Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas recently shared some very cool plans for his company. To do so, they plan to create their own web browser that will follow users’ activities across the entire web, enabling much deeper advertisement targeting. On a recent episode of the TBPN podcast, Srinivas provided an inside look at this new initiative. He underscored the synergy with Perplexity’s mission of providing users with the most relevant ads possible.
Srinivas’s comments came in response to a Bloomberg article that detailed Perplexity’s strategic partnerships aimed at bolstering its advertising capabilities. He’s counting on the fact that users will be willing to pay for an ad-tracking alternative. Third, they expect brands to serve them ads based on their needs, interests, and online behaviors.
“That’s kind of one of the other reasons we wanted to build a browser, is we want to get data even outside the app to better understand you,” Srinivas stated during the podcast. This approach reflects a growing trend in technology, where companies seek to gather comprehensive user data to refine their services and products.
Perplexity’s browser with intent to collect information about your use of business outside of its app. It monitors your grocery purchases, commuting mode, and internet search history. “What are the things you’re buying, which hotels are you going to, which restaurants are you going to, what are you spending time browsing, tells us so much more about you,” he emphasized. By bringing this data all together, Perplexity aims to create better and more complex user profiles.
The development of the new browsers comes in part from increasing concerns about data privacy in the US and EU. Americans are tired of being taken advantage of, and they are losing their trust in big tech. Consider the many, many mobile app users who are concerned about what information they’re giving away and why. Srinivas is very hopeful that targeted advertising will be acceptable to users of Perplexity’s web browser.
Our hope is to use all of that context to create a much richer user profile. Imagine if with our discover feed we even showed people relevant ads there. It could dramatically improve relevance of ads using better predictive user profiling, he continued.
Watch the TBPN podcast with Aravind Srinivas on YouTube! He digs further into these initiatives and examines what they mean for users and advertisers. Listen to the complete episode at this link.
