Mobile Dev Memo Podcast

My guest on this week's episode of the podcast is Amanda Engelman, Shopify's Director of Product for Advertising. The topic of the episode is the recently announced Shopify Product Network, which allows merchants to insert recommendations for products they don't sell into their own storefronts, sourced from other Shopify Merchants.But don't call it an ad network! In our discussion, among other things, we cover:An overview of the Shopify Product Network (SPN)How Shopify merchants have reacted to SPN since its launchHow payment works for merchants that host product recommendationsHow product exclusion and targeting are managedThe ultimate distribution potential for SPN and whether it serves as a complement to third-party ads or could replace them altogether for some merchantsWhether SPN could be expanded to third-party surfaces.Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Universal Ads⁠ is Comcast’s self-serve TV ads platform that lets you launch campaigns in minutes across premium inventory from NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Roku, and more.Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠⁠Marketecture⁠⁠.

In this week's episode of the podcast, I speak with Peter Stuart, the founder of Velora Digital, which publishes Velora Cycling, a new media outlet focused on the sport of cycling. Velora Digital has adopted an AI-first philosophy and integrates AI tools thoughtfully and fundamentally into its publishing process. I've known Peter since we both studied at University College London many years ago — he has spent his career in publishing, most recently serving as the editor of Cyclingnews, the world’s largest road cycling and pro cycling website.In this episode, we discuss:⁠⁠What it means to be an AI-first media companyWhat core editorial principles Velora is organized aroundVelora's editorial processAt what point in the editorial process it is necessary to have a human in the loopThe role that disclosure of AI-generated content / assets playsThe skepticism that Velora has faced since launching.Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Universal Ads⁠ is Comcast’s self-serve TV ads platform that lets you launch campaigns in minutes across premium inventory from NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Roku, and more.Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠⁠Marketecture⁠⁠.The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:Apple PodcastsSpotify

In this episode of the podcast, I speak with Anindya Ghose from NYU and Vilma Todri from Emory University about their recent paper, The Impact of Visual Generative AI on Advertising Effectiveness, which is available in pre-print. In the paper, Anindya, Vilma, and the other authors assess the performance efficacy of three types of ad creative: Creative entirely crafted by humans;Creative crafted by humans but modified by generative AI;Creative entirely created by generative AI. The authors also quantify the impact of disclosing that creative was produced by generative AI tools. In the paper, the authors run a field experiment (buying display impressions on Google Display Network) as well as a lab study where they collect qualitative data. We discuss the results of these in the podcast.In addition, we cover:The genesis of this paper and the motivation to explore this topic;The four research questions the authors pursue in the paper;The methodology used to interrogate those questions;The principal conclusions from the studies the authors ran;The authors' finding that lower creative constraints on the genAI tool led to better results;Possible explanations for why a Generative AI tool benefits from total control with the visual modality whereas textual generation performs better with a structured, chain-of-thought process.Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Universal Ads⁠ is Comcast’s self-serve TV ads platform that lets you launch campaigns in minutes across premium inventory from NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Roku, and more.Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠⁠Marketecture⁠⁠.

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Rishabh Jain, the CEO and co-founder of FERMÀT Commerce, an eCommerce advertising optimization platform. Rishabh most recently joined the podcast in June for an episode of the MDM Mailbag.In this episode, Rishabh and I discuss the impact of chatbot discovery on eCommerce sales, including over Black Friday. Among other things, we speak about:The current state of AI search with respect to eCommerce, and how are chatbots are influencing eCommerce purchases nowThe likely trajectory of "agentic commerce" over the next 12-18 monthsHow eCommerce retailers are adapting to chatbots and other forms of AI searchChatGPT's Instant Checkout and whether that reflects a durable business opportunity for OpenAI or other companiesThanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Universal Ads⁠ is Comcast’s self-serve TV ads platform that lets you launch campaigns in minutes across premium inventory from NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Roku, and more.Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠⁠Marketecture⁠⁠.The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:Apple PodcastsSpotify

My guest on this episode of the podcast is Mikołaj Barczentewicz, a professor of law at the University of Surrey and the author of EU Tech Reg, a blog dedicated to following developments in the EU regulatory machinery. In this episode, Mikołaj and I discuss the digital omnibus package that was recently proposed by the European Commission and which aims to reform and simplify, among many other things, the GDPR. A draft version of the digital omnibus had been leaked a few weeks before we spoke, but we waited until the formal version was unveiled by the EC to record this podcast.Among other things, we cover:The genesis of the Digital Omnibus package: why was it proposed in the first place, and what it aims to achieve;The specific changes to the GDPR proposed in the package;The scope of the opposition to GDPR reform;The implications of digital omnibus reforms on the EU's domestic AI industry;Whether any genuine progress been made against the recommendations made by last year's Draghi report;The current status of Pay or Okay in the EU and in the UK;Whether the DMA might be softened in response to pressure from the Trump administration.Thanks to the sponsors of this week’s episode of the Mobile Dev Memo podcast:⁠Xsolla⁠. With the Xsolla Web Shop, you can create a direct storefront, cut fees down to as low as 5%, and keep players engaged with bundles, rewards, and analytics.⁠INCRMNTAL⁠⁠⁠. True attribution measures incrementality, always on.⁠Universal Ads⁠ is Comcast’s self-serve TV ads platform that lets you launch campaigns in minutes across premium inventory from NBC, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery, Roku, and more.Interested in sponsoring the Mobile Dev Memo podcast? Contact ⁠⁠Marketecture⁠⁠.The Mobile Dev Memo podcast is available on:Apple PodcastsSpotify