D-Talks:Bulletin#265 – Top Digital Media Updates

Google AdSense to Follow Pay Per Impression Model

Many publishers use Google Adsense to monetize their content. From the start, Google Adsense follows the “Pay-Per-Click” model which means you can make money when someone clicks an ad on your website. As per the recent announcement, Google Adsense will move to Pay-Per-Impression Model in 2024. Many publishers use Google Adsense to monetize their content. From the start, Google Adsense follows the “Pay-Per-Click” model which means you can make money when someone clicks an ad on your website. As per the recent announcement, Google Adsense will move to Pay-Per-Impression Model in 2024. Google Adsense Current Earning Model: PPC Google Adsense follows the Pay-per-click earning model from the start. For example, the Adsense partnered publishers only get paid based on the clicks that occurred on their website and not by the delivered impressions. For example, you served 1000 impressions on your website and no one clicked those ads. In that situation, you will not get any revenue from the AdSense. This is how Adsense currently works. As per the recent announcement, Google is going to make the following changes in 2024. Updating Adsense Revenue Structure,  Moving to Pay-Per-Impression model Currently, various options are available to the publishers to sell their ad space. They are partnered with various ad networks and SSPs to sell their inventories. Mostly, other ad networks and SSPs are using the Pay Per Impression model to pay their publishers. In that situation, the publishers can’t compare the effectiveness of the ad networks by comparing the revenue from the two different pay model ad networks. To improve the transparency in the ad buying process, google now decided to adopt the Pay Per Impression Model. So, the publishers can easily compare the AdSense performance and fees with other ad networks.

India among top 5 markets; willingness to pay among gamers rising

India is among the top 6 markets for PUBG and battlegrounds Mobile India maker Krafton,  its India Business head Sean Hyunil Sohn said. India is also among the top three markets for the company in terms of user base.  The willingness to pay among gamers is rising. Sohn said Krafton’s paid user -base and average revenue per user in India is comparatively lower than in the developed gaming markets. “We have in-app purchases where people pay for their consumption like cosmetics and extra skills, it’s not RMG (Real Money Gaming) as cash out is allowed”, said Sohn.

Majority of Indians check sellers’ rating online, scan social media presence before purchase

Majority of adult Indians check for a seller’s rating online and assess a company’s social media presence for authenticity before making a purchase. This is according to the Norton Cyber Safety Insights Report. 96% of the consumers geared up for pent-up purchases online during the festive season. 73% of consumers said they preferred to make payments through third-party providers like Paypal. 

Over 80 pc Indian retailers do not see e-commerce as a threat

Majority of Indian retailers feel that eCommerce does not threaten their operations. Only 18% say that their sales were impacted by eCommerce. The top sectors which have witnessed highest contribution from offline sales are FMCG & retail (97%), food & beverages (95%) and consumer durables & electronics (93%).  The ability to touch and feel the products is the most amazing factor in offline shopping. 54% go for in-store shopping due to assured authenticity and quality of goods. More than 70% of Indian shoppers prefer family shopping in a physical store. 14 percent of the GenZ population shops only online. 5% of GenX shops online. 11% of millennials shop online. 7 in 10 retailers are planning to open new stores in future to bolster their physical presence. 

LinkedIn launches new AI features as it crosses $1BN user mark

Professional networking platform LinkedIn has showcased a slew of artificial intelligence-based enhancements and features for its premium members. On November 1, the platform announced that it breached the 1 billion user mark and would roll out personalisation features helping a select group of premium subscribers in upskilling, job search, and networking. “Whether you’re navigating career changes, building a business, learning a new skill or crafting your voice, your new AI-powered LinkedIn experience — your trusted coach, advisor, co-pilot, assistant, and colleague combined — is your partner in staying ahead,” said Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn’s chief product officer in a blog. LinkedIn’s AI algorithms will analyze users’ feeds – from comments to articles and conversations – to suggest ‘ideas’ on how the information can be helpful.

Upload and Analyze Files on ChatGPT+

OpenAI is rolling out new beta features for ChatGPT Plus members right now. Subscribers have reported that the update includes the ability to upload files and work with them, as well as multimodal support. Basically, users won’t have to select modes like Browse with Bing from the GPT-4 dropdown — it will instead guess what they want based on context. The new features bring a dash of the office features offered by its ChatGPT Enterprise plan to the standalone individual chatbot subscription.

Meta Introduces Ad-Free Plans for Instagram, Facebook in Europe

Meta Platforms said that it will offer users in Europe a subscription plan to use Facebook and Instagram without advertisements to comply with the European Union regulations. The monthly subscription plans for users in the EU, European Economic Area and Switzerland, will cost 9.99 euros ($10.58) for web users, while iOS and Android users will have to shell out 12.99 euros a month. The EU regulations threaten to curb Meta’s ability to personalize ads for users without their consent and hurt its major revenue source. The world’s most popular social media network has been under antitrust pressure in the EU. In July, it lost its fight against a German data curb order as Europe’s top court backed the German antitrust watchdog’s power to also investigate privacy breaches.

Temple and Panchayat Payments Go Digital in Next Fintech Wave

The next wave of digital payments will be led by ‘person-to-government’ payments moving away from cash. Adhering to the Digital India policy, the government-backed National Informatics Centre (NIC) is building applications which can accept payments digitally, make settlements and generate invoices — all in one go for different government departments. While traffic challans went digital in the first wave, now the government is trying to digitize payments at the village level too. Panchayat tax payments and municipal corporation payments are going digital as well. Taking even a step further, the NIC is also testing out digitization of temple donations. In partnership with payment major Worldline, some pilots are being run in Tamil Nadu. “What used to be hundi where people would drop their donations or make payments to the temple trust are all getting digitized through these apps built into the PoS terminal,” a senior fintech executive said.

ChatGPT’s Downloads, Revenue Up

OpenAI’s ChatGPT, the popular AI chatbot, has been on a meteoric rise in terms of both downloads and revenue. As of September, the AI chatbot has reached an astounding 23 million downloads, according to reports. In May, just one month after its release on the Apple App Store, ChatGPT had already crossed 3.9 million downloads. By June, this number had surged to an impressive 15.1 million, as per an analysis of the AI app market by Apptopia. However, the growth story doesn’t stop at downloads alone. ChatGPT’s usage on mobile devices has seen a phenomenal increase, skyrocketing from just over 1.34 million monthly active users in May to a staggering 38.88 million by September. What’s equally impressive is the revenue generated by ChatGPT’s mobile app. The report highlights that the app is outpacing many competitors in the AI chatbot market by consumer spending. It started with $352,929 in revenue during the month of its launch and surged to $1.98 million as of September. Furthermore, by October 24, it had reached an astonishing $2.39 million in revenue. OpenAI, the developer behind ChatGPT, is set to make a substantial $1.3 billion in revenue this year, as stated by CEO Sam Altman. This remarkable figure demonstrates the immense growth of the company, particularly as OpenAI generated just $28 million in revenue for the entire year of 2022. According to reports, the company’s revenue growth can largely be attributed to subscriptions for its conversational chatbot. OpenAI introduced a paid version of ChatGPT in February, which has proven to be highly successful.

Indian eHealth Market to Touch $37 billion by 2030

The digital transformation of India’s healthcare industry has the potential to accelerate tenfold, from $2.7 billion in 2022 to approximately $37 billion by 2030, a report by Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and B Capital said.   This is being driven by rapid digitisation, the proliferation of innovative healthtech platforms, partnerships between start-ups and established companies, and favourable funding environments for viable business models, supported by government initiatives, it said.   The study provided insights into the emerging trends that are poised to reshape the country’s digital healthcare landscape. One of these trends is the widespread adoption of digital healthcare following the disruptive influence of the COVID-19 pandemic. This period has seen patients and healthcare providers become more comfortable with leveraging technology for healthcare interactions, heralding a new era in healthcare consumption. Additionally, the expansion of insurance coverage and outpatient department (OPD) services is driving the adoption of OPD services, making healthcare more accessible to a broader population. A noteworthy aspect of the evolving healthcare landscape is the enhanced collaboration between established healthcare providers and digital-native startups. This collaboration aims to provide more efficient healthcare solutions tailored to meet the evolving needs of customers. Another trend on the rise is the emergence of asset-light healthcare providers, focusing on delivering cost-effective and efficient healthcare solutions that cater to evolving patient needs, the report said. 

Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI releases its first AI model, a bot named Grok

Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence startup xAI will be integrated into his social media platform X and also be available as a standalone app, he said in a post. The billionaire also said xAI released its first AI model, a bot named Grok, after making it available to all X Premium+ subscribers. The startup aims to create AI tools that ‘assist humanity in its quest for understanding and knowledge’ and that Grok has been designed to answer questions with a bit of wit. Musk who has criticized Big Tech’s AI efforts as ridden with censorship, in July launched xAI, calling it a “maximum truth-seeking AI” that tries to understand the nature of the universe to rival Google’s Bard and Microsoft’s Bing AI.