Meta Developing AI Search Engine to Lessen Reliance on Google, Bing
Meta is reportedly exploring the creation of an independent search engine to support its Meta AI chatbot, reducing its reliance on current partnerships with Microsoft’s Bing and Google. According to reports, this move aligns with Meta’s broader AI ambitions and its desire to bolster proprietary data sources.
The potential shift follows the company’s earlier announcements surrounding the Meta AI chatbot. Launched last September, Meta AI initially relied on Bing to access real-time information, integrating these results into conversational responses for users. This setup allowed the chatbot to provide search-linked answers, complemented by a tool for image generation. In April this year, the company expanded this capability through a similar partnership with Google, further enriching its chatbot’s search-powered responses.
IAS partners with Google Ad Manager for brand-suitable ad inventory
Integral Ad Science (IAS) has announced the launch of IAS Curation with Google Ad Manager. This new offering provides programmatic buyers with a deal-based enrichment pathway that curates inventory at the source, ensuring it meets critical benchmarks for context, brand safety, and viewability, all while enhancing performance at scale.
With IAS Curation, advertisers can now leverage actionable data to implement avoidance and contextual targeting strategies, optimizing media buys across Google Ad Manager. By consolidating bidding on high-quality inventory, brands can precisely target contextually relevant content, driving greater efficiency and effectiveness for ad campaigns. IAS’s AI-driven predictive science pre-screens and categorizes pages, enabling advertisers to identify desirable inventory while avoiding unsuitable content.
“Brand suitability and contextual relevance are top priorities for programmatic buyers who want to avoid wasting ad spend on poor-quality inventory, such as Made for Ads (MFA) sites or ad clutter,” said Srishti Gupta, Chief Product Officer at IAS. “With IAS Curation, programmatic buyers on Google Ad Manager can elevate their supply strategy, optimizing ad spend with AI-driven precision and maximizing returns on media investments.”
New-age digital brands are riding the quick commerce boom
New-age direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands are experiencing higher growth on quick commerce (Q-comm) platforms than through traditional e-commerce platforms as instant delivery services expand their networks beyond metros into Tier-2 cities.
Chirag Gupta, founder and CEO of gourmet snacking brand 4700BC, credits quick commerce for driving “monumental growth” and significantly expanding the company’s reach, particularly in Tier-1 and Tier-2 cities where traditional supply chains have limited access.
“Among online sales from traditional e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart, and direct website sales, it’s in quick commerce that we see the highest consumer engagement. It’s now integral to our overall digital strategy,” says Gupta. Sales through quick commerce platforms are increasing by 45 per cent year on year, contributing a remarkable 87 per cent to overall sales. 4700BC is listed on key platforms such as Blinkit, Zepto, Swiggy Instamart, BigBasket and Amazon Fresh.
Albinder Dhindsa, CEO of the Zomato-backed Blinkit, shares that sales of new-age D2C brands are three times higher in Tier-2 cities like Ludhiana and Patiala than in the metros. He attributes this to time-constrained nuclear families in smaller cities, who often lack support systems. Traditional supply chains also have limited reach in these areas, resulting in less variety, while consumer demand for new products and brands continues to grow.
Meta’s Developing an AI System To Detect Teens Lying About Their Age
Meta’s looking to utilize AI to detect users who are lying about their age in its apps, in an expanded effort to limit potentially harmful exposure to youngsters across Facebook and Instagram.
According to a new report from Bloomberg, Meta’s developing a new AI-based system that will be able to detect youngsters who’ve lied about their age.
As per Bloomberg:
“With a proprietary software tool it calls an “adult classifier,” Meta will categorize users into two age brackets — older or younger than 18 — based on the person’s own account data. The software can sift through a user’s profile, see their follower list and what content they interact with, and will even scan unsuspecting “happy birthday” posts made by friends to predict a user’s age.”
Meta initially flagged this coming technology back in September, noting that it will go into live testing on Instagram early in the new year.
That’ll give Meta another tool in its efforts to protect youngsters, amid rising scrutiny of its apps, and their harmful impacts on teens.
Netflix unveils ‘Moments’ to save and share scenes from films and series
Netflix has launched a new feature enabling users to capture and share scenes from their favorite series and films directly from the platform. According to an official blog post, this feature enhances the viewing experience by allowing fans to save memorable moments while streaming. Users will soon be able to highlight their favorite ‘moments’ during their Netflix sessions, making sharing these experiences with friends and followers easier.
This new feature from has been rolled out globally for iOS users, with plans to make it available on Android devices in the coming weeks.
Google Increased the Amount of YouTube Citations in AI Overview
YouTube citations in Google’s AI-generated Overviews (AIO) have jumped by 310% since August. Through the Gemini multimodal model, Google’s AI can now integrate video and spoken content even without accompanying text, highlighting the rising value of video in search results.