The relentless shifts towards AI powered everything being everywhere in the digital environment are accelerating and the evolution of digital marketing services is starting to keep pace. Previsible, which recently bought the legendary agency Internet Marketing Ninjas, announced the acquisition of Googlite founded data-driven search agency Improove. Google introduces Opal, an AI tool that it claims can create scalable content and apps for search campaigns as a Google Labs project. This contradicts virtually everything Google's previously said about using AI generated content at scale so it might be Google moving into the search marketing space on purpose or it could be one part of the Googleverse running ahead of another without first making sure their narratives aligned with each other. Meanwhile, we've learned how much it will cost for Gemini to white label itself to Apple's Siri, $1Billion per year. Apple will pay Google a cool $1B to have Gemini act in the background with Siri's familiar tone in the foreground. This while Google is accused in a civil suit of using Gemini to track private communications of users in email, messaging apps and video-conferencing sessions. The case, Thele v. Google LLC, 25-cv-09704, is being heard in a district court in San Jose. Google is also defending its algorithmic actions targeting parasitic SEO programs after the EU announced an investigation into a complaint that Google intentionally demoted several news sites in search results. It may be a case of abuse of a parasitic complaints process. Yann LeCun, chief AI scientist at Meta is openly talking about quitting and founding his own startup. LeCun has said he no longer believes in the long term viability of LLMs. Canadian Bitcoin mining giant Bitfarms is winding down its energy on grinding out bitcoins to focusing on becoming an AI data center powerhouse. This, and so much more on a long and sort of flu-ridden episode of Webcology. BTW, PSA --> Sickness sucks. Get your flu shot ASAP.

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