Microsoft Is Expanding its Advertising Ambitions with a Re-branding and AI
This morning, Microsoft announced that they are re-branding their advertising channel from Bing Ads to Microsoft Advertising. With this announcement, the company is also signaling that it is going to move more aggressively into this space and expand its portfolio of services.
The company has, for years, offered a wide variety of advertising products across many different mediums including Bing, Windows, LinkedIn, and many other places. The re-branding makes sense and the company says that this is more than a skin-deep refresh.
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Rik van der Kooi says in a blog post that “In the next year, we’re introducing more advertising products with built-in AI, more connected to your data and your business.” For Microsoft’s bottom line, this will be a good thing, but for those who were hoping the company would make a privacy pivot, it looks like that’s not going to happen anytime soon.
It’s hard to fault Microsoft either, Google has proven that you can build a massive empire on the back of advertising data and that it also provides a steady stream of cash as well. And considering that Microsoft likes to tout its data and analytical chops, targeted advertising falls right into its lap as a perfect opportunity.
While Microsoft will continue to push down the advertising path, part of me would prefer to see the company solely focus on user privacy and move away from invasive advertising practices. But as long as Microsoft keeps Bing around (LinkedIn too), this dream will likely never materialize.
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Conversation 14 comments
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proesterchen
<p>What are the odds their "AI" advertising will still funnel significant advertiser spending towards advertising products to people they have already purchased?</p><p><br></p><p>I shudder to think that apparently to this day, having just bought a TV, a couch, or car is the strongest signal these companies have found that one might be interested in more TVs, couches, or cars. </p>
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PeterC
<p>Hmmm this would not be good….. not good at all if its just more of whats been seen to date. But……</p><p><br></p><p>I certainly can see Ai driven ads for the Xbox gaming channels, especially as watching gaming streams is such a big deal these days, I can certainly see outlook.com getting the gmail treatment for free consumers users, but I think theyd shoot themselves in the foot with consumer driven ads for every desktop user.</p><p><br></p><p>I could see Ai driven ads for enterprise users where "skills and services" are being touted as solution providers driven from linkedin maybe. </p><p><br></p><p>I could see an Ai Excel notification saying do you want help with that macro/code/issue and offer to connect me with someone to fix, creating a skills driven marketplace for buyers/sellers.</p><p><br></p><p>I could also see the option to mute such "commercial notifications"….. </p><p><br></p><p>Maybe clippy will make a comeback…. "hey it looks like you need paid help with that"</p>
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dontbe evil
<blockquote><em><a href="#424014">In reply to unkinected:</a></em></blockquote><p>bing it</p>