Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Accenture Song Acquires Whalar to Bolster Influencer Marketing
Accenture Song announced the acquisition of Whalar, adding a 170‑person global creator agency and keeping co‑CEOs Emma Harman and Jo Cronk in place. The deal also includes a three‑year strategic partnership that gives Accenture access to Whalar’s talent‑management, technology and venture assets, integrating the creator network with Accenture’s data and AI capabilities.
Comcast Advertising Launches Outcomes+, a Next Gen Targeting and Attribution Solution Across Traditional and Streaming TV
Comcast Advertising unveiled Outcomes+, an AI‑driven targeting and attribution platform that spans its linear TV, streaming and addressable inventory. The solution leverages deterministic data from over 30 million households—more than 100 million authenticated viewers—and integrates new partnerships with Mastercard, Clarivoy, DISQO, Fandango, S&P Global Mobility and others to deliver full‑funnel measurement. A parallel Amazon Ads partnership gives local and SMB advertisers programmatic access to Prime Video, adding roughly 200 million U.S. ad‑supported viewers. Early tests, such as a MINI USA campaign, showed a 300% lift in brand favorability and a 35% dealer conversion increase.
Meta Ignores Year‑old Duplication Bug Harming Advertisers
Saw this post about Meta's horrible user experience. Spoiler: It's been happening forever. Meta has known about the duplication bug for over a year. They've tried to fix it, but for some reason just can't get it done. Every agency I know has dealt...
Fix Your Post-Click Funnel, Stop Burning Money
Most six-figure founders keep tweaking budgets and creative and still feel like they’re lighting money on fire. The issue is what your funnel does after the click. And there’s a fix that pays for itself. This episode breaks it all down. 👇 Comment...
Axon Ads – How to Diversify Beyond Meta and Find New Customers
In this episode, Anthony and guests Molly Pittman and agency CEO Pep Hoeven explore Axon (AppLovin) ads as a strategic alternative to Meta for diversifying paid traffic. They explain how Axon’s gaming‑based ad network reaches 150 million U.S. daily users—skewing toward...
Independent Agencies Gain Advanced Agentic Media Buying Through New PubMatic and Untapped Growth Collective Partnership
PubMatic and Untapped Growth have partnered to embed independent agencies’ proprietary buyer agents into PubMatic’s AgenticOS platform. The integration gives agencies instant access to billions of premium CTV, mobile and video impressions, over 250 data partners, and GPU‑accelerated infrastructure. Early...
VideoAmp and O-N-X Integration to Bring Data-Driven Buying to Local Broadcast TV
VideoAmp announced an integration with O‑N‑X, embedding its nationwide audience‑measurement dataset into the automated transaction platform for local broadcast TV. The partnership enables predictive delivery intelligence and more stable guaranteed‑impression transactions across all 210 U.S. markets. O‑N‑X, already licensed in...
One Marketer Automates All Google Ads via Chat
anthropic's growth marketer just showed how he runs all of their paid search as a one-person team. he built a cowork plugin that manages every google ads campaign from a single chat window. here's his workflow: 1. he writes his paid search playbook...
New Research: Influence Happens Everywhere, an Analysis of the 5,000 Most-Visited Sites on the Mobile and Desktop Web
SparkToro partnered with Similarweb to analyze click‑stream data from the 5,000 most‑visited mobile and desktop websites in January 2026. The study found that search sites capture 24.12% of global visits, while social (18.55%) and news (8.36%) together account for roughly a...
Apple Maps to Host Ads as Company Broadens Business Services
Apple announced that advertising will soon appear on Apple Maps, marking the tech giant's latest push to monetize its ecosystem beyond hardware and app store fees. The move aims to tap into location‑based marketing and give advertisers a new channel...
Trade Desk Concerns: Does CTV Brand Attraction Have A Strong Foundation?
The Trade Desk is under scrutiny after Publicis flagged hidden DSP fees, prompting a follow‑up audit by Omnicom. Despite the controversy, CTV remains the engine of growth, accounting for roughly 50% of the company’s revenue. The stock has dropped 10%...
Cut Your Marketing Budget by 50% with Calm’s Jeff Lee
Jeff Lee, the lifecycle marketing technical lead at Calm, oversees a four‑person team that launches more than 240 email campaigns each year, moving data through Databricks, Iterable and Amplitude. He argues that marketing engineering should be recognized as its own...
Build a Content Loop: Start Small, Grow Continuously
The content and access loop 🔂 all of you could be executing to help you make content, then connect with your audience and then use that connection to make more content … listen carefully to the e steps that help...
AI Mode Now Shows Sponsored Links and Quick Web Results
More ads in AI Mode -> Two interesting AI mode findings this morning. First, a "Sponsored stores" link when clicking a product in AI Mode. More monetization options for Google there. Second, AI Mode provided "Quick results from the web"...
Riding the Rocketship: Creating a Retail Media Mindset
Retail media is rapidly evolving into a multi‑billion‑dollar growth engine, posting double‑digit expansion in key markets. The sector has shifted from a startup focus on formats and measurement to a scale‑up model demanding strategic alignment. Colin Lewis proposes that success...
Why European Content Leaders Are Ahead of North American Peers in Use of AI
European firms are outpacing North American peers in applying AI to thought leadership, with speed cited as the primary benefit by 60.7% of respondents. While U.S. users rely more on public large‑language models, 57.3% of European respondents use enterprise licences...
Why Smart Agencies Buy Bulk Guest Posts on Mission-Driven Sites in the AI Search Era
Smart agencies are shifting from cheap, volume‑driven guest posts to bulk placements on mission‑driven publications like The Good Men Project. In the AI‑shaped search era, Google rewards sites with clear editorial identity, trust signals, and durable content. GMP positions itself...
Google Tests "Skip Digging, Start Guided Research" Driving Users to Web Guide-Like Results
Google is testing a new call‑to‑action banner that says “Skip the digging, start guided research,” which redirects users to a Web Guide‑style, AI‑organized results page. The Web Guide feature, first launched in July 2025 as a labs experiment, was expanded to...
Google Business Profile Performance Metrics Offer Data Added To Help Doc
Google has updated its Business Profile help documentation with a new section that explains offer performance metrics. The addition details how many times customers view and click on offers displayed on a Business Profile. The change was first noted by...
YouTube Shows Are Closing in on Traditional TV — Fast
Spotter, an Amazon‑backed startup, reports that roughly 6,600 U.S. creator‑driven “TV” channels—defined by 22‑minute‑plus episodes, regular schedules and sizable audiences—produced an estimated 26 billion viewing hours in 2025, with over half watched on connected TVs. These creator shows match traditional TV...
xpln.ai Supports WPP Media & AXA in Driving More Sustainable Advertising Attention
xpln.ai teamed with WPP Media to help AXA launch a multi‑market campaign in the United Kingdom, Germany, Mexico and Thailand that puts sustainability at its core. Using proprietary eye‑tracking technology, the firm measured advertising attention for each impression and paired...
How Zero-Party & First-Party Data Can Fuel Your Intent-Based SEO Strategy via @Sejournal, @Rio_seo
Marketers are shifting from passive data collection to actively gathering zero‑party data—information customers willingly share—to power intent‑based SEO strategies. By combining zero‑party insights with first‑party behavior data, brands can translate declared motivations into content that satisfies both users and search...
The First-Party Data Illusion by AtData
Marketers have embraced first‑party data as a privacy‑safe alternative to third‑party sources, but the article warns that stored records quickly become outdated. As identities drift—emails change, devices rotate, and behaviors evolve—static profiles lose alignment with real‑world activity. AtData argues that...
Segmenting by Purchased Category in Omnisend: How We Made It Work (and Keep Working)
Omnisend helped Italian ecommerce retailer Alberoshop, which sells over 15,000 crystal and home‑goods items, implement purchase‑category segmentation to boost email relevance. By using existing product Collections as dynamic segment criteria, customers are automatically placed in groups that reflect their most...
5 Benefits of Combining Social Data with Search Data
Combining social listening with search analytics lets brands spot intent formation before demand peaks, turning casual conversation into actionable insight. The fusion reveals the full competitive landscape, showing who shapes narratives and who captures demand. It also validates target audiences...
Walmart, Vizio Unveil Integrated TV Platform Merging Streaming and Shopping
Walmart and its newly acquired Vizio have rolled out a joint platform that lets users log into Vizio smart TVs with a single Walmart account, delivering premium streaming content alongside shoppable product placements. The move positions Vizio TVs as a...
Mada Media Offers Investment Opportunity for 21 Digital Unipoles in Dubai
Mada Media has issued tender MM/COM/26-0010 for 21 premium digital unipole billboards along Sheikh Zayed Road in Jebel Ali, Dubai. Licensed out‑of‑home advertisers must submit technical proposals by 16 April 2026 and financial proposals by 23 April 2026. The assets target high‑traffic commuters, offering...
Social Listening Is Now a Leadership Imperative
Social listening has moved from a marketing tool to a leadership imperative, with executives now monitoring brand reputation and crisis signals in real time. Nicole van Zanten, co‑president of ICUC Social, notes that leaders are using community‑derived insights to guide...
30% of Open-Web Video Players Shrink After Page Load, Finds Picnic
Picnic’s new PIQ analysis shows that roughly one‑third of open‑web video players shrink after the initial page load, while 15% continue playing after users scroll past and 12% of sites host multiple videos simultaneously. The study highlights a gap between...
Italy: Digital Ad Spend Surges
Italy’s advertising market in 2025 is now led by digital, with the “extended” digital segment projected at €9.6 billion (about $10.6 billion), representing 45% of total spend. OTT platforms dominate that slice, contributing €4.3 billion (~$4.7 billion). Traditional media investment slips to €5.8 billion (~$6.4 billion),...
China’s Retail Landscape Change: Douyin, Sam’s Club Driving Sales for Swisse
H&H Group reported that Douyin, China’s TikTok‑like platform, drove a 71.4% surge in Swisse sales last year, while new‑retail partners such as Sam’s Club added 29.7% growth. The company’s overall revenue rose 10% to RMB 14.3 bn ($2.08 bn) and net profit exploded...
Brands Blame Rise of Dark Data for ‘Engagement Divide’
The 2026 SAP Engagement Index reveals a widening "engagement divide" in the UK, with 56% of consumers demanding seamless, omnichannel experiences while 82% are frustrated by disjointed interactions. Although 80% of brands believe they deliver such experiences, only 20% acknowledge...
Lynqor Launches in the UAE with AI-Powered Orchestration Model to Tackle Fragmentation
Lynqor, a marketing orchestration platform founded by Kerem Emre Akarlar, has launched in the UAE to address growing marketing fragmentation in the MENA region. The company offers an AI‑powered model that unifies strategy, data, creative, media and partner execution into...
X Enables Global Coaching Reach Beyond Anglo Limits
I’m based in UK but most of my audience is in the US, then UK, Japan (growth market) respectively. S&C & performance coaching industry is heavily US facing because of market opportunities I need to have reach beyond just the...
Adobe (ADBE)-NVIDIA Alliance Targets Next Wave of AI Content Creation
Adobe announced a strategic partnership with NVIDIA on March 16 at the GPU Technology Conference, aiming to supercharge AI‑driven content creation and marketing automation. The deal centers on next‑generation Adobe Firefly models that will run on NVIDIA’s CUDA‑X, NeMo, Cosmos...
Gulf Business Hits Refresh with Website Overhaul
Motivate Media Group has relaunched Gulf Business with a faster, AI‑enabled website that integrates video, podcasts, newsletters and a continuous newsfeed. The overhaul, timed with the title’s 30th anniversary, emphasizes mobile performance, SEO and accessibility for senior GCC decision‑makers. Early...
X Limits Creator Earnings to Domestic Impressions After Location Scandal
Remember when X started showing the location of accounts and everyone found out that a bunch of pro-Trump influencers were actually based in other countries? Now the company says it's changing up its revenue sharing program so people will only...
Half of Organic Traffic Vanishes, Industry Offers Empty Fixes
42% of organic traffic gone. The industry's two responses are a hallucinated dashboard and a five-year plan. https://t.co/89wAiB7eMN via @sejournal Hmm. Not for my #SEO clients. But whatever. https://t.co/dVFu0ZLUfW
Will Utah’s Proposed Ad Tax Survive in Court?
Utah lawmakers have passed a bill that taxes "targeted advertising"—digital ads that use individualized data profiles— and earmarks the proceeds for youth sports, literacy, mental‑health and foster‑care programs. Governor Spencer Cox has not yet signed the measure, and the state...
Google Expands Shopping Ads to 15 New EU Markets
While OpenAI burns cash, Google just announced Shopping Ads in 15 new European markets https://t.co/hQB6wuOTAW https://t.co/eCZo8LPYwP
Spam Update Pending; Spammers Exposed in Live Footage
All quiet on the Spam Update front so far. Was digging in a bit earlier and didn't see any clear drops yet... I believe we'll see it land soon. Stay tuned. Also, see live footage below of site owners that...
Philadelphia Cream Cheese Pulls Dollars From Search – People Aren’t Googling ‘Cream Cheese’
Philadelphia Cream Cheese, owned by Kraft Heinz, has halted paid search on Google, shifting roughly $495,000 of its digital spend to retail‑media networks and focusing on e‑commerce search placements. In 2025 the brand spent $31.8 million on U.S. digital ads, with...
Google Expands Discussion Forum Markup and Robots Tag Guidance
Google added more properties for Discussion Forum & QA Page markup as well as documented robots tags use outside of the HTML head https://t.co/rlTRH9CtGE https://t.co/tB8BkNX9wS
Google Trials Guided Research Feature for Search
Google Search tests "Skip Digging, Start Guided Research" for Web Guide via @lenraleigh by @glenngabe https://t.co/WwENDJaga7 https://t.co/DrRVxAqs4h
Marketers Shift Growing Shares of Search Spending to GEO
Marketers are reallocating a growing share of search spend toward generative engine optimization (GEO) as AI reshapes how users discover brands. A Scribewise survey shows 55% of U.S. marketers now budget for GEO, with 70% assigning 11%‑20% of their search...
Reddit’s New Shopping Ads Are a Play for Beauty Brands’ Business
Reddit unveiled new Dynamic Product Ads at Shoptalk 2026, featuring Collection Ads and Reddit‑specific overlays that embed shoppable tiles within community threads. The platform reports a 40% YoY rise in high‑intent shopping conversations and a 60% surge in beauty‑related purchase discussions....
ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026: JioStar Flags Low TV-Digital Ad Overlap, Strong Incremental Reach in BARC-Nielsen Data
JioStar released a BARC‑Nielsen study of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 showing that television and digital advertising audiences overlapped by less than ten percent. The low duplication indicates that integrated TV‑digital campaigns deliver substantial incremental reach, reaching distinct...
Publicis vs TTD: Stop Crying Baby, It’s A Sign Of The Times
Publicis Groupe announced it will no longer recommend The Trade Desk after a third‑party audit alleged transparency failures, prompting The Trade Desk to defend its platform. Omnicom has launched its own audit, while WPP and Dentsu have already reduced reliance...
India’s M&E Market Tops ₹2.78 Trillion, Eyes ₹3.3 Trillion by 2028 as Digital Ads Surge
India’s media and entertainment industry crossed the ₹2.78 trillion ($33.5 bn) mark in 2025, a 9% YoY rise, and is forecast to reach ₹3.3 trillion ($39.8 bn) by 2028. The expansion is anchored by digital advertising, which grew 26% to ₹94,700 crore ($11.4 bn) and now...
YouTube Launches Gemini-Powered Creator Partnerships Toolkit
YouTube introduced a Gemini‑powered Creator Partnerships suite that automates discovery, matching and campaign management for brands and creators. The launch at IAB NewFronts signals a push to remove infrastructure bottlenecks that have limited the scale of creator marketing.
Sprinklr Shares Dive 33% After CMO's $190K Insider Sale
Sprinklr Inc. saw its shares tumble 33% after chief marketing officer Arun Pattabhiraman sold 32,500 shares for roughly $190,000. The sale cut his direct ownership by 6.3% and reignited debate over valuation and investor confidence in the martech sector.