The Refresh News: March 24 – Claude Gets Web Search, Apple’s Streaming Gamble, and AdTech’s Next Great Shift
Mar 24, 2025
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This week explores Claude's new web search feature, finally catching up with its competitors. Apple TV+ faces a staggering $1 billion loss, sparking debates about its broader strategic direction. The podcast also addresses the evolving ad tech landscape, as AI and changing consumer habits challenge traditional programmatic methods. Advertisers are striving for greater transparency and control over their data. Meanwhile, the lines between various advertising vendors are blurring, requiring fresh differentiation strategies.
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Quick takeaways
Claude's new web search capability significantly enhances AI's real-time relevance, bridging the gap left by outdated training data.
Apple TV+ faces $1 billion losses, prompting reconsideration of its business strategy in a changing streaming landscape amidst evolving consumer behaviors.
Deep dives
Claude's Web Search Feature
The introduction of web search capabilities on Claude represents a significant advancement in AI technology, addressing a critical gap in the functionality of large language models. Before this update, Claude, like many AI models, had a knowledge cutoff date, limiting its ability to pull information from real-time sources. By enabling web search, Claude can now utilize search augmentation and retrieval augmented generation, improving accuracy and relevance in its responses. This change brings Claude in line with competitors such as ChatGPT and Gemini, highlighting the ongoing evolution in AI capabilities to meet user needs.
Apple TV+ and Industry Transformations
Apple TV+ has incurred significant losses amounting to $1 billion, raising questions about Apple's strategy in the streaming sector despite its overall financial strength. While many streaming services have turned to ad-supported models for profitability, Apple has yet to adopt this approach, leading to speculation about their long-term vision. The podcast indicates that the larger implications for the industry suggest a fundamental re-evaluation of business models amid changing consumer behaviors and technological challenges. As advertisers demand more transparency and efficiency, the dynamics of digital advertising are shifting, with legacy practices being replaced by new technologies better suited for future growth.
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Navigating Changes in Advertising: AI Innovations and Streaming Challenges
In this week’s episode of The Refresh, Kait from Marketecture covers a surprisingly calm week in advertising—on the surface. From Claude’s long-awaited web search update to billion-dollar losses at Apple TV+ and a broader philosophical take on the state of the ad industry, this one is quiet but loaded.
This week’s highlights:
Anthropic enables web search on Claude – Finally joining ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity in bridging the gap between outdated training data and real-time relevance
Apple TV+ has lost $1B – While not a big deal for Apple financially, it raises questions about a potential larger strategy around measurement, data, and platform control
A shift in the foundation of ad tech – The legacy model of programmatic is being re-architected, challenged by AI, changing consumer behavior, and the collapse of traditional tools like cookies and MTA
Advertisers are leveling up – Seeking transparency, platform consolidation, and ownership of their data
Vendors are all blending together – DSPs, SSPs, and media networks must find new ways to differentiate beyond surface-level features