Simone Biles wins silver in her last event of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, making her the most decorated gymnast
Simone Biles’ final event at the 2024 Summer Olympic Games early this month resulted in a silver medal, bringing her total medal count from the show floor to four total. With three golds from this year’s games, her legacy as the greatest gymnast of all time is realized — she has won a total of 11 Olympic gold medals and seven gold medals overall, which is tied for the second most ever won by an Olympic gymnast. Simone, however, holds 30 World Championship medals, which officially makes her the most decorated gymnast of all time.
Takeaways
Simone isn’t just known as the greatest gymnast, but also a testament to the power of mental health and respecting the process of recovering from, adapting and mastering your mental health to become the best version of yourself. In PR, mental health and excellence similarly go together — providing the best results for clients, your colleagues and yourself means combining dedication and practice in the field with your overall health. Simone did just this, and remained competitive throughout the Paris Games, making the decision to push past a calf injury to help her team win gold in Women’s Artistic Team All-Around, in Individual All-Around and in Artistic Gymnastics. The difference Simone has learned here is the understanding of self, which enabled her to discern when to push and when to lean on your team for that needed support. As PR professionals, success for us looks exactly the same. Wisdom in identifying the challenges to progress through in regards to our health in every aspect is key to an optimal path forward, and actively communicating status with team members is what delivers consistent drive, trust and results for any campaign.
‘Could’ve been an email’: House of the Dragon finale leaves fans wanting more
On Sunday night, the world waited on the edge of its seats to see what the season two finale of House of the Dragon would bring. With viewers of the season having mixed feelings about the lack of action and confusing character storylines (i.e. Daemon hallucinating in Harrenhal, Rhaena dragon chasing), many were ready for the season’s build up to reach its peak with a Game of Thrones worthy battle scene. The reality? People were left wanting more and stuck asking even more questions. While many were left underwhelmed with the final episode, the show’s creator stands by his decision to keep the lead up to season three “mellow,” especially given resource constraints and the need to balance the storyline across the remaining two seasons of the show.
Takeaways
The era of instant gratification spurred by the rise of quick hit TikTok videos, instant-delivery, and even TV streamers, has left creators in many industries catering to audiences whose patience is waning and want access to the most compelling content now. And it begs the question, are we losing the art of anticipation? While the HOTD season finale didn’t leave viewers reeling like GoT’s notorious red wedding scene, leaving the audience with more questions than they started with is a tried and true method to get people coming back for more. There is no doubt that every person who complained about the lackluster finale will be back for season three and that the creators will deliver audiences the battle they’ve been waiting for. However, this episode serves as a big reminder: Consumer patience continues to wear thin but good things come to those who wait – we just don’t want to.
Did I just watch a 70 minute trailer for Season 3? #HouseOfThedragon pic.twitter.com/Mpo0OTpltP
— GameofThrones Quotes (@ASOIAFQuotesGOT) August 5, 2024
“Google is a monopolist,” federal court rules
A federal judge ruled Monday that Google illegally abused its market dominance to stifle competition in internet search. In his decision, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia wrote that “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.”
The case sought to determine whether Google illegally secured and reinforced its market position using anticompetitive tactics, most notably the use of exclusionary contracts in which Google pays companies like Apple and Samsung billions of dollars each year to serve as the default search option. Google, the foremost provider of search-related advertising, controls roughly 90% of the internet search market.
The ruling is DOJ’s biggest victory in decades in limiting the power of “Big Tech.” Google will, of course, appeal the decision. In the meantime, users and advertisers are left to ponder: what does this mean for online search and advertising?
Takeaways
As a practical matter, Judge Mehta will next decide on the appropriate remedies for Google’s conduct. Google may be required to split its search business apart from the rest of the company; it could be required to end its exclusive default deals with browsers and device manufacturers, or be forced to license its search technology.
This decision arrives amid an already-shifting search landscape. Younger users are increasingly likely to use platforms like TikTok for search, and upcoming products like OpenAI’s SearchGPT could upend the market in unforeseen ways.
In theory, a more competitive environment will increase consumer choice and decrease costs for users and marketers alike. Search engine market share could shift if device manufacturers are required to present users with a “choice screen.” For marketers, competition could drive down costs as search providers are forced to compete on ad pricing. Highly capable search engines tailored to specific audiences or use cases could emerge as attractive options for both users and advertisers.
Search, and particularly Google, is a cornerstone of the modern internet experience. It remains to be seen how this lawsuit will change the landscape; 2024 could well be a major point of inflection in the way advertisers and end users both interact with the space.
Where Facebook’s AI slop comes from
As is happening on X, content farms have realized they can earn a tidy profit by flooding social feeds with AI slop. They train their team using YouTube and tutorials, test and learn a bit and start generating. This has resulted in the random AI images some you may have seen, including Shrimp Jesus. These farms have slowly realized the general themes that generate the most cash and utilize GenAI to create, essentially, unlimited images with slight variations that can attract more clicks. The AI images ensure a steady stream of engagement on Facebook with minimal investment of time on the creator’s side. And the platform does not seem to care.
Takeaways
There’s been plenty made about the slow degeneration of the Facebook feed. We can’t say if making AI slop for Facebook would be a better line of work than your current job, but the fact that FB is still willingly paying for this content is an important consideration. This stuff is not going away.
With GenAI, we tend to focus on whether or not our fellow agencies or brands are utilizing this tool and how that will come across on social media. But until these platforms decide they don’t like AI slop, we have to consider that the content we make for clients will be increasingly seen in the context of hundreds or thousands of GenAI images in each person’s feed. Will ads stand out or blend in if they feel like GenAI? If slop deteriorates the social experience, what will the brand role be for people still scrolling? What happens when the only normal, straightforward content comes from the ads and not the algorithm?
WHAT IS HAPPENING ON FACEBOOK pic.twitter.com/6XzTV5eBd3
— Jorge Murillo 💙 (@TheHornetsFury) March 13, 2024
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