam and porn bots which led to an increase in fake accounts.


X's decline in user engagement might be fuelling LinkedIn's rise as a platform for social discussions. Traditionally known for professional networking, LinkedIn is witnessing a surge in activity with thought leaders especially corporates across board engaging in conversations on diverse topics be it marketing, advertising, funding winter or job losses.


When Meta launched Threads, an online social media and social networking service, in July 2023, there was speculation it would dethrone X. While that discussion trended for a while, it fizzled out.


Ironically, it wasn't Threads, but LinkedIn that emerged as a surprising contender.


Research from data analytics platform SimilarWeb supports this shift. According to them, as of March 2024, LinkedIn’s web traffic grew by 10.6 percent year-over-year. On the other hand, X saw a decline of 15.2 percent suggesting a potential migration of users.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/brand-marketing/is-linkedin-emerging-as-a-bigger-threat-than-threads-for-x-30797.htm">Is LinkedIn emerging as a bigger threat than Threads for X?</a>

X to limit replies to verified users only

AI in marketing is no longer an isolated case study or a gimmicky fad, it is now a full fledged job and companies are recruiting specialists for it. Not engineers specialising in AI but marketers specialising in the subject. HCLTech is in the market for an AI leader in their global marketing team. This is the first time the IT company is looking to recruit in this role. 


The job title for this new global position is 'AI Leader', reporting jointly to the Global Head of Capability Marketing with a matrix line to the Global CMO of HCLTech, reflecting the strategic importance of the company's new AI offerings.


The marketing lead will play a critical role in partnering with the company's business leads and product managers to strategically position and define go-to-market strategy and plans for various new products in the GenAI space, including HCLTech AI Force. 


Key responsibilities for the role include identifying client needs, developing AI-driven solutions, and shaping the company's AI-led business strategies globally. 


Additionally, the role requires active participation in the AI community through knowledge sharing and industry events. 


Alongside the usual communication and leadership skills and engineering and business administration degrees, the ideal candidate for this position would need extensive deep understanding of the evolving AI landscape.


“If you are passionate about driving innovation and leveraging AI to solve real-world business challenges, we encourage you to apply for this exciting opportunity,” said a social media post inviting applications for the role.
 

According to a recent KPMG report, global CEOs are making generative AI a top investment priority. The survey done by KPMG shows that 70 percent are investing heavily in generative AI as their competitive edge for the future, with most (52 percent) expecting to see a return on their investment in three to five years. 


In fact, increased profitability was cited as the number one benefit of implementing generative AI within an organisation (22 percent). 


LinkedIn’s Global Talent Trends report from October 2023 said job posts on the platform that mention artificial intelligence or generative AI have seen 17 percent greater application growth over the past two years than job posts with no such mentions.


Read More: <a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/quantum-brief/hcltech-to-drive-ai-related-conversations-at-world-economic-forum-2024-20098.htm">HCLTech to drive AI-related conversations at World Economic Forum 2024</a>

Fad to full-time: HCLTech seeks marketing leader specialising in AI

Amazon.com, Inc. announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2024. Net sales increased 13% to $143.3 billion in the first quarter, compared with $127.4 billion in first quarter 2023. International segment sales increased 10% year-over-year to $31.9 billion, or increased 11% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. North America segment sales increased 12% year-over-year to $86.3 billion. International segment sales increased 10% year-over-year to $31.9 billion, or increased 11% excluding changes in foreign exchange rates. AWS segment sales increased 17% year-over-year to $25.0 billion.

Operating income increased to $15.3 billion in the first quarter, compared with $4.8 billion in first quarter 2023. Net income increased to $10.4 billion in the first quarter. The company's revenue from advertising services was $11.8 billion in the first quarter, up from $9.5 billion in Q1 2023. In Q4 2024, however, the ad revenue was at $14.6 billion. 

“It was a good start to the year across the business, and you can see that in both our customer experience improvements and financial results,” said Andy Jassy, Amazon President and CEO. “The combination of companies renewing their infrastructure modernization efforts and the appeal of AWS’s AI capabilities is reaccelerating AWS’s growth rate (now at a $100 billion annual revenue run rate); our Stores business continues to expand selection, provide everyday low prices, and accelerate delivery speed (setting another record on speed for Prime customers in Q1) while lowering our cost to serve; and, our Advertising efforts continue to benefit from the growth of our Stores and Prime Video businesses." 

He added, "It’s very early days in all of our businesses and we remain excited by how much more we can make customers’ lives better and easier moving forward.”

In its highlights, Amazon listed the release of 20 films and series from Amazon MGM Studios, including the debut season of Fallout, which attracted more than 65 million viewers worldwide and has become the second most watched title ever on Prime Video through its first 16 days; Road House, which attracted more than 50 million viewers worldwide in its first two weekends streaming on Prime Video, the biggest debut ever for an Amazon MGM Studios-produced film; Hazbin Hotel, which had the most total global viewers on its opening weekend for a new animated series on Prime Video; and The Beekeeper, which ranked in the top-10 of theatrical releases by revenue globally in the first quarter.

The company also highlighted its plans to create a new series from MrBeast, the world’s most-subscribed YouTube creator. Beast Games is set to have 1,000 contestants competing for $5 million—the biggest single prize in the history of television and streaming. The series will premiere on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories and is based on MrBeast’s popular show.

Amazon announced a global collaboration that will bring Fire TV to Panasonic’s new smart TVs. Customers will get the benefits of Fire TV’s personalized streaming and access to Alexa, combined with Panasonic’s smart TVs. Amazon also announced Matter Casting on Fire TV and Echo Show 15—an industry-first implementation of this practice. Matter Casting lets customers stream and control content on their television or streaming stick from their mobile app. Customers can begin watching a movie from Prime Video on their phone, and cast it to a compatible Fire TV or Echo Show 15 to continue watching on a bigger screen.

Amazon also highlighted its focus on AI across the company and its services. It announced the general availability of Amazon Q, the most capable generative AI-powered assistant for accelerating software development and leveraging companies’ internal data. It delivered a number of innovations in Amazon Bedrock (AWS’s generative AI service that enables customers to leverage an existing large language model, customize it with their own data, and have the easiest and best features available to deploy secure, high quality, low latency, cost-effective production generative AI apps). Tens of thousands of organizations worldwide are using Amazon Bedrock. There was also the extension of AWS and NVIDIA’s strategic collaboration to make AWS the best place to run NVIDIA GPUs, helping customers unlock new generative AI capabilities. 




Amazon Q1 Results: Revenue from advertising services hit $11.8 billion in the first quarter

The global smartwatch market has been growing rapidly for multiple years now driven by the explosion of basic smartwatches priced mostly under $100 and running proprietary or real-time operating system (RTOS)-type operating systems with basic functionality and applications. On the other hand, advanced smartwatches (those with High-Level Operating System or HLOS) have been growing steadily mostly driven by Apple and Samsung until now.

However, according to Counterpoint's latest global smartwatch tracker and forecast by region, brand and OS, the global HLOS smartwatch market is estimated to grow 15% annually in 2024 in terms of volume, after a flattish growth in 2023. The major part of this growth will come from non-Apple smartphone users adopting either a Google Wear OS-based smartwatch if outside China or a Huawei HarmonyOS-based smartwatch if in China.

For example, in the advanced smartwatch segment, Counterpoint estimates the Google Wear OS share outside China will climb to 27% in 2024. The growth will be primarily driven by the availability of more advanced smartwatches powered by Wear OS, like the latest adoption by Google Pixel and OnePlus Watch 2, along with the refreshed Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 series.

Commenting on the market performance, Senior Research Analyst Anshika Jain said, “Just as in the case of smartphones, where there is a shift toward premium devices in consumer buying patterns, we are witnessing that first-time smartwatch users or upgraders in the Android camp are now looking for a much better user experience and are willing to spend more when going for their next purchase. Due to this, we expect greater adoption of Google’s Android Wear (Wear OS) since these devices provide a robust third-party app experience, Google AI assistant, and precise health tracking, customization and battery optimization.”

Jain added, “Until now, most of the Wear OS adoption was driven by Samsung smartwatches, and there were limited mainstream options for Android smartphone users. However, starting this year, we are seeing Google and Qualcomm managing to attract their leading smartphone customers such as OnePlus, OPPO and Xiaomi to launch Wear OS-based smartwatches outside China at attractive high-tier price points. Further, Google’s own Pixel watches will also continue to contribute to the Wear OS adoption globally.

While there are emerging trends when it comes to OS and chipset strategies, smartwatch displays are becoming a key component for differentiation. Counterpoint company DSCC’s Senior Director David Naranjo said, “According to our smartwatch display panel shipments tracker, the advanced smartwatch, which mostly sports cutting-edge OLED and MicroLED displays, is bound to see an increase in orders for suppliers in the 16%-18% range in 2024 due to strong momentum after the second half of 2023 and the blended OLED panel pricing declining by 3% in addition to larger display sizes.”

Global advanced smartwatch market expected to see 15 percent annual growth in 2024

When Google announced a three-month delay in their timeline to deprecate the third-party cookies, the entire AdTech industry went on a tailspin this last week, justifiably so. Good or bad, right, or wrong, this is being seen as “crying wolf”, so more than the actual reasons for the extension, it is the subliminal “will they ever deprecate” worry that triggered this angst. 


Aqilliz is one of the affected parties, I must say, as we launched our company with a suite of solutions for the “world beyond cookies” and that world never came for more than four years! And there are many startups like ours, who are waiting for the so called “addressable market” to open up. Not just the startups, large organizations like The Trade Desk, Magnite, Pubmatic, InMobi, Affle etc., who have the Open Web as their addressable market are equally affected as well, because they too need to fine tune their solutions to be fit into the world beyond cookies. To be honest, there is no solution in sight at this moment. 


Keeping the emotions aside, if we must objectively look at why Google extended the deadline by three more months, there are two broad areas of concerns, the CMA has highlighted:


1. Proper Consent Management Platform: As late as 2019, when the first announcement to deprecation of cookies was announced, one of the key requirements from the alternative solution is in their ability to capture and carry consent across the supply chain. The CMA wants Google to make the consent interface clearer for Topics API, and make sure partners using Protected Audiences API and Attribution API get user consent. The report notes the ICO’s concern that the remarketing solution Protected Audience API will not incorporate many privacy-enhancing technologies until 2026, after the planned deprecation of third-party cookies. 


2. Neutrality and Transparency: CMA says, we are discussing with Google what further restrictions may be applied on their use of first-party data to target and measure ads on Google’s owned and operated (O&O) inventory, which might indirectly force more of the industry into using Google’s own ad tech. It is particularly concerning that one solution to Protected Audiences API preferences is Google’s ad server and Google Ad Manager over other ad-tech tools. Google’s interest-based targeting solution Topics is fair to all publishers and is not biased toward Google. And it wants to ensure the attribution reporting API will always collect as little user data as possible. Google currently retains significant discretion over how Privacy Sandbox works,” the report says. “This creates a risk of self-preferencing.


Both the above points are absolutely spot on. If the Privacy Sandbox from Google does not meet these two requirements, it has totally failed in offering an alternative in their own ecosystem, after they have deprecated the third-party cookies. Proper consent management, neutrality and transparency are the corner stones of the data privacy regulations across all the countries. This explains, why Google has not postponed the deprecation of trackers with the Android ecosystem and stuck to the timelines, as it is easy to implement this on mobile phones vis a vis a desktop browser. 


But there is a larger question the begs an answer. Are the tech companies that are serving the OpenWeb ready to meet the same set of standards the CMA is demanding from Google? Can the alternative ID solutions that are in the marketplace offer the same standards of consent management, neutrality, and transparency? 


In my view, there are no solutions in sight that can honor the code of responsible use of consumer data, yet. Perhaps, legacy businesses, might not be able to pivot their products or solutions to meet these requirements. Everyone is trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, including but not limited to Google. 


IAB TechLab rightly called for a total rearchitecture of the digital advertising supply chain way back in 2019. We are still reading that paper only. Not done anything at all. Status quo is not affecting anybody, so why bother? 


Gowthaman Ragothaman is a 30-year media, advertising and marketing professional and CEO of Aqilliz, a blockchain solutions company for the marketing industry.

MAdtech Point: The truth behind the delay in the deprecation of cookies from Google

The UK's Financial Times has struck a strategic partnership and licensing agreement with Microsoft-backed OpenAI to enhance ChatGPT with attributed content, help improve its models’ usefulness by incorporating FT journalism, and collaborate on developing new AI products and features for FT readers, the Financial Times and OpenAI shared about the latest media tie-up. 

ChatGPT users will be able to see select attributed summaries, quotes and rich links to FT journalism in response to relevant queries, the report added. 

While the financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, this latest expansion of media partnerships follows similar deals by OpenAI over the past few months with the Associated Press, global news publisher Axel Springer, France's Le Monde and Spain-based Prisa Media. This week, Axel Springer SE and Microsoft Corp. announced an expanded, multifaceted partnership across advertising, AI, content and cloud computing. The cooperation aims to leverage cutting-edge innovation to support independent journalism around the world, Microsoft said in a statement.

FT Group CEO John Ridding said the agreement recognises "the value of our award-winning journalism and will give us early insights into how content is surfaced through AI," adding that "this partnership will help to keep us at the forefront of developments in how people access and use information.” 

Ridding added, “Apart from the benefits to the FT, there are broader implications for the industry. It’s right, of course, that AI platforms pay publishers for the use of their material. OpenAI understands the importance of transparency, attribution, and compensation – all essential for us. At the same time, it’s clearly in the interests of users that these products contain reliable sources.” 

Brad Lightcap, COO of OpenAI, said, “Our partnership and ongoing dialogue with the FT is about finding creative and productive ways for AI to empower news organisations and journalists, and enrich the ChatGPT experience with real-time, world-class journalism for millions of people around the world.” 

"We're keen to explore the practical outcomes regarding news sources and AI through this partnership,” said Ridding. He added, "As with any transformative technology, there is potential for significant advancements and major challenges, but what’s never possible is turning back time. It’s important for us to represent quality journalism as these products take shape – with the appropriate safeguards in place to protect the FT’s content and brand." 

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/axel-springer-and-microsoft-expand-partnership-across-advertising-ai-content-and-azure-services%e2%80%af-30248.htm">Read more: Axel Springer and Microsoft expand partnership across advertising, AI, content and Azure services</a>

OpenAI to use Financial Times content to train AI models in latest media partnership

Axel Springer SE and Microsoft Corp. have announced an expanded, multifaceted partnership across advertising, AI, content and cloud computing. The cooperation aims to leverage cutting-edge innovation to support independent journalism around the world, Microsoft said in a statement. 

Axel Springer is a media and technology company and active in more than 40 countries. Its portfolio features diverse media brands including BILD, WELT, BUSINESS INSIDER, POLITICO and classifieds portals (The Stepstone Group and AVIV Group). The company has successfully transformed from a traditional print media company to Europe’s leading digital publisher. The company is headquartered in Berlin and employs more than 18,000 people worldwide.

The partnership with Microsoft will expand and deepen the existing cooperation. The existing adtech collaboration will be expanded to encompass POLITICO. Building on a mutual commitment to the principles and potential of responsible AI, both companies will partner to develop new AI-driven experiences for their users. In addition, Microsoft Start-MSN users will have access to more premium content from Axel Springer’s news brands, and Axel Springer will migrate its SAP solutions to Microsoft Azure.

“In this new era of AI, partnerships are critical to preserving and promoting independent journalism while ensuring a thriving media landscape,” said Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer. “We’re optimistic about the future of journalism and the opportunities we can unlock through this expanded partnership with Microsoft.”

“This new generation of AI is transforming nearly every aspect of work and life, including how people search for and consume content online,” said Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership with Axel Springer brings together their leadership in digital publishing with the full power of the Microsoft Cloud — including our ad solutions — to build innovative AI-driven experiences and create new opportunity for advertisers and users.”

Key elements of the partnership

Extending adtech collaboration to the U.S.: Axel Springer will adopt Microsoft Advertising as its ad server solution, expanding its existing partnership from Europe to the U.S. POLITICO will integrate Microsoft Advertising technology as a comprehensive solution enhanced by Axel Springer’s adtech management and optimization layer AdLib. POLITICO will also be integrated into the Microsoft Advertising Network, allowing advertisers to reach a broader audience.

Powering new AI experiences and monetization: Axel Springer will partner with Microsoft to pilot new innovative AI-driven chat experiences to better inform and engage their users with Axel Springer’s journalistic content. The cooperation will further fuel Axel Springer’s ventures in AI, building on projects such as the AI assistant Hey_, powered among others by Azure OpenAI Service. In addition, Axel Springer will leverage Microsoft Advertising’s Chat Ads API for generative AI monetization.

Enhanced content offerings through Microsoft Start-MSN: Axel Springer is expanding its Microsoft Start-MSN partnership to provide users with access to more premium content from leading journalistic brands such as Business Insider, POLITICO, BILD and WELT, reaching millions of users across devices and markets.

Microsoft Azure expansion: In addition to extending its use of Azure AI capabilities for AI innovation, the digital publisher will also transform and migrate its SAP solutions to Microsoft Azure, the trusted and secure cloud platform, to enhance scalability, reliability and performance across its digital infrastructure.

<a href="https://www.storyboard18.com/digital/openai-to-use-financial-times-content-to-train-ai-models-in-latest-media-partnership-30255.htm">Read more: OpenAI to use Financial Times content to train AI models in latest media partnership</a>

Axel Springer and Microsoft expand partnership across advertising, AI, content and Azure services 

Social Beat has bagged the digital mandate of organic personal care brand Juicy Chemistry.

Social Beat will drive brand awareness and consideration across Juicy Chemistry’s product portfolio with creative, innovative, and relatable content. The digital creative mandate was won after a multi-agency pitch process by Juicy Chemistry. The agency will design targeted brand campaigns to boost brand recognition and scale up Juicy Chemistry’s revenue by utilizing various digital media channels including Meta, Google, and targeted campaigns with affiliates and influencers.


Vikas Chawla, Co-Founder of Social Beat, said, “We are very happy to be associated with Juicy Chemistry. They have an attractive portfolio of products available for the diverse needs of modern consumers. We look forward to providing result-driven strategies that can help them expand their market penetration and achieve desired results. With the brand’s focus on their digital native target audience, we are positive that we will be able to help them tap the right consumers through the right channels and efficiently amplify their overall reach and business growth in the long run.”
 

Pritesh and Megha Asher, Co-founders, Juicy Chemistry said, “Our partnership with Social Beat is highly collaborative as our target audience is digital savvy and Social Beat has vast expertise in understanding and efficiently managing the digital movement of consumers. I feel their experience of the digital landscape, understanding of consumers’ digital behaviour, and insight-driven approach to creative communication, will help us augment our visibility, strengthen our reach and boost our marketing efforts to achieve optimal results. We are excited to partner with Social Beat and look forward to taking our brand to the next level with their help.”
 
 


Social Beat wins Juicy Chemistry's digital creative business

Snap Inc. announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. “The value we provide our community and advertising partners has translated into improved financial performance,” said Evan Spiegel, CEO. “Our large, growing, and hard-to-reach community, brand-safe environment, and full-funnel advertising solutions have made us an increasingly important partner for businesses of all sizes.”

Q1 2024 Financial Summary

Revenue was $1,195 million, compared to $989 million in the prior year, an increase of 21% year-over-year.
Net loss was $305 million, compared to $329 million in the prior year.
Adjusted EBITDA was $46 million, compared to $1 million in the prior year.
Operating cash flow was $88 million, compared to $151 million in the prior year.
Free Cash Flow was $38 million, compared to $103 million in the prior year.

Q1 2024 Summary & Key Highlights

Snap Inc said it grew and deepened its engagement with its community. It's DAUs were 422 million in Q1 2024, an increase of 39 million, or 10%, year-over-year. Total time spent watching Spotlight content increased more than 125% year-over-year. The growth in the Snap Star program has been an important driver of engagement in North America, with total time spent watching Stories from Snap Stars growing more than 55% year-over-year in North America. "We onboarded over 1,500 Snap Stars in Q1, which has helped generate quarter-over-quarter growth in Story posts, Spotlight posts, and Stories time spent for Snap Stars globally. We introduced new tools to help our community make more creative Snaps, including new Creative Templates, the ability to post longer videos, and access to AI-powered AR Lens creation," the company shared. 

Stating that Snap Inc is focused on accelerating and diversifying its revenue growth, the company said that Snapchat+ subscribers more than tripled year-over-year, surpassing 9 million subscribers in Q1. The number of small and medium sized advertisers on Snapchat increased 85% year-over-year. Ongoing momentum with our 7-0 Pixel Purchase optimization model led to a more than 75% increase in purchase related conversions year-over-year.

"We launched a new and improved version of Conversions API (CAPI) available to all advertisers that offers easier set up with reduced integration times. We partnered with Snowflake to enable advertisers to easily implement our CAPI solutions without needing to build a bespoke back-end integration. Our improvements to CAPI and improved collaboration with advertisers has resulted in CAPI integrations growing approximately 300% year-over-year in Q1 2024," Snap Inc stated. 

The company launched Sponsored AR Filters, its new AR ad offering that expands advertisers’ reach via the Snapchat Camera and enables Snapchatters to overlay sponsored AR content on their Snaps after a photo or video is captured. It also announced partnerships with Traackr, Lumen Research, OMD, Amplified Intelligence, and Fospha to empower advertisers with more campaign tools and insights.

Snap announced two new brand safety solutions for advertisers: a third-party measurement product in partnership with Integral Ad Science, a leading global media measurement and optimization platform, to provide advertisers with increased transparency across their Snapchat campaigns, and a first-party tool that allows advertisers greater control over where their ads appear.

Snap is also investing in its augmented reality platform. "We continue to invest in Generative AI models and automation for the creation of ML and AI Lenses, which contributed to the number of ML and AI Lenses viewed by Snapchatters increasing by more than 50% year-over-year.
We invested in relationship-centered AR Formats that drove outsized sharing among US Snapchatters including “Friend Lenses” that feature friends in Quizzes and other experiences, and “Q&A Lenses” that prompt Snapchatters to send fun text and image responses to their Friends.
We implemented an improved AR Carousel ranking model that refreshes AR lenses more frequently, making it easier to discover new Lenses, driving a more than 50% increase in the number of new Lenses seen in the carousel by Snapchatters since launch." 

Snap integrated a new AI Assistant in Lens Studio that answers developer questions based on its documentation and tutorials to guide developers and help build Lenses more easily. It also launched a new Compression tool in Lens Studio to easily reduce the size of assets and optimize Lenses in order to improve the Lens creation experience on Snapchat. Other launches include an Animation Curve Editor in Lens Studio, a new interface for developers to edit animations inside Lens Studio — the first of many foundational animation tools coming soon, Snap stated. At Super Bowl LVIII, the NFL integrated Snapchat's Camera Kit technology at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas — the first time a Super Bowl host stadium has integrated Snap Inc's technology. 

Q2 2024 Outlook

Snap Inc shared in a statement, "As we enter Q2, we anticipate continued growth of our global community, and as a result, our Q2 guidance is built on the assumption that DAU will be approximately 431 million in Q2. We are focused on executing against our roadmap to deliver improvements to our DR advertising platform to drive improved results for our advertising partners and accelerate topline growth. Our Q2 guidance range for revenue is $1,225 million to $1,255 million, implying year-over-year revenue growth of 15% to 18%. Given the revenue range above, and our investment plans for the quarter ahead, we estimate that Adjusted EBITDA will be between $15 million and $45 million in Q2."

DIGITAL