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Interactive ads from Adwords allow trial runs for games, interstitials for apps

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In a scenario rather close to what South Park demonstrated in episode 9 of season 19, Google has just introduced a new type of interactive ads. These game ads that developers will be able to make use of will allow users to try an Android app or game before installing it, albeit only for 60 seconds. The idea supports the ongoing effort on the part of Google and developers to bring more engagement to the apps and games they publish in the Play Store.

In a blog post Google described the new Adwords tool as being the next step in user engagement and marketing, and the ad of the future, of course. In South Park’s Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan as well as adults get lost in the world of ads and distracted from the content they are searching for, but Google says the new interactive ads will help make people good decisions about what they’re installing and developers to better understand the userbase they are creating for.

Interactive ads are essentially inception in the world of ads, seeing as you will be able to see a free to play game with all the ads that it serves in-game, within an ad that you view before you install the game. Or that would be the funny way things could go. More likely, developers will pick the parts of the game that are most interesting to play or the functions of the app most people will find useful and showcase them in their best formats to get people to install the app or game upon trying it for 60 seconds.

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These in-app interactive ads are called the Trial Run Ads and according to the blog post, they represent immersive ads at their finest, all the while promising more relevant ad clicks, app downloads and pre-qualified app users. It’s a nice idea in my opinion, because this way we can see if a game or app is actually what we’re looking for or not. I just think developers might take advantage of the ad format and be a little false with what the entire game or app experience is about. Do you think you can tell if an app or game is good for you based on 60 seconds of trying it out within an advertisement?

Another new tool developers are getting to help monetize their interactive ads better is mobile customizability. These new ad formats are called interstitial ads, HTML5 ads that can be customized by developers according to what advertisers want. Featuring dynamic data pull and customizable functionalities that are supposed to be engaging to users. An example Google shows in the blog post demonstrating interactive ads and interstitial ads showcases how a full screen ad requires the user to swipe in order to reveal the part of the ad that is hidden.

These new advertising tools are targeted at developers and Android users will see a few months pass before seeing them being implemented on a large scale. A few partners of Google are already using interactive ads, but developers are just now getting limited access to the new ad formats. Although mainly targeted at games, app developers can also make use of interactive ads to let users try out photo editing apps for example. That would be my wishlist.

Interstitial ads are more suited for apps than games, as Google explains that the new ad formats are supposed to allow users to experience how the app is supposed to help them on a daily basis. All these things are good and interesting, but the consumer browsing the internet should still be aware that these interactive ads are still just advertisement. Both trial run interactive ads and interstitials are in beta, and those interested in getting a hold of them should contact their account managers, according to Google. What are your feelings about these new ads? Do you think they have potential to be very misleading or do you think they’ll improve the ecosystem on the internet and help users be more comfortable with freemium business models?

As part of the editorial team here at Geekreply, John spends a lot of his time making sure each article is up to snuff. That said, he also occasionally pens articles on the latest in Geek culture. From Gaming to Science, expect the latest news fast from John and team.

Android

Pixel 8 Pro runs Google’s generative AI models

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Rick Osterloh, Google’s SVP of devices and services, says the Pixel 8 Pro will be the first hardware to run Google’s generative AI models.

At an event today, Osterloh said the Pixel 8 Pro’s custom-built Tensor G3 chip, which accelerates AI workloads, can run “distilled” versions of Google’s text- and image-generating models to power image editing and other apps.

Osterloh said, “We’ve worked closely with our research teams across Google to take advantage of their most advanced foundation models and distill them into a version efficient enough to run on our flagship Pixel.”

Google improved Magic Eraser, its photo-editing tool, to remove larger objects and people smudge-free using on-device models. Osterloh claims that this improved Magic Eraser creates new pixels to fill in shot gaps, producing a higher-quality image.

Osterloh says a new on-device model will “intelligently” sharpen and enhance photo details, improving zoom.

On-device processing benefits audio recording. The Pixel 8 Pro’s recording app will soon summarize meeting highlights.

Gboard will use a large language model on the Pixel 8 Pro to power smart replies. Osterloh claims that the upgraded Gboard will provide “higher-quality” reply suggestions and better conversational awareness.

Osterloh said an update in December will add on-device generative AI features except for Magic Eraser, which appears on the Pixel 8 Pro at launch.

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Telegram launches a global self-custodial crypto wallet, excluding the US

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Telegram, with 800 million monthly users, is launching a self-custodial crypto wallet. The move will solidify its presence in the vibrant crypto community that has grown from its chat platform and may attract more people to crypto.

Telegram and TON Foundation announced TON Space, a self-custodial wallet, on Wednesday at Singapore’s Token2049 crypto conference, which draws over 10,000 attendees.

Telegram has a complicated blockchain relationship. After the SEC sued Telegram over a massive initial coin offering, the chat app abandoned its Telegram Open Network (TON) blockchain project in 2020. The Open Network Foundation (TON Foundation), founded by open-source developers and blockchain enthusiasts, supports the development of The Open Network (TON), the blockchain powering a growing number of Telegram applications, including the wallet.

The Open Platform (TOP) and TOP Labs, a venture-building division, created the TON-based wallet.

TON Space will be available to Telegram users worldwide without wallet registration in November. The U.S., which has cracked down on the crypto industry and promoted many crypto apps to geofence users, is currently excluded from the feature.

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Google’s massive antitrust trial begins, with bigger implications

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The Justice Department’s landmark antitrust case against Google began in court today, setting off a months-long trial that could upend the tech world.

At issue is Google’s search business. The Justice Department claims that Google has violated antitrust laws to maintain its search title, but the company claims that it does so by providing a superior product.

The Justice Department sued Google for civil antitrust in late 2020 after a year-long investigation.

“If the government does not enforce the antitrust laws to enable competition, we will lose the next wave of innovation,” said then-Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen. “If that happens, Americans may never see the ‘next Google.’”

A large coalition of state attorneys general filed their own parallel suit against Google, but Judge Amit Mehta ruled that the states did not meet the bar to go to trial with their search ranking complaints.

The search business case against Google is separate from a federal antitrust lawsuit filed earlier this year. The Justice Department claims Google used “anticompetitive, exclusionary, and unlawful means” to neutralize threats to its digital advertising empire in that lawsuit.

Justice Department attorney Kenneth Dintzer set the stakes for the first major tech antitrust trial since Microsoft’s late 1990s reckoning on Tuesday. “This case is about the future of the internet, and whether Google’s search engine will ever face meaningful competition,” Dintzer said.

Beginning the trial, the government focused on Google’s deals with phone makers, most notably Apple, that give its search product top billing on new devices. Dintzer claimed that Google maintains and grows its search engine dominance by paying $10 billion annually for those arrangements.

“This feedback loop, this wheel, has been turning for more than 12 years,” he said. “And it always benefits Google.”

Google lawyer John Schmidtlein refuted that claim, hinting at the company’s legal defense in the coming weeks.

“Users today have more search options and more ways to access information online than ever before,” Schmidtlein said. Google will argue that it competes with Amazon, Expedia, and DoorDash, as well as Microsoft’s Bing search engine.

Google planted the seeds for this defense. According to internal research, Google Senior Vice President Prabhakar Raghavan said last year that more young people are using TikTok to search for information than Google Search.

In our studies, almost 40% of young people don’t use Google Maps or Search to find lunch, Raghavan said. “They use TikTok or Instagram.”

Google will be decided by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in the coming months. We’re far from that decision, but the company could be fined heavily or ordered to sell parts of its business.

The trial could change Google’s digital empire if the Justice Department wins. Other tech companies that dominated online markets in the last decade are also watching. If the government fails to hold an iconic Silicon Valley giant accountable, big tech will likely continue its aggressive growth trajectory.

If the Justice Department succeeds, the next decade could be different. The industry-wide reckoning could cripple incumbents and allow upstarts to define the next era of the internet, wresting the future from tech titans.

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