NTENT EVP of Monetization & Client Delivery Adam Guy Discusses the Benefits of Search, Voice and Working with NTENT
Whether it’s finding new revenue streams for the company or optimizing current relationships, as Executive Vice President of Monetization & Client Delivery for NTENT Adam Guy’s passion and purpose for what he does is clear. Adam has spent almost two decades working with global mobile operators, large advertisers, agencies and media companies, across industries that range from automotive to telecommunications, digital media, finance and more.
In the following interview, Adam discusses what makes NTENT the perfect partner for mobile operators, wireless carriers, retailers and publishers, and how NTENT’s solutions can help these companies increase their bottom line.
NTENT: You recently joined NTENT from Neustar. Can you share a little bit about why you decided to join NTENT?
Adam Guy: I think about my career as the intersection among wireless; a focus on mobile carriers, data & analytics and the Internet. It’s rare to find a company like NTENT with emphasis on all three. I identify with mobile operators who have made massive investments to create the magic of mobile communications and Internet, but they are giving up virtually all of their advertising revenue to the likes of Google and Facebook. I am passionate about helping carriers get their share of ROI with the infrastructure they have built.
NTENT: At NTENT you’re responsible for monetization of NTENT’s products. Can you speak more specifically on the monetary value that our solutions bring to our partners?
AG: Absolutely! Digital advertising can be a bit of a smoke and mirror kind of industry because the digital actions that consumers take are often oversold as “intent.” In reality, if I watch a Celine Dion video, it doesn’t mean I love Celine Dion, it just means I happened to watch the video. Behaviorally targeted digital advertising is often oversold that way. Search is different though. Search really does represent the intentions of consumers; They’re not just clicking on links or tapping through a forwarded tweet or a piece of content, they’re proactively entering something.
NTENT’s search data combined with downstream behaviors is extremely valuable. There are only five companies in the world that can execute web-scale search (including voice search), and we are the only one that offers a white-label value proposition that is void of conflicts of interest. While Google and Amazon offer amazing services, it can be uncomfortable for Telcos, entertainment companies, retailers, etc. to depend on them because of competitive conflicts. Take Voice Assistant as an example; As we approach retailers, they love the idea of having a white-label smart speaker solution that does not require them to give up all of the end-user data to Google or Amazon. Two key pieces of value that NTENT brings to the market is the magic of search data being a representation of user intent and our white-label solution that mitigates competitive conflicts of interest.
NTENT: How does using NTENT’s platform help give companies a competitive edge? Can you provide specific examples?
AG: We’re able to share more of the revenue than some of the bigger competitors who, based on their market power, take a large share of the revenue.
The competitive advantage with regard to carriers, or really any distribution partner, is that they can brand a browser, search or voice experience any way they want. Rather than using a smartphone as a dumb pipe for Google services, the carrier, the handset manufacturer or the publisher has an opportunity to make the experience theirs. For example, we have a network operator overseas for whom we built a search engine that’s branded as the national search engine of that country. The operator and the population take a lot of nationalistic pride in having their own search engine. In addition to economic advantages, the browser and search engine also reinforce the brand of the network operator.
NTENT: NTENT’s core product offering is search, can you talk more about the value of search data and how partners can apply it to generate revenues and products?
AG: What’s great about search data is that it’s a real representation of the end user’s intentions. This is why Google makes so much money; they know what people are looking for at the precise moment they’re looking for it. For certain search terms, there’s a huge economic value to be able to identify, cluster and sequence those events in such a way that consumers can be marketed to in a very personalized, localized and time-sensitive fashion.
NTENT: NTENT is applying its search technology and Natural Language Understanding capabilities to voice search. How will NTENT’s product offering help its partners tap into a market that is projected to grow to $40B in the US by 2020? Please provide an example.
AG: Voice search is a great extension to the technology and product set NTENT already has. It’s another way for consumers to interface with their devices, the Internet, their connected homes and cars. Instead of typing or tapping, they use their voice. Our solution helps our partners develop a very brand-friendly voice search and voice user interface system devoid of conflicts of interest. As long as it’s compliant with privacy policies, our partners keep all the data to better understand who their consumers are and what they want. At the same time, they can reinforce their brand, whether it’s a retailer, a Telco, a cable company or an entertainment company, they can strengthen their brand without relying on someone like Amazon or Google who can be a source of competition. Those companies have a natural incentive to either monetize the data themselves or route consumers to their retail experience.
NTENT: Which industries can benefit from NTENT’s voice offering?
AG: Retailers, cable providers, home entertainment companies and Telcos are all great candidates. Have you ever tried to use your remote control to search for a movie? Imagine being able to talk to your blinds, your HVAC or home security systems and in the same breath ask about the weather. Another industry I’m excited about is travel and hospitality. What if every hotel room had a voice assistant you could talk to? You could use it to set wake up calls, find out about restaurants, get the weather or currency rates — all sorts of stuff — without having to contact the front desk. If you could talk to a digital assistant, get information and issue commands for what you need, that would create a personalized travel experience. And imagine the data that could be collected from that! But that’s just some of the potential verticals we’re pursuing now with our voice assistant solution. There could be others too.
NTENT: Why should businesses look at search and voice technologies to help them grow revenues and increase customer loyalty?
AG: Search and voice technologies are about creating a great customer experience and incremental revenue streams. You can make it easy for people to interact with your brand regardless of where they are or what they’re doing. Say for example you’re in a store and you want to do comparison shopping or a price check. Voice and search together create a great end-user experience. They also create a lot of interesting data. We talked about search as a representation of intentions but think about voice factoring in emotion or feelings, and the context of your surroundings. That could be an interesting stream of data to complement the intentions that have already come along with search behavior.
NTENT: What makes NTENT a great technology solution partner to work with?
AG: The technology is amazing. The talent is impressive and the market timing is fantastic. We’re in a timing sweet spot as telecommunications, Internet, data, voice and ecommerce are all coming together in a very exciting way — NTENT is right at the hub of that intersection.
About NTENT: NTENT is a provider of search and voice assistant technologies. With over 20 years in search, machine learning and AI, NTENT offers an end-to-end Search and Voice Assistant Platform integrated with data intelligence, ad monetization and conversational commerce. NTENT’s partners customize, localize and integrate NTENT’s private-label voice, search and browser solutions according to their needs. The company’s solutions help businesses evolve their market offerings, generate revenue and unlock behavioral data insights through increased engagements.
