Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Consumer journeys go non‑linear, MiQ study finds
MiQ’s ‘From Funnel to Flexibility’ study, analyzing data from 53 million households and 700 trillion signals, shows 87 % of shoppers change digital activities at least hourly and 42 % describe their purchase path as random. The research, based on surveys of over 4,000 consumers and 600 marketers in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, challenges the traditional linear marketing funnel.
Also developing:
By the numbers: DOJO AI raises $6M Seed round
Viaccess-Orca Supports MasOrange TV Expansion and Ad Rollout
Viaccess‑Orca has been chosen by MasOrange to underpin a major expansion of its multi‑brand TV portfolio and to launch targeted advertising across both IPTV and OTT services. The operator will use VO’s client‑side and server‑side ad technology, Secure Video Player and cloud‑native Service Delivery Platform as the backbone of its ad‑supported environment. MasOrange has already rolled out three new brands—MASMOVIL TV, Yoigo TV and PepeTV—leveraging a unified backend and integration with Broadpeak’s SSAI and BPK SmartLib SDK. The deployment adds segmentation tools that pull data from set‑top boxes, mobile and TV apps to deliver pre‑roll and mid‑roll ads, with more formats planned in a second phase.
Cut SEO Update Work by 90% with AI Tool
I have 20+ content assets that need to be updated before a "re-rank" event. I call these updates "Rank Enhancement". The whole idea is to take whatever pages you have and improve them based on the data Google uses to rank them. The...
Digital Ad Revenue Climbs to Nearly $300B as IAB Celebrates 30 Year Anniversary
The IAB’s 2025 Internet Advertising Revenue Report shows digital ad spend hit $294.6 billion, up 13.9% year‑over‑year. Social media led with $117.7 billion (32.6% growth), followed by search, video and commerce media. Programmatic advertising rose 20.5% to $162.4 billion, while creator advertising reached...
Search Ad Growth Slows As Social & Video Gain Faster via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
The IAB’s 2025 report shows digital ad revenue hitting $294 billion, up 13 percent year‑over‑year. Search advertising, still the largest segment at $114 billion, slowed to 11 percent growth, while social media ads surged 32 percent to $117 billion and digital video rose 25 percent to $78 billion....
Roku’s Platform Crosses 100 Million Users, Fueling Ad Business
Roku Inc. announced its streaming platform now serves more than 100 million U.S. households, cementing its position as a leading TV‑connected ecosystem. The company says its devices are installed in over half of all broadband homes, and user growth continues in...
The Gambling Industry Is Spending $3.9B the Wrong Way
In 2025 U.S. sports betting and online gaming spent $3.9 billion on marketing, with 36% allocated to TV ads and only 2.3% to earned media and PR. The 5WPR Gaming Trust Index shows that the bulk of spend still targets awareness,...
Urban Company Says ‘We’re Here for You’ with Stories From the People of the UAE
Urban Company launched the ‘UC Heroes’ campaign in the UAE, featuring video testimonials from its service professionals and adding personalized thank‑you cards and fridge magnets to each appointment. The initiative also awards a ‘UC Heroes’ badge to workers, highlighting their...
Wizz App & AppHarbr by GeoEdge Set a New Standard for Ad Safety
GeoEdge’s AppHarbr platform partnered with Gen Z social app Wizz App to launch a year‑long ad safety program. Over the past 12 months the system examined more than 4 billion ads, automatically blocking roughly 0.17% that violated the app’s community standards. The...
Instagram Adds In‑Reel Affiliate Tags, Boosting Creator Earnings
ICYMI: Instagram is rolling out the ability to use affiliate links to tag products in Reels. 🛍️ This removes friction that often comes with creators driving audiences to their link in bio or using comment automations to share affiliate links, likely...
What’s the Scrappiest Tool You’ve Built?
In this 1‑minute, 27‑second episode of Voices of Search, host Jordan Cooney chats with Celeste Gonzalez, SEO testing director at Rickeroo and founder of the LA SEO Meetup, about the importance of getting scrappy with existing data and building custom...
Turn PAA Questions Into Subheadings for SEO Wins
Most bloggers ignore this goldmine: “People Also Ask” (PAA) Every question in the PAA box is a ranking opportunity. Take those questions, turn them into subheadings, and answer them directly. Now your post is optimized for: • Featured snippets • More SERP real estate • Higher authority...
Meta Completely Ignores TV, and Other Ad Wisdom. Its the Biggest Ad Player Anyhow
Meta’s advertising business is now outpacing traditional TV despite the company’s near‑zero presence on television, lack of original programming, and no sports‑rights deals. eMarketer data shows Meta’s ad revenue surpassing most broadcast networks, driven by rapid growth in Reels, Threads...
Can AI Read Your Homepage?
Adobe reports AI chat platforms drove a 269% year‑over‑year surge in referral traffic to U.S. retail sites in March 2026, with overall AI‑generated traffic up 393% for Q1. Its AI Content Visibility Checker found that 75% of retailer homepages are...
The Identity Crisis Coming for News SEO
Google is experimenting with AI‑generated headlines and summaries that rewrite or replace news publishers' original titles, as seen in a recent test on The Verge. The move extends to Google Discover, which now auto‑summarizes headlines, sometimes producing inaccurate or misleading...
The World’s Largest Ad Holding Company Just Bet Its AI Future on One Vendor
Publicis Groupe has deepened its partnership with Microsoft, creating a full‑stack agentic marketing platform that combines Azure cloud, Copilot tools, and Publicis’ Epsilon data and Sapient consultancy. The deal makes Azure the preferred cloud for Publicis and rolls out Microsoft...
Amazon MGM Leverages E‑Commerce Power to Market ‘Project Hail Mary’ at CinemaCon
Amazon MGM Studios showcased an integrated marketing playbook at CinemaCon, pairing its e‑commerce clout with theatrical distribution to amplify the $525 million worldwide run of ‘Project Hail Mary.’ Executives promised 15 new releases per year and an international distribution unit, underscoring...
Tinuiti Appoints Abbey Klaassen as CEO, Adds Bryan Wiener as Board Chair to Boost Growth for CMOs
Tinuiti announced Abbey Klaassen as its new chief executive, succeeding Zach Morrison after 21 years, and named Bryan Wiener chairman of the board. The leadership overhaul is designed to accelerate AI‑driven, data‑centric services for chief marketing officers seeking faster, independent...
Google’s Patent On Autonomous Search Results via @Sejournal, @Martinibuster
Google has filed a continuation patent that enables its search engine and AI assistants to monitor unanswered queries and automatically deliver answers once satisfactory information becomes available. The invention defines quality, authority and completeness standards, stores the query, and pushes...
FTC and Eight States Settle Antitrust Case with WPP, Publicis and Dentsu Over Brand‑Safety Collusion
The Federal Trade Commission and eight Republican‑led states secured a consent decree with advertising giants WPP, Publicis and Dentsu, prohibiting coordinated brand‑safety rules that allegedly suppressed conservative media. The agencies denied wrongdoing but agreed to a court‑ordered monitor and five‑year...
WPP Media Wins Strategic Media Mandate for KFC and Pizza Hut Singapore
WPP Media has been selected as the integrated media agency for KFC Singapore and Pizza Hut Singapore after a competitive pitch. The agency will handle media strategy, planning and buying, using its AI‑driven WPP Open platform to turn consumer insights...
5 Real Writing Rules Behind 1,200+ Posts
I've written 1,200+ social media posts in the last year. here are 5 writing rules I actually follow. none of them are "use hooks" or "add emojis."
Inside United Airlines’ ‘Mean Girls Day’ Campaign and the Pivot that Made It Work
United Airlines' social team built a Mean Girls Day campaign for Oct. 3, featuring actor Jonathan Bennett. When Taylor Swift announced a new album release on the same day, the team quickly re‑engineered the concept, weaving Swift’s buzz into the video...
Server-Guided Ad Insertion (SGAI) and the Future of Streaming
Server‑guided ad insertion (SGAI) is a hybrid approach that gives publishers server‑side control over ad break timing while allowing the player to manage the actual ad rendering. It bridges the resource‑heavy client‑side insertion (CSAI) and the less flexible server‑side insertion...
Facebook's 2026 Rules for Reach & Relevance
In this episode, Michael Stelzner, Jerry Potter, and Facebook ads expert Tara Zerker break down Meta's 2026 updates that prioritize original short‑form video and crack down on low‑value reposts. They explain how Meta will use a content "fingerprint" to identify...
Winning Growth Comes From Intent, Not Mere Reach
Reach is a vanity metric dressed up as a growth strategy. Everyone's optimizing for impressions. The ones winning are optimizing for intent. Reach tells you how many people saw you. Intent tells you how many were ready. Those are not the same thing. Ran cold email...
AEO, GEO, SEO: Who, What & Why
Reza Moaiandin of SALT.agency explains that SEO, AEO and GEO are interconnected facets of AI‑driven search, not separate silos. He highlights a 20% adoption tipping point for generative AI that is compressing discovery, comparison and purchase into a single interaction....
Digest: Netflix to Refocus on Ads and Content After Warner Bid; IAB Sets AI Commerce Media Guidelines; WPP in Talks...
Netflix is set to report its first earnings since abandoning the Warner Bros. Discovery deal, highlighting a renewed emphasis on advertising and original content. The company projects Q1 revenue of $12.18 billion, up 15.5%, with ad‑supported tiers expected to generate about $634 million. Meanwhile,...
FTC Ruling Leaves Advertisers in the Dark over Brand Safety
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission ruled that major ad agencies—including Publicis, WPP and Dentsu—colluded to boycott platforms such as Elon Musk’s X, resulting in a settlement that prohibits restricting advertising on politically biased or motivated grounds. In response, the agencies...
How to Safely Manage Multiple Facebook Accounts Without Getting Restricted
Marketers and growth operators often need several Facebook profiles to run campaigns, but Facebook’s policy permits only one personal account per individual. Restrictions arise not from the number of accounts but from shared device identifiers, IP overlap, and repetitive behavior...
AI Answer Engine Drive More Effective Advertisng at Reach and Independent
Taboola’s AI‑powered answer engine, Deeper Dive, is now live on dozens of publisher sites including Reach, The Independent and Huffpost UK. The tool draws about seven million monthly users, with roughly one in six visitors asking questions, and delivers ad conversion...
How Meshki Is Winning over Americans with SEO and Storytelling
Australian‑born fashion label Meshki has leveraged SEO, storytelling and a strong social presence to accelerate its U.S. growth. The brand posted FY24/25 revenue of AUD 183 million (≈$131 million), up from AUD 121 million (≈$87 million) a year earlier. Celebrity endorsements and a dedicated "Trending" section...
While Adtech Builds the Homescreen Pipes, Advertisers Can Still Tap Into the Opportunity
The CTV homescreen has become the primary gateway for viewers, consolidating fragmented streaming audiences into a premium advertising surface. However, each OEM—Samsung, LG, Roku, Google TV—imposes its own creative specifications, creating operational friction for advertisers. The IAB’s Ad Format Hero...
Audience Data Enrichment: Keep B2B Data Campaign-Ready
Audience data enrichment—updating contact and account records to stay current—is essential for B2B marketers because roughly 30% of contact information changes each year. Stale data inflates bounce rates, breaks segmentation, misroutes leads, and skews AI‑driven scoring models, costing firms an...
Expedia Courts Non-Travel Brands With New Adtech Deal
Expedia Group has partnered with ad‑tech platform Magnite to monetize its vast first‑party data set. The deal gives brands and agencies access to roughly 200 petabytes of traveler data for targeting across streaming TV, video, display and audio. Expedia’s travel media...
Measurement Biggest Barrier to DOOH Investment, Azerion Finds; It’s Partly a Perception Problem
Azerian’s February‑March 2026 study of 128 UK media planners reveals that while 68% have increased out‑of‑home (OOH) usage and 93% consider it vital to omnichannel strategies, 58% view measurement and attribution uncertainty as the primary barrier to further investment. The...
Hard Truths For Retail Media At The IAB Connected Commerce Summit
At the IAB’s 2026 Connected Commerce Summit, industry leaders warned that retail media is at a crossroads, noting the market cannot sustain hundreds of undifferentiated commerce media networks. The new IAB report stresses that future growth will come from tapping...
Hard Truths For Retail Media At The IAB Connected Commerce Summit
At the IAB’s 2026 Connected Commerce Summit, IAB VP Collin Colburn warned that retail media is entering a painful growth phase, likening it to a child’s potty‑training. He stressed that the market cannot support hundreds of undifferentiated commerce media networks...
As RFPs Shrink, Multicultural Publishers Fight For Dollars With First-Party Data
Multicultural publishers are seeing RFP volumes shrink and referral traffic dry up, pressuring them to prove scale for advertisers. To counteract the reach gap, firms like Q Digital and AURN are adopting AdGrid’s Audience Accelerator, a first‑party data platform that...
LinkedIn Video Secured $100k Brand Deal—Post More
I video on LinkedIn landed me a $100k brand deal. I should really be posting more there.
Avoid Offerwall: It Will Frustrate Your Users
Offerwall, or as I call it, "Navboost Killer" is now generally available to all publishers. I highly recommend NOT implementing Offerwall. You will anger and frustrate your users to no end. I have covered this before. Beware.
Wonderskin CEO Michael Malinsky on Turning a Viral Product Into a Thriving Beauty Brand
Wonderskin, founded by Michael Malinsky in 2020, turned a TikTok‑viral metallic blue lip‑stain into a multi‑category beauty brand. The $22 Wonder Blading Lip Stain Peel‑Off Mask has sold over 6 million units, fueling a 300% revenue surge that hit roughly $125 million...
Google Ads PMax Spend Trends Across Channels
Google Ads PMax channel performance report on the insights report that shows spend over time per channel https://t.co/1qbNeb12Tq via @AndrewLolk https://t.co/FE8snV6sFF
AI Cuts Keyword Research From Hours to Minutes
Would you rather spend 8 hours researching keywords manually or let Claude analyze 500 competitor pages in 3 minutes and find gaps you missed?
Agencies Compete for SEO Talent as Client Demand for Zero-Click Expertise Surges
Ad agencies are racing to fill senior SEO positions as brands clamor for zero‑click and AI‑driven search expertise. Eight firms, from indie shops to large holding companies, posted roles with salaries ranging from $100,000 to $260,000. The hiring focus extends...
How Portland Leather Goods Did $1M in Sales in 20 Days on TikTok Shop Thanks to an Affiliate Blitz
Portland Leather Goods catapulted its TikTok Shop sales from roughly $1,200 a day to a $100,000 peak after launching a seven‑day affiliate blitz in March. By recruiting about 500 creators who posted 3,800 videos and amassed 13 million views, the brand...
Ogilvy APAC and Quad China Launch Tuborg’s New Global Campaign “You Don’t Have To”
Ogilvy APAC and Quad China have launched Tuborg's new global campaign “You Don’t Have To,” aimed at young people overwhelmed by social‑media pressure and performance anxiety. The rollout features two global films directed by Cannes Lions Grand Prix‑winning director Terence Neale,...
The AI Marketing Tools You’re Using Were Trained on Your Competitor’s Customer, Not Yours
Most AI‑powered marketing platforms used by APAC startups are built on datasets that reflect Western, English‑speaking consumers. As a result, the algorithms prioritize urban, smartphone‑native audiences that competitors already chase, driving higher customer‑acquisition costs for founders. The article argues that...
Pinterest’s New Ad Asks: When Did Watching Life Online Become Enough?
Pinterest unveiled a 60‑second in‑house film titled “How did they do it?” that stitches together employee home movies to argue the best thing found online is a reason to go offline. The ad, part of a broader brand campaign against...
Amazon Ads India Launches Generative AI Tools to Speed Ad Creation and Cut Costs
Amazon Ads India has rolled out generative AI capabilities that let brands produce and test multiple ad variants without large creative teams or external agencies. The move promises faster campaign cycles and lower spend, aligning with the platform’s full‑funnel strategy...
TROAS + Lowest Cost Drives Scalable Brand Growth
tROAS + Lowest cost has been crushing for us across brands. They target different audience segments in the auction and the target ROAS allows us to scale into upside with inflated budgets.