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
Overlay Ads and the Streaming Ad Tech State of Play
IAB Tech Lab’s VP of Product Jill Wittkopp outlined the current state of streaming ad‑tech, focusing on overlay formats such as L‑bars, squeezebacks and corner overlays. The lab applied an 80/20 rule to distill eight ad experiences down to six, aiming for a common framework that lets advertisers reuse creative across publishers. A forthcoming set of signaling standards will define how each overlay type is identified and triggered, ensuring the right creative matches the right format. The initiative is moving toward public release after a comment period, promising faster, scalable spend for CTV campaigns.
MozCon New York 2026
Moz is hosting MozCon New York 2026, a single‑track, one‑day SEO and digital‑marketing conference on July 14 in Midtown Manhattan. The agenda covers SEO strategy, content marketing, data‑driven tactics, and AI’s impact on search, delivering actionable frameworks and networking sessions....
Meta's Muse Spark Bridges Consumer Ads to Enterprise AI
Contextualizing Meta’s Muse Spark "Whether this API pilot emerges as a direct enterprise opportunity or not, there’s clear applicability to the Manus agent use case (which has already been brought to Meta’s ads manager), Meta’s off-platform Business AI initiative, and other...
“Global Affiliate Programmes Are Becoming a Hot Topic”: PartnerBoost VP on China’s Affiliate Ecosystem
William Hamer‑Jones, VP of Partnerships at PartnerBoost, says global affiliate programmes are moving from siloed niches to a hot topic, especially in the APAC region. Agencies are overcoming resource gaps by establishing local offices in China, Japan and South Korea,...
New Google Spam Policy Targets Back Button Hijacking via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google has added “back button hijacking” to its spam‑policy malicious‑practice category, with enforcement beginning June 15, 2026 after a two‑month grace period. The move follows a rise in complaints about scripts that alter browser history, redirect users, or block navigation. Violations...
Stop Relying on One Creative—Test Variations for 2.5X Growth
Lately, I’m seeing brands rely on one winning creative for too long. It performs… until it slowly fades. Then comes the doubt — “Why did it stop working?” Not fatigue alone — over-reliance without variation. We introduced controlled creative testing. Performance recovered and scaled 2.5X...
How Brands Should Respond to CTV Ad Fatigue Before Viewers Tune Them Out
Streaming platforms are rapidly expanding ad‑supported inventory, with Prime Video doubling its ad load, Netflix adding ad minutes, and Amazon rebranding its ad‑free tier. The U.S. CTV audience now exceeds 240 million, and projected ad spend is set to surpass $46 billion...
Dollar General Expands AI-Powered In-Store Audio Network
Dollar General is expanding its retail media footprint by launching an AI‑enabled in‑store audio network in roughly 6,000 stores, with a goal to reach 12,000 locations by Q2 2026. The system blends point‑of‑sale data, curated music and AI‑generated ads to deliver...
BLVD Marketing Unveils Study on Shifting Digital‑Marketing Budgets
BLVD Marketing launched a fresh study that maps how companies are reshaping digital‑marketing budgets across SEO, paid media, social and content. The research underscores a growing reliance on data‑driven allocation as competition intensifies on both paid and organic fronts.
Ego Pharmaceuticals Revamps Elucent with TikTok‑Centric Campaign and New Design
Ego Pharmaceuticals has relaunched its Melbourne‑made Elucent brand, unveiling two high‑performance product ranges and a litmus‑strip inspired visual system. The rollout was anchored by an anonymous TikTok tease that generated strong early engagement, signaling a shift toward culturally relevant, science‑backed...
Connected TV Becomes First Real Testbed for AI‑Driven Agentic Advertising
Connected TV (CTV) is emerging as the inaugural arena for agentic advertising, as budgets grow 9.5% YoY and manual workflows strain publishers. AI‑driven agents are being deployed to automate pricing, pacing and inventory allocation, offering a potential solution to CTV’s...
Tofu Raises $12M to Consolidate Campaign Execution for GTM Teams
Tofu announced a $12 million Series A round to accelerate its AI-powered unified platform for go‑to‑market (GTM) teams. The funding, led by SignalFire with participation from HubSpot Ventures and other investors, will fund new product capabilities and deeper integrations. Tofu’s...
Meta Set to Overtake Google as the World’s Number One Digital Advertiser
Emarketer forecasts Meta will generate $243.46 billion in ad revenue in 2026, narrowly surpassing Google’s $239.54 billion. The gap reflects Meta’s rapid climb from $196.17 billion in 2025, driven by AI‑enhanced tools like Advantage+ and strong performance on Facebook, Instagram and Reels. The...
18 Growth Marketing Channels That Actually Work in 2026
The 2026 growth marketing playbook highlights 18 channels, with agentic AI emerging as the most transformative. Marketers must address infrastructure gaps in identity resolution, attribution, and unified behavioral data to unlock AI agents’ potential. Internal AI‑powered tools, account‑based outbound, and...
Nigerian Creators Are Turning to Rage-Bait to Cash in on X
X’s Creator Ads Revenue Sharing program pays roughly $8.50 per million verified impressions, prompting many Nigerian creators to adopt rage‑bait tactics that spark angry replies and inflate impression counts. By posting provocative takes on marriage, tribalism and trending news, they aim...
Dropbox Enlarges Big Spaceship's Scope As Social AOR
Dropbox has elevated Big Spaceship from project‑based work to its official social agency of record, expanding the scope to full‑funnel duties and IRL activation content for 2026. The partnership has already driven quarter‑over‑quarter engagement gains among Dropbox’s 700 million users, supported...
Archer Teams with ‘Mandalorian and Grogu’ for First Entertainment Deal
Archer Meat Snacks announced its first entertainment partnership, teaming with the upcoming theatrical release *Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu*. The multi‑channel campaign includes three co‑branded snack packs, a 30‑second ad spot on Disney+ and sports playoffs, and a QR‑code reward that gives...
How Advertisers Can – And Cannot – Get In Front Of Chatbot Shoppers
Advertisers face a stark reality: there is no paid gateway to appear in most LLM‑driven shopping chats. Google’s AI Overview (AIO) ads are the sole open‑market option, automatically surfacing in search results without exclusion controls. ChatGPT’s ad pilot remains a...
AIP, Castlabs To Demo Next-Gen Streaming Ad Formats
Ad Insertion Platform (AIP) and Castlabs will demo next‑generation streaming ad formats at the NAB Show in Las Vegas (April 18‑22). The showcase centers on AdBlendr, AIP’s server‑guided ad insertion engine, paired with Castlabs’ PRESTOplay player to deliver non‑intrusive formats such as...
Premier Inn ‘Chief Kipologist’ Stars in Born Social Debut
Premier Inn has teamed with UK comedian Al Nash and its new agency Born Social to launch a social‑first campaign called “You Know What You’re Getting.” The series of short, comedic “sleep experiments” starring Nash as a “chief kipologist” dramatise the brand’s...
Daily Search Forum Recap: April 13, 2026
Google is piloting an AI Contribution report in Search Console, echoing Bing’s AI performance tools, while a logging error has inflated GSC impression data since May 2025. The March 2026 broad core update finished its 12‑day, 4‑hour rollout, and Google confirmed it...
AI Search Adoption Isn’t Equal and Income Is Driving the Divide
AI search tools like ChatGPT are gaining traction, but adoption is uneven across income groups. Overall, 27% of users report regular ChatGPT use, yet households earning roughly $70,000‑$100,000 adopt at about 50%, while those earning $31,000‑$38,000 lag at 18%. The...
The Chatbot Closed the Sale. The Publisher Created the Demand. That’s a Problem.
Criteo has embedded sponsored product placements directly into ChatGPT answers, turning AI responses into a new ad inventory. The move sidesteps traditional attribution because the publisher content that shaped the recommendation never appears as a clickable URL, leaving creators without...
Meta Is Closing in on Google's Title as the World's Largest Digital Ad Platform
Meta is projected to generate $243.46 billion in net ad revenue in 2026, narrowly surpassing Google’s $239.54 billion and claiming the title of the world’s largest digital‑ad platform for the first time. The social‑media giant’s growth is driven by a 24.1% ad‑revenue...
Ready, Set, Goal: Capturing Peak Attention on Soccer’s Biggest Stage
Integral Ad Science released a cross‑channel playbook titled “Ready, Set, Goal” to help advertisers capture peak attention during soccer’s biggest stage, such as the 2026 World Cup. The guide provides data‑driven benchmarks that have delivered up to three‑times return on...
Google Patent Signals New Search Layer
Google secured U.S. patent US 12536233 B1 for a system that creates AI‑generated landing pages tailored to individual users and queries. The invention evaluates candidate pages, grades them, and dynamically produces customized versions that feed user‑behavior signals back into the model. If...
Wavelength Appoints Matt Kline as Chief Growth Officer Amid LA Campus Expansion
Wavelength announced the hiring of Matt Kline as Chief Growth Officer as it opens a new 10,000‑square‑foot campus in Los Angeles. The move pairs a seasoned brand‑commerce executive with a physical hub designed to accelerate the studio’s branded‑entertainment projects across...
5 Ways to Turn Instagram Demand Into Direct Bookings
GuestCentric warns that many hotels treat Instagram as a siloed channel, missing out on direct bookings. A €250 ($275) stay can lose $41‑$68 in OTA commissions when guests are diverted from Instagram to third‑party sites. The article outlines five tactics—clear...
U.S. Judge Orders Google to Share Search Data, Shaking Up SEO Strategies
U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Google must disclose portions of its search index and user‑interaction data to qualified competitors. The decision, detailed in a 230‑page opinion released on Sept. 2, threatens the search giant’s near‑90% market dominance and...
Hearst Built A Unified Ad Marketplace To Simplify Omnichannel News Buys
Hearst announced a unified programmatic ad marketplace that bundles inventory from its TV stations, newspapers and digital news sites into a single offering. The new Hearst News network lets agencies buy across the company’s local‑news footprint using their existing DSPs,...
How To Measure PPC Performance When AI Controls The Auction via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
The rise of AI‑driven campaign types like Performance Max and AI Max is upending traditional pay‑per‑click measurement, as ads now appear on keyword‑less queries and across multiple Google channels. Conversions increasingly stem from AI‑generated assets and multi‑step journeys, making click‑level...
How Malaysia Airlines Is Using AI to Speed up Campaign Production
Malaysia Airlines has partnered with creative‑automation firm Kingdom Digital to overhaul its marketing workflow. The AI‑driven Digital Creative Automation model can slash campaign production times by up to 80% while supporting human oversight. The system generates localized assets for more...
Top 100 Connected TV (CTV) Bundle IDs in March 2026
Pixalate released its March 2026 Top 100 Connected TV (CTV) Bundle ID rankings, analyzing over 1 billion programmatic impressions across 851 apps. The data show Hulu’s bundle ID (2285) topping the Roku list, while PlutoTV (ID 751712884) leads on Apple TV. Rankings span Roku, Apple TV,...
The Next Era of OpenX: The Intelligent SSP
OpenX announced a rebrand as the "Intelligent SSP," emphasizing AI‑driven simplicity and transparency. The company highlights three pillars—quality, performance and adaptability—backed by a cloud‑native platform and a proprietary supply‑side identity graph. By cutting intermediaries and fraud, OpenX aims to deliver...
Ego‑Free Conference Sparks Real Connections and Honest Collaboration
Last week was such a blast. Spent all week hanging out in ASSSPENNN (cue Dumb and Dumber) talking shop with some incredible people. @Bbruhis created such a unique event. I mean where else could you be talking about agentic AI...
Google Update Favours Brands Over Aggregators, Directories
📊 Google March 2026 Core Update Visibility Shifts & Patterns In the US - I’ve analyzed the biggest US domain level visibility shifts in @sistrix , along with the top keyword changes behind them. One of the clearest early patterns...
The Irony of Having to Pay to Show up for Your Own Name
Zerodha discovers it must purchase its own brand keyword to appear at the top of Google and app‑store searches, otherwise rivals’ ads capture the prime position. The practice forces the broker to pay for visibility even when customers are explicitly...
AI Back‑Button Tactics: Smart UX, Risky Geo Strategy
Published on the same day Google just announced a new manual action for hijacking the back button. Good timing @MediaWyse :) -> AI buttons: Smart UX play, risky GEO tactic, or both? https://t.co/lDNUuhP7Q2
King of Ads' Update Could Disrupt Traditional Agency Model
An update worth checking out from "the king of ads." This could upend the traditional agency model.
A Framework for Auditing Generative AI Outputs Pre-Launch
Marketing teams are urged to view generative AI outputs as draft inputs and run them through a four‑stage audit before publication. The framework starts with source and prompt validation, then checks brand‑voice alignment, followed by originality and copyright screening, and...
AI Automates $50k Pool Sales via Satellite Scans
this guy litterally uses @OpenClaw to sell $50k+ pools on autopilot 🤯 → Scans satellite for $500k+ homes → Filters by lot size & sun exposure → Renders a 3D pool in their yard → Calculates home value lift → Auto-mails a before/after postcard https://t.co/HTw09lXt2d
Make Your LinkedIn Profile a Global Showroom
Turning Your LinkedIn Profile Into a Shop Window to the World https://t.co/FZ0N14g3ZC via @DLAIgnite #SocialSelling #DigitalSelling #Sales #SalesTips #SalesLeader #Salesforce #Marketing #Leadership #SalesEnablement #MarketingStrategy #MarketingSuccess #RevOps #MarketingTips https://t.co/FcNOhJdGsW
Scribbld Bags Digital Mandate for Brushers Co
Independent agency Scribbld has secured the digital mandate for oral‑care startup Brushers Co as it prepares to enter India. The Mumbai‑based team will steer the brand’s go‑to‑market strategy across pre‑launch, launch and post‑launch phases, handling social‑media, performance and awareness initiatives....
Google’s Move Heralds Sweeping Internet and Search Overhaul
A recent announcement by Google and other trends signal a massive transformation of the internet and search. https://t.co/N54wtnRZ6g via @martinibuster, @sejournal Making a restaurant reservation? Sure. Buying enterprise software? Not so much.
Twitter Helped Me Close over $1M in Sales
Crazy what you can do on X. I, for one, have sold over $1MM thanks to Twitter 🙏
Playing the Wrong Game
On March 25, a California jury held Meta and Google liable for deliberately engineering their platforms to addict children, sidestepping the long‑standing federal shield that has protected Silicon Valley. The ruling marks the most consequential Big‑Tech verdict to date and signals...
AI Is Nothing Without Data Fidelity. Here’s A Four-Step Approach to Protect It
AI’s effectiveness in advertising hinges on the fidelity of the data that fuels it. The industry often relies on inferred or fragmented signals, which degrade model accuracy and erode trust. A four‑step framework—starting with quality inputs, building low‑degradation infrastructure, demanding...
Meet the Newest ‘Running Point’ Character: Jake From State Farm
State Farm announced a co‑branded partnership with Netflix’s basketball comedy *Running Point*, inserting its mascot Jake from State Farm into Season 2 as a scripted character. The move marks the first time Jake appears in a television narrative rather than a...
Connecting Search and Social
In this episode, host Jordan Cooney talks with Celeste Gonzalez, SEO Testing Director at RicketyRoo and founder of the LA SEO Meetup, about Search Experience Optimization (SXO) and the shifting landscape where nearly 60% of Google searches end without a...
Deeper Influencer Messaging For Linear's Old-School Ad Ecosystem?
Influencer creators are increasingly being featured in traditional 30‑second linear TV spots, blurring the line between social‑media ads and broadcast commercials. Brands argue that a personal, influencer‑driven tone can counteract consumer fatigue with corporate‑sounding messaging. The article examines whether addressable...