• by Laurie Sullivan , December 26, 2024

AI agents can analyze huge amounts of consumer data such as browsing history, purchase behavior, and social-media activity.

The potential, especially for privacy concerns, could solve many of the challenges of online advertising.

Google and Microsoft are working on their own individual AI agents, but there is no word on how the technology might support advertisers, brands and agencies. It is mostly speculation at this time.

The technology would provide the ability to support real-time ad bidding, personalize messages and budget allocations while monitoring in real-time privacy settings based on state or country in which the ad targets the consumer.

AI agents have an opportunity in ecommerce as well as other areas, Jonathan Kagan, director of search and digital media strategy at Amsive, and James Connell, senior vice president of digital media at the same performance agency, wrote in an email to MediaPost.

“In industries that lack/have little to no government oversight or regulations, this has some potential,” the two wrote in an email. “Especially for verticals and audiences that are used to having a personal assistant make decisions and take actions on their behalf.”

Think about C-suite executives — high-net-worth individuals — and the categories they serve.

“If it isn’t already in a pilot phase, we bet the search ad platforms will build out an extension to act to some degree for a consumer, something along the lines of an "add to cart, directly from the ad,” they wrote. “Likely more popular with brands and consumers who do consistent cyclical purchases or actions.”

There could be some “trepidation” for other industries and verticals. Consumers will likely want more information before acting on the technology.

“If something along those lines is rolled out across the board, it is a sure-fire way to build remarketing lists much more quickly,” they wrote.

For advertisers, providing they are not in a regulated industry, there is potential to allow it to take some small actions for you, which is not unlike Google and Bing’s auto-apply, such as optimization, “Based on some elements we already seen from AI elements, having it as a dedicated and consistently reliable tool that can work autonomously on ad campaigns, is still some years out.”