Today's Digital Marketing Pulse
Ad tech vendors pivot to cloud‑hardware ownership to cut latency and costs
Vendors are splitting between owning their own cloud infrastructure and renting from public clouds such as AWS, Google Cloud and Azure. SSPs PubMatic and Index Exchange introduced containerized solutions—Decision Fabric and Index Cloud—that let DSPs run models on‑premise, lowering latency and data‑transfer expenses. The shift balances cost savings against control of the stack.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Accenture Song acquires influencer marketing agency Whalar
AdPlus Beta Attracts Nearly 200 Marketers as AI Ad Platform Sets May 19 Public Launch Date
AdPlus, a Boston‑based AI‑native ad platform, opened its public beta in April and drew nearly 200 marketers without spending on paid acquisition. The tool lets users plan, launch and manage campaigns across twelve major networks—including Google, Meta, Amazon and TikTok—from a single dashboard. Its AI engine creates cross‑channel campaign plans from natural‑language prompts and syncs live edits across all connected platforms. The company will close the waitlist and launch publicly on May 19, opening the service to all marketers.
Mercedes‑Benz CMO Melody Lee Deploys Social, Influencer and Data Tactics to Win Younger Buyers
Mercedes‑Benz U.S. chief marketing officer Melody Lee is steering a digital overhaul that blends social media, influencer outreach and data‑driven lead capture to attract younger consumers. The plan hinges on a 30 million‑visitor website, TikTok engagement and high‑visibility partnerships such as...
Netflix’s Bold New Pitch to Advertisers: ‘We Can Compete With Anyone’
Netflix’s advertising division is on track to double its revenue for the second consecutive year, targeting roughly $3 billion in ad sales by 2026. Programmatic buying now accounts for almost half of its ad business, bolstered by recent DSP integrations with...
DIRECTV Advertising Launches New “Metaphor” Campaign Tied to Upfronts
DIRECTV Advertising unveiled a multi‑channel "Metaphor" campaign timed with New York’s Upfront Week, using the industry’s annual gathering as a visual analogy for its converged TV advertising platform. Developed with TBWA\Chiat\Day LA and media partner Starcom US, the effort spans...
This Upfront Season, Measurement Is More Important than Ever
Upfronts week returns with networks and streamers pitching advertisers, but measurement and performance metrics now dominate discussions. Flexibility in dealmaking and real‑time data are top priorities amid economic volatility. Disney’s ownership of the 2027 Super Bowl gives it leverage, while...
MrBeast Is Wooing Big Advertisers at an Invite-Only Gathering in NYC. Here's What He's Planning.
Creator-driven media company Beast Industries is hosting an invite‑only breakfast in Manhattan to pitch its brand‑partnership vision to top advertisers and agency executives. The event, timed with the traditional TV upfronts week, signals the growing competition between creator‑led platforms and...
Prime Video Ads Can Now Change Based on What Viewers Already Saw
Amazon announced Dynamic TV Creative, a new tool that automatically adjusts Prime Video ad creatives based on a viewer’s prior exposure to a brand or product. The feature, unveiled at Amazon’s May 11 upfront, builds on last year’s interactive video ads...
Adobe Acrobat as a Marketing Tool? New AI Features Help You Reach Every Stakeholder, Every Time
Adobe introduced PDF Spaces, an AI‑powered workspace inside Acrobat that transforms static PDFs into interactive, shareable microsites. The tool bundles documents, links, notes and AI‑generated summaries, audio overviews, and a conversational assistant that answers stakeholder questions. Real‑time engagement analytics reveal...
The Gap Between Modern and Legacy ESPs Is Widening
Artificial intelligence is reshaping email marketing by embedding predictive audience selection, timing, and content optimization directly into modern email service providers (ESPs). Legacy ESPs, which rely on bolt‑on AI and relational databases, cannot match the speed, cost efficiency, or real‑time...
10 Best Email Tracking Software I Use for Smarter Campaigns
The article reviews the 10 best email tracking platforms for 2026, including Agentforce Sales (formerly Salesforce), HubSpot Sales Hub, Apollo.io, Instantly, ZoomInfo Sales, Pipedrive, Salesloft, Close, monday CRM, and Brevo. Each tool is evaluated on features such as AI‑driven insights,...
Digest: ChatGPT Ads Expand to New Markets Including UK; Meta Sues Ofcom Over Safety Act Fines; Apple Pays $250m Over...
OpenAI is rolling out its ChatGPT advertising pilot to five new markets— the United Kingdom, Brazil, Japan, South Korea and Mexico—following earlier launches in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The move coincides with the hire of former Trade Desk...
Growth Stats Launches Full-Spectrum SEO Services Designed to Propel B2B Brands to the Top of Search Rankings
Growth Stats, a performance‑driven digital marketing agency, has launched a full‑suite SEO service tailored for B2B technology and industrial firms. The offering spans six interlocking disciplines—local, technical, on‑page, keyword research, performance reporting, and content development—designed for cybersecurity, SaaS, IT services,...
Dove Men’s World Cup Debut Turns Soccer’s Unofficial Anthem Into a Skincare Pitch
Dove Men+Care, a Unilever brand, launched its first FIFA World Cup sponsorship with a social‑first video set to The White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army” riff. The minute‑long spot follows men navigating typical match‑day rituals—lucky jerseys, body paint, champagne showers—while emphasizing skin‑care...
Brick Marketing to Present AI Search (SEO) Mastermind Sessions at SMX Advanced Boston
Brick Marketing will host two expert‑level mastermind roundtables at SMX® Advanced Boston, focusing on AI‑driven SEO and content marketing. President Nick Stamoulis will teach how to turn AI search visibility into qualified B2B pipeline, while Katherine Tsoukalas will cover building...
Penske Media Illuminates Dark Traffic To Find New Revenue
Publishers are losing measurable traffic to generative‑AI answer engines and privacy tools, creating a growing pool of "dark traffic" that evades analytics. Penske Media Corporation (PMC) teamed with ad‑block recovery platform Ad‑Shield to model and recover these invisible users, especially...
The Case for and Against Agentic Media Buying
Agentic media‑buying tools are being piloted by holding companies such as Omnicom, Stagwell and Butler/Till to bypass traditional ad‑tech intermediaries and deliver more budget directly to publishers. Proponents argue the technology can strip away layers of the programmatic supply chain,...
Inside Expedia’s Year-Long Partnership with Mega Creator IShowSpeed
Expedia has signed a year‑long partnership with mega‑creator IShowSpeed, whose 150 million followers span YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. The deal, estimated at $250,000, includes a Caribbean livestream, an interactive travel‑site and a dedicated TikTok account, and gives Speed full creative control....
‘Google Doesn’t Care that It’s Terrible’: Brand, Agency Execs Air Frustrations with The Trade Desk, Google’s Performance Max, Meta’s Advantage+
Agency leaders say The Trade Desk has stepped up rep outreach after a March advisory from Dentsu, Publicis and WPP warned clients about spending on its platform and OpenPath. While the DSP claims its data is transparent, users must stitch...
Creator Marketing 101: Building a Creator Marketing Strategy
The creator economy, valued at $250 billion in 2023, is projected to reach $480 billion by 2027, prompting brands to adopt creator marketing as a core channel. Unlike traditional influencer campaigns, creator marketing emphasizes expertise, authenticity, and flexible partnership models such as...
Cleaning Low‑Quality Content Boosts Site Performance Over Time
This is a cool one to watch: this site had a ton of low-quality programmatic content that it cleaned up late last year, and it's seeing the benefits now, ~8 months later https://t.co/R0M17fdNZv
Jan 2020 Listicle Update Triggered Massive SEO Bloodbath
One of the casualties of the Jan ~20 "listicle" and low-quality-content unconfirmed Google update. It was a total bloodbath. More impactful than the March 26 Core Update, IMO. https://t.co/8d3zmKfZwT
Monks Brings AI-Led ‘Creative Intelligence’ to APAC Market via Monks.Flow Ecosystem
Monks, the AI arm of S4Capital, launched its Creative Intelligence engine across APAC as part of the Monks.Flow ecosystem. The cloud‑native solution fingerprints video and static assets, attaching granular metadata to performance data so marketers can pinpoint which creative elements...
The Trade Desk Study Reveals Flaw In How The Industry Defines Advertising Efficiency
The Trade Desk and PA Consulting released the "Premium Media Payoff" study, showing that ads in premium environments outperform lower‑cost placements on core brand metrics. Premium media delivered 4.3% higher purchase consideration, a 37% lift in purchase intent, a 22%...
Inside JB Hi-Fi’s Retail Media Rollout at Mumbrella Remade Conference
Mumbrella’s Remade conference returns on September 10 in Sydney, merging its retail media and retail marketing tracks into three focused streams. The agenda spotlights JB Hi‑Fi’s rollout of a store‑centric retail media network, with Scott Browning and Sarah Ladbury joined by...
Amazon Ads unBoxed 2026 Unveils Four AI‑Driven Marketing Trends
Amazon Ads hosted its flagship unBoxed 2026 conference in Shenzhen, announcing four AI‑driven marketing trends that span audience targeting, creative production, campaign orchestration and performance measurement. Yeahmobi’s William Liu emphasized the shift toward AI‑centric growth infrastructure, signaling new opportunities for...
News Corp Posts 9% Revenue Rise to $2.2 B, Citing Digital Ad Gains and AI Deals
News Corp announced third‑quarter fiscal 2026 revenue of $2.2 billion, up 9% year‑over‑year, with segment EBITDA climbing 18% to $343 million. The growth stemmed from digital advertising, AI licensing agreements with Meta and OpenAI, and a $193 million share repurchase program.
TikTok Food Reviews Rife with Hyperbole and Hidden Sponsorships, Analysis Finds
A recent Slate analysis of TikTok food‑review content uncovered pervasive hyperbolic language and potential undisclosed sponsorships, prompting brands to question the credibility of influencer marketing on the platform. The piece highlights a staggering 200th use of the adjective “fire” in...
Stop Paying for Analytics Tools. Claude Builds Your Dashboard in 5 Minutes.
Claude’s new live‑artifact feature lets users construct a fully functional analytics dashboard in about 15 minutes, pulling live data from platforms like Substack and YouTube. The tool operates inside the Claude interface, requiring no additional software and no extra cost...
Unlock 50+ High-Value Directories with Automated Submissions
I built a skill that manages directory submissions — Product Hunt, G2, AI directories, startup directories, and backlink-building listings with launch playbooks and tracking. You describe your product and it identifies the right directories, optimizes each listing, plans launch sequences, and...
Instagram Eyes Long-Form Content on CTV
Instagram is planning to add long‑form video to its connected‑TV (CTV) app, according to Vice President of Product Tessa Lyons at the Scalable Summit. The move is intended to complement the platform’s short‑form focus and give creators tools for podcasts, live...
LinkedIn Uses AI to Improve Feed Relevance
LinkedIn is rolling out AI‑powered generative recommenders that replace its legacy, siloed ranking models. The new system evaluates a member’s activity across feed, jobs, ads and notifications as a single, continuous professional journey. By aggregating signals from all product areas,...
Pinterest Updates Ad Relevance
Pinterest has upgraded its ad relevance engine by incorporating users' offline conversion data and real‑time search behavior. The new architecture uses a hybrid serving flow and novel training approach, boosting median relevance by roughly 275‑300% in tests. It also doubled...
Microsoft Advertising Adds Conversions, Clicks, and Spend to Performance Max Placement Reports
Microsoft Advertising announced on May 7, 2026 that its Performance Max campaigns will now surface conversion, click and spend metrics in the Website URL placement report. The move gives advertisers granular visibility beyond impressions, aiming to improve budget allocation and...
After the Scan: Where QR Code Strategy Actually Begins
QR codes have moved from novelty to a core marketing tool, with 70% of consumers scanning at least monthly and 71% finding them useful. Uniqode’s State of QR Codes 2026 report shows 98% of marketers see a positive impact, yet...
Lux OOH Advertising Declares Out‑of‑Home the Premier World Cup 2026 Brand Play
Lux OOH Advertising says out‑of‑home (OOH) advertising will be the most effective channel for brands during the 2026 World Cup, a six‑week tournament spanning 16 U.S., Canadian and Mexican cities, 48 teams and 104 matches. The agency warns digital‑only campaigns...
One Year, 15 Posts, 1K Substack Subscribers
Sharing this openly. Maybe a bit corny, but I am proud that I finally got to 1K subscribers on Substack. And I'll be honest. It was harder than I thought. It took me one year. I wrote 15 posts. About 4-6...
Ad Stack Rebuilt Around Generative Retrieval
Fantastic new (from April) paper from Kuaishou on GR4AD (Generative Recommendation for ADvertising). Kuaishou has made several important recent contributions to generative recommendation systems, particularly with its OneRec architecture. But GR4AD advances a more radical proposition: that the modern advertising...
Google Ads Embeds Tag Manager Controls to Streamline Campaign Tracking
Google Ads has rolled out native Google Tag Manager controls within its Data Manager, allowing marketers to view and edit GTM containers without leaving the Ads interface. The move eliminates a long‑standing technical hurdle, promising faster iteration and more reliable...
Automate Video Creation to Save 10 Hours Weekly
The best AI builders set up systems to help them ship faster. Here's @moritzkremb's system to create short videos that saves him 10 hours a week: 1. Cron jobs scrape ideas from X and YouTube 2. AI generates rough notes for the script 3....
Mobile Gaming Spend Hits $6.55 B in Feb 2026, Driving New In‑Game Ad Strategies
Sensor Tower data shows global mobile game spending climbed to $6.55 billion in February 2026, led by the United States at 30% of the market. The surge is pushing advertisers toward more immersive, genre‑specific in‑game ads and localized creative tactics. Yeahmobi’s...
HubSpot Agent Delivers Hours Saved and Compounding Value
One of the easiest ways to start getting measurable value from agents is HubSpot's Customer Agent. "Setup took less than a day. We're already clawing back hundreds of hours for our CS team. The deeper we go into the HubSpot...
Scale Ads Wisely: Track These Crucial KPIs
Writing Most businesses don’t fail because of bad products. They fail because they scale ads without understanding the numbers behind growth. If you’re running Meta or Google Ads, here are the KPIs that actually matter: • CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)...
Social Media Is Not Enough. How Smart Founders Market Themselves in the Age of AI
Founders increasingly rely on social media to acquire customers, but the sheer size of the ecosystem—4.8 billion users covering 60% of the global population—creates a false sense of security. AI‑driven algorithm changes threaten the stability of any single‑platform strategy, turning what...
Boost Indie Success: Video, Block Toxic, Promote Backlist
Try to do these 3 things this week as an indie author: 1. Post a video talking to your readers. About you. About your book. Anything. It doesn’t have to be perfect. Show them who you are. 2. Block people who disrupt...
Test, Iterate, and Spam: Real Data Refines Messaging
A hill I will die on as a messaging strategist: your message improves the most when you put it out there. IT doesn't change in a silo. It's been through testing, iterating using DATA where I get my message to perform...
Meta Leads Revenue Growth as AI Hyperscalers Report Q1 Earnings
Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon and Meta released Q1 2026 earnings, with Meta posting the strongest revenue growth and a cash‑flow multiple under 13x. Google Cloud revenue jumped 63%, Microsoft posted 17% revenue growth and 20% operating profit growth, and Amazon’s low‑margin...
Instagram Stories Ads Now Block Tap-to-Skip Functionality
Why can’t you tap to skip ads on IG stories anymore?? I tap and the entire website pops up and then I can’t exit out of it unless I close the entire app.
SEO Agencies Suddenly Give up, Stop Caring
This one again. Yep. SEO agencies all just suddenly threw their hands in the air and stopped caring. https://t.co/RsYUI14ymo
ADSQUIRE Launches First Lawyer Ad Inside ChatGPT, Opening AI Legal Marketing Frontier
ADSQUIRE announced it has placed the first lawyer advertisement inside OpenAI's ChatGPT, marking a historic entry for legal marketing into conversational AI. The campaign promotes Pennsylvania personal‑injury education and showcases the agency’s push to claim early inventory on emerging AI...
The Internet Rewards Niche Content at Massive Scale
Weekly reminder: The internet lets you be niche at scale (and rewards you heavily for it)