From Ad Exposure to In-Store Sales
PadSquad and Cuebiq have launched a partnership that ties digital ad exposure directly to physical store visits and, for the first time, transaction outcomes. The solution uses Cuebiq’s mobility intelligence and a dwell‑time filter to count only meaningful foot traffic, delivering metrics such as cost per visit and sales uplift at the individual store level. Real‑time daily reporting lets marketers adjust budgets and creative while campaigns run, shifting the attribution model from post‑campaign reporting to an operational decision‑making tool. The collaboration also integrates transaction data, giving brands a holistic view of ad‑driven revenue.
Google to No Longer Support FAQ Rich Results
Google announced that FAQ rich results will be discontinued on May 7, 2026, ending the display of FAQ snippets in organic search. The change also removes the FAQ appearance from the Rich Results Test and the Search Console report in June 2026, with...
SpeedyIndex Emerges as a Disruptive Semrush Alternative, Launching Live JS-Rendered Backlink Audits Within Its Unified SEO Ecosystem
SpeedyIndex launched a Live JS‑Rendered Bulk Backlink Checker that scans webpages in real time, replacing traditional cached databases. The tool offers pay‑as‑you‑go pricing, letting users audit up to 100,000 URLs without a mandatory monthly subscription. By rendering JavaScript on the...
See What Happens when Creative Legends Use AI to Make Ads for Small Businesses.
Google today unveiled The Small Brief, an initiative that teams three advertising legends—Jayanta Jenkins, Tiffany Rolfe and Susan Credle—with local businesses to produce studio‑quality campaigns. The creatives were given unrestricted access to Flow, Google’s AI‑driven creative studio, to craft ads...
14 SEO Trends 2026: What's Real, What's Hype and What We Don't Know Yet
In 2026 AI search has moved from pure keyword matching to Retrieval‑Augmented Generation (RAG), where search engines first retrieve relevant pages and then generate answers. Studies show AI overviews appear in nearly half of queries, but the sources they cite...
Creator Agency NewGen Launches AI Platform to Help Brands Scale Creator Campaigns With Compliance Controls
London‑based creator agency NewGen has unveiled Multiple, an AI‑driven platform that consolidates every stage of influencer campaigns—from creator matching and outreach to contract generation, payment tracking and performance reporting. The system promises to cut campaign launch times by up to...
Levanta Makes the Case That Creator Channels Belong Alongside Every Amazon Ad Budget
Levanta, the Seattle‑based affiliate and creator platform, announced the acquisition of Perch+, an early Amazon‑focused affiliate network. The deal brings hundreds of brands and publishers into Levanta’s marketplace, consolidating two of the longest‑standing players in the Amazon affiliate space. Levanta...
Duluth Trading Launches Cheeky Underwear Marketing Campaign
Duluth Trading Company unveiled a cheeky underwear campaign featuring its new mascot, Max Gluteus, timed with March Madness. The initiative leveraged humor to position low‑priced underwear as a gateway product, driving first‑time purchases and long‑term loyalty. On Meta the campaign...
How to Run Prompt-Level SEO Experiments for AI Search
As large language models (LLMs) become primary answer engines, brands must ensure they appear in AI‑generated responses. The article outlines a hypothesis‑driven, prompt‑level SEO framework that structures tests with an if‑then‑because format to isolate variables such as content tweaks or...
Amazon Brings Content-To-Commerce Technology Into Publisher Services
Amazon Publisher Services has added Shopsense, an AI‑driven content‑to‑commerce platform, to its Connections Marketplace. Shopsense analyzes images in articles, videos and photos, automatically generating product‑listing ads that link to more than 1,000 retailers. The integration requires no code and promises...
How IAB Sweden Expelled Meta—And Why It Might Not Happen in Other Chapters Anytime Soon
Meta has been expelled from IAB Sweden after a year‑long campaign by Swedish publishers over a surge of fraudulent advertisements on its platforms. The move follows a Reuters investigation that accused Meta of earning billions from scam ads and a...
Renting Customers or Building a Business: Ishan Manchanda on LTV, Retention, and the Next Wave of B2B Growth
Ishan Manchanda, CEO of GrowthSpree, explains how his agency fills the missing playbook for B2B SaaS growth, emphasizing LTV over vanity revenue metrics. He warns that static LTV calculations and weak retention undermine unit economics, while a 5‑point boost in...
PubMatic’s Agentic AI Is Going Beyond Direct Deals
PubMatic announced that its AgenticOS platform has run more than 30 fully autonomous, end‑to‑end campaigns and over 1,000 direct publisher deals, signaling a shift from agentic ad tech being limited to direct buys. The AI‑driven product helped lift emerging‑revenue growth...
Amazon Data Will Be Available on Netflix Inventory in the UK May 18
Amazon’s demand‑side platform will let UK and EMEA advertisers overlay Amazon shopping data onto Netflix’s connected‑TV inventory starting May 18. The feature, first rolled out in the United States on April 13, enables Amazon Audiences to be applied to Netflix campaigns via...
Meet Stan, Caitlin Clark's New Teammate
State Farm has transformed its long‑standing stanchion‑pad logo into a animated robot mascot named Stan, pairing him with WNBA star Caitlin Clark in a new advertising campaign. The spots debut with the opening night of the WNBA season and will...
SEO’s New Goal in 2026: Recognition, Not Rankings
The search ecosystem has shifted from ranking‑centric tactics to a recognition‑first model as AI overviews, large language models and zero‑click answers now dominate user journeys. Traditional #1 SERP positions no longer guarantee visibility because generative AI draws on brand citations,...
Week in Review: CTV and AI Dominate Ad Tech Earnings, Major Distributors Back Microdramas, and Kraft Heinz Ramps Up Ad...
Ad‑tech leaders The Trade Desk, PubMatic and Magnite all highlighted CTV and AI in their Q1 earnings, with mixed market reactions. The Trade Desk’s shares dropped 15% despite 12% revenue growth, while PubMatic and Magnite posted modest revenue gains driven...
New AI Search Links, Core Update Winners And Losers – SEO Pulse via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google rolled out five tweaks that add inline links, end‑of‑answer citations, and public‑forum previews to AI Overviews and AI Mode, giving each reference more context. A March core update analysis shows aggregators such as YouTube, Reddit and travel OTAs losing...
Why Intent Alignment Matters More than Perfect Technical SEO
Once a site reaches technical parity with its rivals, further technical tweaks yield diminishing returns, and Google’s ranking algorithm shifts focus to relevance. Relevance is measured by how well a page’s content aligns with the searcher’s intent, influencing signals such...
Google Ads To Require Passkey For Certain Sensitive Actions After July 15
Google announced that, beginning July 15, 2026, Google Ads will require advertisers to use passkeys for certain sensitive actions. The policy shift follows a recent spike in account hijacks targeting the platform. Passkeys are password‑free credentials that rely on device‑based cryptography, making...
AI Companies Are Selling Heartwarming Ads – They’re Racing To Automate Your Job via @Sejournal, @Gregjarboe
OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic are running heart‑warming consumer ads that portray their AI as friendly household helpers, while simultaneously developing agentic systems that automate complex professional workflows. Their latest models—OpenAI’s GPT‑5.5, Google’s Gemini 3.1 Pro, and Anthropic’s Claude Opus 4.7—are being positioned to replace...
Earning Buyer Trust in an AI Driven Marketing World
Artificial intelligence now powers most demand‑generation tactics, with 96% of marketers deploying some form of AI. Yet the 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer shows only 32% of U.S. respondents trust AI, creating a confidence gap that can stall B2B deals. The...
Soralios Launches AVAATR, an AI-Based Digital Cloning Platform for Professional Communication and Automation
Soralios announced AVAATR, an AI‑powered digital cloning platform that acts as a 24/7 “Better Self” for professionals. Unlike static clones, AVAATR can conduct voice and video conversations, integrate a user’s entire knowledge base, and operate across social, CRM, and meeting‑room...
The New York Times Grew Digital Ad Revenue 32% in Q1. Here’s How to Copy It
The New York Times posted a 31.6% year‑over‑year rise in digital advertising revenue in Q1 2026, reaching $93.3 million. The growth follows a 24.9% increase in the prior quarter, marking two straight quarters of outsized ad performance. Chief advertising officer Joy Robins credits a clear...
How to Connect Social KPIs to Larger Business Objectives
Patrick Pho, head of the content studio at Volkswagen of America, stresses that social media must be tied to clear business objectives to avoid wasted effort. He outlines a three‑step process: define a specific objective (exposure, consumption, or engagement), set...
A Love Letter to Hong Kong, a Fictional Country Star, and Thierry Henry in a K-Drama
Ad5’s latest roundup spotlights five standout campaigns across Asia and Europe. Cathay Pacific marked its 80th anniversary with a 10‑minute film that weaves Hong Kong nostalgia into brand storytelling. Thailand’s insurance‑driven road‑safety sign flips conventional messaging, while Woodstock Bourbon introduced a...
Netflix Awards India Media Mandate to Omnicom Media Group
Netflix has transferred its India media planning and buying mandate from Wavemaker to Omnicom Media Group after a multi‑agency pitch. The new contract covers both traditional and digital media channels, reflecting Netflix’s broader strategic overhaul of its Indian market approach....
Ads of the Week: 12 Campaigns That Caught Our Eye, From Adidas to Canva
The weekly roundup from Cannes Lions spotlights twelve standout ads, ranging from Adidas’ Timothée Chalamet‑led World Cup narrative to Canva’s absurdist squirrel stunt in Brooklyn. Brands leaned heavily on humor, unexpected casting, and unscripted moments, with Lewis Hamilton’s dinner chat for S.Pellegrino and Liquid Death’s...
Mortgage Broker Agrees to Hand Out Facebook Competition Prize After Complaint
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) intervened after a customer could not claim a £50 (≈$62) voucher from Mortgages One Stop, a trading name of The Right Mortgage Ltd. The broker agreed to honour the prize and the ASA closed the...
WTF Is a Unified Ad Platform?
Unified Advertising Platforms (UAP) are emerging as end‑to‑end ad‑tech solutions that combine demand‑side and supply‑side capabilities in a single system. The concept, coined by analyst Karsten Weide, promises 100 % data‑match rates by sharing a common data layer between buyers and publishers....
Video Futures Collective & Omnicom Launch Research Initiative As Ad Industry Hits ‘Inflection Point’
The Video Futures Collective (VFC) has teamed with Omnicom Media Australia to launch a research initiative that will modernise streaming‑video ad planning, measurement and optimisation in Australia. The first phase will focus on establishing evidence‑based frequency guidance that aligns with...
Sorry Millennials, Gen Z Isn’t Reading All that Copy
Brands are increasingly tailoring marketing copy to the distinct communication styles of Millennials and Gen Z, a trend amplified on social media. Millennials favor longer, polished storytelling, while Gen Z responds to brief, emoji‑laden, lowercase captions that convey a “vibe” tone. Companies...
Allianz Debuts Fully Generative AI Campaign
Allianz Australia has launched its first fully generative AI‑created advertising campaign for its car insurance line. The short‑form videos, outdoor and social assets were produced by Howatson and Company’s new Unicorn studio, with every frame generated by AI. The agency...
The Trade Desk Revenue Rises 12 per Cent
The Trade Desk posted March‑quarter revenue of A$953 million (about $630 million), a 12% year‑on‑year increase, while net income slipped to A$55 million ($36 million). Operating income rose to A$92 million ($61 million) but diluted EPS fell to A$0.11 from A$0.14. The company retained over 95%...
Agencies Push Video Futures Collective to Simplify Buying and Unify Data
The Video Futures Collective (VFC), a coalition of eight streaming and ad platforms including Amazon Prime, Disney Advertising, Foxtel Media, Netflix, Samsung Ads, SBS, Vevo and YouTube, is under pressure from agencies to simplify the buying process and deliver consistent,...
The Trade Desk Has A Grand Vision, But Needs A New Breed Of CMO To Make It A Reality
The Trade Desk posted Q1 2026 revenue of $689 million, a 12% year‑over‑year increase, while net income slipped to $40 million and profit margin to 6%. Shares tumbled 15% in after‑hours trading as investors reacted to cautious macro‑economic outlooks. CEO Jeff Green outlined...
The Trade Desk Has A Grand Vision, But Needs A New Breed Of CMO To Make It A Reality
The Trade Desk posted Q1 2026 revenue of $689 million, up 12% YoY, while net income fell to $40 million, delivering a 6% profit margin. CEO Jeff Green cited macro headwinds but unveiled a bold forecast that the open internet will become...
Threads Adds New Posting Options and Animated Mini Stickers
Meta’s Threads introduced two new tools aimed at boosting user posting frequency. The platform now automatically splits any pasted text longer than 500 characters into a series of linked updates, eliminating the need for manual trimming. In parallel, Threads is...
Ali Wong Dials up the Pressure on Big Telco Pricing in Latest Vodafone Work via Howatson+Co
Vodafone has launched the next phase of its Ali Wong campaign with Howatson+Company, positioning the brand as a cheaper alternative to traditional big‑telco pricing. The ads feature a tongue‑in‑cheek legal‑team skit that underscores the message that a premium telco experience...
ANZ NZ Appoints MBM as New Media Agency; Ends Long-Standing Partnership with PHD + Omnicom
ANZ New Zealand has appointed MBM, the Publicis Group’s media arm, as its new media agency, ending a 15‑year relationship with PHD and Omnicom. The decision followed a competitive RFP that evaluated five agencies on strategy, technology and marketing effectiveness. MBM...
TikTok Users Are Motivated by Affiliate Links
TikTok’s shopping ecosystem is accelerating, with affiliate links prompting deeper consumer research. Donte Murry reports that 77 % of viewers who encounter affiliate content immediately search for additional product information. Comments from other users serve as a powerful social‑proof layer, influencing first‑time...
Google Wants Non-Commodity Content. These B2B Brands Show You What It Looks Like.
Google Search Central highlighted a split between commodity and non‑commodity content, declaring that only the latter thrives in AI‑driven search results. Non‑commodity pieces are defined by uniqueness, specificity, and authenticity—attributes that founder‑led B2B brands like 6Sense, Clarify and Beehiiv already...
The Summer of 1999: How Instacart & Linqia Unlocked Full-Funnel Results via Nostalgic Creator-Led Storytelling
Instacart teamed with performance‑marketing platform Linqia to launch a summer‑1999 nostalgic creator‑led campaign that blended retro storytelling with shoppable video. The initiative leveraged a network of micro‑influencers to produce authentic, era‑specific content that was distributed across TikTok, Instagram Reels, and...
Microsoft Ads Expands Custom Columns to Include All Conversion Metrics
Microsoft Ads has upgraded its custom columns feature to accept every conversion metric available on the platform, including both primary and all‑conversion counts. The change lets advertisers construct bespoke columns that combine ratios, blended CPA, cost per qualified lead, and...
An Age-Old Approach to Promoting Produce on Social Media
Retail merchandisers are turning to social media to drive fresh-produce sales, but generational preferences dictate platform choice. According to FMI’s Power of Produce 2026 report, 48% of Gen Z shoppers use social cues for fruit and vegetable ideas, compared with only 20%...
How to Measure Influencer Marketing Success: A Complete Guide for Brands
Influencer Marketing Hub released a comprehensive guide on measuring influencer marketing success, outlining the key performance indicators brands should track. The guide highlights benchmarks such as average engagement rates, cost‑per‑engagement, and a 5.2‑times return on investment reported in the 2026...
The Hidden Cost of Friction
The article reveals that mobile‑first campaigns often stumble after the tap, not because of creative or targeting, but due to hidden after‑click friction such as in‑app browsers, consent prompts, and redirect chains. These micro‑obstacles break session continuity, inflate acquisition costs,...
ContinuumGlobal Launches Campaign Optimizer to Improve Messaging Performance
ContinuumGlobal introduced Campaign Optimizer, an AI‑driven add‑on to its Smart Marketing Engine that promises to boost email engagement by over 15 %. The tool lets marketers refresh existing copy or draw inspiration from other brands, automatically generating brand‑compliant, production‑ready HTML in...
Live Sports Streaming Ad Market Rife With Fraud, Experts Say
The rapid shift of live sports to streaming platforms has created a fragmented ad marketplace where third‑party aggregators resell inventory they don’t directly control. Experts from Good Karma Brands and Digital Remedy warn that these middlemen often misrepresent placement guarantees,...
AI Max vs DSA: Advertisers Question Control as Google Responds
Google is transitioning advertisers from legacy Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to its AI‑driven Max campaigns, sparking concerns over lost URL‑level targeting granularity. Marketers argue that DSA’s ability to align ads with site architecture via categories, URL paths, and page rules...