Dentsu’s crystal ball says that the repercussions of AI, monetization and integrity will topline media trends in 2024.

The agency’s annual global trends report, released Oct. 5, dives into the effects of generative AI and two other main topics: “The Race to Monetization” and “Integrity Economics.”

The section on monetization includes trends such lookalike apps, more ads for more returns, and identify refocus where the push on user identity as third-party cookies will likely be deprecated next year.

Meanwhile, Trends in Integrity Economics outlines ways in which brands need to adapt to reflect the needs and identities of audiences in a world of increasingly diverse and personal media consumption. The section also focuses on safer digital environments for people and brands and on decarbonization through optimized targeting and improved impact.

Since the report is global in scope, it doesn’t address some of the topics that are of concern to the Canadian industry, such as the local media crisis, but does touch on AI’s role in content scraping. Sarah Thompson, president of Dentsu Media Canada, says while AI can enhance productivity and help discover insights and opportunities faster, there are the problematic effects.

“Where it becomes challenging is when you start seeing generative AI being used to scrape publications…in order to create nefarious advertising for made for advertising sites or AI generated news sites where it’s not actually written by a journalist,” she explains, noting that newspapers are particularly affected by the trend.

Not only are these sites low attention and low quality, they also don’t support local media or the future of journalism in Canada, she says. For agencies to play a role in preserving Canada’s local media, Thompson says the easiest fix is to follow the CMDC guidance and start investing in it. She says Dentsu is at 23% of digital investment is local with the goal to move it beyond the 25% set forward by the CMDC by the close of next year. Even as Canada’s local media environment continues to shrink, she says studies show that local media is where to find quality and attention.

Users of generative AI for business should also be cautious because AI is only as good as the data sources provided. “You have to challenge whether or not a speed to answer might be helpful, but you might actually be doing more harm than good. If you just rely on speed itself, it’s only as good as the algorithm.”

In the Integrity Economics section of the Media Trends report, it says while although an increasing number of companies are pledging to head toward a net-zero future, consumers want to see concrete action today. According to Dentsu research, 55% of U.S. and Canada consumers expect businesses that claim to be sustainable should be reducing their carbon emissions now, but believe those companies are falling short. It points out that there are current solutions for advertisers looking to reduce carbon generated by their media activities, including sustainably focused marketplaces and alternates to ad serving, such as ad streaming, which reduces load time and carbon emissions.

“It’s interesting that when you add quality and attention, you actually also have lower carbon emissions,” Thompson notes. “You need to start looking at the totality of the picture, not just low-cost media, because often with low cost comes waste, wastefulness for environments, wasted impressions, where you actually want people’s memory to be formed around your brand. Now more than ever, there are social consequences to what we’re doing. It can’t be frequency at all costs, reach at all costs, impressions at all costs, at the lowest possible cost.”