FTC Hardens Protections Against Telemarketing Fraud

Changes to the Telemarketing Sales Rule extend telemarketing protections to business-to-business calls and tech support scams.

Digital Marketing Expected to Surge

Technavio expects spending on digital marketing to grow by $353.5 billion through 2028, fueled by a shift in consumer behavior toward online shopping.

Adobe Unveils the Future of Customer Experience Management at Adobe Summit

Adobe outlined its vision for companies to deliver one-to-one personalization at scale with major innovations across its Experience Cloud, Creative Cloud, Experience Platform, GenStudio and Firefly Services. 

A New Class of Multimodal AI Agents Can Plan, Reason And Explain

A new patent underscores the uniqueness of the neuro-symbolic AI approach to create hallucination-free conversations between humans and AI agents. (Featured on SmartCustomerService.com.)

Enterprise Leaders Plan to Invest in GenAI to Improve CX, KPMG Finds

Productivity gains are the greatest benefit cited by executives who have already invested in generative artificial intelligence, according to KPMG data.

Google Launches Meridian, a Measurement Tool for Advertisers

Meridian is Google's new open-source, privacy-first marketing mix model.

Women Represent Just 31 Percent of Senior-Level B2B Sales Employees

Gartner survey finds roadblocks and a lack of opportunity contribute to the underrepresentation of women in sales leadership positions.

Chatbots Seen As Online Shopping Experience Disruptors

AI-powered chatbots top the list of the most disruptive automated experiences in U.S. shoppers' buying journeys, according to Intellias research.

LinkedIn Ends Lookalike Audiences

LinkedIn is turning users to Predictive Audiences and Audience Expansion for better targeting.

CCW Eyes AI's Transformation of Contact Center Workforce Dynamics

AI is bringing about a seismic shift in the agent's role, according to CCW data.

Post-Purchase Tasks Will Transition to a Unified Customer-Facing Role by 2027

Gartner's customer service and support predictions for 2024 highlight the transformative impact of generative AI.

The PR Council Updates Ethical Guidelines on Generative AI

The PR Council's revised generative AI guidelines align with rapidly changing platforms and adoption.

Gartner Identifies Three Top Priorities for Customer Service

Organizations will focus on self-service, generative AI, and customer journey analytics to improve customer experience and organizational processes in 2024.

Leading Companies Convert Mega-Expectations to Long-Term Loyalty, Brand Keys Finds

Retail juggernauts Amazon, Dollar Tree, Trader Joe's, CVS, Levi Strauss, and Dick's Sporting Goods exert overwhelming dominance in Brand Keys' latest Customer Loyalty Engagement Index.

Yahoo! and Google Adopt Email Rules Changes

The two email service providers are set to start enforcing new rules affecting senders of bulk emails.

U.S. Companies Fail to Meet Customer Expectations, KPMG Finds

Companies' revert after a sudden surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, KPMG notes in its U.S. Customer Experience Excellence report.

Ninety Percent of CEOs Are Waiting for GenAI to Move Past the Hype

Boston Consulting Group survey finds corporate leaders are ambivalent or dissatisfied with the progress their companies have made with generative AI.

FCC Closes the Lead Generator Loophole

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has taken additional steps to block unwanted and scam robocalls and robotexts.

Google to Disable Cookies for 1 Percent of Chrome Users

Google's phase-out of cookies in its Chrome Browser has begun with a very limited trial; plans are for full deprecation later this year.

The Top CRM News Stories of 2023

AI (or more specifically, generative AI) seemed to capture most of the headlines in 2023.