Will Shopify’s AI Plans Support or Supplant Humans?

In This Issue:

🤖 Shopify's AI-first customer support strategy causes unease among its employees, raising questions about job security.

📈 Meta reports strong Q2 results, with Facebook crossing the 3 billion monthly active users mark.

🍏 More details on Apple's looming iOS 17, which will bring Link Tracking Protection, impacting marketers' tracking capabilities.

📉 Digital advertising remains a challenge for firms like BuzzFeed and Vox Media, leading to a renewed focus on live events for revenue.

🔖 Reddit is testing its own verification system with 'Official' profile tags.

✔️ There are new business categories in Google Business Profile. We have the list.

Shopify Customer Support To Lead with AI

Human support at Shopify may soon be overrun by robot reps.

Business Insider reported today that leaked audio details Shopify's plans to use AI to handle most customer-support inquiries. The support division's future was outlined in a presentation at a recent internal meeting.

🤖 AI Takes the Helm

Shopify leaders explained that merchants will get their inquiries handled by AI before involving human assistance — and even then, you won't get humans without some kind of AI involvement.

1. First, a merchant can try to solve a question or issue with the new AI-powered Sidekick tool built into Shopify admin, which we reported on yesterday.

2. If Sidekick can't solve the issue, merchants can go to the help center and interact with another new AI assistant there.

3. If the issue remains unresolved, merchants will be directed to human support advisors with access to AI tools.

💼 Workers Fear AI Replacement

Employees were, of course, concerned.

During a question-and-answer period, an employee asked how support advisors could be reassured that their jobs are safe.

To their credit, I guess, executives didn't use the usual line we hear with these announcements — that the move won't affect headcount, but will "free up" reps to do more important tasks.. Something that all companies say, and exactly nobody believes.

But no, Shopify executives reportedly responded frankly, telling employees to keep their skills up because job security in the tech industry is not guaranteed.

Image: Canva

Meta: "you can't get rid of me b*tch i'm not going no where"

Meta's Q2 report card is in.

Yesterday, the company reported better-than-expected results with Facebook adding 27 million users in the latest quarter and surpassing 3 billion monthly active users for the first time.

Doing the math, that means that more than half of the people on the planet who have access to the Internet log into Facebook at least once a month.

The majority of this user growth stems from the Asia Pacific region, particularly in developing markets like India and Indonesia.

Financially, Meta generated $32 billion in revenue for the period, marking an 11% increase year-over-year. Ad performance also remained strong, with a 35% increase in ad impressions delivered across its apps compared to the previous year. The average price per ad decreased by 15%.

Despite these positives, Meta's VR/AR division, Reality Labs, remains a concern, posting a $3.7 billion loss for the quarter. VR headset sales also declined again during the period.

Meta's standout moment, however, during its second quarter was the launch of its Twitter rival, Threads, which reached 100 million users in record time.

With Threads showing early promise, Social Media Today suggests Meta is likely to invest in its development, potentially creating a substantial ad revenue stream and reclaiming its position atop the social media landscape.

Images: Canva / Meta

What iOS 17 Means for Marketers

Apple's upcoming software update, iOS 17, slated to be released in September is set to bring a new level of personalization for consumers to apps like Phone, Messages, and Facetime.

But, for marketers, the update's tightened privacy measures have raised concerns.

One big change is the removal of URL tracking parameters from links accessed within Apple's Mail and Messages apps, as well as Safari Private Browsing. This move aims to limit access to consumer data, which could make it more difficult for advertisers to follow the consumer journey.

🔗 Link Tracking Protection

URL tracking parameters have long been used by advertisers to track consumers across multiple sites, but with Apple's new Link Tracking Protection feature, user-identifiable information will be stripped from these URLs.

Marketing Dive reported today that this change could have far-reaching effects on marketers. One industry executive quoted in the piece reminded that measuring campaign success may become more challenging, as specific audience data becomes less accessible.

🔒 Prioritizing Consumer Consent and Alternatives

As a result, some marketers are already preparing for the rollout of Link Tracking Protection and analyzing its potential impact on their businesses.

As consumer privacy continues to tighten, the report advises advertisers to prioritize getting consumers' consent for collecting first-party data.

Image: Apple

Publishers Turn to Events Amid Challenging Ad Market

While tech giants like Google and Meta reported improvements in ad revenues for the second quarter, some popular publishers are struggling.

The Information reported today that in response to this challenging ad market, firms like BuzzFeed, Vox Media, and Bustle Digital Group are turning to live events as a source of revenue.

Media executives say sales of ad sponsorships tied to events are outperforming other ad businesses, partly due to pent-up demand from the pandemic when most were canceled. For instance, media startup Semafor reported that half of its revenue this year came from event sponsorships.

According to the report, advertisers see event-related ad deals as an opportunity to drive larger deals, counting on consumers to share social content from events on their personal accounts, giving marketer-sponsored events more attention.

As a result of this market shift, several digital media firms are expanding their event businesses.

Image: Canva

Reddit Tests Verification Labels for Brands

It was only a matter of time... Reddit has hopped on the verification bandwagon.

The platform started testing verification badges for select brands yesterday with a new "Official" label. The company said that the label will be displayed next to usernames, similar to how Flairs appear across a subreddit.

Reddit added that the label is only a visual indicator of authentic brand accounts and does not unlock any "special privileges." The company also clarified that this label is not to be confused with its existing "Promoted" label, which is its only indicator of a paid ad.

The Official label is currently in early testing and only available to a small group of organizations.

Image: Reddit

New Google Business Profile Categories

Good news for niche brands – Google has added several new Business Profile categories this month, including:

• Bee relocation service

• Branding agency

• Cannabis club

• Dryer vent cleaning service

• Farrier Service

• Musician and composer

• Neuropsychologist

• Rehearsal Studio

• Smoke Shop

• State Parliament

• Uyghur Cuisine Restaurant

Bad news if you're in the "hot spring hotel" industry though, as that category got the boot.

Image: Sterling Sky