Microsoft has access to the most powerful AI models and semiconductors from OpenAI and Nvidia, respectively, although the company has designed its own.
Not all advertisers and publishers understand the extent of the company's capabilities, which have pushed the boundaries of performance. That will change in 2025.
It has integrated AI into many of its business products — Office and Teams Windows — and its advertising platforms, which are some of the most advanced in the industry.
LinkedIn also got a dose of artificial intelligence (AI) this year. The social network geared toward professionals has turned into a space where users share mostly information on business, but also personal achievements and events.
With Microsoft’s intense focus on AI, a massive shakeup could take place in 2025.
There has been talk, although unconfirmed, that if a deal were presented to acquire TikTok to support LinkedIn, Microsoft might have a chance to change the entire ad and marketing landscape. The company had been considered as one of a handful to purchase TikTok in 2020.
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Abhishek Shrivastava, vice president of product at LinkedIn, said in an email to MediaPost that B2B marketers will continue to embrace AI to help them create more personalized campaigns.
He pointed to a 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark showing that two in three marketers said they have used GAI -- up 20% compared with 2023. That number will skyrocket in 2025.
“To help B2B marketers continue to meet the moment, we’re continuing to invest in AI and add more customization options in Accelerate,” he said.
Internal LinkedIn data from a yearlong A/B test that ended in September 2024 suggests Accelerate delivered up to a 42% lower CPA compared with advertisers that ran a Classic Campaign with LinkedIn.
In 2025, AI will transform audience engagement, driving deeper customer connections to deliver hyper-personalized advertising, John Cosley, senior director, brand marketing at Microsoft Advertising, told MediaPost.
“We’ve talked a lot about AI for the last couple of years, but 2025 will be when we move from potential to practice,” he said, adding that the company will continue to demonstrate the potential of GAI to change audience engagement and consumer privacy.
Bringing Microsoft’s GAI technology Copilot to its advertising platforms has begun to help advertisers unlock creativity, as well as improve campaigns and outcomes.
Cosley also shared Microsoft Advertising’s top three strategies for 2025 based on what the team is working on.
MediaPost: What are the top three strategies for 2025?
Cosley: Generative AI will become ubiquitous. We'll see an exponential increase in use cases, far more than the last two years combined, and greater adoption as people utilize the potential of this technology in their daily routines.
The conversation around the future of privacy in advertising will move beyond cookie deprecation and one solution for identity to a focus on the coexistence of user privacy and personalized advertising.
[Microsoft had set aside a project called Parakeet to support the development of privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs). Its collaboration with Microsoft Edge on the Ad Selection API is one example.]
Purpose still matters to brands and consumers. From climate impact and making media and advertising more sustainable to inclusive advertising, these important topics will be the cornerstone of trust and loyalty and a key differentiator amidst global uncertainty.
MediaPost: Do you think there is a technology that will make a difference for advertisers in 2025? What is it and how will it be used?
Cosley: Generative AI will continue to be mission critical for advertisers to help them connect with consumers in meaningful ways, amplify their capacity and capabilities, and grow business outcomes.
What will be different this year will be expanding and unlocking the uses and opportunities that generative AI unlocks.
MediaPost: What is Microsoft Advertising’s biggest challenge and aspiration for 2025?
Cosley: A big challenge — and opportunity — is the limited understanding of advertisers and publishers of all our capabilities.
We’re known for search, but Microsoft Advertising offers much more than that. We are a multi-format, omnichannel and globally scaled business serving advertisers and publishers.
We can help advertisers reach people across all different parts of their day, from shopping, browsing, playing, connecting and searching.
An aspiration for 2025 is to continue delivering business outcomes for clients and partners, and bring new innovations to the market that will positively transform our industry.