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
How to Own the Relationship: The Capture Stack
Part 3 of the Superfan Playbook introduces the "capture" phase, urging creators to secure direct fan relationships before investing in community platforms or subscription tiers. It spotlights the free Sellout Fan Score tool, which rates an artist’s readiness on a 0‑1,000 scale using behavioral signals such as ticket velocity and repeat spend. The guide maps concrete actions to score brackets: 0‑200 focuses on email capture, 200‑400 adds revenue‑linked activations, and 500+ signals missing infrastructure that leaks revenue. By mastering capture, creators turn fleeting interest into a owned audience.
FreeWheel’s AI-Driven Context Engine Enables Global Contextual Targeting Across Premium Video
FreeWheel launched Context Engine, an AI‑driven feature inside its Streaming Hub that automatically tags premium video content with contextual signals such as emotion, location and objects. The tool combines computer vision, machine learning and generative AI to process millions of...
Optimizely ‘Opal University’ Participants Build 375 AI Agents in Five Days as Demand Grows for Hands-On AI Training
Optimizely’s free Opal University program attracted over 1,500 senior marketing leaders in its first two weeks, with participants building 375 AI agents across two five‑day cohorts. The hands‑on training delivered 80‑95% time savings on recurring workflows such as SEO, CRO,...
Separate Campaigns Prevent ROAS Inflation and Prospecting Starvation
Your Meta campaign is feeding past purchasers and starving new customers. You just can't see it in the ROAS. So we run a 3-to-4 campaign architecture. When you consolidate cold, warm, and retention into one campaign, the algorithm gravitates toward the...
Rank and Headings Drive AI Citations, Not Authority
The Fan-Out Effect: What Happens Between a Query and a Citation - From a research developed by @Kevin_Indig & @AirOpsHQ analyzing 16,851 queries and +353K pages across ChatGPT's full retrieval pipeline: * Retrieval rank is the #1 signal. A...
☕🤖 Tutorial: Replace Your $2K/Month Video Editor With AI (Claude Code)
The post shows how to replace a $2,000‑per‑month video editor with an AI‑driven video studio built on Claude Code. By creating a single BRAND.md file and leveraging the open‑source Remotion framework, users can generate on‑brand 5‑second intros, 15‑second teasers, data...
Brands Briefing: 40-Year-Old Travelpro Invests in Video, Creators to Compete with Béis, Away and Other Digitally-Native Players
Travelpro, the 40‑year‑old luggage maker famed among airline crews, is revamping its marketing to attract Gen Z and millennial travelers. The brand is pouring resources into short‑form video, creator collaborations, and educational content, launching a "Made to Move" campaign across TikTok,...
Walmart Marks First Triple-A Game Integration with EA Sports FC 26 Campaign | Exclusive
Walmart is debuting its first brand integration inside a triple‑A video game by partnering with EA Sports FC 26. The retailer’s campaign, launched on April 16, centers on a two‑week “Full Throttle” in‑game challenge that awards Ultimate Team packs and other virtual...
StackAdapt Launches Industry First Live Events Campaign Workflow for CTV
StackAdapt, the AI‑driven advertising platform, unveiled an industry‑first Live Events campaign workflow for connected‑TV (CTV) that targets premium live‑sports moments. The new workflow adds a dedicated campaign subtype, a centralized planning hub, and granular pacing and frequency controls to handle...
‘Don’t Trust Those Models’: How Marketers Are Thinking About the Next Era of Transparency
At the ARF AudiencexScience conference, Horizon Media’s Bob Lord warned marketers not to trust black‑box AI models that run ads, citing risks of opaque decision‑making. He advocated for open‑source collaboration, highlighting tools such as Claude and Google’s recently released Meridian...
YFCon Is Turning TikTok Commerce Into a Contact Sport
YFCon, a TikTok Shop‑focused expo in Los Angeles, is set for April 14‑15 and expects over 13,000 attendees, 300+ brands and 150 speakers. Organized by FastMoss and YooFinds, the event sold out 80% of its exhibitor booths a month early,...
The Fight for Media Strategy: Will Agencies or In-House Teams Win?
New research reveals that almost 50% of brands intend to shift media strategy and audience planning in‑house within the next two years. While agencies acknowledge the trend, many report that the migration is not yet materialising at scale. The study...
‘Absolutely No Intention’: Publicis Group CEO Rules Out Building a Trade Desk Rival Amid Ongoing Dispute
Publicis Groupe told clients to pull spend from The Trade Desk after an audit flagged transparency issues, but offered no clear alternative. CEO Arthur Sadoun confirmed on the earnings call that the firm will not build its own demand‑side platform,...
Don’t Pay for Bookstagram Followers: It’s Counterproductive
"It quickly became apparent that building a following on Instagram required a volume of work that I was disinclined to undertake. Bookstagrammers, on the other hand, seemed to provide a way to potentially outsource this labour to someone else." Author...
Account Manager
Single Source, a tech‑forward podcast and YouTube advertising agency, is hiring an Account/Operations Manager to work directly with its CEO. The role spans brand prospecting, end‑to‑end campaign execution, performance tracking, creative review, and internal operations. Candidates need 1‑3 years of...
OpenX Rebrands as 'The Intelligent SSP' To Simplify Programmatic Ads
OpenX announced it will operate under the name The Intelligent SSP, unveiling a new product suite—OpenXSelect, OpenXBuild, OpenXControl and OpenXExchange—to make programmatic buying more transparent and easier to use. CEO Matt Sattel said the move tackles a decade of industry...
Can An AI Solution Fix Misaligned Marketing Orgs?
Opal unveiled Gem, an AI‑driven campaign‑planning tool designed to align fragmented marketing teams and streamline brand‑to‑sub‑brand coordination. The platform leverages natural‑language prompts to generate briefs and media plans, delivering 85‑90% of a campaign’s structure with minimal human tweaking. Early adopters...
Can An AI Solution Fix Misaligned Marketing Orgs?
Opal unveiled Gem, an AI‑powered campaign‑planning tool that uses natural‑language prompts to unify brand strategy, product‑line nuances, and media buying across marketing teams. The platform can ingest data in any format, generate board‑ready briefs and media templates, and deliver drafts...
Flavor Sheriffs Wanted: Carl’s Jr. To Trade Free Sandwiches for Photos of Bland Food
Carl’s Jr. is rolling out a limited‑time promotion from April 14 through April 30, rewarding customers with a free Western Bacon Chicken Sandwich for uploading a receipt or photo of a bland competitor chicken sandwich via its mobile app. The new sandwich boasts...
Programmatic Live Sports Buying Is Starting To Get Less Complicated
StackAdapt has turned a beta test run during the 2026 Winter Olympics into a generally available programmatic live‑sports buying workflow. The new interface lets advertisers set granular controls for ad frequency, budget pacing, and inventory filters such as league or...
A New Answer Engine Optimization Tool, Plus Other Updates - Shooting the Breeze with HubSpot's Spring 2026 Spotlight
HubSpot’s Spring 2026 release adds an Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) tool that leverages CRM data to suggest prompts, create on‑brand content, and track AI‑driven visibility. The Breeze Assistant is upgraded with the Loop Marketing Playbook, role‑aware advice, and automatic brand‑compliant...
5 Lessons From The New Measurement Reality
The webinar “The New Measurement Reality” highlighted how dwindling deterministic signals and increased AI‑driven modeling are reshaping performance marketing. Marketers often mistake volatility for a strategic flaw, when it’s usually a data‑signal issue that prolongs the learning phase. Internal inconsistencies—misaligned...
Last Click Captures Demand, But Creators Build It
Creator marketing has moved beyond simply capturing the last click, becoming a pivotal force in the middle of the funnel. While affiliate links still excel at converting intent that already exists, creators introduce brands to consumers and guide them toward...
How’s Your Martech Stack Shaping Up?
SEMrush, together with Scott Brinker and MarketingOps.com, is rolling out the 2026 State of Your Stack survey. The annual questionnaire asks marketers to detail the tools in their martech stacks, AI adoption levels, integration pain points, and spending trends. Respondents spend...
Affiliate Earns a Seat at the Table: Meytal Markman Talks Innovation, Brand Safety and Micro-Influencers
Meytal Markman, VP of Product Management at Rakuten Advertising, told DealMaker that brands are now blending creator‑driven content with affiliate programs to reach niche audiences at scale. She highlighted the surge of micro‑influencers and closed‑user groups, which deliver higher trust...
Snap Pitches ‘Conversational Commerce’ as TikTok Alternative
At AD Week’s Social Media Week, Snap’s global VP of SMB and mid‑market Sidharth Malhotra argued that the traditional marketing funnel no longer reflects today’s fragmented consumer journey. He highlighted that 40% of U.S. Snapchat users are not on TikTok and 80%...
AI-Driven Media Quality Signals Move Into Campaign Activation
Basis and Protected by Mediaocean have launched a direct integration that embeds AI‑driven verification, attention, and quality signals into the Basis campaign activation platform. The partnership replaces static, post‑campaign checks with real‑time, pre‑bid intelligence that continuously adapts to performance data....
How Rest, FLC Marketing Re-Framed Sleep in a Heat-Driven Market
Rest introduced its Evercool by Rest bedding line in the UAE, positioning cooling as a core sleep requirement rather than a luxury feature. The campaign, orchestrated by FLC Marketing, used a three‑phase "Cool Sleep System" to move consumers from awareness...
GoWit & Numatec Forge Retail Media Partnership in Spain and Italy
GoWit announced a strategic partnership with Numatec to roll out its AI‑driven retail‑media platform across Spain and Italy, leveraging Numatec’s local martech network. The deal targets the fast‑growing European retail‑media market, projected to reach €31 bn (≈$33 bn) by 2028, with Spain...
Curation Is Changing Programmatic — But Not Always For The Better
Programmatic curation is rapidly gaining traction among mid‑market agencies seeking greater control over inventory, pricing, and performance. While self‑service platforms promise real‑time supply‑path optimization and reduced manual effort, many still operate as opaque black boxes that shift rather than eliminate...
Is Your Small Business Invisible to ChatGPT and Google’s AI Answers? Here’s How to Get Back on the Map
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is emerging as a critical tactic for small and medium businesses to appear in AI‑generated answers from tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. Unlike traditional SEO, GEO focuses on schema markup, structured FAQs, and topical authority...
Ad Quality Is a Monetisation Problem: What Publishers Need to Do Now
The article frames ad quality as a core monetisation issue, noting that deceptive or disruptive ads erode user experience and revenue. AppHarbr has launched the In‑App Network Ad Quality Index, a quarterly benchmark that analyzes billions of impressions to rank...
HubSpot Just Priced the Unpriceable
HubSpot announced new pricing for its Breeze AI agents, charging $0.50 for each resolved customer‑support conversation and $1 for every qualified sales lead. The model replaces the previous per‑conversation or per‑contact fee with an outcome‑based charge that only applies when...
Dhar Mann Kicks Off Social Media Week With $1,000 Old Navy Giveaway
Creator Dhar Mann launched ADWEEK’s Social Media Week by reviving his Old Navy partnership, giving away a $1,000 gift certificate. The giveaway builds on a previous campaign where participants guessed whether outfits were Old Navy or designer, reinforcing the brand’s...
Google Business Profile Updates Identity Change Policy Language
Google has revised the identity‑change language in its Business Profile policy, making the rules more explicit about what constitutes a fraudulent edit. The new wording requires merchants to mark a previous business as permanently closed rather than renaming it when...
How To Break Through An Affiliate Site Plateau & Find New Growth – Ask An SEO via @Sejournal, @Rollerblader
Affiliate marketers often hit a plateau when traffic, revenue, or topic ideas dry up. The article outlines advanced tactics such as building a community forum, leveraging user‑generated content, and repurposing top guides into video and podcast formats. It also stresses...
Google Is Aware Of And Warns Against Self-Serving Listicles
Google has confirmed it is monitoring and combating self‑serving listicles that SEO firms use to game large language models and its search results. A spokesperson said the company employs robust protections in both Search and Gemini to block low‑quality, manipulative...
YouTube Turned Coachella Into a Mass Event - Now the Market Needs to Catch Up
YouTube has turned the Coachella music festival into a near‑real‑time, mass‑viewing experience, reaching roughly 200 million concurrent viewers and targeting half a billion in the coming years. Despite this scale, advertisers still allocate far less budget to YouTube than to traditional...
Google Ads & Google Analytics Data Controls Update
Google announced a consolidation of data controls between Google Ads and Google Analytics, shifting all ad‑related data governance to Google Ads settings. Effective June 15 2026, the Google Signals setting in Analytics will defer to Consent Mode in Ads, making ad‑storage decisions...
True Content Pillars Blend Expertise, Audience Needs, Engagement
Your content pillars are not what YOU want to talk about. They're the intersection of your: • Expertise • Audience's problems • What gets engagement If one of those is missing, it's not a pillar. It is a hobby.
Google to Penalize Back‑Button Hijacking Starting June 15
Google Search new spam penalty for back button hijacking kicks in June 15th https://t.co/kKEcy16MOG https://t.co/gskMbjcUoO
Analyst Report: Applovin Corp
AppLovin Corp received a new BUY rating as Argus launched coverage, with senior analyst Joseph F. Bonner highlighting the firm’s mobile advertising platform. The company’s core real‑time ad auction helps game developers, publishers, and advertisers monetize global audiences. AppLovin went...
Long “Ultimate Guides” Underperform Short, Focused Pages
We analyzed 815,000 query-page pairs. The "ultimate guide" strategy produces worse citation results than a focused shorter page. https://t.co/rwNXL7kLMo via @Kevin_Indig, @sejournal
AI Marketing Toolkit Grows: New Tools Added
The best list of #AI #marketing tools anywhere continues to expand: https://t.co/1MqMiJPCBB New tools added recently include Marey by @moonvalley, @SalesAPE_AI, @coachvox, @gradialai, @aivideocut, Cora AI, @UpsurgeCRM, @withdelphi, @UnwrapAi, and @TailwindApp.
How Google’s Removal Tools Work for SEO and Reputation Management by Erase Technologies
Google offers a suite of self‑service removal tools that let owners deindex URLs or request deletion of personal data, but each has strict limits. The URL Removal tool temporarily hides pages you control for about six months, while the Outdated...
Leverage One Piece of Content Across All Channels
Most teams don’t need more content. They need leverage. Turn one blog, video, or podcast into emails, LinkedIn posts, and X updates automatically. Same ideas. More surfaces. Less manual work. https://t.co/TMyyX29S08
Focus on Meta Until $50M Revenue, Skip Distractions
Because would rather find a problem elsewhere than fix what's truly wrong with their funnel. Most brands should put 90% of their focus on Meta exclusively until $50M+ in revenue.
Ad Ops Experience Remains Crucial Amid Growing Automation
Ad ops experience changes how you see everything from metrics to AI. @EricTilbury_RTB , Senior Director of Ad Operations and Product Solutions at @Inuvo shares why hands-on knowledge still matters as automation takes https://t.co/oVLkIGPa4k
Aggressive AI Listicles Trigger Massive Core Update Traffic Drops
I'm looking at several sites right now that got demolished by the last Core updates. -65% in org. traffic / ranks and still declining. One commonality is aggressive AI content, often listicles, that is not relevant to their site.
Multiple URLs Confuse Google—Keep It Simple
Sure, Google can handle pages with multiple URLs but why do that? Why make it harder? https://t.co/a22eUaKmFI via @johnmu https://t.co/tVJGEDAdUv