By Patti Summerfield and Andrea Hernandez
Google has announced upgrades to its Performance Max (PMax) ad product that the tech giant says will provide the transparency advertisers need to better evaluate and optimize their campaigns across Google platforms. These upgrades include channel-level reporting, search terms reporting and creative asset reporting.
PMax, which was first introduced about five years ago, serves ads across the Google media menu, including Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Discover, Shopping Ads and the ad network. Google said PMax will increase visibility into where the ads are served, how much the ads cost and the formats used as well as how videos or product pages in a shopping campaign are performing.
Later this month, Google will open a beta program for channel-level reporting, will provide granular stats on how many impressions are served to each channel in the PMax ecosystem.
Spotify introduces podcast metrics tool
Spotify is launching a new “plays” feature, allowing users to see how many times podcast episodes have been listened to or watched. This metric will also reveal the most popular episodes, providing valuable insights for creators. This is the first time such data will be available to both creators and users.
The metric will be visible next to each podcast episode across the app, including the homepage, episode page and show page. Spotify aims to use this feature to encourage users to discover new podcasts, particularly if they see high engagement from others.
Spotify’s announcement follows the release of its first quarter results, which revealed a significant increase, with the company adding its largest number of premium subscribers in a first quarter since 2020. The company now has 268 million premium subscribers, representing a year-on-year increase of 12%. Its monthly active users also grew by 10% to 678 million, while monthly ad-supported users reached 423 million.
Meltwater unveils AI-powered assistant for brand management
Meltwater has introduced Mira, an AI assistant that makes online brand management more efficient with advanced media intelligence and data analytics capabilities. Meltwater is a media intelligence and data analytics company that provides tools and solutions to help organizations monitor and analyze their online presence, as well as better understand their audience and competitors.
Mira will be the assistant on the Meltwater Copilot platform, and will combine AI agents with GenAI tech to provide instant feedback and recommendations through a chat interface.
The tool, according to Meltwater, differs from traditional GenAI tools, which typically handle isolated tasks like social post writing or article summarization. Instead, Mira leverages AI agents to streamline complex processes like brand tracking and competitive intelligence. By providing conversational insights and recommendations, it eliminates the need for cumbersome searches and dashboard navigation, tapping into Meltwater’s vast dataset of over a billion daily conversations across news and social media.
Meltwater’s upcoming Summit in New York will feature additional product announcements, including Explore+, an enterprise listening and analytics platform that enables customers to listen, analyze and make decisions in a single, unified space. The company has also broadened its partnerships with platforms like Snapchat, TikTok, and Bluesky to deliver enhanced listening and measurement capabilities.
