Walmart is testing ads in its AI shopping agent, Sparky, including a “Sponsored Prompt” ad type, according to WSJ sources. So far Walmart has only allowed certain advertisers to participate in the early test, which started in September and concluded earlier this month. Now Walmart says it’s considering next steps.
Here’s how the sponsored prompts worked:
- Let’s say a shopper was searching for energy drinks.
- Sparky might have produced a sponsored prompt that asked, “Which energy drink has the most caffeine?”
- If the shopper clicked on that prompt, they may have been presented with a product ad for a specific high-caffeine energy drink.
Question though: Would the advertised energy drink actually have the most caffeine? Or does the spot simply go to the energy drink company willing to pay for it? If these sponsored prompts are mixed with traditional AI recommended prompts, are they data-driven in the same way?
There’s a trust that’s been established between AI and consumers, along with an expectation that the information being provided is factual. If sponsored prompts begin providing wrong information that was paid for, it could erode trust in the experience.
Several people familiar with the test told WSJ that the volume of people engaging and clicking on the Sparky ads has been low. However Simon Poulton, VP of innovation at Tinuiti, said that advertisers are eager to test any new formats so that they can get a sense of what ads will look like in these chat environments.
Last week I reported that Amazon introduced sponsored product and brand prompts, which allow brands to inject their sponsored campaigns into AI conversations with paid prompts like, “Why choose Accent Athletics shirts?” The feature entered open beta in the U.S. this month and is automatically enabled for advertisers using Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands campaigns. During the beta phase, the prompts are offered at no additional cost to advertisers so that Amazon’s systems can learn how to optimize them, but it’s expected that eventually sponsored prompts will be a separate channel with additional fees.
What are your thoughts on sponsored prompts infiltrating your AI chat experience? Join the conversation on LinkedIn.
