Yahoo News has signed up to use San Jose-based cybersecurity company McAfee’s deepfake image detection technology. The scalable McAfee system can “quickly identify images that may have been produced or modified using AI, including deepfake images,” flagging them for the Yahoo News editorial standards team for human review. The standards team then “determines whether the flagged images meet the platform’s editorial guidelines.” The partnership provides news aggregator Yahoo with an extra layer of protection as it deals with a large network of global publishers in addition to policing its original content. Continue reading Yahoo Using McAfee’s Modified Image Detector to Flag Fakes

Adobe is building out its AI infrastructure with three new generative AI models to augment Photoshop, Illustrator, Adobe Express and other tools. In all, Adobe released over 100 major new AI features and updates across Creative Cloud flagship applications at Adobe MAX 2023. The three-day Los Angeles event saw Adobe debut three new Firefly models — Firefly Image 2, Firefly Vector and Firefly Design — each designed to generate content that is cleared for commercial use. The Firefly Image 2 image generator offers improved detailing for things like skin texture, hair and foliage. Continue reading Adobe Debuts Three New Firefly Models and Adds AI Labels

Social commerce platform Shopify is coming to Instagram and Facebook Shops, enabling users to complete purchases via Shop Pay, which has 60 million global users. Shop Pay stores credit card and shipping information to speed online checkout, Until now, it has only been available on Shopify clients’ e-commerce stores. Shop Pay also lets users track packages or pay in installments. Facebook currently also offers PayPal, which has 377 million active accounts, including 16 million added in the most recent quarter. Continue reading Shopify Shop Pay to Roll Out on Instagram, Facebook Shops

To avoid having their ads appear next to offensive online material, companies now stipulate the type of web content — or even specific websites — they want to avoid. Blacklists have always existed but are getting longer and more specific for many advertisers. That’s a problem for numerous large and small news publishers, who find their outlets avoided by advertisers in favor of less controversial lifestyle publications. Colgate-Palmolive, Subway and McDonald’s are among many companies blocking digital ads in hard news. Continue reading Advertisers Blacklist Hard News, Migrate to Lifestyle Pubs

In a conference call with reporters, Facebook chief executive/chair Mark Zuckerberg defended his company against charges that he and chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg hid problems regarding Russian interference and other issues. Politicians have discussed opening a federal investigation into possible campaign finance violations and creating competition laws to curb the company, while shareholders have called for Zuckerberg’s ouster and activists have complained to the Federal Trade Commission. Continue reading Facebook Deals with Criticism, Marketers Mull Over Options

Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG), an advertising industry alliance, has introduced a tool that will track apps promoting piracy, to alert advertisers not to run ads on such apps. The blacklist, which currently lists 8,000 violators, will be continuously updated with mobile apps that enable dissemination of pirated content, including music, movies, TV shows and games. TAG members and other organizations will help with the continual update. The MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America both support TAG’s effort. Continue reading Ad Trade Group Launches New Tool to Blacklist Piracy Apps

Facebook and Publicis Groupe, the advertising holding company with clients such as Procter & Gamble, Verizon and Coca-Cola, have struck an advertising deal reportedly worth “hundreds of millions of dollars.” The partnership will give Publicis increased access to Facebook’s user data, ad inventory, and opportunities to advertise on Instagram and to utilize video ads. The deal is the largest to-date between an agency holding company and a tech company. Continue reading Publicis Groupe and Facebook Announce New Ad Partnership

In an extension of the deal in which advertising holding company Publicis Groupe agreed to buy up tens of millions of dollars of YouTube’s advertising, the company’s agencies DigitasLBi and Razorfish will also buy $100 million of Google advertising across several of its platforms, including YouTube, Google+ and Hangouts. Publicis is getting a sizeable discount, and Google is positioning itself to compete more fiercely with TV advertising. Continue reading Google Deal Extension with Publicis Threatens TV Ad Sales