Global streamer Cineverse has launched an AI-powered search and discovery tool called cineSearch. Developed using the Vertex AI platform from Google Cloud, cineSearch will be released in public beta this spring. A waitlist has already been started, and Cineverse says it will be made more widely available in partnership with OEM and third-party streaming platform partners in the coming months. Simultaneously, the Los Angeles-based firm is rolling out a new ad platform called Cineverse 360, or C360 for short, that will connect brands across omnichannel services reaching 82 million monthly viewers at launch. Continue reading Cineverse to Launch cineSearch Powered by Google’s Vertex AI

Yelp is introducing more than 20 new updates to improve the experience for community members and business owners. Included are AI-powered summaries that make it easier to find businesses, an updated Yelp Elite badge for reviewers who are passionate about specific subjects, and a new visual home feed and search experience geared toward discovery. For those seeking services, the new “Request a Quote” and “Projects” features are available. Artificial intelligence will also power market and competitive insights for business owners, while AI-powered smart budgets provide recommendations to optimize ad spend, “helping local businesses grow.” Continue reading Yelp Adds 20 Features Plus AI to Help Users and Businesses

TikTok is testing a feature designed to make all posts shoppable as it goes all-in on creating what the company hopes will be a multi-billion-dollar U.S. e-commerce business. The new technology uses machine learning to identify objects in a video then prompts viewers to “find similar items on TikTok Shop” using links and in-app search. The ByteDance-owned social platform is also reportedly planning to launch multiple live-streaming studios in cities including Los Angeles where creators can go to stream shopping-themed content. The facilities are expected to be able to host multiple studios servicing dozens of creators per day. Continue reading TikTok Tests a Feature That Tags Videos with Shopping Details

Amazon has launched a new service called Your Books that allows customers to see all the books they have purchased, borrowed or saved across print, Kindle and Audible. In addition to serving as a reading history, the hub also serves personalized discovery suggestions designed to drive sales. “Simply type ‘Your Books’ in the search bar on the Amazon Store, and the top result will open the Your Books feature. Once there, the Library tab contains every book you have ever bought or borrowed from Amazon,” the e-retail giant explains. Continue reading Amazon Launches ‘Your Books’ for Lists, Recommendations

TikTok’s “What’s Next Report 2024,” its fourth annual trends forecast, aims to “arm marketers” with knowledge of the social platform community’s favorites “to shape the year ahead.” Curiosity was the No. 1 “trend force,” with users attesting TikTok “introduces them to new topics.” Unconventional storytelling (which TikTok calls “Storytelling Unhinged”) was the No. 2 trend, with creators employing unusual brand engagement techniques to keep viewers watching “past the first few seconds.” A makeup video viewed half a billion times, animal clips, ASMR with fried chicken and Selena Gomez touting her skincare routine were among TikTok videos most-viewed by U.S. audiences. Continue reading Discovery, ‘Unhinged’ Storytelling Top TikTok Trends of 2023

TikTok is further entrenching itself in music streaming with its new “Artist Account” toolbox that allows followers to play tunes, buy merchandise and access news and information. The new feature is designed to allow artists to promote their work and increase discoverability using such tools as an artist tag and new release highlights on discovery pages. TikTok describes the Artist Account as a “toolbox of features” to support promotion and “forge a closer relationship between artist and fan on TikTok.” Available to every music creator that has uploaded at least four songs, more than 70,000 accounts are eligible from the drop. Continue reading TikTok Adds ‘Artist Accounts’ to Help Boost Music Streaming

Bill Gates has published his thinking about the future of computing, and fascinatingly, it’s the same as his prediction from decades ago: agents. No mere bots — and certainly not anthropomorphized paperclips — agents (to Gates) will abstract almost all HCI to a natural language conversation with systems that have our permission to take meaningful actions. Gates makes a highly specific prediction: within five years, the very idea of an app itself will seem as outdated as a rotary phone dial does next to an iPhone. A conversational UI will sit on top of a language model that has access to as much of our private data as we wish to give it. Continue reading Bill Gates Imagines Agents as the Human-Computer Interface

Sweden-based digital music service Spotify has redesigned its television user interface to make it look and feel more like the platform’s desktop and mobile experiences, a move its users have been waiting for. The frequently played content now appears at the top of the interface, while playlists and favorites are also easily accessed. A playback queue that opens from the side of the screen lets you see what’s playing and program what’s coming up, and you can easily switch accounts by toggling profile options. A dark mode option has been added for the television interface as well. Continue reading Spotify Redesigns TV Interface to Better Match Its Mobile App

Roku TV and the Roku player are getting new features including better search and discovery to complement its more than 400 free live linear TV channels. The upgrades will begin rolling out with the introduction of Roku OS 12.5 in the coming weeks. Highlights include the ability to follow a favorite sports team, new music channels and the ability to link Roku’s Photo Streams image-based screensaver to a Google Photos account, so personal pictures can be displayed between viewing events. The changes are across a wide range of features targeting sports enthusiasts and others, including technical purists and casual viewers who need help finding entertainment options. Continue reading Roku Adds New Search, Sports, Music Features with OS 12.5

Likewise, a startup discovery platform backed by Bill Gates, is launching its own free chatbot named Pix. Billed as “the world’s first personal entertainment companion,” Pix helps users find TV shows, movies, books and podcasts, drawing from 600 million consumer data points. Trained on OpenAI models, Pix uses natural-language processing to answer user questions submitted by text, email or on the web at Likewise.com. Responses are promised “within seconds,” and Pix will learn users’ preferences over time. Likewise claims to have more than six million registered users. Continue reading Likewise: Startup Backed by Bill Gates Launches Pix Chatbot

Fox Corporation’s Tubi TV video streaming service is rolling out a proprietary movie recommendation app called “Rabbit AI” in a beta test for iOS customers in the U.S., with other platforms to follow. Powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4, currently available only to enterprise and other paying customers, Rabbit AI provides “a new way to navigate” Tubi’s library of more than 200,000 movies and TV episodes, “providing hyper-personalized recommendations based on the contextual meaning of the terms,” the company says. A Rabbit AI plugin for ChatGPT is also now available to OpenAI subscribers, Tubi says. Continue reading Tubi Chooses ChatGPT to Power Content Recommendations

Nielsen just released its 2023 State of Play report analyzing trends in streaming media based on data and insights provided by its content solutions business unit Gracenote. While it’s no surprise that audiences are faced with overwhelming choice — with nearly 40,000 individual FAST channels, streaming providers and aggregators to choose from — what is a stunner is that 20 percent of viewers, or 1 in 5, say that when they don’t know what to watch, even after browsing, they opt to end the TV session and find something else to do. According to Nielsen, viewers now devote about 10.5 minutes per TV session figuring out what to watch. Continue reading Viewers Are Struggling with the Growth of Streaming Options

YouTube has shared a video designed to demystify the algorithm that determines which Shorts get recommended, driving discovery and potential virality. Unlike TikTok and Instagram, YouTube didn’t reveal its top secrets by sharing specific details. In the Q&A presentation, Shorts Product Lead Todd Sherman answered frequently asked questions and emphasized the differences in how viewers consume content on Shorts versus YouTube. While the former involves swiping through hundreds of clips, flagship users are exposed to 10 or 20 videos and must proactively click or tap to play. Continue reading YouTube Unravels Shorts, Demystifying Discovery Algorithm

Spotify and Apple are running neck-and-neck in U.S. podcasting, with various surveys showing one or the other in first place. Not wanting to be shown up by Apple, which launched new creators tools this week, Spotify followed suit at the Podcast Movement conference in Denver, announcing customization features and a new audience performance dashboard. For the first time, podcasters will be able to customize parts of their podcast landing page, adding a bio and social media handles. “Spotify is working to build a more robust podcast ecosystem that serves creators, listeners, and advertisers at scale,” said Austin Lamon, director of podcasts. Continue reading Spotify Upgrades Podcast Customization, Audience Analytics

Amazon’s live-streaming video service Twitch has begun testing a vertical presentation it’s calling the “Discovery Feed” designed to make it easier for users to browse and find new content. The interactive gaming and entertainment platform is the latest to emulate TikTok’s flagship vertical scroll, joining recent converts YouTube, Reddit, Spotify and Amazon. Beginning this week, select users will be able to access the new viewing format, although initially it will be populated with horizontally-framed creator clips, Twitch says, explaining that the framing will switch to vertical “as the feed evolves.” Continue reading Twitch Is Testing New Vertical-Scroll Feed to Boost Discovery