🏭 Zuckerberg's ad machine

Today’s Insights

Feature

Meta wants to automate everything about ads. By the end of next year, the goal is full automation - where brands can hand over a product image and budget, and AI handles the rest. No human creatives needed.

Here's how it will work, according to a WSJ report:

• Advertisers upload a product image + budget

• Meta AI generates the ad copy, imagery, and video

• AI personalizes ads in real time based on user data

• Meta handles audience targeting

“In the not-too-distant future, we want to get to a world where any business will be able to just tell us what objective they’re trying to achieve... and we just do the rest for them.” Zuckerberg said during the company’s annual shareholder meeting last week.

Zuckerberg’s plan could benefit small businesses that lack resources for professional ad creation. But larger brands will have concerns about giving up creative control to algorithms, particularly given concerns about maintaining brand consistency and avoiding off-brand imagery.

Meta is also exploring partnerships with existing AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to WSJ.

🧪 Google is already testing ads in AI Mode

Advertisers running Performance Max, Shopping, or broad match Search campaigns could now have their ads displayed within AI Mode & AI Overviews.

🔍 YouTube users can search using Google Lens with new beta rollout

The feature allows users to use visual search to find more information about items and objects within a Shorts video. YouTube says the Lens tool will not display ads during the beta.

New

🤝 OpenAI acquires Jony Ive’s startup in a $6.4 billion deal

The British designer, who was instrumental alongside Steve Jobs in designing the iPhone, will take over the design of OpenAI's hardware and software. OpenAI's physical products are expected to arrive in 2026. The acquisition brings about 55 engineers and designers from Jony Ive’s startup to OpenAI.

📢 Reddit launches Dynamic Product Ads to all advertisers

The feature allows brands to automatically display products from their catalogs alongside relevant subreddit conversations, using both on-platform and off-platform signals.

🚀 Opera announces Neon, a new AI agentic web browser 

The new browser introduces built-in AI agents that let users search, automate tasks, and create content directly from the browser. Opera says the AI can work both locally and in the cloud, handling complex actions even when users are offline.

📺 YouTube launches side-by-side ads for live mid-rolls on TV and desktop

Side-by-side ads will appear next to the live stream within the same video player, with the stream’s audio temporarily muted. Once the ad ends or is skipped, the stream's video and audio return to normal.

Thanks for reading

Have a marketing friend who would find today’s newsletter useful? There’s a share button below.

We’ll be back next week!