Last week, the Australian Government released an Issues Paper outlining plans to legislate a Digital Duty of Care that would require online services to take “reasonable steps” to prevent foreseeable harms experienced by Australians online.

The proposal follows recommendations from the statutory review of the Online Safety Act 2021 and reflects growing global pressure on governments to hold digital platforms more accountable for the societal impacts of algorithmic systems, content distribution, and online engagement models.

Rather than focusing solely on reactive moderation of harmful content, the proposed framework signals a broader move toward systemic platform accountability, examining how platforms are designed, operated, and monetised.

Under the proposal, online services could be expected to proactively identify and mitigate risks tied to the design and operation of their systems, including algorithmic amplification, harmful recommendation patterns, discrimination, exclusion, and barriers to accessing trustworthy information.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), alongside academics from The University of Melbourne, The University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, and The University of Queensland, said the framework represents an opportunity to move beyond narrow content-based regulation toward a more holistic approach to digital governance.

In response to the Government’s Issues Paper, researchers from ADM+S and the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Digital Ethics released a policy brief outlining key recommendations for the framework’s design.

Among the recommendations is the creation of a national platform observatory tasked with monitoring how algorithmic systems target, recommend, and curate content for Australian users.

Researchers argue that current transparency systems remain insufficient, particularly as AI-driven recommendation engines and automated decision-making systems become increasingly central to how people consume information online.

The proposed observatory would help regulators, researchers, and civil society organisations better assess whether platforms are complying with future Digital Duty of Care obligations.

The policy brief also outlines two possible implementation models: a risk-based framework requiring platforms to identify and mitigate harms arising from their systems, and an outcomes-based model focused on ensuring platforms actively contribute to safer, healthier, and more inclusive digital environments.

The proposal arrives as governments worldwide intensify scrutiny of major technology platforms and AI systems amid growing concerns around misinformation, online harms, algorithmic bias, and the broader societal impact of digital platforms.

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The acquisition comes as large language models and AI-generated answers increasingly shape how users research products, compare options and make purchase decisions online.

It also reflects a shift in how brand visibility is determined, with AI systems influencing which products and companies appear in answers, which competitors are referenced and which sources are cited—often before users reach a brand’s own channels.

“AI has changed buyer behaviour forever. We’re at a pivotal moment where companies must rethink traditional digital strategies and accept that the internet must be written for machines to understand if we want humans to experience it,” said Eric Stine, Chief Executive Officer of Sitecore. 

Stine added, “With Scrunch, we enable our customers to understand how they are represented in AI-generated answers and automatically act on those insights, maximising how they reach, engage, and serve their customers. We’re helping brands show up with greater clarity, authority, and relevance so they can build trust, increase share of voice, and influence decisions early in the buying journey when it matters most.”

Against this backdrop, Scrunch provides visibility into how brand messaging appears across AI-generated responses, including gaps or misrepresentations, and feeds these insights into SitecoreAI to support content optimisation across digital channels.

The deal combines Scrunch’s Agent Experience Platform (AXP) and analytics capabilities with Sitecore’s digital experience platform (DXP), creating an integrated system designed to connect insight with content activation and measurement.

Carrie Grapenthin, Chief Marketing Officer of Perficient, said, “At Perficient, we’re building an AI-first marketing engine focused on speed, relevance, and real impact. As a customer and partner of both Sitecore and Scrunch, this combination is an exciting opportunity for our team. Insight without action isn’t enough. Scrunch helps us see where our brand is showing up, where gaps exist, and what needs to improve. Sitecore helps us act on those insights across the content and experiences we already manage, so we can move faster and deliver differentiated content in our unique brand voice.”

Sitecore said the combined platform will help organisations distribute and manage content across channels with greater consistency, with the aim of improving engagement, conversion and performance tracking.

Scrunch’s approach focuses on Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO), extending beyond traditional website analytics by mapping how brands appear across large language models such as ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Perplexity, and identifying opportunities to improve visibility.

“Control of the brand narrative is shifting, and customers are increasingly trusting AI to define brands, rather than the organisations behind those brands,” said Chris Andrew, Chief Executive Officer of Scrunch, a Sitecore company. 

He added, “By joining forces, we’re helping companies meet buyers where they are, moving beyond traditional SEO to win inside AI-generated answers. That’s where Scrunch’s AXP is a critical advantage, delivering content in a format AI agents can read and use without disrupting the human experience, allowing brands to become the trusted sources that power those answers.”

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The agreement is OpenAI’s first MOU with the Singapore Government and includes a commitment of more than S$300 million to support the country’s AI ecosystem. It sets out plans to develop AI deployment capabilities, strengthen talent pipelines and expand the use of AI across the public and private sectors.

The collaboration is structured around three workstreams covering an applied AI lab, talent development and broader access to AI.

A key component is the OpenAI Singapore Applied AI Lab, the company’s first such facility outside the United States. The lab will grow a team of Forward-Deployed Engineers and technical specialists to more than 200 roles over the next few years, focused on translating frontier AI models into practical applications. Its work will be aligned with Singapore’s national AI priorities, including public services, finance, healthcare and digital infrastructure. OpenAI will also introduce a Forward-Deployed Engineer programme in Singapore to train mid-career software engineers in applied AI system development.

On talent development, OpenAI will collaborate with local education institutions on training programmes and research partnerships, including workshops under a Singapore chapter of its OpenAI Academy and Codex for Teachers hackathons. It will also work with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and AI Singapore (AISG) under the AIxTech programme to support skills development among technology professionals, including access to Codex and structured training initiatives.

The third pillar, “AI for All”, focuses on expanding access to AI tools for individuals, businesses and startups. Planned initiatives include citizen-facing AI applications for public services, accelerator programmes offering technical support to startups, and workshops aimed at micro-entrepreneurs and SMEs. The partnership also includes plans to develop localised content for SkillsFuture programmes.

Chng Kai Fong, Permanent Secretary (Digital Development and Information), said, “With AI reshaping economies, businesses and the workforce, Singapore’s response has been deliberate: growing new sectors, anchoring global frontier companies here, and equipping our people with the skills to thrive in this new environment. This partnership with OpenAI reflects the Government’s commitment to developing Singapore’s AI capabilities, strengthening enterprise adoption of AI, and securing good jobs for Singaporeans.”

Denise Dresser, Chief Revenue Officer at OpenAI, said, “We’re excited to partner with Singapore as it builds on its position as a global leader in AI. Singapore has strong technical talent, trusted institutions, and a clear ambition to use AI to drive long-term growth and improve people’s lives. Through OpenAI for Singapore, we want to help more organisations put frontier AI to work, develop local talent, and expand access to the benefits of AI.”

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The agreement builds on a 2022 memorandum of understanding with the Smart Nation and Digital Government Group and is aimed at deploying frontier AI across public services, industry and research, while supporting workforce development and AI governance.

The partnership will focus on using AI to address societal challenges, strengthen enterprise adoption, build an AI-ready workforce and develop a secure ecosystem aligned with Singapore’s National AI Strategy.

Health, science and inclusive innovation

A key pillar of the partnership is research and development in health and life sciences, supported by Google DeepMind’s presence in Singapore under its global National Partnerships for AI initiative.

In healthcare, Google DeepMind is exploring collaboration with public health clusters on “AI co-clinicians” to support doctors in delivering care, including systems that draw on clinical guidelines and scientific literature under physician oversight.

In scientific research, Google DeepMind is working with the National Research Foundation (NRF) to train local researchers in agentic AI tools, including Co-Scientist, and will run workshops to support biomedical applications.

Separately, Google and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) will use secure AI tools on Google Cloud to support hypothesis generation and accelerate translation of research into materials and life sciences innovations, while maintaining safeguards for intellectual property.

In inclusive innovation, Google DeepMind is developing a Gemma-powered running assistant for blind and low-vision athletes. The tool uses spatial reasoning to provide real-time environmental awareness and is being tested with SG Enable.

Education and workforce development

Google is also expanding its collaboration with the Ministry of Education (MOE) to strengthen AI capabilities in teaching and learning, including educator training and upskilling programmes.

It has already integrated AI tools into Google Workspace for Education for educators across primary to pre-university levels, supporting lesson planning and content development.

The partnership also extends existing programmes under the “Majulah AI” initiative, including Skills Ignition SG with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First, AI Cloud Takeoff, and Gemini Academy.

Enterprise innovation

Google Cloud will expand its Forward Deployed Engineers team in Singapore to help companies scale agentic AI systems, building on the Singapore Engineering Centre launch.

The partnership also continues collaboration with agencies including AI Singapore (AISG), the Centre for Strategic Infocomm Technologies (CSIT), GovTech Singapore, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency (HTX) and the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Safety and governance

The agreement includes work on AI safety and governance frameworks as Singapore tests “computer use” AI agents in real-world environments.

A joint whitepaper by Google, the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), GovTech Singapore and IMDA outlines findings from the AI Agents Sandbox, including early governance considerations for safe deployment in areas such as software testing and social assistance.

Google DeepMind is also working with IMDA and MLCommons on multilingual and multimodal safety benchmarks to improve AI systems’ handling of local languages and cultural context.

“This partnership builds on years of close collaboration with Google, and we are pleased to take it to the next level. Bringing frontier AI into our public services and enterprises is central to Singapore’s AI ambitions. This partnership, spanning across multiple agencies, allows us to deploy it at scale,” said Chng Kai Fong, Permanent Secretary (Digital Development and Information).

“As Singapore advances its National AI Strategy the focus now shifts to deploying frontier AI to accelerate real world impact for the country. Through this expanded partnership with the Singapore Government, we are putting AI into action by combining the best of our technology, R&D expertise, and local talent to accelerate AI for the public good. This also creates a scalable blueprint for responsible AI innovation, built in Singapore for the world,” said Ben King, Country Managing Director at Google Singapore.

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The new tool integrates with AI assistants including Claude and ChatGPT through a Model Context Protocol (MCP) connector, allowing users to run a marketing diagnostic directly within their AI interface. According to the company, the tool provides real-time analysis of where customer trust may break down across the buying journey.

The launch aims to address the cost and complexity traditionally associated with marketing diagnostics, which the company said often require specialised analytics teams and significant investment. RAMMP said the plug-in allows businesses to conduct similar evaluations at no cost through their AI assistant.

The system is powered by RAMMP’s Brand Trust Score, a patented metric based on six years of behavioural data drawn from more than 1,000 diagnostics. The company said the score measures customer trust throughout the buying process and will remain free for users.

Founder Anna Harrison said the decision to make the Brand Trust Score free was a structural one.

“I’ve spent two decades in rooms with founders who’ve built genuinely good businesses and have no idea why their marketing isn’t working. They’re not bad at what they do. They’ve been failed by an industry that profits from imprecision,” Harrison said.

“Marketing has been allowed to wave its hands and call it strategy for too long. Brand takes time. You can’t measure ROI. Trust the process. That’s not strategy. That’s professional cover. The cost of it falls on the people who can least afford it: founders, small operators, businesses without analytics teams.

“Telling a business owner where their customers are losing trust shouldn’t be the thing they pay for. We’ve spent six years building the measurement system. Now we’re giving it away.”

Under the model, the free tier provides access to the Brand Trust Score diagnostic and recommended priority fixes through AI assistants. Paid services include a deeper six-stage breakdown of where trust is declining, monitoring of trust scores across campaigns and time periods, and additional reporting tools designed to support ongoing decision-making.

“Execution has been commoditised. AI made sure of that. Anyone can ship a campaign in an hour,” Harrison said. “RAMMP delivers quality decisions at scale. Whether you’re a marketer, a business owner, or an agency working alongside both, the question is the same. Is this decision defensible? We’re agnostic about who’s asking. We’re not agnostic about whether the answer is measured.”

The company also described the connector as part of a broader strategy as AI agents increasingly play a role in planning and executing marketing campaigns. RAMMP said the Brand Trust Score is designed to provide a measurable trust signal for AI-driven marketing systems.

“If agents are going to run campaigns, do the shopping and make recommendations on our behalf, they need a model for how humans actually decide to buy. We’ve patented that model,” Harrison said.

“Today we’re putting it inside the assistants doing the work. What comes next is RAMMP running quietly behind the scenes, measuring, monitoring, and flagging what to fix, for the businesses and the forward-looking agencies that want precision in this new era.”

The RAMMP MCP Connector enables several functions within AI assistants, including generating a Brand Trust Score, recognising when users are working on marketing-related tasks, and activating prompts designed to guide activities such as competitive analysis, messaging development, homepage refinement and go-to-market strategy. Paid users can access additional diagnostic reports, ongoing monitoring and recommendations for addressing identified issues.

RAMMP operates as a SaaS platform and reported generating more than 1,024 diagnostics as of March 2026. The company said documented outcomes from its clients include a 702% conversion improvement, a 138% revenue uplift, and support for a customer adoption strategy linked to a US$10 million capital raise. Across various applications, RAMMP said its methodology has produced conversion increases of between 10% and 40% without additional marketing spend.

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The update extends IAS’s Social Optimisation solution to Threads, allowing advertisers to manage content suitability and improve return on investment for campaigns on the platform, which surpassed 400 million monthly active users globally in 2025.

The expansion builds on IAS’s existing partnership with Meta. In 2024, the company selected IAS as the first provider to develop an independent optimisation solution for its platforms. IAS currently provides Content Block List optimisation and Total Media Quality (TMQ) Brand Safety and Suitability Measurement for ads across Facebook and Instagram Feed and Reels, with the addition of Threads feed now included.

“Our AI-driven, content-level analysis empowers advertisers to drive performance and confidently scale their investments on social platforms with trusted, third-party, independent solutions,” said Lisa Utzschneider, CEO of IAS. “We continue to innovate and deepen our relationships with global partners like Meta to provide end-to-end campaign support for advertisers, ensuring they can avoid unsuitable content and maximise their campaign effectiveness.”

According to IAS, the solution allows advertisers to customise content block lists aligned with brand suitability requirements, including the use of custom brand segments designed to minimise ad waste and reduce brand risk.

The system can also be activated once to provide automatic protection across Facebook and Instagram Feed, Reels, and Threads, with hourly updates to ensure content filtering keeps pace with rapidly changing social feeds.

IAS said the technology is powered by its proprietary Multimedia Understanding Model (MUM), which analyses content frame by frame using a combination of image, audio, and text signals to classify content and determine suitability.

The solution supports 34 languages, allowing advertisers to implement brand safety strategies across global campaigns. In addition, IAS’s Total Media Quality framework provides brand safety and suitability measurement to help advertisers verify that their content block lists are functioning as intended and to enable optimisation during campaigns.

IAS has worked with Meta to develop independent measurement and optimisation tools for advertisers. In October 2024, IAS launched its first content block lists for Meta platforms after being selected as the primary provider for the solution. The company later introduced brand safety and suitability measurement for Threads in October 2025 and launched AI-driven contextual category reporting for Meta in June 2025.

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The new platform allows businesses to deploy click fraud protection for their Google Ads campaigns in under 10 minutes. Once activated, the system begins analysing campaign traffic to detect and mitigate bots, click fraud, and other forms of invalid traffic that can affect advertising performance and spending.

According to TrafficGuard, the launch follows a surge in SME adoption of its services over the past year. The company reported that its self-serve customer base has grown to more than 10,000 accounts, driven by increasing demand for ad-fraud protection solutions.

“Invalid traffic and click fraud are no longer just an enterprise problem – the bots have moved downstream, and small businesses are often the softest target. Most don’t even know how much of their ad spend is being wasted,” said Mathew Ratty, Co-Founder and CEO of TrafficGuard. 

“With over 200 million SMEs spending on digital advertising globally, it’s crucial they have a clear and transparent view of their advertising performance and where their budgets are going. We’re now focused on providing our proprietary platform to all types of businesses to protect the ecosystem from invalid traffic and fraud.” he added.

The platform provides analytics on advertising performance and invalid traffic rates through a consolidated dashboard. While the current offering focuses on Google Ads campaigns, the company said protection for Meta Ads—covering ads on Facebook and Instagram—is scheduled to be added by July 2026.

TrafficGuard said the SME-focused solution is priced at $49 per month and is designed with a fully automated sign-up process that does not require enterprise-level support.

“Tackling click fraud and other forms of invalid traffic has become increasingly urgent for advertisers in the SME sector, and this is one of the main drivers behind our decision to launch our tailored solution,” said Chad Kinlay, CMO at TrafficGuard. “The platform utilises a phased approach to pricing, minimising friction and simplifying decision-making so SMEs can protect their budgets right away.”

TrafficGuard provides technology that detects, mitigates and reports on digital invalid traffic and ad fraud before it impacts advertising budgets. The platform is used by businesses globally, including companies in sectors such as finance, e-commerce, travel and gaming.

The launch also follows TrafficGuard’s recent operational expansion in the United States as the company continues to grow its global footprint.

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The deal brings together Insider One’s AI-driven customer engagement platform with Bluecore’s retail data and identity infrastructure. Bluecore’s client roster includes brands such as ALO Yoga, J.Crew, Sephora, Bloomingdale’s, The North Face, Ralph Lauren, QVC and Michael Kors.

According to Insider One, the acquisition is intended to strengthen its data infrastructure and expand its capabilities for autonomous customer engagement at enterprise scale.

“Insider One sits at the core of how the world’s leading brands engage their customers. Our platform doesn’t layer AI onto marketing – it is the execution layer. Decision ownership has shifted from humans to intelligent systems that think, decide, and act in real time. With the acquisition of Bluecore, we further strengthen our data infrastructure edge to make autonomous customer engagement possible at enterprise scale,” said Hande Cilingir, Co-Founder and CEO at Insider One.

Insider One positions its platform as an “agentic” customer engagement system, where artificial intelligence systems are designed to plan, execute and optimise customer interactions autonomously. The company said its architecture integrates a native customer data platform (CDP), real-time data unification, identity resolution, contextual data graphs, and journey orchestration across multiple channels.

The platform also includes Agent One, a suite of AI agents that the company says enables brands to engage customers in real time while generating intent and preference signals that enrich customer profiles.

Through the acquisition, Insider One will integrate Bluecore’s Transparent ID Network, which provides identity resolution and shopper data infrastructure for retail brands. The network processes more than 10 billion daily shopper events to power machine learning models tailored to retail and commerce use cases.

“Insider One’s product is unlike anything I’ve seen in this industry. They are five years ahead of where the market is going. They have built the exact infrastructure our identification and behavioural data is built to power,” said Fayez Mohamood, Co-Founder and CEO at Bluecore.

Insider One said the acquisition will also accelerate its expansion in North America, where Bluecore’s enterprise retail client base is concentrated.

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The integration extends an existing collaboration between the two companies that has previously focused on digital environments. With the expansion, Teads will scale Lumen’s attention measurement technology into CTV, providing advertisers with a unified view of attention across multiple channels through the Teads Ad Manager platform.

Under the agreement, Teads receives exclusive access to Lumen’s CTV attention measurement for its HomeScreen placement across the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

The move comes as advertisers seek better ways to evaluate CTV performance. According to a study by Dentsu titled The Brand Reset, CTV delivered a 3.2% long-term sales lift—approaching that of linear television—yet 49% of marketers reported difficulties assessing its effectiveness.

Lumen’s technology uses proprietary, consent-based real-world eye-tracking data to model how audiences look at advertisements across channels, formats, and devices, including how long viewers engage with ads. Applied to Teads’ inventory, the technology aims to provide advertisers with deeper insights into audience engagement to inform media investment and creative strategy.

“Attention is becoming an increasingly important signal of advertising quality because it helps marketers better understand the relationship between exposure and outcomes,” said Caroline Hugonenc, SVP, Data & Insights at Teads. “By expanding our CTV attention offering with Lumen, we’re giving advertisers stronger signals to assess campaign effectiveness and optimize with greater confidence.”

Mike Follett, CEO at Lumen Research, said: “As the streaming space continues to evolve, advertisers need more precise ways to understand how audiences engage with their ads on the big screen. The expansion of our partnership with Teads helps bring that visibility to premium CTV environments and adds a valuable new layer of measurement, empowering advertisers to make more effective media investment decisions.”

According to Teads, CTV HomeScreen campaigns on its platform have shown strong engagement, averaging around 5,300 Attention Per Mille (APM), which the company said is 173% higher than outstream video and 114% higher than YouTube placements.

The integration is supported by what the companies describe as an industry-first CTV HomeScreen attention prediction model developed by Lumen and based on MediaMento research conducted with Teads.

Attention measurement for CTV HomeScreen placements is now available globally within Teads Ad Manager for both managed and self-serve campaigns, with InStream measurement expected to be introduced later this quarter.

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The Bengaluru- and San Francisco-based technology company announced the acquisition on 7 May, saying the deal is intended to strengthen its advertising platform’s ability to support brands seeking new users across the iOS ecosystem. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Founded in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, MobileAction provides AI-driven app analytics tools designed to help marketers improve app discoverability and performance. The company is particularly known for its expertise in Apple Ads and App Store Optimization.

According to InMobi, the acquisition will enhance its capabilities in supporting both organic app growth and AI-powered optimisation for marketers targeting iOS users. The move also expands the company’s advertising and commerce ecosystem, which includes its consumer platform Glance.

MobileAction’s platform is used by several global brands and app publishers, including Google, Meta, DoorDash, Block, Zalando, Playtika and Priceline. The company says its platform analyses data across more than 90 million creatives, 6 million keywords, 5 million apps, 100,000 publishers and 500,000 advertisers.

“As the advertising ecosystem shifts toward AI-led intelligence and platform-native expertise, marketers need partners who can deliver both scale and precision,” said Rohit Dosi, Vice President & General Manager, InMobi. “MobileAction’s AI-powered platform and leadership in helping marketers drive growth for their apps makes this a highly strategic addition to InMobi Advertising. Together, we’re better positioned to help marketers and brands drive sustainable, intelligent growth in an agentic world.”

“Joining InMobi marks an exciting next chapter for MobileAction,” said Aykut Karaalioglu, Founder & CEO, MobileAction. “I look forward to partnering with Rohit, and I am confident our shared vision for the future of agentic AI-driven advertising — spanning innovation, data-driven decision-making, and customer impact — will allow us to accelerate our roadmap and deliver even greater value to marketers worldwide.”

Following the transaction, MobileAction will continue to operate as a dedicated platform. Its teams across the United States, Europe and Turkey will join the InMobi Group, which said it plans to further invest in the company’s product development and global go-to-market initiatives, particularly in the United States, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and North Africa regions.

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