Verve

AI-Generated Ads Reduce Brand Trust for One in Three

A representative survey of 2,000 Germans commissioned by Verve Group and conducted by Censuswide finds mixed consumer attitudes toward AI in advertising. Thirty-five percent said they would trust a brand less if they knew an ad was AI-generated, rising to 45% among 18–24-year-olds, while 69% could imagine buying on the recommendation of an AI chatbot. Eighty percent prefer ad-funded app benefits over paying fees, and many respondents expressed data-protection concerns and use self-help measures (rejecting cookies, incognito mode). The findings coincide with Article 50 of the EU AI Act, which requires clear labeling of AI-generated ads from 2026-08-02. Verve CEO Remco Westermann says consumers accept AI when it works in the background but lose trust when its use is visible, with implications for creative strategy, compliance, and labeling practices.

OpenAI Expands Into SMB Advertising

OpenAI is building a dedicated small- and medium-business (SMB) advertising unit, according to six job listings reviewed by Digiday. Roles—mostly in San Francisco with a vendor-management hire in Dublin—cover data science, growth, marketing, demand strategy, analytics engineering and vendor management, with listed salaries roughly $177K–$515K. Descriptions indicate OpenAI will build analytics and data infrastructure for SMB ads from scratch and is seeking candidates with experience at major ad platforms such as Meta, Google, LinkedIn, TikTok, Amazon and Reddit. The company plans to rely on outside vendors for much of SMB sales. Separately, OpenAI has been testing ChatGPT ads since February, introduced a self-serve ad manager, CPC bidding and new measurement capabilities, is experimenting with agents and a “cost per conversation” metric, and is preparing an EU rollout (including Germany, France and Ireland) with about 2,000 advertisers connected via Criteo.

Verve Group launches Retail Media as a new product offering

Verve Group added 'Retail Media' as a new menu item under 'Brand and Agency Media' and 'For Publishers', and also added a top-level 'Verve Retail Media' navigation link, indicating a new retail media product launch.