Meta and Discovery+ Adjust Ad-Free Subscription Plans: Changes Ahead!
Meta plans to charge its European customers $14 a month for access to Instagram and Facebook without advertisements. On the other side, Discovery+ is increasing the cost of its $9/month ad-free subscription tier.
Meta Charges $14 for Ad-Free Facebook and Instagram Access for EU Users
To overcome the strict new ad privacy regulations in the European Union, Meta has a new strategy. If people do not consent to the firm using their data for targeted advertisements, it is considering charging its European users approximately $14/month for an ad-free version of Instagram. Users who pay the subscription cost can utilize Meta’s services without being interrupted by advertisements. The laws as they currently stand prevent Meta from showing users targeted adverts without their permission, which is likely to hurt the company’s advertising revenue.
Price for ad-free membership
The plan is purportedly known as “subscription no ads” or SNA by the corporation. In the upcoming months, it plans to begin spreading it out. Regulators may request a more affordable solution if they don’t think Meta’s plan is an adequate workaround, which is currently up for debate.
Although several costs were explored, the £10 is the most practical and will be put into effect shortly. For desktop Facebook or Instagram accounts, the monthly cost would start at £10 ($10.5), but it would increase to about $14 for mobile accounts. This is made possible by the commission fees levied by the app stores of Apple and Google. The effort to comply with the EU’s prohibition on customized advertising through the new subscription tiers hurts Meta’s main source of income. If customers are given the option to choose between a free, ad-supported plan and a paid membership, they might choose the free plan. Additionally, it will assist Meta in adhering to rules without having an impact on its advertising business.
Read More: Meta to Offer Ad-Free Subscription Plans For European Users
Meta’s European dependence
Despite just making up 15% of Facebook’s overall daily active users, Europe provides almost a quarter of the company’s advertising revenue.

Image credit- Reuters
Meta under hot waters
Last year, the regulators of the EU declared that Meta had to provide users the choice to reject tailored adverts based on their usage of the platforms. The social network corporation was also told earlier this year that it could not use the so-called contract legal basis to send users adverts based on their online activities and was fined 390 million euros by Ireland’s Data Privacy Commission. Meta has discussed the idea with EU privacy regulators in Brussels, Irish privacy regulators, and other EU privacy regulators. The recommended subscription model may yet be altered because it’s unclear whether the new plan will be deemed compliant with EU rules by the EU regulators.
Although it is an essential component of Meta’s business strategy, the practice of showing advertisements based on user involvement has come under fire over the past several years. In 2021, Apple made it possible for customers to reject ad monitoring, a development that Meta said would cost the company $10 billion in lost revenue. The possible subscription tiers are the most recent example of how Europe’s strict regulatory framework is pressuring digital titans to alter their business models.
Read More: Amazon Prime Video to Introduce Limited Ads in 2024
Ad-Free Tier Implementation Outside EU
It is highly doubtful that Meta would introduce the SNA in the U.S. because the privacy restrictions do not apply there. However, in February, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled Meta Verified, a paid subscription service for verification. Users on Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms will be able to upload their government ID and receive a blue verification badge for $11.99/month on the web and $14.99/month on iOS. According to Zuckerberg, the new function seeks to improve platform security and authenticity.
Prices for Discovery+’s ad-free tier will increase
Warner Bros. Discovery’s independent streaming service, Discovery+, features both original content and well-liked programs from networks like HGTV and the Food Network. The recent mega-merger that gave rise to Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) did not destroy the streaming service. After the debut of the merged Max service, it is still in operation. However, given that Discovery+ has recently disclosed a price rise, there are strong odds that users will switch.
Read More: TikTok Prioritize User Rights with Revised DSA Standards in the EU
Discovery+ Ad-Lite tier and its changes
The on-demand programming under the ad-lite option contains advertising. In the US, this subscription tier will not change. But, users may have to pay $9/month, up from $7/month if they want to get rid of adverts. The ad-free price will increase in Canada as well. It will change from CAD 7 to CAD 9. The ad-supported option, however, still costs $5 per month.
When will users see these changes?
Existing customers will see an increase on their next billing cycle, or on November 2, whichever comes first, according to the press email from Warner Bros. Discovery. The email also mentioned that since Discovery+’s inception in 2021, this is the first price hike that has been implemented in the United States and Canada. The media behemoth hasn’t yet disclosed how many customers Discovery+ has, though.
It appears that there is still some interest in a separate edition of Discovery+. It includes both newer and classic TV shows from Discovery’s network repertoire. Along with a slew of unique films and exclusive material, they include HGTV, Food Network, TLC, Travel Channel, Discovery Channel, etc.
Why is Discovery+ becoming more expensive?
The firm added that the price hike will enable it to continue offering can’t-miss tales in the cuisine, home, relationships, real crime, and paranormal areas. Other streaming services have raised their fees this year, including Disney+, Hulu, and Peacock. Warner Bros. Discovery intends to use a similar approach with Discovery+, its more specialized streaming service.
Read More: TikTok’s Double Delight: Creative Assistant and Ad-Free Subscription
Havas, Mirakl Collaborate to Enhance Retail and E-commerce Media
Havas Group and SaaS company Mirakl have announced a global agreement in order to boost its retail and e-commerce media. Through platform innovation, Mirakl, a pioneering and top SaaS solution, helps organizations turn into digital enterprises. One of the biggest international communication networks in the world is Havas. Through the cooperation, clients of Havas Group will be able to use Mirakl’s services to market their goods on marketplaces run by Mirakl. Additionally, it presents the SaaS platform as a valuable ally in helping Havas customers establish and expand their marketplace.
Utilizing Mirakl’s distinctive AI-powered advertising technology tailored for marketplaces and e-commerce, the partnership will produce the most potent standalone retail media network for brands and merchants. Additionally, it will make use of the partnerships and clients of both organizations. With this collaborative offering, Mirakl will enable companies and brands to use its software to manage their dropship and third-party marketplace operations.
Building a retail media network
Retail media, according to Mirakl, enables businesses to make money off 97% of website visitors who don’t make purchases. By 2027, it will have opened up a brand-new market with a potential worth of over $160 billion worldwide. Retail media are advertisements displayed on both physical and digital platforms at the point of sale or at the point of preference between two brands. The international cooperation equips Mirakl and Havas clients with the resources they need to capitalize on retail media opportunities and seize this highly lucrative potential. It combines Havas Market, a full-service e-commerce platform, with the prestigious technology suite of solutions from Mirakl.
Retailers will be able to effortlessly monetize their consumers thanks to the new platform, which is brand-neutral. Without exposing their data, it will enable marketers to maximize the money they spend on digital advertising on e-commerce platforms. More than 400 businesses worldwide will have a choice of Mirakl Ads in all formats thanks to the new solution’s direct integration into the Mirakl suite. This will contain sponsored search banners that have been created to give users interesting, improved experiences.
Read More: Havas Invests in Uncommon Studios in A Bold Pledge to Creativity
Customers turn to digital
Through Mirakl Connect, Havas Market-sponsored brands will have direct, seamless access to the 400+ Mirakl markets. The tools and adaptable onboarding solutions created by Mirakl Connect will make it simple for these firms to manage and advance their e-commerce strategy across a number of Mirakl-powered marketplaces. Through a combined offer, Mirakl will be Havas’ preferred partner in assisting with the creation and expansion of marketplaces across its network of clients.
Retailers will be able to monetize their audiences with Mirakl Ads, the ad solution in the Mirakl suite. Furthermore, brands will be able to maximize their digital expenditures on e-commerce websites. The only marketplace-ready ad solution that is specifically designed for e-commerce is Mirakl Ads. With 200+ clients, it combines distinctive AI-powered technology with a strong global network of completely integrated buyers and sellers. It accounts for roughly 1.3 billion monthly visitors.
Here’s what they said
Yannick Bolloré, Chairman and CEO of Havas shared,
With Havas Market we’re committed to taking a holistic, customer-centric view of our clients’ businesses to find the best solutions to create meaningful shopping experiences for consumers and drive incremental revenue for brands across all sales channels. Enabling our clients’ retail transformation requires partnering with the leading providers in the industry, and with Mirakl we’re building a truly synergistic offering that will deliver growth for both our clients and our organizations.
Philippe Corrot, co-CEO & cofounder of Mirakl added,
B2B and B2C companies have no other choice but to further digitize their activities. Platform models such as marketplaces and dropship as well as Retail Media are among the strongest levers to generate new sources of growth and profitability. By joining forces with Havas, we will together accelerate the adoption of the platform models at a global scale for the benefits of Consumers, Operators and Third-party sellers. The strength of the network and the expertise of Havas and Mirakl combined will create a global leader in Retail Media extending the value creation for our common customers.
Read More: Red Havas ME Launches Influencer Marketing Initiative “SWAY”
OpenX Partners with Cedara for Automated Emissions Measurement
One of the top omnichannel supply-side platforms in the world, OpenX Technologies, Inc., launched a significant relationship with Cedara, the Carbon Intelligence Platform. With this connection, OpenX became the first digital advertising firm to provide automated emissions measurement for campaigns. Furthermore, it decreases campaign emissions, tailors carbon emissions, and personalizes offset portfolio solutions for residual campaign emissions via Cedara’s platform.
Cedara Integration
With leading-edge technologies for measuring and reducing emissions both at the organizational level and in media distribution, this partnership leads the industry’s sustainability initiative. It combines Cedara’s media emissions reduction and balancing capabilities with OpenX’s status as the first Net-zero ad tech company.
Buyers will be able to:
- Align organizational emissions data with media buys.
- Access carefully selected and third-party certified projects.
- Achieve transparency and customization into how and what offsets are used through the establishment of tailored offset portfolios.
- Effortlessly integrate emissions from OpenX campaigns and measure them.
Read more: Magnite Partners with Scope3 to Enhance Advertising Sustainability
Omnichannel Emission
For marketers and the media supply chain, Cedara offers automated omnichannel emissions measurement and in-depth business data across organizational and campaign-level emissions. This agreement provides transparent and precise emissions measurement to provide customers with a genuinely sustainable path when combined with OpenX’s extensive media activity data.
Here’s what they said
Eric Shih, COO at Cedara said,
We are thrilled to partner with OpenX, as they have a long-term commitment to sustainability and are consistent innovators. Our partnership gives buyers an end-to-end, sustainable programmatic product that they simply can’t get anywhere else.
Joseph Worswick, VP of EMEA and Head of Global Sustainability at OpenX added,
With Cedara, we are able to offer an end-to-end solution that enables brands to measure the impact of their digital activity and provides control over and transparency into how and where quality offsets are used while delivering performance across our publisher portfolio. In keeping with OpenX’s commitment to our own emissions reduction, we’re excited to see more businesses successfully build sustainability solutions as it shows the demand from digital advertising is growing.
Read More: OpenX Launches ConteX: A Flexible, Contextual Advertising Marketplace
TikTok’s Double Delight: Creative Assistant and Ad-Free Subscription
TikTok has unveiled two new updates – Creative Assistant and an ad-free subscription tier.
TikTok Creative Assistant
The new Creative Assistant virtual helper, powered by AI, is intended to support entrepreneurs and artists. Utilizing the platform’s vast archive of creative knowledge, the tool hopes to make it easier for companies and creators to collaborate. Similar to the present AI chatbots that provide information after being promoted, the TikTok Creative Assistant provides information. It is available to all TikTok Business users and is housed in the platform’s Creative Center. Additionally, it may analyze data, provide recommendations, spark ideas, and offer assistance with the platform’s best practices.
What is a Creative Assistant?

Image credit- Michael Fee- LinkedIn
TikTok Creative Assistant is a state-of-the-art AI-powered virtual assistant that marketers can communicate with and collaborate with as they produce advertisements or videos for the site. It guarantees to assist marketers in creating interesting and useful content for their TikTok campaigns. Users of TikTok Business can tap the icon in the top right corner of the screen to access the TikTok Creative Center tool interface. It might be worthwhile to look at what kinds of information are accessible to aid in improving the TikTok marketing process. It serves as a support system for TikTok video creators.
The tool aims to speed up the brainstorming process so users may use the platform more effectively to expand and explore their creative boundaries. Additionally, it incorporates numerous TikTok-specific creative insights that are meant to provide users with helpful tips and pointers as they experiment with creating advertisements or video content for TikTok. It is a sophisticated fusion of artistic intuition and artificial intelligence technology designed to help users get the most out of their TikTok presence through never-ending ideas.
Read More: TikTok Expands Measurement Suite with First-Party Solutions
Simplifying ad creation
It can be difficult to make an advertisement that grabs the audience’s attention and connects with them. This is especially true for newly established advertisers. Their procedure will be made simpler with the Creative Assistant. With the help of this new tool, advertisers will get advice and ideas on how to improve advertisements’ effectiveness and engagement. It will be similar to a personal advisor who can offer advice on how to make an advertisement more visually appealing and engaging. Based on the information, the program offers a variety of templates and suggestions. It will make the process of creating advertisements less tedious and more entertaining. To increase the overall appeal of the advertisement, it takes into account the characteristics of the content and makes targeted recommendations.
What’s in it for advertisers?
The brand-new Creative Assistant functions as the company’s current Creative Center options’ concierge. The app includes every feature of the Creative Center. So while it isn’t entirely new, it is going to make it simpler for marketers to access the necessary sections and components, along with in-stream suggestions and campaign scripts. The Creative Assistant isn’t supposed to take the place of creative input from companies and creators, TikTok cautions. Instead, it acts as a springboard for inspiration, working as a partner in the production of content. The resources offered by the AI tool can be used, edited, discarded, or redone at the user’s discretion.
Read More: Zeotap Data Joins TikTok to Enhance Targeting And Boost Ad Campaign
How does it work?
Through showcasing and analyzing top-performing commercials using data sources on the Creative Center, the TikTok Creative Assistant can assist users in their research into the creative landscape of the platform. The virtual assistant can assist with TikTok idea generation and script revision. Along with ad scripts, it will also display the best-performing commercials in a particular niche. Although each of these options has long been present in TikTok’s Creative Center, this will only make locating them easier. The company thinks that the foundation of its platform is storytelling and creativity. With the help of this new tool, businesses and content producers can make better and more interesting content.
What to use Creative Assistant for?
Within the platform’s Creative Center, TikTok Creative Assistant may be used to increase advertisers’ creativity by providing insights and recommendations for an easier content development process. For instance
- Creative Assistant helps TikTok novices get started on the site by offering advice on best practices.
- Using data sources from the Creative Center, Creative Assistant can present and analyze inspiring and top-performing commercials when investigating the TikTok creative environment.
- When writer’s block strikes, Creative Assistant is available to help with collaborative brainstorming, writing assistance, and rewriting of TikTok scripts.
Features for advertisers
Both new brands on TikTok and seasoned ones can benefit from the tools that the TikTok Creative Assistant has to offer. To help new creators get started and traverse TikTok‘s best practices, it offers advice. It also highlights and evaluates the best advertisements, assisting brands in their research stages. The freshly released Creative Assistant is designed to help with the creative aspects of content and advertising campaigns, but it has also lately included more data-focused options to support the technical aspects.
Read More: Amazon Prime Video to Introduce Limited Ads in 2024
Here’s what they said
As reported by Social Media Today, TikTok wrote in its blog post,
The latest evolution of creativity and productivity has led us to new paths of innovation. We’ve been working on a model that allows you to converse and collaborate when creating for TikTok. It draws information from a wealth of TikTok-focused creative knowledge, providing you with the most relevant responses for when you’re creating ads or videos for TikTok.
Ad-free Subscription Tier
In a subsequent update, TikTok is looking at new revenue streams. A small-scale trial of a monthly subscription service with no adverts has begun on the well-known video app. In one unnamed English-speaking region outside of the US, TikTok has started testing a subscription tier without ads for customers.
Insights on the ad-free tier
Reportedly, a new ad-free subscription tier was visible in the code of a new TikTok app version. During this testing period, it costs $4.99 per month in the USA. The popular social networking platform will be accessible to eligible subscribers without being interrupted by TikTok’s commercials. The business acknowledged starting a small-scale test of an ad-free membership plan in one region, but that market is outside of the United States. Value Added Tax (or “VAT”) is shown in the code, which means “Price Includes.” However, there is no VAT on products or services in the United States.

Image credit- Android Authority
Read More: TikTok Prioritize User Rights with Revised DSA Standards in the EU
The code
The strings included in the actual lines of code that Android Authority spotted read
We are testing the Ad-free plan with the TikTok community.
By continuing, you agree to the {%s} and acknowledge that you have read our {%s} to learn how we collect, use and share data.
You also accept the immediate provision of the Ad-free subscription. Price includes VAT.
Allow us to use your data to show you relevant ads, which helps keep TikTok free. %s.
You can also see how we use and protect your data in our %s
What does it say about marketing on the platform?
Paying customers may avoid advertisements on the testing tier. The platform will not, however, stop influencer-led marketing initiatives that conceal their brand connections. The majority of advertisements that users encounter on the feed for short videos are of this type. Despite its limitations, the test represents the first time TikTok has ever taken payment in exchange for an ad-free user experience. The TikTok subscription option is currently only being tested in one market. The business can decide against expanding the offering.
Social media platforms are embracing an ad-free model
Other well-known social media platforms have already made preparations to follow suit. Like Meta, which may employ a paid subscription model to permit users residing in the European Union to avoid viewing advertisements on Instagram and Facebook to reduce regulatory scrutiny over privacy concerns around ad-tracking data. Along with YouTube, X garnered attention for its ad-free tier. Both services provide premium choices with extra perks like access to in-app monetization and offline downloading.
Read More: Meta to Offer Ad-Free Subscription Plans For European Users
PubMatic Launches ‘Activate’ in Asia-Pacific for Premium Inventory
PubMatic, a standalone technology business that provides the future supply chain for digital advertising, announced that its freshest product, Activate, is now accessible in the Asia-Pacific area. To acquire premium video and CTV inventory at scale, buyers can conduct non-bidded direct purchases on PubMatic’s programmatic platform using the company’s novel end-to-end supply path optimization (SPO) solution.
PubMatic’s programmatic platform across APAC
Since its May debut in the US and EMEA, Activate has grown in popularity in every region. It has a pipeline of more than 50 active marketers, agencies, and campaigns running across numerous international agency-holding firms. The solution is now being introduced throughout the Asia-Pacific area as a result of this success with partners such as Dentsu APAC, iQIYI, KINESSO India, Madison Digital, and Wishmedia.
Activate – A Novel Offering
Activate symbolizes a novel industrial paradigm. It developed a single technology layer that directly links buyers and suppliers of digital materials. Activate enables a seamless transition from traditional direct transactions to programmatic guaranteed (PG) or programmatic private marketplace (PMP) arrangements. The technology allows for transactions across PubMatic’s premium CTV and online video inventory inside a single platform, giving media buyers greater oversight across their omnichannel video investments.
Industry forecasts predict that by the end of 2023, non-programmatic insertion orders will make up roughly 60% of CTV and 18% of online video transactions. Activate increases PubMatic’s total addressable market to over $65 billion. To be completely integrated into PubMatic’s expanding software package, including the PubMatic Sell-Side Platform and Connect, Activate was built using the technology acquired when PubMatic acquired Martin in 2022.
Read More: Moving Walls Teams Up with Place Exchange for Global DOOH Inventory
Here’s what they said
Rajeev Goel, Co-Founder and CEO of PubMatic said,
PubMatic’s launch of Activate in the Asia-Pacific region marks a significant milestone in our efforts to revolutionize the industry’s programmatic marketplace. Activate is an extension of our successful SPO strategy that addresses advertiser demand for solutions that deliver a better return on video and CTV investments.
Sunil Naryani, Chief Product Officer of media at dentsu APAC, who supports the Carat, iProspect, and dentsu X agencies in the region added,
At dentsu, we prioritize ad tech maturity, focusing on transparency and control in the programmatic supply chain for efficient, high-quality media delivery. Our partnership with PubMatic plays a pivotal role in our supply curation and SPO practices. With PubMatic’s Activate, we anticipate delivering enhanced value to our clients by bridging the gap between buyers and sellers and further streamlining the supply chain, unlocking opportunities to maximize working media for their video and CTV investments.
Andy Sun, General Manager of Sales Operations, International Business Department at iQIYI commented,
iQIYI is a long-time partner of PubMatic. Together we are committed to delivering innovation in the CTV ecosystem. We’re excited to be a launch partner for PubMatic’s Activate solution and look forward to continuing to work closely together to drive effective programmatic CTV advertising.
Paras Mehta, Business Head at KINESSO India stated,
PubMatic is a key player in the programmatic ecosystem, and we’re excited to explore how Activate can benefit our CTV clients.
Suchi Jain, General Manager and Head of Programmatic at Madison Digital said,
PubMatic is a valuable partner across India, helping us deliver transparent and effective solutions for advertisers. We’re excited to see their continued innovation in streamlining video and CTV buying for our clients.
Meejoo Na, Chief Operating Officer at Wishmedia said,
Wishmedia is dedicated to providing advertisers in Korea with best-in-class digital advertising solutions. We’re thrilled to be a launch partner for PubMatic’s Activate and look forward to our clients benefiting from a more efficient digital supply chain, and greater ROI on their video and CTV spend.
About PubMatic:
PubMatic is an independent technology firm that offers the future supply chain for digital advertising to maximize consumer value. The sell-side platform from PubMatic enables advertisers to maximize return on investment and target addressable audiences across a variety of ad formats and devices, giving the top digital content producers in the world more control over who can access their inventory and boost monetization. Since 2006, our infrastructure-driven methodology has made it possible to handle and use data effectively in real-time. Our programmatic innovation is scalable and flexible, and it helps us produce better results for our clients while promoting a thriving and open digital advertising supply chain.
Read More: Basis Tech-FreeWheel Partner for Direct Access to Premium CTV Inventory
Mistral AI Unveils Mistral 7B, An Open-Source LLM with 7.3B Parameters
Mistral AI announces the release of Mistral 7B, an open-source language model with 7.3 billion parameters. French artificial intelligence firm Mistral AI recently raised a sizable seed investment. With its first major language model (LLM), Mistral 7B, the business set out with a goal to transform generative artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, the business supports a community-driven development strategy in an effort to compete with huge proprietary AI solutions. Along with its enormous stature, it is causing a stir due to its outstanding powers, which surpass those of its larger competitors. The model is completely free to use and claims to outperform others of its size.
A startup on the rise
Alumni from Google’s DeepMind and Meta formed Mistral AI, a firm with headquarters in Paris. The business made its debut earlier this year with an unprecedented $118 million seed investment round and its recognizable Word Art logo. Mistral AI was thrust into the spotlight by this funding, the largest seed round in European history. Its goal is simple: to make AI useful for businesses by utilizing contributions from customers and publicly available data. The business has begun the process of achieving this goal with the launch of Mistral 7B.
Mistral Open models for AI are designed to provide better adaptability, enabling adaptation to particular tasks and user needs. This strategy is promoted as useful for companies looking to retain performance while keeping expenses down. The business also thinks open-source models will be essential weapons in the fight against AI’s ethical problems. They consist of bias and censorship. The capacity to audit generative models for errors and abuse is becoming more and more important as they continue to have an impact on society.
Mistral 7B can be a game-changer
Mistral 7B is not a typical LLM. It surpasses larger versions like Meta’s Llama 2 13B with its modest 7.3 billion parameters, creating a new benchmark for power and efficiency. In addition to being excellent at English language tests, this model also exhibits exceptional coding skills. This adaptability makes a variety of enterprise-focused applications possible. Mistral 7B is remarkable for being open-source and distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. This indicates that there are no restrictions on who can customize and use the setting. It may consist of enterprise scenarios and local or cloud-based apps.
Mistral AI thinks that a community-driven, open-source strategy can outperform the black-box methods that others have established as the industry norm. Mistral proposes that community-backed solutions are the way of the future by drawing parallels with the open-source revolutions in operating systems and web browsers. With the release of Mistral 7B, the company has taken its first big step toward developing specialized models that can compete with more substantial and well-established AI solutions. Mistral 7B is an improvement over other tiny LLM, such as 2. At far lower computing costs, it provides comparable capabilities.
How to Use Mistral 7B for Free
Hugging Face and GitHub both offer the Mistral 7B model for download along with documentation. Users can also communicate with the Mistral 7B Instruct Model using the Perplexity labs. Additionally, the business launched a Discord channel for teamwork and problem-solving.
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:208b101a0f51514ecf285885a8b0f6fb1a1e4d7d&dn=mistral-7B-v0.1&tr=udp%3A%2F%https://t.co/OdtBUsbMKD%3A1337%2Fannounce&tr=https%3A%2F%https://t.co/HAadNvH1t0%3A443%2Fannounce
RELEASE ab979f50d7d406ab8d0b07d09806c72c
— Mistral AI (@MistralAI) September 27, 2023
Read More: UAE’s G42 Unveils ‘Jais’, A Powerful Open-Source Arabic AI Model
Benchmarks are more powerful than words
Despite only recently entering the market, Mistral 7B has already established its worth in benchmark tests. The model frequently outperforms open-source competition in head-to-head comparisons. It easily defeats Llama 2 7B and 13B, displaying its versatility. One of Mistral 7B’s primary advantages is the use of Grouped Query Attention (GQA) for extremely quick inference. Additionally, Sliding Window Attention (SQA) is used to manage longer sequences with minimal computing overhead. Its performance is improved across the board thanks to this novel method.

Image credit- Data Economy
Improving cost-performance ratios
The cost-effectiveness of the Mistral 7B’s performance is an attractive feature. We can appreciate the memory savings and throughput improvements offered by computing “equivalent model sizes” by doing so. Mistral 7B performs as well in reasoning, comprehension, and STEM thinking as a Llama 2 model that is more than three times as big.

Image credit- Data Economy
The Future of open-source AI
A potentially strong and open-source rival to current LLM like Mistral 7B that offers more customization options and more control over data security may present new chances for enterprises to use AI. The movement to open-source generative models mark a critical turning point in the AI sector, challenging established proprietary models on moral and technical grounds.
Among language AI models, Mistral 7B marks a notable advancement. It has the potential to revolutionize how businesses use artificial intelligence for a variety of applications thanks to its small size, open-source nature, and exceptional performance. We may expect even further advancements in artificial intelligence as Mistral AI keeps on innovating.
Here’s what they said
The company said in the blog post,
We’re committing to release the strongest open models in parallel to developing our commercial offering. We will propose optimised proprietary models for on-premise/virtual private cloud deployment. These models will be distributed as white-box solutions, making both weights and code sources available. We are actively working on hosted solutions and dedicated deployment for enterprises.
Read More: Google Opens Automatically Created Assets Publicly to Boost Efficiency
Roku and Spotify Collaborate to Introduce Video Ads To Roku App
Spotify’s app on Roku will now feature video ads thanks to cooperation between Roku and Spotify. In the US, Canada, and Mexico, Roku is the most popular TV streaming service. The cooperation between Spotify and Roku, which dates back over a decade, and the launch of the Spotify app on Roku, is strengthened by this collaboration. The new invention, according to the businesses, is the first step in bringing Spotify’s CTV partner network online. Through the relationship, Spotify will be able to offer additional video content, offering marketers more opportunities to engage with the platform’s more than 500 million MAU users. Spotify Video Inventory will be available on Roku as part of the Roku Audience Network. It will be accessible as a component of Spotify’s Video Everywhere ad service.
What’s in it for advertisers?
The ability to contact customers on any device is the key to successful digital marketing. Although it also applies to marketers, it is a best practice for user experience. Larger screens are now available in homes thanks to the expanding app ecosystem on Smart TVs. As consumer patterns change, businesses who don’t have a presence on this wider screen through CTV advertising are losing out. Additionally, viewers are increasingly turning to streaming to watch and listen to all of their favorite material. It includes everything from music to stand-up comedy routines to podcasts. In order to reach consumers where they are focused, advertisers are refocusing their marketing budgets. They are converting to linked gadgets from linear television. Brands will have an extra chance to reach the combined audiences of both streaming channels by partnering with Roku.
Read More: Adverty Launches First Programmatic VAST Video in In-Play Ads
Spotify’s CTV Partner Network
The agreement with Roku is a first step in expanding Spotify’s CTV Partner Network. The quantity of visual experiences on Spotify has been growing, and these experiences will now include video ads. A beta version of DJ, which provides music recommendations and comments from an AI disc jockey, was released by the streaming service in August. Spotify introduced Blend in 2021. It is a shared social listening platform that enables users to make custom playlists to share their individual musical preferences with friends and family.
The Video Takeover Ad experience from Spotify reaches customers listening to music on their smartphones, tablets, and desktop computers. Soon after, CTV devices will be added, starting with the Roku platform. Future additions to this offering by Spotify will include even more video ad offerings, like video podcasts. In order to reach more users, the new Spotify app on Roku will include artist snippets and video clips mixed with ad formats like Sponsored Sessions. In order to give users a more participatory experience, it will also include Call to Action cards for podcast advertisements.
Roku’s portfolio
For more than a decade, Roku users have had access to the Spotify video app. While most people use Spotify to listen to music and podcasts, they also use it to create playlists, search for content, and watch artist videos and audio podcasts on their screens. Roku has been busy releasing new ad experiences on the platform in addition to adding video ads to the Spotify app on CTV. In a recent announcement, the business said that it was expanding its collaboration with Shopify to enable customers to buy goods from Shopify merchants using Roku Action Ads. Viewers can make purchases straight from their TVs and pay with Roku Pay.
Read More: Amazon Prime Video to Introduce Limited Ads in 2024
Here’s what they said
Lee Brown, Spotify global head of advertising & business platform said,
As a longtime leader in the streaming space, we’ve had a front-row seat to audiences choosing streaming to enjoy content and advertisers following suit to reach them. It’s long been our goal to make Spotify available to anyone on any device and this partnership with Roku answers the call from advertisers who want even more ways to reach our users. Both our brands have been at the forefront of the streaming revolution and together we’re continuing to invest in more opportunities for advertisers to connect with our immersed users.
Alison Levin, VP, ad revenue and marketing solutions at Roku commented
As longtime partners, we’re excited to launch Spotify’s TV streaming video ads that will reach both of our streamers on platform and drive measurable campaign impact for brands. Roku and Spotify are uniquely positioned to make the largest screen in the home work harder for brands. We are thrilled to partner with Spotify on this at launch.
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IAB Tech Lab Launches Two Working Groups for AI and Privacy Sandbox
IAB Tech Lab, an international body that develops technical standards for digital advertising, recently announced the formation of two innovative working groups. These organizations will be crucial in determining how advertising and digital media develop in the future. They are the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subcommittee and the Privacy Sandbox Task Force. These duo-functioning groups will enhance AI in digital media and steer Chrome Browser’s Privacy Sandbox changes.
Background
Since its launch in 2019, the Chrome Privacy Sandbox has been extremely active. But Google Chrome says third-party cookies must be deleted by Q2 2022. However, the due date was advanced. Chrome third-party cookies are expected to perish in the second half of 2024. As the finish line keeps fading from view, it is becoming increasingly difficult for people to sustain their enthusiasm for post-cookie experimentation. But with the formation of the Privacy Sandbox Task Force, the IAB Tech Lab is on it. It will experiment with Chrome APIs and communicate its findings to the market. Below are some insights and goals that the AI and Privacy Sandbox working groups will look to fulfill.
Read More: Google’s Phasing Out of Third-Party Cookies: A Paradigm Shift in Digital Advertising
Privacy Sandbox Task Force
IAB Tech Lab established the Privacy Sandbox Task Force since the evolving Privacy Sandbox within Google’s Chrome browser represents a critical turning point for digital advertising. The specialist task force’s goal is to conduct a thorough technical and operational review of the upcoming Privacy Sandbox improvements and their implications for use cases in digital advertising.
The key objectives include:
Technical analysis
To comprehend the consequences for advertisers, publishers, and ad tech providers, the task force will explore the technical details of Google Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox enhancements. These will include the protected audience API and the Attribution Reporting API.
Operations Perspective
It will analyze operational changes that digital advertising stakeholders need to adjust to maintain consistency in the delivery, optimization, and measurement of digital ads.
Analysis of gaps
Using the Privacy Sandbox, it will analyze, comprehend, and document important advertising use cases that brands and publishers can benefit from. In addition, it will suggest improvements in order to fill any gaps.
Recommendations
To handle the changes the Chrome browser brings forth, it will provide practical advice and update current or propose new technological standards for the digital advertising ecosystem. Later this year, the Task Force will release its findings and suggestions for the industry.
Privacy Sandbox Task Force Members
All IAB Tech Lab members are invited to join the Privacy Sandbox Task Force. Moreover, participants from all international digital advertising stakeholders who have tested or studied the Privacy Sandbox proposals are encouraged to do so. In order to successfully navigate this enormous change in the advertising industry, collaborative engagement will be essential.
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Artificial Intelligence (AI) Subcommittee
The AI Subcommittee was established as a result of AI’s radical changes to the world of digital media. A small group of IAB Tech Lab Board members make up this subcommittee. It will focus on the fast-evolving AI technology and digital media landscape interface. The AI Subcommittee’s key objectives include:
Roadmap creation
Developing near-term, short-term, and long-term roadmap goals to address the effect of AI on the digital media ecosystem, with a preliminary focus on media companies.
Developing an ethical framework
By developing new technical frameworks and standards, it will address the ethical issues raised by the use of AI in the media. It will further ensure that user privacy protection, and content reliability and transparency.
Media Trends Analysis using AI
Doing a thorough investigation of AI-driven media trends, including deep-fake technologies, virtual reality, generative AI, and content recommendation algorithms.
AI Subcommittee Members
The AI Subcommittee is open only to IAB Tech Lab Board Members. It brings together data scientists, publisher executives, cryptographers, and technology leaders from publishers, agencies, and big tech platforms to work together on defining an informed, moral, and exciting future for AI in digital media.
Here’s what they said
Anthony Katsur, CEO of IAB Tech Lab said,
Given their worldwide market share of approximately 65%, understanding the shifts brought about by Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox development is crucial. AI is not just a technological tool; it’s a force reshaping our media landscape. Its impact extends across content creation, distribution, consumption, consumer privacy, and monetization. The AI Subcommittee is poised to assume a vital role in comprehending and directing Tech Lab’s AI roadmap to manage this evolution.
About IAB Technology Laboratory
The IAB Technologies Laboratory (Tech Lab) is a non-profit organization founded in 2014. It collaborates with a member community on a global scale to create the fundamental standards and technologies necessary for the development of the digital media ecosystem’s growth and trust. Digital publishers, advertising technology companies, agencies, marketers, and other member organizations make up the IAB Tech Lab. Furthermore, it focuses on solutions for brand safety and ad fraud, identity, data, and consumer privacy, ad experiences and measurement, and programmatic efficacy. Project Rearc, an endeavor for privacy-centric addressability, the OpenRTB real-time bidding protocol, the ads.txt anti-fraud specification, the Open Measurement SDK for viewability and verification, the VAST video specification, and other work are among its accomplishments.
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Samsung Ads and Epsilon Partner for First-Party Data Advancements
Samsung Electronics’ advanced advertising division, Samsung Ads, recently announced a partnership with Epsilon, a leading provider of advertising and marketing technology worldwide. The partnership promises to provide brands with cutting-edge TV viewership data, network reach, precise activation, and measurement. Brands can access distinctive audiences produced from transactional and demographic data thanks to the connection. For activation across Samsung’s brand-safe Smart TV, connected TV (CTV), and mobile inventories, it also provides a brand’s own first-party data. Additionally, the collaboration enables businesses to use Epsilon audiences to launch ads across the US Samsung Ads Smart TV Ecosystem.
Samsung Ads and Epsilon’s first-party data integration
As the advertising sector gets ready to function in an age without third-party cookies and identifiers, collaboration will become increasingly crucial. This announcement mostly relies on first-party data. It provides the framework for exact ad targeting and campaign execution. It makes it possible to create unique segments. The relationship with Epsilon is a significant accomplishment for Samsung Ads. To improve precision, the new integration provides a direct one-on-one match. It also does away with the requirement for third-party data or crosswalks utilizing Epsilon segments. It improves productivity, generates cost savings, and streamlines business operations, adding value. With the help of top measurement partners, ads are measured using industry-standard Samsung measurement procedures. They differ according to the goals of the campaign, key performance indicators (KPIs), intended results, and other pertinent variables.
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Epsilon database
250 million verified US consumers are included in Epsilon’s consumer database. The volume of consumer data gives businesses the chance to identify and communicate effectively with each customer across channels. Additionally, it gives organizations the ability to monitor the success of their marketing initiatives while ensuring that consumer data is kept safe and secure at all times.
Here’s what they said
Epsilon general manager of data solutions Dennis Self said
Epsilon’s partnership with Samsung Ads provides a seamless experience for marketers who are looking to activate Epsilon’s audiences and their first-party data in CTV environments. Our unique audiences provide marketers with confidence that they’ll reach the right people at the right time with messages that matter, removing barriers to activation while simultaneously creating increased demand for CTV campaigns.
Courtney Howell, head of agency development at Samsung Ads commented,
Samsung Ads’s platform, device ecosystem and media assets, including Samsung TV Plus, are critical to reaching consumers across CTV. Through our direct integration with Epsilon, brands can leverage the Samsung TV universe and engaged audience to make CTV campaigns even more powerful. This partnership represents a milestone for Samsung Ads’ ongoing relationship with Epsilon to give even more brands and agencies the ability to immediately activate against our Smart TV footprint with improved measurement and attribution solutions. Our partnership with Epsilon also means that any brands working with Samsung Ads can expect a faster, more seamless execution, combined with the ability to leverage our leading TV data and scale to power CTV campaigns that drive significant performance.
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LG Ad Solutions and Affinity Solutions Redefine CTV Ad Targeting and Measurement
With novel closed-loop CTV targeting and measurement technologies, LG Ad Solutions and Affinity Solutions have formed a fresh relationship. While Affinity Solutions is the top provider of consumer purchasing information, LG Ad Solutions is a world leader in connected TV (CTV) and cross-screen advertising. The brand-new service, called LoopIQ, was specifically created to use purchase data to target the appropriate people in CTV settings while also assessing the effectiveness of campaigns at boosting consumer spending. The firms claim that the introduction of LoopIQ solutions is in response to growing calls for more precise targeting and concrete measuring techniques in the connected TV market.
Growth in CTV Advertising
Connected TV advertising gives ad tech stakeholders an admirable long-term opportunity by empowering brand advertisers to use data insights to improve ad targeting and campaign optimization. It is unique in that it combines the audience of conventional television with the accuracy and measurement of web advertising. Despite the fact that Connected TV currently only makes up a small portion of the programmatic market, CTV still receives more than $2 for every $5 spent on programmatic. CTV advertising has remained strong despite some collapse in the programmatic market in 2023, and analysts forecast that CTV will account for the majority of the market’s growth in the coming years.
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Insights on LoopIQ
The powerful solution brings together LG Ad Solutions’ Connected TV advertising infrastructure and Affinity’s data analytics know-how. The firms also states that they are dedicated to pushing the limits of what is feasible in the CTV ad space. Furthermore, they want to provide more value to advertisers while improving viewer experiences. The launch of LoopIQ is expected to change how marketers approach CTV advertising. It will also look to establish new standards for ROI in the market. LoopIQ will combine purchase information with already-available tools. These include Automatic Content Recognition (ACR). It complies with privacy regulations, to give brands access to more accurate targeting and measurement outcomes. Additionally, the solution ought to support accurate audience optimization of advertising expenditures.
Here’s what they said
Tony Marlow, Global Chief Marketing Officer of LG Ad Solutions said,
The partnership between LG Ad Solutions and Affinity to launch LoopIQ marks a significant evolution in the CTV advertising landscape. LoopIQ’s unique capability to effectively link purchase data with ad targeting and measurement is set to revolutionize the way brands reach and resonate with their audiences in ad-supported streaming environments.
Damian Garbaccio, Chief Business & Marketing Officer of Affinity added,
We are thrilled to join forces with LG Ad Solutions on this groundbreaking endeavor. LoopIQ is a testament to our joint vision of harnessing exclusive consumer purchase data to craft more meaningful outcomes and efficient advertising experiences.
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