Google is unlikely to displace agencies — and probably has little incentive to go that route — but its wide-ranging ambitions could mean it encroaches on agency turf. Witness Google’s recent deal with Heineken to use its many digital platforms to achieve “brand-building reach and the ability to carefully target their audience.”
That sounds a lot like the work of a digital agency, but Google’s forte is not, nor will it ever be, the kind of expertise necessary to create, manage and optimize digital campaigns for a major brand. Brands will probably never use a single source as agency and ad exchange, but they do want to partner with Google on the elements of digital advertising where it holds an immeasurable competitive advantage. Google has unrivaled access to search and behavioral data.
More in Media
AI royalties for small and midsize publishers: collective licensing’s next big play
Don’t credit OpenAI’s ChatGPT, credit corporate LLMs – enterprise RAG is what’s creating royalty revenue for publishers.
The Economist licenses its content to enterprise clients’ private LLMs
The Economist is among those to start licensing its content this way – having opened its API to corporate clients with their own data ring-fenced LLMs in August.
Media Briefing: Why some publishers are flipping their position on whether to block AI bots
Some publishers that blocked all AI bots are rethinking their stance, as AI platform traffic raises new monetization and access trade-offs.