Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Updated 3h agoLife360 acquires Nativo and Fantix AI unit for $120M to launch family‑focused ad platform
Life360 accelerated its entry into advertising by acquiring Fantix’s AI‑driven ad unit and the native‑ad platform Nativo for $120 million. Nativo generated $63 million in revenue in 2023, and its white‑label ad server now powers Life360’s family‑focused ad stack, enabling location‑based, privacy‑safe targeting.
Also developing:
Podcast•Feb 23, 2026•44 min
How AI Search Is Reshaping Visibility: From Rankings to Mentions
In this episode, host Jordan Cooney and Otterly AI CEO Thomas Paham discuss how AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini are rendering traditional SEO metrics—rankings and clicks—obsolete, with the majority of queries now resulting in zero clicks. Thomas explains Otterly's approach to measuring brand visibility in AI search, emphasizing prompt research, high‑quality citation analytics, and end‑to‑end tracking that links AI mentions to traffic and revenue. He also highlights why AI search constitutes a distinct category from classic SEO tools, requiring dedicated monitoring, integration with existing MarTech stacks, and new optimization tactics. The conversation underscores the rapid market growth, Otterly’s bootstrapped success, and the emerging need for marketers to adapt to AI-driven discovery.
By Voices of Search
News•Feb 23, 2026
SEO Fundamental: Google Explains Why It May Not Use A Sitemap via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google’s John Mueller clarified why a technically valid sitemap can still show a fetch error in Search Console. He explained that if Google isn’t convinced the site offers new, important content, it may ignore the sitemap altogether. The Reddit user’s...
By Search Engine Journal
News•Feb 23, 2026
What California’s Streaming Loudness Regulation Means For Broadcasters And Ad Tech
California’s SB 576, effective soon, mandates that ads in streaming content be loudness‑matched to the surrounding program, extending the CALM Act principles to digital platforms. The law places compliance responsibility on the entity delivering the ad to California viewers, exposing the...
By TVNewsCheck
News•Feb 23, 2026
Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC Bring Live Social Commerce Experience to AI-Driven Catwalk
THG Studios unveiled its World’s First AI‑Driven Immersive, Shoppable Catwalk, integrating a live TikTok shopping segment hosted by Shark Beauty and LOOKFANTASTIC. The event coincides with Topshop’s high‑street comeback through John Lewis, offering both in‑person and global viewers the ability to...
By Retail Times (UK)
News•Feb 23, 2026
Nest Hits Road with Coach Trip Star to Drive Awareness
Nest Pensions has launched the "Everyday Investors" social campaign, starring Coach Trip host Brendan Sheerin, to show members that their pension pots fund local projects across Yorkshire. The initiative, created by Atomic Supernova, is built on research revealing only 23%...
By DecisionMarketing
News•Feb 23, 2026
Incubeta Hires Ex-Wunderman Chief to ‘Join the Dots’
Incubeta has appointed Adam Woods, former CTO of Wunderman Thompson Data, as its first global chief product officer. Woods will consolidate Incubeta’s fragmented product suite into a unified, AI‑driven platform that delivers integrated media, data and creative intelligence. The hire...
By DecisionMarketing
News•Feb 23, 2026
EscalaX Reinforces Its Privacy & Compliance With BidSafe One
EscalaX announced a strategic partnership with privacy‑focused consultancy BidSafe One to strengthen its data‑protection and regulatory compliance posture. The collaboration will help EscalaX optimise consent management and align its operations with GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, IAB TCF and GPP standards. By integrating...
By ExchangeWire
News•Feb 23, 2026
The Death of the Ad, the Birth of the Episode
In 2026 brands are abandoning the traditional 30‑second spot for vertical, episodic micro‑dramas that unfold on smartphones. Campaigns like Prada’s global series, Ajio’s *Suit Yourself*, and Cash App’s financial‑literacy reels treat the product as a background character while foregrounding emotion. The...
By ET BrandEquity (Economic Times) — Marketing
News•Feb 23, 2026
Havas Helia Appoints Andy O’Carroll in Major Shake-Up
Havas Helia has appointed Andy O’Carroll as its first chief creative officer, replacing two regional executive creative directors as part of a broader agency overhaul. O’Carroll brings a track record of Cannes Lions Grand Prix and D&AD awards from stints...
By DecisionMarketing
News•Feb 23, 2026
"B2B Is Human to Human": Why Anjali Gupta Is Replacing Machine-Talk with Storytelling
Anjali Gupta, founder of The Fractional CMO Company, says B2B marketing is reverting to brand‑centric, human‑to‑human storytelling amid a flood of AI tools. She warns that over‑reliance on superficial metrics like MQLs can distort true intent, while AI is reshaping...
By ET BrandEquity (Economic Times) — Marketing
News•Feb 23, 2026
Nissan Highlights Heritage, Connects Locally Ahead of Kuwait National Day
Nissan Kuwait launched the “Japanese but Kuwaiti at heart” campaign, highlighting its Japanese heritage while emphasizing local cultural relevance ahead of the 2026 National Day. The initiative, developed by Horizon FCBKuwait, centers on a hero film distributed across social media,...
By Campaign Middle East
News•Feb 23, 2026
As It Ramps up Push to Fund AI Bets, Meta Makes a New Play for Agencies
Meta has launched the Agency Growth Collective, a pilot program for independent agencies in the United States. The initiative replaces the traditional single Meta representative with a shared alias that routes communications to a rotating bench of specialists and offers...
By Digiday
News•Feb 23, 2026
LinkedIn Gets Real About Work, One Awkward Moment at a Time
LinkedIn unveiled a global brand campaign, “The network that works for you,” created with McCann New York. The humor‑driven ads spotlight awkward, everyday work moments while positioning LinkedIn as a partner for career and business growth. The rollout is split...
By Marketing-Interactive
News•Feb 23, 2026
15 Smarter Interview Questions For Hiring Digital Marketers In 2026 via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Digital marketing hiring now demands strategic thinking over platform familiarity. The article presents 15 interview questions that probe candidates’ use of AI, data privacy adaptation, budget prioritization, metric storytelling, and cultural fit. It emphasizes evaluating the reasoning behind answers to...
By Search Engine Journal
News•Feb 23, 2026
Threads Now Offers Simplified Sharing to Instagram
Meta has added a one‑tap sharing option that lets Threads users push public posts straight to Instagram Stories without leaving the Threads app. The feature automatically formats the Thread into a full‑screen Stories frame, but it does not allow any...
By Social Media Today
News•Feb 22, 2026
Red Rooster Champions Australia’s Heartland in New Brand Campaign via Leo Australia
Red Rooster, Australia’s first chicken shop, has unveiled a sweeping brand campaign developed with Leo Australia. The rollout features two 30‑second TV commercials, shorter cuts, and a full suite of social, digital, OOH, PR and in‑store assets. Filmed in authentic...
By Campaign Brief
Podcast•Feb 22, 2026•2 min
Building High-Impact Enterprise SEO Teams: Creative Roles & Personal Branding SEO
In this brief episode, host Tyson Stockton talks with Ahrefs' Patrick Stokes about building an effective enterprise SEO team from scratch. Stokes emphasizes hiring versatile, creative talent for technical, content, and especially video roles, and stresses the importance of personal...
By Voices of Search
News•Feb 22, 2026
Email Marketing Awaits True AI
Email marketing remains a revenue powerhouse for ecommerce despite predictions of obsolescence, thanks to its owned, measurable nature. Marketers envision AI delivering true audience‑of‑one experiences, tailoring offers, timing, and content to each subscriber. Today’s AI tools, however, function more as...
By Practical Ecommerce
News•Feb 22, 2026
Steelers Strip Back to ‘Officially Unsponsored’ Kits in Bold Sponsorship Play via Ogilvy
The Australian Steelers wheelchair rugby team has unveiled an “Officially Unsponsored” campaign, stripping its green‑and‑gold kit to all‑white uniforms with QR codes where sponsor logos would sit. The QR codes direct fans to SponsorSHOP, a digital marketplace that showcases naming‑rights,...
By Campaign Brief
Social•Feb 22, 2026
Boomers Unknowingly Flood Threads via Facebook Auto‑posting
The fact that Threads probably gets a ton of boomers posting on FB and not realizing it’s auto-posting to Threads explains *so much* of this app.
By Lily Ray
Social•Feb 22, 2026
Overpromise, Underdeliver: Lose Trust, Lose Leads
Marketers: Don't massively hype up your lead magnet and then fail to deliver. You might get someone's email but... You'll lose their trust. And trust is the currency of business.
By Katelyn Bourgoin
Blog•Feb 22, 2026
From the Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE/CRM Blogs: Set up reCAPTCHA V2; Extend D365 CE?; Business Process Flow Stages; New Rules...
Microsoft’s February 2026 update to Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys removes the legacy HIP captcha from real‑time marketing forms. The change mandates using Google reCAPTCHA v2 for all new forms immediately and requires retrofitting existing forms by June 30 2026 to maintain bot protection. In parallel,...
By MSDynamicsWorld
Social•Feb 22, 2026
Weekly SEO Support Newsletter Helps You Survive Search
🐵 #SEOFOMO : Your weekly newsletter emotional support companion for surviving search 💪 Subscribe now if you haven’t and join +42K SEOs : seofomo(.)co https://t.co/674n119BdG
By Aleyda Solis
Blog•Feb 21, 2026
SEO ROI: How to Measure the Return on SEO Efforts
In this episode the host breaks down how to measure SEO ROI, walking listeners through calculating costs, attributing revenue via tools like GA4, and applying the ROI formula. Kyle Risley, senior SEO lead at Shopify, emphasizes that vanity metrics only...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Social•Feb 21, 2026
Share Your SEO Challenges, Win a Hoodie
🚨 Take the #SEOFOMO's Ecommerce SEO & AI Search Optimization Survey [2026] and participate in an SEOFOMO Hoodie & Mug Giveaway 👇 Answer the SEOFOMO Ecommerce SEO & AI Search Optimization Survey and help us identify this year’s biggest ecommerce SEO...
By Aleyda Solis
Blog•Feb 21, 2026
How To Run an Instagram Takeover: Tips + Real World Examples
In this episode Lance Walker breaks down how to execute an Instagram takeover, covering what a takeover is, its three core benefits—new audience exposure, fresh brand perspective, and partnership opportunities—and who makes a good host, from loyal customers to influencers....
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Feb 21, 2026
Yotpo Review 2026: The Definitive Guide for Shopify Brands at Every Stage
In this episode Steve Hutt breaks down Yotpo’s 2026 review platform for Shopify brands, outlining who benefits most from its multi‑channel UGC syndication and where it falls short. He categorizes Shopify merchants into emerging, growth, and established stages, recommending Yotpo...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Blog•Feb 21, 2026
Klaviyo Review 2026: The Definitive Guide for Shopify Brands at Every Stage
The episode reviews Klaviyo as the premier email and SMS platform for Shopify brands, comparing it to Omnisend and Mailchimp and outlining which business stages benefit most. It highlights Klaviyo’s unique ability to turn Shopify data into a real‑time customer...
By eCommerce Fastlane
Social•Feb 21, 2026
Agentic Coders Accelerate Content Quality and SaaS Upsells
Agentic coders allow us to quickly iterate on what’s best for our customers using ClickFlow (our AEO/SEO content creator). I can’t understand any modern company that doesn’t use these. The speed we have as an org now would have been unfathomable 12...
By Eric Siu
Social•Feb 21, 2026
Google Kills Excuses: PMax Now Mandatory
Google just killed every excuse you had for ignoring PMax. Full reporting. Negative keywords. Real split tests. This thread is your wake-up call 🧵 https://t.co/FqYcvnZVbf
By Kody Nordquist
Podcast•Feb 21, 2026•5 min
Are ChatGPT Ads the Next Retail Channel? | Fast Five Shorts
Target and Albertsons are piloting conversational ads in ChatGPT, where sponsored product suggestions appear alongside user queries based on keywords. Early results show a 40% monthly traffic lift for Target, and the ads are clearly labeled and separate from the...
By Omni Talk
Social•Feb 21, 2026
Non‑SEO Users Frustrated by AI Mode Shift
I’m not a fan of this change and have watched non SEO folks complain when they get stuck in AI Mode
By Lily Ray
Podcast•Feb 21, 2026•1 min
Differentiating Enterprise SEO Content & Teams
In this brief episode of Voices of Search, host Tyson Stockton chats with Ahrefs expert Patrick Stokes about how enterprise SEO content and teams differ from smaller-scale operations. They explore the need for strategic alignment, cross‑functional collaboration, and specialized content...
By Voices of Search
Social•Feb 21, 2026
AdX Publishers Warned: No Action Needed Amid Google Probe
As we await Judge Brinkema's decision in US v Google whether to break up Google's adtech business, evidence continues to be unsealed in SDNY tonight. "NEVER USE THE WORD BERNANKE EXTERNALLY, EVER." "All AdX publisher will be impacted." "Publishers do not need to...
By Jason Kint
News•Feb 21, 2026
The Economics Of Retention: How MoEngage Built A Defensible Moat In A Crowded Market
MoEngage has turned the high cost of user retention—estimated at five to twenty‑five times acquisition expense—into a core SaaS proposition. After raising $280 million in a Series F round, the company reported close to $100 million in ARR and achieved profitability in the...
By Inc42
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Tube Trends: ‘Primetime’ For Social Video? It Depends
Tubular Labs’ analysis of U.S. YouTube activity shows a clear “primetime” window from 7 a.m. to noon ET, with the highest average daily views (6.1%) occurring at 8 a.m. ET. Early‑morning uploads also generate the most views per video, suggesting untapped potential...
By TVREV
News•Feb 20, 2026
Canela Media Partners with LiveRamp
Canela Media has teamed up with LiveRamp to let advertisers use LiveRamp’s interoperable RampID for seamless access to Canela’s over‑the‑top (OTT) inventory and broader digital destinations. The partnership opens a LiveRamp Data Marketplace offering more than 1,000 audience segments that...
By World Screen
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Engineer‑style AI Marketing Tour: Live Demos Worldwide
I'm going on the WORLD TOUR 🌍 I've spent the last few months building marketing skills for Claude Code — automating the work I've done with 60+ startups over the last two and a half years. The repo has over 8,400+ stars...
By Corey Haines
News•Feb 20, 2026
Microsoft: ‘Summarize With AI’ Buttons Used To Poison AI Recommendations via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Microsoft’s Defender Security Research team unveiled a new threat called “AI Recommendation Poisoning,” where website buttons labeled “Summarize with AI” embed hidden prompt‑injection instructions. Clicking these buttons feeds AI assistants a URL‑encoded command that tells the model to remember the...
By Search Engine Journal
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Embrace the Cringiest Platform, Scale to $7.3M ARR
4 years stuck at $2.5M ARR. I had no idea if this was my retirement plan or the thing that broke me. Then I built a $7.3M ARR company in 18 months with 3 employees and zero funding. The weapon turned out to...
By Adam Robinson
News•Feb 20, 2026
Subscription Exodus: Consumers Are Fleeing 'Digital Overload'
Consumers are increasingly abandoning digital subscriptions, with email leading the exodus, according to Profit Engine’s analysis of the most Googled “how to unsubscribe” queries. The top ten services—ranging from Amazon Prime and Disney Plus to ChatGPT and HelloFresh—are cited for fee...
By MediaPost
Social•Feb 20, 2026
Pre‑filled LLM Prompts Drive Smarter Brand Traffic
Most marketers right now are trying to figure out how to get the LLMs to send them more Web traffic. Maybe the pro move is to do the opposite. Check out what Amplemarket HQ is doing. And when you press one...
By Matt Heinz
News•Feb 20, 2026
Google Ads Surfaces PMax Search Partner Domains In Placement Report via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Ads now displays Performance Max (PMax) placement data, revealing Search Partner domains, network types, placement types, and impression counts that were previously hidden. The change, documented to start in March 2024, converts an empty report into a tangible inventory of...
By Search Engine Journal
News•Feb 20, 2026
Gold Medal CTV
The 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan is drawing about 20 million U.S. viewers each day, with NBC’s Peacock platform delivering more streaming hours than the last two Games combined. Advertisers are abandoning traditional “Be Right Back” filler and deploying real‑time, native...
By Chief Marketer
Blog•Feb 20, 2026
Why Scoring Hotel Image Quality Matters More Than Ever
Hotel images now shape traveler perception before price or reviews. Platforms and AI algorithms increasingly classify and rank photos, turning visual content into a data quality issue. To address this, hotels adopt structured image quality scores, typically 0‑100, evaluating dimensions...
By Revenue Hub
News•Feb 20, 2026
Merchant Center Flags Feeds Disruption
Google Merchant Center announced a service disruption affecting product feeds, which began on February 4, 2026 at 14:00 UTC. The public status dashboard still lists the issue as under investigation with no estimated resolution time. Feeds power Shopping ads and free listings, so...
By Search Engine Land
News•Feb 20, 2026
Trio of Lloyds Ads Highlights the Realisation of "Long-Held Dreams"
Lloyds Bank has rolled out a new series of advertisements under its "Bank on Lloyds" brand platform. The creative work was produced by Publicis Go, a bespoke agency team assembled for the project. The campaign highlights the realisation of long‑held...
By Campaign UK
News•Feb 20, 2026
What’s Next for PPC: AI, Visual Creative and New Ad Surfaces
PPC is moving past traditional search as AI‑first ad formats like Microsoft’s showroom ads and immersive gaming placements gain traction. Visual creative is becoming a staple throughout the funnel, with brands needing richer asset libraries to feed AI‑driven optimization. Experts...
By Search Engine Land
News•Feb 20, 2026
14 GEO Conferences to Attend in 2026
The 2026 GEO and AI‑Search conference circuit now features 14 dedicated events worldwide, from AEO Conf in San Francisco to GEO KNOW HOW in Berlin. These gatherings blend traditional SEO programming with new AI‑search tracks, showcasing speakers from OpenAI, Ahrefs, Moz, and HubSpot....
By Ahrefs Blog
News•Feb 20, 2026
Roku Remains Top CTV Open Ad Platform With 32% Share
Roku retained its position as the leading connected‑TV (CTV) platform for open programmatic ads in Q4 2025, commanding a 32% share of impressions. Amazon Fire TV and Apple TV followed with 16% and 15% respectively, while LG surged 79% quarter‑over‑quarter to reach 10%...
By MediaPost