The AIrt of persuasion

Google is pivoting from being a mobile-first company to an AI-first company, declares Barney Pierce, Director, APAC Platforms and Display GTM for Google. He points to how Google is deploying artificial intelligence everywhere – in Gmail which now suggests replies, in its Photos app which helps you search, archive and even suggests which snaps can be junked, in Maps which is parsing local searches and has now significantly improved due to machine learning. But what he doesn't say is that perhaps the most lucrative deployment of AI for Google, which is expected to make $73.8 billion in net digital ad sales in 2017 according to eMarketer, is in its ad tech solutions. Pierce, who was speaking at Google's Think Platform event in Gurgaon, does describe how machine learning is virtually powering the digital advertising landscape, especially media buying which, thanks to the rise of programmatic, affords huge scope. AI, which Pierce describes as the science of making things smart, is not just greatly improving efficiency but also the relevance of ads.