Today's News

• AI • Spam Comments at Scale. This is the Future?!

• COMMERCE • Consumers Will Pay More for Eco

• MEDIA BUYING • Where to Once TikTok’s Gone?

• TIKTOK • “As Addictive as Cigarettes” to Kids: EU

AI • Spam Comments at Scale. This is the Future?!

One of the search tricks people use online, if they’re finding Google’s results lacking, is to add the word “Reddit” to the end of their search. This usually finds more relevant content from that community, usually free from bots and scammy promotional text.

Well, the AI techbros have decided the best way to capitalize on that is to infect Reddit threads with AI-generated marketing messages.

404media today has great coverage of one such bot:

It’s interesting to see this entry in the content wars — Reddit has invested a tonne of money into catching deceptive bots. Even regular users get caught up in the protections. Many communities on the site won’t let you post without having been a member for X number of days, or have X amount of karma.

And if your account gets banned site-wide, it’s common belief that your IP address and hardware’s unique address are also shadowbanned, making it hard to do anything from that device.

That and communities exist specifically to make fun of spammy accounts — like the subreddit called “r/ThisFuckingAccount”

This AI bot uses what it calls a pool of high quality Reddit accounts, but you can also give it your brand’s account to reply from, just in case you’d like to know what it feels like to have your brand account banned too.

This whole black-hat industry is called by some “parasite SEO,” where people try to get their brand or content on a domain that Google already trusts.

Not all of this is bad, mind you. The only people answering questions on Quora now are people looking to promote themselves or their company.

And if brands are going to gently promote in Reddit comment threads anyway, is a service that does this at scale really that bad? This is one of the new ethics debates I expect our industry will be having in the years ahead.

A spokesperson for Reddit told 404media they consider AI bots to be against their rules.

A transparency report released by Reddit last week said that when they take content down, three-fourths of those removals are done automatically — by an AI bot.

COMMERCE • Consumers Will Pay More for Eco

A new report from logistics giant Radial reveals a growing consumer readiness to support sustainable shipping practices.

Despite a general decline in sustainability importance among American consumers, a significant portion is now willing to pay extra and endure longer waits for eco-friendly delivery options.

According to the study, 51% of consumers are prepared to spend more for sustainable shipping—a substantial increase from 15% in December 2023.

Plus:

• 77% of those surveyed said they’d be willing to wait longer for their purchases if the shipping methods were environmentally friendly.

• Out of these, 29% said they could wait an extra day

• and 38% were okay with a delay of three to five days

But if you’re going to try this, Radial says put communications like regular updates high up the list.

MEDIA BUYING • Where to Once TikTok’s Gone?

AdWeek today published some interviews they’ve had with senior media buyers about what they’re telling their clients about the future of ads on TikTok.

TikTok's presence in the U.S. hangs in balance as lawmakers recently passed a bill giving TikTok a year to divest from its Chinese ownership to avoid a ban.

The uncertainty has sparked a flurry of strategic shifts among ad buyers.

But not all think it’s a huge deal.

Other media buyers told AdWeek the issue is more about advertisers not having a diversified program.

Indeed, that does seem to be the overall theme of the piece — keep running TikTok, but have plans set up to jump ship.

The whole piece is definitely worth a read if you’re keen to learn how your media buying peers are thinking about this whole thing.

You’ll find it at AdWeek.com — look for the post called “How Ad Buyers Are Advising Clients as Possible TikTok Ban or Sale Looms.”

TIKTOK • “As Addictive as Cigarettes” to Kids: EU

Speaking of TikTok, the European Commission has launched formal proceedings against TikTok's lighter version, TikTok Lite, over concerns that its rewards program could lead to addiction among children.

This feature, debuted in Spain and France, entices users to earn points by watching videos and liking posts, which can be exchanged for Amazon vouchers and TikTok coins.

Commissioner Thierry Breton compared the app's addictive potential to that of light cigarettes, stating, "We suspect TikTok 'Lite' could be as toxic and addictive as cigarettes 'light.'"

TikTok now has to submit a risk assessment of the app by Tuesday, after getting an extension from missing their deadline last week.

For its part, a TikTok spokesperson said there’s a daily limit on video watching tasks, and the rewards hub shouldn’t even be accessible by kids under 18 — assuming, of course, they didn’t lie about their birth year, which many do.

This scrutiny is part of a broader investigation by the EU into TikTok's practices under the new DSA, targeting platforms with significant user bases to manage their content more closely.

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