Today’s news: PayPal Launches Ad Business; Meta Expands Ad Placement Controls and Brings AI Chatbot to UK; Privacy Certification for Ad Tech In The Works
PayPal has launched an ad business, PayPal Ads, which will allow advertisers to tap into their trove of data on users’ payment transactions across their platforms. As of June, PayPal had almost 430 million active accounts. PayPal Ads will also provide insights, such as the market share of advertisers’ products across various retailers compared to their competitors. PayPal disclosed that the business has been built using a combination of third-party software and in-house tech. So far, PayPal Ads has rolled out within the US, although they plan to expand next year to more areas including the UK and Germany. On an additional note, users are able to opt-out of their data being shared with advertisers.
Meanwhile, Meta has expanded brand safety and placement controls for advertisers running campaigns on its platforms. They are rolling out account blocklists – which let advertisers block their ads from appearing on certain profiles – following interest in the feature during the testing period. They are also testing a new control which allows businesses to turn off comments on their Facebook and Instagram ads before the campaign goes live. Additionally, Meta is working with its ad tech partners to give businesses more control over where their ads appear in Feed and Reels.
Meta has also launched Meta AI in the UK and Brazil, a chatbot to rival existing models in an attempt to compete against the most dominant players in the AI landscape (already launched in the US and Australia). It provides similar services to the other chatbots on the market currently, allowing users to ask questions and generate written content instantly. The product is completely free (unlike OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which reserves premium features for paying customers). It’s accessible through Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and Messenger.
Lastly, the Coalition for Privacy Compliance in Advertising (CPCA) announced it is working with the Information Commissioner’s Office to develop the first regulator-approved privacy certification for digital advertising technology. With the objective of addressing privacy concerns in digital advertising, the initiative sets out to clarify how UK GDPR applies to the industry, increase regulatory clarity and reduce uncertainty. Those contributing to developing the initiative include representatives from the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the Association of Online Publishers. The certification is due to launch in the UK next year, after which the CPCA aims to work with European partners to create similar schemes in the EU.