Product in Media #2

How do big names use AI in newsrooms? We have two answers. In this issue you will read:

• FT’s AI ChatBot vs Google’s Newsroom AI

• Google Privacy Sandbox vs All Sorts of Efforts

• BBC’s New Products: Global App and Website

Let’s dig in.

🗞️💽 FT’s AI ChatBot vs Google’s Newsroom AI

Financial Times has taken a step in a new direction by launching its AI product, ASK FT AI. It’s still in beta but it does what the name says: you can ask it anything and get verified news from FT’s archives, which stretch back decades. Unlike ChatGPT, it can’t answer generic questions or help you choose a better laptop. It does, however, deliver non-problematic, easy-to-source articles, and that is not a small thing today, especially with the upcoming elections and the unavoidable misinformation. If you want to create a public-facing chatbot for your own newsroom, read this great article from INMA first for some insights into its challenges and important points.

Meanwhile, Google’s newsroom AI product is still in the works and unnamed. It is, however, collecting data from several small newsrooms that it pays to use the product. It seems that Google’s newsroom product is a fit for small newsrooms creating simple stories and write-ups. According to Big Technology, Google’s newsroom AI generates a complete first draft of a news report by taking a single source (a press release or even a tweet). 

⏳🛠️ Google Privacy Sandbox vs All Sorts of Efforts

From being potentially blocked by the UK’s Competition and Market Authority (CMA) to Alternative ID attribution methods, everyone is fighting to prevent or survive the Privacy Sandbox

Google’s cookie deprecation could have extreme results for publishers, and some in the UK may have pinned their hopes on the Competition and Market Authority (CMA) banning this Google product from Britain. The Sandbox includes a feature called "Topics," which analyzes each user’s behavior and categorizes their interest from a list of 469 themes or, yes, topics. The CMA, however, is not so sure about the benefits of this tool for privacy since Google’s control over the classification of these topics could unfairly benefit its services, leading to a potential ban on the Sandbox until these concerns are addressed​​.

Another way to survive cookie deprecation may just be Alternative IDs, a new method to track and target users across websites and devices without using 3rd-party cookies. These IDs can be taken from anything from hashed email addresses to device IDs: if it can be attributed to a single user on different websites, it’s a good fit for the Alternative ID method. 

🌎📱 BBC’s New Products: Global App and Website

 BBC has released two new products for its global audience: a new app and a website. Alongside news, sports, and live coverage, the app now includes content from various BBC sectors like Business, Culture, Travel, and Earth for the first time. This broader content offering is complemented by enhanced advertising capabilities, including new high-impact ad units and advanced targeting features, making the digital platforms more attractive to advertisers and providing a better experience for viewers worldwide​​.

👀 What Caught My Eye This Week

The interactive website of the graphic tool CineShader looks great and works well.

This is it for the second issue of Product in Media, now published on beehiiv and LinkedIn. Subscribe to stay ahead on tech and product in news and media.