When Creators and Affiliates Stop Being Different Budget Lines
Todd Ulise, chief revenue officer of Nomix Group, says the creator‑affiliate split is a people problem, not a technology issue. He urges brands to align on a single definition of value and adopt unified measurement that treats creators as performance‑based media. Nomix processes three billion monthly queries and runs 90‑95% of its business on CPA, proving that early‑intent channels can be economically validated before scaling. Ulise outlines a crawl‑walk‑run framework to integrate creators into affiliate programs without disrupting existing economics.
Sainsbury’s Tech and Data Chief to Steer Future of ISBA
Mark Given, Sainsbury’s chief technology, marketing and data officer, has been appointed president of the Institute of Search & Business Advertising (ISBA), succeeding Pete Markey. He will chair the ISBA Council, guiding the trade body as AI and generative AI reshape...
Digest: ChatGPT Ads Manager Opens to All US Advertisers; Amazon Targets Supply Chain; Publishers Sue Meta Over AI Copyright
OpenAI has opened its ChatGPT Ads Manager to all U.S. advertisers, eliminating the previous $50,000 (≈ $49,000) minimum‑spend threshold to attract small and midsize brands. The beta now includes cost‑per‑action bidding and plans for third‑party measurement, signaling a push toward a...
Thrad Sponsors ADSN: The Ad-Supported Network, Bringing Real-Time Ad Tech to Industry Conversations
Thrad, the AI‑focused advertising infrastructure provider, announced a sponsorship of ADSN, the weekly ad‑tech podcast hosted by James Borow and Daniel Druger. The partnership aligns Thrad’s audience of AI publishers and Fortune 500 advertisers with ADSN’s listeners of agency leads, programmatic...
Google Proposes Spam Policy Changes To Avoid EU Fine
Google has offered to amend its anti‑spam policies and search‑ranking rules to address EU regulators' concerns that commercial content on publishers’ sites is being demoted. The proposals aim to avoid further penalties beyond the €9.5 billion (≈$10.3 billion) already levied under the...
Thailand Targets 6 Million Chinese Visitors via ‘Authentic’ Content on RedNote, WeChat
Thailand is targeting more than 6 million Chinese visitors in 2024, up from 4.5 million in 2025, by leveraging the RedNote travel app and WeChat. After a 30 percent drop in Chinese arrivals last year due to safety scares and economic concerns, the...
A Publisher Didn’t Get Its UID2 Setup Right. The Trade Desk Didn’t Notice. What Went Wrong?
Publishers are under pressure to embed The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0 (UID2) in CTV bid requests, but a major national publisher discovered that its UID2 tokens were incorrectly encrypted for three months. The Trade Desk, which both administers UID2...
The Practical Guide for Using AI in Marketing – What Actually Matters
The piece argues that AI is not a magic fix but a speed and scale layer on top of solid marketing fundamentals. Teams that already understand their customers can leverage AI for smarter acquisition, frictionless conversion, and proactive retention. It...
The Weather Company’s New Ad Play Aims to Sell Experiences and Hotel Bookings
The Weather Company and travel‑content platform Steller are piloting a new ad product on Weather.com that surfaces creator‑led destination videos and direct booking links whenever users search for out‑of‑town weather. Leveraging the site’s more than 400 million monthly users, the feature...
Bread Agency Is Appointed as MoleMap Social Media Partner
Bread Agency has been selected as the social media partner for MoleMap across Australia and New Zealand after a competitive review. The agency will handle MoleMap’s strategy, creative campaigns, influencer marketing, content production, and community engagement. MoleMap, which runs more...
#MasterclassNotes: Understanding Influence Marketing
Johanna McDowell hosted an online masterclass in April 2026 for South African marketers, drawing over 100 blue‑chip attendees. Three agencies—Clockwork, Publicis/MSL, and CoolR—each delivered 20‑minute showcases on influencer marketing tactics, pitfalls, and case studies. Scopen Africa data revealed influence marketing now...
Brandmovers India and Titan Smart Explore How Mothers Really Experience Time
Titan Smart launched the “Mom’s Standard Time” campaign on Mother’s Day, created by Brandmovers India, to illustrate how mothers experience time differently than the clock shows. The film pairs mothers with their children in candid interviews, then reveals smartwatch‑derived data...
How to Create a Social Media Viral Video
The guide explains that viral videos are the result of a disciplined content strategy, not luck. It outlines the psychological triggers—emotion, identity, and relationship building—that drive rapid sharing across platforms. Platform‑specific recommendations cover TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and X,...
Google Shares How Brands Should Use AI Creative To Stand Out via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Google highlighted its AI‑creative suite on the Ads Decoded podcast, emphasizing tools that expand creative variation while keeping advertisers in the loop. New controls—text guidelines, AI briefs, and Asset Studio—let brands steer AI‑generated assets, supporting up to 40 custom rules...
Is Your MAP a Junk Drawer? The Case for Composable Architecture
Marketing automation platforms (MAPs) have morphed from simple email tools into overloaded hubs handling data cleansing, scoring, routing, and identity resolution. This overextension creates operational bottlenecks and risky downstream dependencies. Experts recommend decoupling data‑heavy tasks to a dedicated orchestration layer,...
Threads Adds Playable Music Stickers In-Stream
Meta's Threads is testing playable music stickers that let users attach songs to their posts, displaying cover‑art thumbnails and a play button that streams a short sample. The stickers appear as a new option in the composer alongside images, polls...
Meta Adds More Insight Tools to Edits to Enhance Video Projects
Meta’s Edits video‑editing app rolled out a suite of new insight tools that surface engagement rates, peak viewing times, and follower‑versus‑non‑follower metrics for Instagram Reels. The update also adds comparative performance data, letting creators see how each Reel stacks up...
LinkedIn Certification Program Aims To Link Marketers With Experienced Agencies
LinkedIn has introduced an “Agency Certification” program that flags agencies with proven expertise in LinkedIn Ads. The certification requires a Business Manager account and completion of LinkedIn Marketing Academy courses, after which agencies earn a badge and promotional toolkit. Harmelin...
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Does The Right Buyer Even Know You Exist? Our LinkedIn Restructure That Took High Quality Lead Rate From 32% to...
The piece introduces a three‑stage LinkedIn framework—Be Seen, Be Believed, Be Chosen—to move B2B advertising from pure conversion to a full‑funnel approach. A healthcare client’s restructure cut quarterly spend from $64,000 to $33,000, lifted click‑through rates over 100×, and raised...
The Search Engine Is Becoming a Decision Engine. Here’s How to Survive the AI ‘Zero-Click’ Era.
Search engines are morphing into decision engines, delivering AI‑generated Overviews that answer queries directly on the results page. These Overviews have slashed organic click‑through rates by up to 61%, turning traffic into influence rather than clicks. To stay visible, brands...
Navigate The Next Era Of Search At Forrester’s CX Forums
Zero‑click search has become mainstream, with 26% of U.S. online adults using ChatGPT in the past month to research products. This shift pushes answer engines like Google AI Mode and ChatGPT to the top of the discovery funnel, delivering high‑quality,...
Toast Debuts Toast IQ Grow
Toast launched Toast IQ Grow, an AI‑powered marketing platform that adds more than 20 new features across marketing, payroll, inventory and operations. The solution pairs a Marketing Agent that automatically builds audiences and runs campaigns with a dedicated human marketer...
AI Promises Creative Scale. Marketers Discover They Now Need 10 Times More Ads
Marketers are confronting an unprecedented demand for creative assets as AI platforms enable rapid production at scale. A joint Ipsos‑Smartly study finds brands are now creating roughly ten times more ads to stay competitive, yet effectiveness hinges on combining high...
Influ2 Launches Contact-Level GTM Orchestration
Influ2 unveiled a contact‑level go‑to‑market orchestration platform on May 6, enabling B2B revenue teams to trigger personalized actions for individual buyers rather than relying on account‑wide averages. The new suite includes signal‑to‑topic matching, cross‑platform context sync, omni‑channel orchestration, and automatic Salesforce...
Despite Enthusiasm over Its ChatGPT Tie-Up, Criteo’s Shares Slide on Downgraded Revenue Forecast
Criteo announced a partnership with OpenAI that generated excitement, but its Q1 results fell short of expectations, prompting a share‑price decline. Revenue dropped 6% year‑on‑year to $425 million, with retail‑media revenue plunging 31% to $41.3 million. The company cut its 2026 revenue...
Amedia Ignored Older Subscribers to Attract Younger Ones
Norway’s largest newspaper publisher, Amedia, discovered that its subscriber base skewed heavily toward readers over 80, outnumbering those under 40. To reverse this, the company concealed 90% of older subscribers in its analytics tools and refocused editorial teams on content...
Google Analytics Data API Adds Cross-Channel Conversion Reporting (Alpha)
Google has extended its Analytics Data API to include cross‑channel conversion reporting, now available in an alpha release. The new endpoint mirrors the Conversion performance report in the Analytics UI, delivering paid and organic conversion data via programmatic calls. Developers...
David North America Casts Jessica Alba In Luna Bar Campaign
Actress Jessica Alba has been signed as the inaugural ambassador for Luna Bar’s new “Easy to Love” campaign, created by David North America and media‑planned by VaynerMedia. The campaign, Luna Bar’s first major creative push in seven years, features four...
Agentic AI for Marketing: Reimagine End-to-End Customer Experiences
Agentic AI is emerging as the next evolution of marketing technology, moving beyond content creation to orchestrate decisions and execution across the customer journey. Adobe positions its unified platform to connect AI agents with real‑time data, governance, and workflow automation,...
Adobe and OpenAI Integrate ChatGPT Ads Into GenStudio for Performance Marketing
Adobe and OpenAI announced that Adobe GenStudio for Performance Marketing now integrates ChatGPT ads, letting marketers create brand‑approved copy and assets and launch them in ChatGPT with a single click. The workflow pulls assets from Adobe Experience Manager or third‑party...
New York Startup GLORION MEDIA Enters Podcast, Influencer Space With Social Listening-Powered Model
GLORION MEDIA, a New York‑based startup launched in March 2026, offers podcast production, influencer talent management, and performance‑driven digital advertising. The company’s core differentiator is a social‑listening intelligence platform that captures real‑time audience signals to inform campaign targeting. Its flagship...
Teads & Lumen Research Bring Proven Attention Science to CTV for Omnichannel Impact
Teads announced an expanded partnership with Lumen Research to embed attention‑measurement technology into its connected‑TV (CTV) HomeScreen inventory. Lumen’s eye‑tracking models generate an industry‑first attention prediction for CTV, giving advertisers a quantifiable view of how viewers engage with ads across...
Pixalate Releases Global Q1 2026 Rankings For Connected TV Free Ad-Supported TV (FAST) Bundle IDs With Highest IVT Rates: ‘Sling...
Pixalate released its Q1 2026 rankings of Free Ad‑Supported TV (FAST) bundle IDs with the highest invalid‑traffic (IVT) rates across Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV and Amazon Fire TV. The study examined over 4 billion global impressions from more than 7,000 CTV apps. Sling TV led Roku...
StackAdapt Announces AI-Powered Marketing Capabilities Through Ads in ChatGPT Pilot
StackAdapt announced it will serve ads within OpenAI's ChatGPT as part of a pilot program. The AI‑powered placement lets marketers reach users while they research and compare products, with ads clearly labeled and context‑driven. StackAdapt adds vertical expertise, cross‑channel orchestration,...
Lamar Launches $2M Ronald McDonald House DOOH Partnership
Lamar Advertising has pledged more than $2 million in donated digital out‑of‑home (DOOH) inventory for a year‑long partnership with Ronald McDonald House, launching on May 15 for International Family Day. The initiative will run across Lamar’s 5,500 digital billboards nationwide, aiming to raise awareness,...
Howard Tattersall on Why Footasylum’s Marketing Strategy Is the ‘Blueprint’
Footasylum’s entertainment‑first social media strategy, launched in 2018, has become a benchmark for UK retailers. By prioritising TikTok, YouTube and culturally‑relevant influencers, the brand cuts through digital noise and embeds itself in consumers’ daily routines. The approach leverages hyper‑local campaign...
Is Influencer Marketing Still Just a Channel Or Has It Become the System?
Influencer marketing is evolving from a supplemental channel into a system that sits at the core of brand communication. Brands are now auditing campaigns across TV, retail, e‑commerce and press to embed creator‑led content from the outset, rather than tacking...
From Downloads To Daily Use: Rethinking The Value Exchange In App Marketing
App marketers have shifted from focusing solely on downloads to prioritizing sustained user engagement. eMarketer reports that 90% of new users abandon an app within seven days, and by Day 30 churn exceeds 95%. Patrick Callinan of T‑Mobile Advertising Solutions argues...
The Influencers That Make Men Shop for Beauty
Male beauty consumption is accelerating as Gen‑Z influencers like TikTok star Bach Buquen and Dwayne Johnson’s Papatui brand normalize makeup and premium skincare for men. Wellness clubs such as Remedy Place are rebranding spa experiences to attract male members, while...
Sofa Club Appoints Agency for Digital Marketing Boost
Sofa Club, the fashion‑forward sofa retailer, has hired Verde Digital to lead its organic search strategy. Verde will deliver a full suite of SEO services—including on‑page, technical, local and AI‑search optimization—to increase organic revenue. The brand, founded in 2012 and...
Blue Bite’s Matthew Shay on Connecting Real-World Signals to Digital Engagement: A Demand Gen Report Q&A
Blue Bite’s Director of Media Matthew Shay explains that B2B buyers now interact across a web of channels, devices, and real‑world moments before speaking with sales, forcing marketers to adopt contextual, connected, and measurable omnichannel strategies. He highlights the company’s...
IAB Tech Lab Seeks Public Comment On Standardized Signals For CTV Ad Portfolio
IAB Tech Lab has updated its technical specifications to create a standardized signaling framework for the Connected TV (CTV) Ad Portfolio, covering emerging formats such as Pause, Menu, Overlay, and Squeeze Back ads. The proposal, developed with industry working groups,...
Advertisers Spent $1 Billion on Criteo in Q1, Up 8% Year-Over-Year
Criteo processed $1 billion in media spend during Q1 2026, marking an 8% year‑over‑year increase and the first time the company crossed the billion‑dollar threshold. Despite the higher spend, total revenue fell 9% to $425 million, reflecting a broader decline in its core...
When Digital’s Trackability Breaks Down, Radio Has an Opening
A tech‑savvy client shifted Q1 spend from digital to radio after confronting rising Google Ads costs and opaque attribution. The digital model’s auction‑driven pricing forced higher bids merely to maintain market share, while multi‑channel data became fragmented and unreliable. In...
CredSpark Launches Banter: A New Brand Focused on Transforming B2B Marketing and Sales Through Interactive Experiences
CredSpark has launched Banter, a new B2B brand that converts static marketing assets into interactive, data‑driven experiences. The platform leverages over 400 million interaction data points and AI‑enhanced analytics to deliver real‑time lead scoring, segmentation and actionable buyer insights. Banter’s capabilities...
The ‘Hair-On-Your-Pillow’ Theory of Contextual Advertising
Shirley Marschall’s column revisits contextual advertising, arguing that the same ad can feel premium in one setting and intrusive in another, much like a stray hair on a pillow. The piece traces how contextual buying fell out of favor as...
VisRank Launches Free SEO and AI Search Visibility Audit Tool
VisRank has launched a free, 30‑second online audit that scores a website’s visibility across SEO, AI readiness, security and local presence. The tool evaluates 49 signals and delivers a 0‑100 Visibility Score along with prioritized fixes. It emphasizes Answer Engine...
![Is Your Small Business Showing Up in Local Search? Here’s How To Find Out [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2-2-27.png)
Is Your Small Business Showing Up in Local Search? Here’s How To Find Out [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker
A free SEJ webinar hosted by Thryv trainers will teach small‑business owners how to ensure their Google Business Profile and other local listings appear across AI assistants, voice searches, Maps, Yelp, and emerging ChatGPT‑style results. The session covers the most...
It’s Time To Stop Letting Platforms Grade Their Own Ad Fraud Homework
Ad fraud has become a multi‑billion‑dollar problem, with scammers exploiting automated bots to flood platforms with fake engagement. Meta disclosed that roughly 10% of its 2024 revenue stems from scams and banned goods, and its internal data suggest 15 billion scam...
VIOOH Partners with Abode Media to Expand Programmatic DOOH Footprint
VIOOH, a leading global digital out‑of‑home supply‑side platform, announced a programmatic partnership with Abode Media, the UK’s premium residential DOOH network. The collaboration adds more than 250 screens across 230 high‑value residential buildings in London, Manchester and Birmingham, delivering over...