WEBVTT - Smart Talks with IBM: Online Privacy is More Important Than Ever 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.440 Today we're going to be talking about the future of 0:00:02.560 --> 0:00:07.560 artificial intelligence in digital advertising with Sherry Backstein, who is 0:00:07.640 --> 0:00:11.800 global head of Watson Advertising and the Weather Company, an 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.520 IBM business. If you want to hear previous entries in 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:17.000 the series, you can simply look up the episodes labeled 0:00:17.040 --> 0:00:19.720 smart Talks in our feed from earlier this year. And 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:22.120 you can also check out the episodes of smart Talks 0:00:22.160 --> 0:00:25.200 on the I Heart Media podcast Tech Stuff, same thing, 0:00:25.320 --> 0:00:27.680 just look for the ones that's say smart Talks. And 0:00:27.720 --> 0:00:31.200 now let's jump right into our conversation about advertising and 0:00:31.360 --> 0:00:37.640 AI with Sherry Backstein. Sherry Backstein, Welcome to the podcast. Hi, 0:00:37.800 --> 0:00:41.080 great to be here. Let's start with your professional background. 0:00:41.320 --> 0:00:44.400 How did you end up doing what you do now? Well, 0:00:44.440 --> 0:00:47.640 that's a really interesting story because I actually started my 0:00:47.800 --> 0:00:51.159 career in journalism, um and worked for one of the 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:55.520 national networks doing the news and then got recruited by 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:59.120 the Weather Channel TV way back in my career, and 0:00:59.160 --> 0:01:03.680 that's really how I it all started from there. Um, 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.600 you know, left the Weather Company after a while, went 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:10.279 to the digital world as we saw changes in television coming, 0:01:10.760 --> 0:01:13.640 and then came back to the Weather Company about thirteen 0:01:13.720 --> 0:01:16.840 years ago on the digital side of the company and 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:20.280 have been here ever since. So why are you passionate 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:22.520 about the work you do? The work that we do 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.560 at at the Weather Company. It makes a difference in 0:01:25.560 --> 0:01:29.600 people's lives. It helps people make the right decisions for 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.760 them personally, for their families, for their businesses as it 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:39.240 relates to the weather. And what's interesting is and before 0:01:39.240 --> 0:01:41.520 I had the role I have today, and early on 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.920 in my career, I was actually a storm chaser for 0:01:43.959 --> 0:01:47.199 the Weather Channel, and so I got to go out 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:51.640 into the field and cover all these weather events that 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:55.880 were happening, and it was fascinating work, um. And it 0:01:56.000 --> 0:02:00.480 was heart wrenching work as well, because you saw the 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:05.520 destruction and the power that weather has. And there wasn't 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:08.240 a type of storm I didn't get to cover, between 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:12.600 tornadoes and hurricanes, nor easter's and you know, it was 0:02:12.639 --> 0:02:16.200 really just it was fascinating work. And you know, it's 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:19.320 it's interesting that when, um, you're in the middle of 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.840 a storm and one day I was covering it was 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:26.440 a F five tornado. The tornado was a mile wide, 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:31.519 ripped through Norman, Oklahoma, and I went there the day after. 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:35.480 I couldn't believe the destruction. It was just it's something 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:38.040 that unless you see it yourself, you just really can't 0:02:38.080 --> 0:02:41.680 believe it. And you know, I was talking to people 0:02:41.760 --> 0:02:44.280 that had impacted and these people would just come up 0:02:44.280 --> 0:02:46.760 and they would just hug you, and they would say, 0:02:46.800 --> 0:02:49.760 if it wasn't for you and the Weather Channel, we 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:53.600 would not be here today. It's your alerts, your you know, 0:02:53.960 --> 0:02:57.160 the information you provide is so critical. And so when 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:00.720 you get to experience something like that and you get 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:03.400 to touch another human being in that way and to 0:03:03.520 --> 0:03:07.360 help them, you become very passionate about your work. And 0:03:07.400 --> 0:03:11.040 I have to say everybody at the Weather Company feels 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.400 this passion for what we do. That we are saving 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:18.079 lives um and then and then doing something just as 0:03:18.080 --> 0:03:20.919 simple as helping people plan their day. So that's part 0:03:20.919 --> 0:03:23.520 of the reason I'm so passionate about it. Well, to 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:28.120 all of the weather reporters, storm Chaser's meteorologists out there, 0:03:28.120 --> 0:03:30.040 from from the bottom of my heart, I say a 0:03:30.040 --> 0:03:33.200 genuine thanks, well, we appreciate that, and you know, again 0:03:33.400 --> 0:03:36.960 we're happy to provide the service. So IBM bought the 0:03:36.960 --> 0:03:40.680 Weather Company in I'm curious about that. What's the relationship 0:03:40.720 --> 0:03:43.840 between the two companies. Well, it really came down to data. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:48.040 So as the weather company, we have a tremendous amount 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.680 of data from a forecasting perspective, from a weather perspective, 0:03:52.080 --> 0:03:57.119 and so it came down to really providing businesses with 0:03:57.360 --> 0:04:00.480 a weather strategy. So every business should of a weather 0:04:00.560 --> 0:04:04.280 strategy because it impacts really everything you do around your 0:04:04.280 --> 0:04:07.680 supply chain in most businesses. And so it really came 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.600 down to being able to take our weather data and 0:04:10.720 --> 0:04:14.280 infuse it into all of our customers within IBM to 0:04:14.440 --> 0:04:17.360 better help them make decisions around their business. And then 0:04:17.400 --> 0:04:19.560 of course as the Weather Channel, we have such a 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.760 large consumer business as well, and so it is a 0:04:22.800 --> 0:04:26.160 really great touch point for IBM to reach consumers at 0:04:26.200 --> 0:04:29.040 such a mass scale. We have three and fifty million 0:04:29.160 --> 0:04:32.640 users every month that use our platforms. But it's just 0:04:32.680 --> 0:04:35.440 a great way for IBM then to to reach a consumer. 0:04:35.960 --> 0:04:39.320 Um you know, from that perspective. So one of the 0:04:39.360 --> 0:04:42.320 reasons then you're saying is that, um, the weather base 0:04:42.800 --> 0:04:45.680 is data that can be used by IBM, but also 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:47.960 does it go the other way or their overlaps in 0:04:47.960 --> 0:04:51.960 the world today between artificial intelligence that serve say the 0:04:51.960 --> 0:04:57.039 weather forecasting side. So we have before we actually became IBM, 0:04:57.120 --> 0:05:00.560 we used AI in our forecasting and we still today. 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:03.560 But what we have seen is we've been able to 0:05:03.600 --> 0:05:07.680 accelerate the use of AI in other areas of our business. 0:05:07.800 --> 0:05:12.000 For example, we are able to predict uh, you know, 0:05:12.400 --> 0:05:17.000 the flu in areas at risk associated with the flu um, 0:05:17.040 --> 0:05:21.039 you know, health risk associated with allergies by using Watson's AI. 0:05:21.200 --> 0:05:24.960 So that's a great example. And then most recently, we 0:05:25.040 --> 0:05:28.400 are leveraging AI on the advertising side of our business 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:32.840 to create AI driven advertising solutions, not only for us 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.560 as a publisher, but then these solutions that could be 0:05:35.680 --> 0:05:40.160 used by other publishers or marketers or others within the ecosystem. 0:05:40.200 --> 0:05:43.800 So with the Weather Company being part of IBM, it's 0:05:43.800 --> 0:05:48.080 been very beneficial from not only an AI perspective, but 0:05:48.640 --> 0:05:52.480 we just put out a brand new Weather model earlier 0:05:52.520 --> 0:05:57.240 this year and it leverages the Power nine supercomputer of IBM, 0:05:57.640 --> 0:05:59.640 and so if we were not IBM, we wouldn't have 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:02.120 been able to do that. So there has been you know, 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.920 benefits on both sides of the companies and us joining together. 0:06:06.560 --> 0:06:09.320 So you brought up advertising, and obviously that's one of 0:06:09.360 --> 0:06:11.760 the main things that we wanted to talk about today, 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.040 So um to set the stage. We know that today's 0:06:15.240 --> 0:06:18.800 Internet and technology sphere is paid for or at least 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.360 subsidized in huge part by advertising. And people argue about 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.719 whether there could be a better model, but for better 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.599 or worse, this is the one that's in play today. 0:06:27.760 --> 0:06:30.360 Give us a picture of what that landscape is like, 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.000 how does the Internet and the technosphere make money through 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.320 advertising and how is that changing? So you're right, most 0:06:37.440 --> 0:06:42.000 content on the Internet and digital content is underwritten by advertising, 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:45.039 and it's done that way so people can get it 0:06:45.080 --> 0:06:46.920 for free so they don't have to pay for it. 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:51.239 And certainly we've seen an upcrease and subscription where people 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.040 are paying for that content because they don't want to 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:57.719 see advertising. So there's really those two choices. But for decades, 0:06:57.839 --> 0:07:01.520 advertising has really underwritten all that is content. And what's 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:05.599 important is advertising has changed through the years. Is kind 0:07:05.600 --> 0:07:09.960 of twofold one for the user. So you're on a platform, 0:07:10.000 --> 0:07:12.720 you're using an app, using a website, and the ads 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:16.280 that are targeted to you. It's a better experience if 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.440 they're relevant, if they're something that you might be interested in, 0:07:19.840 --> 0:07:22.960 and so targeting has improved over the years, and that's 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:27.520 become very very important in the industry. On the marketer side, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:31.560 that targeting is important because as a marketer, you only 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.000 have so much budget to reach audience that are are 0:07:35.000 --> 0:07:37.560 going to be meaningful, audience are that are going to 0:07:38.040 --> 0:07:40.480 take the action that you want to take, and so 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:44.320 being able to target just to that specific audience is 0:07:44.360 --> 0:07:47.520 really important from an efficiency perspective and you know the 0:07:47.520 --> 0:07:50.640 best case for results for you as well. So that's 0:07:50.680 --> 0:07:55.000 really the advertising landscape UM as we know it today, UM, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.600 and it's changed through the years. You know, it started 0:07:57.640 --> 0:08:00.960 where it was really more direct sale is where you 0:08:01.320 --> 0:08:03.920 a sales person would go into a marketer or a 0:08:03.960 --> 0:08:06.600 brand and they would make this relationship and they would 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:10.960 sponsor certain segments on an app or a website. And 0:08:11.000 --> 0:08:14.520 then about eight to ten years ago, programmatic came on 0:08:14.560 --> 0:08:18.240 the scene which automated that process UM and so you 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.320 didn't have to have as much face to face contact 0:08:21.640 --> 0:08:24.320 as a publisher, you know, to a marketer, but it 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.440 can all be done through an automatic exchange. And so 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:30.440 that's where we are today as far as the advertising 0:08:30.440 --> 0:08:33.800 industry is. But that is changing. And what's the role 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.880 of what's known as third party data in all of this, 0:08:37.000 --> 0:08:39.440 what is that and how does it work? So third 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:43.000 party data, So most websites have first party data. So 0:08:43.080 --> 0:08:46.000 it's that relationship between the user and the brand. So 0:08:46.120 --> 0:08:48.400 in the case of the Weather channel, you know, you 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:51.240 come to our platform, you type in a zip code, 0:08:51.320 --> 0:08:54.280 or you let us take your location, you give us permission, 0:08:54.679 --> 0:08:57.280 and so that's first party data. We know where you're 0:08:57.360 --> 0:09:00.560 interested in getting the weather, we know where weather is 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.480 where you live, if you click on allergy or flu, 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:08.319 that's all first party data. Well, not every publisher has 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:11.040 a lot of first party data or means to collect it, 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:14.600 and so then you can leverage the actions that you 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.679 do on one platform and that can travel with you 0:09:17.720 --> 0:09:21.160 to another platform. So then that first party data becomes 0:09:21.160 --> 0:09:25.240 third party data on someone else's platform. So when someone 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:29.080 from maybe a news publisher comes to us, we know 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:32.120 what they were interested in maybe on the news publishers site, 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:35.560 what sections they went to, and then advertisers can target 0:09:35.559 --> 0:09:38.680 them appropriately on our website. And so that's how the 0:09:38.760 --> 0:09:41.679 third party data has grown and it's become again valuable 0:09:42.360 --> 0:09:47.320 in order to provide that specific targeting to make your 0:09:47.320 --> 0:09:51.680 experience from advertising perspective relevant to who you are to 0:09:51.760 --> 0:09:54.000 where you are and what your interests might be. That 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:58.240 was the case in the in the ad supported web 0:09:58.280 --> 0:10:02.680 we have today for it, content that really the gold 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:08.000 standard is targeted advertising. I mean is untargeted advertising, uh 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:13.160 sort of going nowhere? Well, untargeted advertising isn't very desirable 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:16.959 from anybody's perspective. I mean, I'm sure you have seen 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:20.640 ads that just seem so obscure to maybe what your 0:10:20.679 --> 0:10:24.040 interests are, just you know, um, something that you would 0:10:24.080 --> 0:10:27.640 not be interested in all. And from a marketer perspective, 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:30.280 you know, it's kind of like you're just throwing an 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.760 ad out there and just hoping you reach someone that 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.800 might be interested. So it's a waste of money. And 0:10:36.880 --> 0:10:41.240 so really targeting advertising is beneficial for both the consumer 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:45.640 and the marketer. You know. It's as a publisher, we 0:10:45.840 --> 0:10:48.240 talk to our users a lot, do a lot of surveys, 0:10:48.280 --> 0:10:51.280 and we've asked them what they prefer, if they prefer 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:54.280 relevant ads or they just prefer they don't really care 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:56.840 what ads they see, and they do tell us in 0:10:56.920 --> 0:11:00.560 most cases they prefer relevant ads, um things that they're 0:11:00.600 --> 0:11:03.599 interested in that they actually might want to purchase or 0:11:03.920 --> 0:11:06.480 might want to find more information about. And so it 0:11:06.520 --> 0:11:09.959 does improve that user experience. But I guess, UM, one 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:13.560 of the distinctions here is whether the data that's being 0:11:13.679 --> 0:11:17.080 used to target the user is somehow unique to them 0:11:17.240 --> 0:11:20.920 or something that people would feel is personal or private information. 0:11:21.040 --> 0:11:25.120 And one of those things I think might be mobile identifiers. 0:11:25.160 --> 0:11:27.440 Could you talk about the idea of mobile identifiers and 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.920 what role they play in UH targeted advertising today? Yeah, 0:11:31.000 --> 0:11:34.600 So the mobile identifiers essentially an I D that's associated 0:11:34.640 --> 0:11:38.680 with that device, and so then whatever you do on 0:11:38.720 --> 0:11:42.840 that device can be tracked through advertising, and there's permissions 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.280 around that. So it's not that it's done in any 0:11:46.320 --> 0:11:49.800 kind of secret way because on your UM you know, 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:51.680 in the case of I D f A, that's that's 0:11:51.720 --> 0:11:56.200 an iOS supported identifier, you have to limit, you know, 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.360 put that AD tracking on, or you can say I 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.800 want to limit the AD tracking. So that user has 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:04.440 always had the decision on the iOS device, UM, you know, 0:12:04.480 --> 0:12:07.280 to make that decision whether they want that tracking or 0:12:07.280 --> 0:12:10.439 not to happen. But that identifiers just like your I D. 0:12:11.160 --> 0:12:13.960 So then when you visit maybe a different app or 0:12:14.000 --> 0:12:16.520 you go to a web browser on your phone, that 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.760 I D would follow you UM, and so then your 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:23.080 behaviors and things that you're interested in kind of build 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.319 on that one I D. So then advertisers can target 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:29.040 that I D. So this brings us to the relationship 0:12:29.080 --> 0:12:33.120 between targeted advertising and privacy. What is the conflict here 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:37.079 as people receive it? So it's an interesting question because 0:12:37.120 --> 0:12:39.920 as I mentioned, like with I d f A, users 0:12:39.960 --> 0:12:42.760 have always had the ability to turn it off. What's 0:12:42.880 --> 0:12:47.600 changing is that instead of that being opted in for 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:51.320 a user, it's now going to be opted off. And 0:12:51.360 --> 0:12:54.280 so then the user has to explicitly say that they 0:12:54.320 --> 0:12:59.000 want to share their information, which I personally agree with. UM, 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.960 as you know, a pub lasher myself, our consumers privacy 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:06.120 should be respected and they should be able to make 0:13:06.200 --> 0:13:10.040 that decision on what information they want to share and 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.160 to be able to control that data. So I think 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:16.280 it's critically important. So that's really what's changing on I 0:13:16.400 --> 0:13:19.680 d f A is the opted off versus what has 0:13:19.720 --> 0:13:22.160 been opted in. And I think we all know when 0:13:22.200 --> 0:13:25.640 we get our cell phones, um, there's so much to 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:28.440 go through when setting up a phone, UM, and there's 0:13:28.600 --> 0:13:31.560 so many, you know, different areas you can go in 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:34.439 with an operating system, and most people just don't do it. 0:13:34.880 --> 0:13:37.440 So then what happens is you have articles that come 0:13:37.480 --> 0:13:40.520 out or media that comes out that starts scaring people 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.120 that all of these things are happening and and and 0:13:43.160 --> 0:13:46.800 you're being tracked in in you know, in certain ways 0:13:46.880 --> 0:13:49.679 that make you feel uncomfortable. And I'm not saying that 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:52.760 there's not bad players out there, but for the most part, 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:56.680 people are doing it to support all the free content 0:13:57.280 --> 0:14:01.240 UM that consumers are are using and the services in 0:14:01.360 --> 0:14:05.520 order to fund that, and so because of that, it's 0:14:05.520 --> 0:14:09.560 all about transparency. And so the transparency about what's being 0:14:09.600 --> 0:14:13.640 done UM is really improving, and I think that that's 0:14:13.679 --> 0:14:17.880 really important. Yeah, I think we certainly take digital privacy 0:14:17.880 --> 0:14:22.040 concerns very seriously on the show, and personally, I tend 0:14:22.120 --> 0:14:26.360 to find that with targeted advertising, people don't seem to 0:14:26.400 --> 0:14:29.320 mind it when the mechanisms are clear to them, when 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:32.400 it seems based on their consent. And I think that 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:36.640 means uh, very importantly for people, their conscious consent meaning 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:40.480 that they understand what they're agreeing to and not just signing, say, 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.440 a big agreement with lots of fine print. Uh. But 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:45.640 what I think people often don't like is that the 0:14:45.720 --> 0:14:48.600 feeling that they have been observed without expecting to be 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:52.160 observed or that they are being manipulated in a way 0:14:52.200 --> 0:14:56.200 that feels sneaky or hidden or tactically arcane. Would you 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.000 basically agree with that? I would absolutely agree with that. 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:02.000 I think private see really boils down to that value 0:15:02.040 --> 0:15:06.520 exchange between the consumer or the user and the content 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.080 or tech provider. And so you know, if you look 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:13.440 at a privacy policy, they certainly can be daunting um 0:15:13.560 --> 0:15:16.360 and and rarely I think people look at them. So 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:20.680 companies that are trying to make that more digestible UM 0:15:20.960 --> 0:15:26.359 and really helping to understand what you're doing with that data. 0:15:26.720 --> 0:15:30.000 That's really important and it's easy to do, and it's 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.720 it's the right thing to do, so people understand. Because 0:15:32.760 --> 0:15:35.520 the more fear we take out of it, the better 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.520 off I think everyone will be, not only from you know, 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.920 making a better user experience, but then that that content 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:45.880 camera remain free because the fear is that you know, 0:15:46.000 --> 0:15:50.680 companies have to underwrite their content with advertising or else 0:15:50.720 --> 0:15:54.120 they'll probably turn to a subscription model UM and then 0:15:54.480 --> 0:15:57.000 you know, consumers will have to pay for that. And 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.360 companies that have both options and we certainly do, because 0:16:00.840 --> 0:16:03.280 there's some users that just don't want ads, they're they're 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.320 intrusive to their experience. They have that option, which I 0:16:06.360 --> 0:16:09.640 think is great. How have companies like Apple and Google 0:16:09.680 --> 0:16:13.640 played a role in privacy versus targeting, well, both from 0:16:13.720 --> 0:16:17.080 an iPhone and um android perspective. I mean, they own 0:16:17.120 --> 0:16:20.440 the operating system and so they are the ones in 0:16:20.440 --> 0:16:23.320 the case of like I d f A UM they're 0:16:23.360 --> 0:16:27.320 making the change that says, hey, we should have users 0:16:27.320 --> 0:16:30.120 opt into this and versus them opting out of it. 0:16:30.960 --> 0:16:34.520 And so that's how they're definitely evolving their privacy. They've 0:16:34.520 --> 0:16:37.400 always been very privacy conscious, UM at least at least 0:16:37.400 --> 0:16:40.680 Apple from that perspective, has always been. But they're making 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.680 it even more transparent now, and so I think that 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:47.720 that is certainly important UM, and that people understand how 0:16:47.800 --> 0:16:51.520 their their data is being used, especially you know, with Google, 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:54.080 because they're not only an operating system, but they are 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.640 one of the major ad platforms, UM, you know, in 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:00.120 the world. This may be kind of a tangent, but 0:17:00.560 --> 0:17:04.480 I'm a little bit curious did this conflict between targeted 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.520 advertising and people's perception of their you know, the limits 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:11.200 of their privacy. Did this arise in as a surprise 0:17:11.359 --> 0:17:14.000 or has this been widely predicted back in the earlier 0:17:14.080 --> 0:17:18.159 days of the Internet. That's a really good question. I 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:23.520 think the changes that we see are really changes that 0:17:23.640 --> 0:17:26.960 big tech companies are making to be more transparent, and 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.880 by that I mean Apple and Google because they are 0:17:30.880 --> 0:17:34.840 the ones that are now making those changes to impose 0:17:34.920 --> 0:17:38.320 these new rules that then publishers and marketers have to 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.840 adhere to. And so that's really I think where most 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:46.000 of this privacy changes are stemming from is a result 0:17:46.119 --> 0:17:50.160 of that. But I do feel consumers are becoming more 0:17:50.359 --> 0:17:55.080 privacy conscious as time goes on, as more information as 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:59.160 being shared, and you know, as they see, um, certain 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:04.639 companies coming under attack, you know, from from different points 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:07.240 of view, from a legislative part of view as well, 0:18:07.720 --> 0:18:10.399 and so there's I think more awareness now of what 0:18:10.520 --> 0:18:14.760 actually is happening, and people are getting more educated on it. Um. 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.080 You know, information and knowledge is always you know, as 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.920 time goes on, is really important and the more people 0:18:22.080 --> 0:18:26.200 understand it, the more than they're taking more control over 0:18:26.240 --> 0:18:29.800 their own personal privacy and making those decisions. So the 0:18:29.840 --> 0:18:33.040 way things stand today under the current model, publishers need 0:18:33.080 --> 0:18:36.199 ad targeting in order to pay the bills and target 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:40.680 effectively while a lot of individual people want more privacy 0:18:40.680 --> 0:18:44.080 and control over their data, and I believe you're suggesting 0:18:44.119 --> 0:18:47.400 that AI could help accommodate both of these needs at 0:18:47.400 --> 0:18:50.480 the same time. Can you explain that, Yes, So the 0:18:50.600 --> 0:18:53.960 changes that are are happening in our industry with the 0:18:54.000 --> 0:18:58.240 identifiers and with cookies doesn't mean we can't have targeted advertising. 0:18:58.760 --> 0:19:02.000 It just means that those identifiers are not going to 0:19:02.040 --> 0:19:04.200 be used in the future, so we have to find 0:19:04.240 --> 0:19:10.000 new ways to target advertising. And at IBM what's in advertising, 0:19:10.119 --> 0:19:13.280 we believe AI is going to be the new backbone 0:19:13.320 --> 0:19:17.359 of the advertising industry, and that's because it doesn't rely 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:21.320 on identifiers, and so it can be anonymous, and AI 0:19:21.440 --> 0:19:26.359 can look at a lot of different unstructured data and 0:19:26.720 --> 0:19:30.199 it can help be more instead of being just deterministic, 0:19:30.480 --> 0:19:33.960 it can be probabilistic, and it can help be predictive 0:19:34.000 --> 0:19:37.800 and take that data and make insights for marketers. And 0:19:37.800 --> 0:19:39.640 there's a lot of ways to do that. You can 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:42.840 use it by combining other data. So in our case, 0:19:42.920 --> 0:19:46.080 we can take our weather data and combine it with 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.040 other shoppable data like from Nielsen to create look alike 0:19:51.200 --> 0:19:53.879 segments that then we can be able to target people 0:19:54.400 --> 0:19:57.480 that way without ever having to know anything about that 0:19:57.640 --> 0:20:02.160 user other than their behavior on our platforms, that relationship 0:20:02.200 --> 0:20:05.159 again that they have between us as a publisher and 0:20:05.200 --> 0:20:08.720 them using our platform, and then you can use it 0:20:08.760 --> 0:20:13.200 in social So social influencers are really hot right now 0:20:13.240 --> 0:20:16.880 for marketers UM and the marketers are benefiting a lot 0:20:17.040 --> 0:20:21.240 from having influencers showcase their products. The challenge there with 0:20:21.680 --> 0:20:25.800 the brands is finding that right influencer. So you might 0:20:25.880 --> 0:20:29.480 know a handful of influencers, but with a I, you 0:20:29.520 --> 0:20:32.199 can look at all the influencers. You can look at 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:35.800 their tone, you can look at the content that they supply, 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:40.639 and you can decide which one of these influencers is 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:43.439 the best to represent my brand. That's going to be 0:20:43.560 --> 0:20:47.400 brand safe, because that's critically important as as you're fixing 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:50.679 that picking that right influencer for your brand. So AI 0:20:50.840 --> 0:20:53.639 can comb through all of that mass amount of data 0:20:53.720 --> 0:20:57.840 which would take you know, humans days and weeks to 0:20:57.840 --> 0:21:00.359 be able to do, and it can really augment that 0:21:00.480 --> 0:21:04.360 human process to get a better result and a faster result, 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:07.760 and then it can adapt over time and improve over time. 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:10.640 So there's just two examples of how AI can help 0:21:10.760 --> 0:21:14.359 brands better target um and better. Um, you know have 0:21:14.400 --> 0:21:18.160 targeted type advertising. So could you give a hypothetical example 0:21:18.320 --> 0:21:23.240 of how data about whether might be used to target 0:21:23.320 --> 0:21:27.239 a specific add experience to a user. Sure, So we 0:21:27.359 --> 0:21:32.560 know from research that weather and mood have a connection, 0:21:32.640 --> 0:21:35.400 so people's moods and what they do when they feel 0:21:35.440 --> 0:21:38.920 a certain way, and so when we look at data 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:43.320 around whether, and if you can match that with buying 0:21:43.400 --> 0:21:48.040 behavior data, then you can predict what somebody might be 0:21:48.080 --> 0:21:52.159 interested in purchasing based on the weather because maybe their 0:21:52.200 --> 0:21:55.640 their mood is indicative of them wanting to spend at 0:21:55.640 --> 0:21:59.280 a certain time. So kind of a really simple example 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:03.720 is when it's chili outside, we know that people are 0:22:03.760 --> 0:22:09.480 in the mood for soup for dinner. Right, super simple example, UM, 0:22:09.520 --> 0:22:12.040 But then there's more examples like that that maybe aren't 0:22:12.080 --> 0:22:16.760 so simple. So we have a partner that was, you know, 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:20.120 a big retailer, and we did a lot of analysis 0:22:20.240 --> 0:22:24.280 on their purchasing data and what people were purchasing in 0:22:24.320 --> 0:22:28.359 their store. We combine that with the weather data and 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:32.800 we could see that when certain weather conditions existed, for example, 0:22:33.359 --> 0:22:36.919 when humidity was at a certain level in a certain 0:22:37.000 --> 0:22:41.880 region of the country, that strawberries sold so well compared 0:22:41.920 --> 0:22:44.919 to other weather times, and so what they did is 0:22:44.960 --> 0:22:47.880 help that retailer be more prepared from the supply chain 0:22:47.920 --> 0:22:51.600 perspective to say, when this weather condition is approaching, we 0:22:51.600 --> 0:22:54.520 should put strawberries out, you know, on the end cap 0:22:54.560 --> 0:22:56.960 of the counter, because we know that they're going to 0:22:57.000 --> 0:22:58.919 sell and we have to make sure that we have 0:22:59.040 --> 0:23:02.560 enough supply. Since one simple example that wouldn't be as 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:06.439 obvious as the cold weather and the soup example. And 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:09.399 so by looking at those insights, you can use AI 0:23:09.560 --> 0:23:13.680 to gather all of these insights. Then a retailer can 0:23:13.720 --> 0:23:16.200 make sure that they have enough stock on hand, they 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:19.800 can make sure they have enough workers on hand, or 0:23:19.840 --> 0:23:22.760 it can help them better promote products within their store 0:23:22.800 --> 0:23:24.800 to get them to move off the shelf. Could you 0:23:24.840 --> 0:23:26.960 tell us a bit about what's in the ads. How 0:23:26.960 --> 0:23:31.040 does that fit into the role of AI in future advertising. 0:23:31.400 --> 0:23:34.920 So that's a really great advertising product that we've provided 0:23:34.920 --> 0:23:38.159