How Marketing Leaders at Clinique and ScottsMiracle-Gro Are Meeting Consumers Where They Are Online—And in AI
Marketing heads at ScottsMiracle‑Gro and Clinique are shifting from product‑centric promotion to digital education, using AI‑driven tools to meet consumers where they research online. Scotts’ senior vice president John Sass highlighted the use of agentic AI to deliver hyper‑local gardening advice across U.S. markets. Clinique’s senior VP Christie Sclater emphasized expanding dermatologist‑backed skin‑care education across the same digital touchpoints. Both brands cite continuous customer listening as the catalyst for these evolutions.
IAB Recognizes Future Video Outcomes From Agentic
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) released a whitepaper titled “AI‑Powered Video Outcomes: Agentic AI,” outlining how autonomous AI systems will reshape video planning, optimization, measurement, and creation. The report notes that 69% of analytics teams are scaling AI and 44%...
Advertisers Battling Meta Over Metrics Blast '11th-Hour' Arbitration Bid
Advertisers who sued Meta in 2018 over allegedly inflated ad‑reach metrics are now challenging the platform's last‑minute bid to force most class members into arbitration. The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals must decide whether Meta waived its arbitration clause by...
Informa TechTarget Launches Two New Content Solutions
Informa TechTarget announced two AI‑focused content solutions—the AI Visibility Audit and the GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Topic Planner—to help B2B marketers improve brand discoverability in an AI‑driven search environment. The AI Visibility Audit evaluates how audiences encounter a brand through...
Microsoft Lets Merchants Update Store Names and Domains in Merchant Center
Microsoft Advertising now lets e‑commerce merchants edit their Merchant Center store name and domain directly, removing the need for support tickets. Store‑name changes undergo editorial review while existing ads keep running, and domain updates require ownership verification before activation. The...
Retail Media’s Measurement Problem Is A Trust Problem – And Incrementality Is The Way Forward
Retail media spending is surging, yet marketers struggle to prove true performance because attribution models often credit sales that would have happened anyway. The industry’s fragmented measurement standards make cross‑platform comparison unreliable. Incrementality—measuring the causal lift of ads—offers a clearer...
Reddit Pro Opens to All Publishers, Adds New Features in Public Beta
Reddit has opened its Pro publishing tools to all publishers, ending the waitlist and launching a free public beta. The platform now offers features such as AI‑powered community recommendations, RSS auto‑import, community snapshots, and profile flairs. Early testers reported a...
Google: Pages Are Getting Larger & It Still Matters via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google’s Gary Illyes and Martin Splitt discussed the rapid growth of page size on the Search Off the Record podcast, citing the 2025 Web Almanac which shows median mobile homepages have tripled from 845 KB in 2015 to about 2.36 MB today....
AAMP Two Months In: Progress Report
Two months after the IAB Tech Lab unveiled the Agentic Advertising Management Protocols (AAMP), the ecosystem is already seeing tangible adoption. The open‑source Buyer Agent SDK has been integrated into Kochava’s StationOne product, while the Seller Agent SDK now ships...
Google Ads Editor Bug Links Structured Snippet Languages Across Accounts
Google Ads Editor has a bug that unintentionally links structured snippet extensions when they are copied between accounts. Changing the language setting in one account automatically propagates to the linked snippet in another account, even though the extensions appear separate....
Introducing Curated Packages: Commerce Creative + Audiences
Criteo unveiled Curated Packages, pairing deterministic, SKU‑level Commerce Audiences with dynamic, placement‑optimized creative through a single deal ID. The solution leverages real shopper behavior—product views, price checks, and purchase intent—to replace broad demographic targeting. In tests, a gaming console brand...
Acquia Engage Denver 2026
Acquia Engage Denver 2026, the company’s North American flagship conference, will take place April 27‑28 at the Gaylord Rockies Resort. The two‑day event gathers digital leaders, marketers, and technical practitioners to explore AI‑driven digital strategies, platform innovations, and security‑focused ecosystems....
Why TikTok Shop’s Real ROI Was Never Meant to Stay on TikTok
TikTok Shop is being re‑positioned from a narrow sales channel to a powerful demand‑generation engine, a shift highlighted by Greek sun‑care brand Carroten’s rapid U.S. expansion. Leveraging over 13,000 creators, the brand generated 152 million views, sparking a cascade that lifted Amazon...
ITV Won’t Air In-Game Advertising During 2026 Fifa World Cup Drinks Breaks
ITV has decided not to air in‑game advertising during the mandatory three‑minute drinks breaks at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, even though FIFA permits broadcasters to use picture‑in‑picture or cut‑away ads. The decision stems from FIFA’s strict timing rules and...
SoFire’s Hot Campaigns: Alix Earle’s Skincare Launch Proves Why Authenticity Always Wins
Alix Earle, a 14‑million‑follower influencer, has launched the skincare line Reale Actives in partnership with dermatologist Dr. Kiran Mian. A cryptic teaser campaign sparked strong pre‑launch engagement, turning curiosity into a ready‑made audience. Earle’s content has long documented her cystic acne journey and Accutane...
Sett Raises $30m to Scale AI-Driven Marketing Automation Platform
Sett, a 2023 startup, raised $30 million in a Series B round to expand its AI‑driven marketing automation platform. The platform automatically generates playable and video ads while optimizing campaign performance across the user‑acquisition funnel for game publishers. The funding, led by...
Mars Gum Brands Mix Memes, ‘Borrowed Nostalgia’ in Global Campaign
Mars Snacking’s OEFY gum portfolio launched the global “Total Overthink of The Head” campaign, remixing Bonnie Tyler’s 1983 hit and weaving in viral memes to speak to Gen Z’s overthinking moments. The initiative, developed with BBDO Chicago and Omnicom, forms...
RudderStack Now Supports the Singular SDID for Mobile Attribution
RudderStack announced native support for Singular’s new universal device identifier, SDID, in its server‑side pipeline. The update automatically detects the `singularDeviceId` in event payloads and routes them to Singular’s V2 endpoint without any SDK modifications or configuration changes. By forwarding...
OpenAI’s ChatGPT Ads Trial Surpasses $100m in Six Weeks
OpenAI has opened a pilot that lets advertisers place ads directly inside ChatGPT conversations. Within six weeks the program generated over $100 million in ad spend, showing strong advertiser appetite. The format offers brand‑safe, native placements and reports higher engagement than...
Afterverse Found TikTok’s True ROI Was 2x Higher. Singular’s MTA Showed What Last-Touch Missed.
Afterverse, the Brazilian studio behind PK XD, added Singular’s multi‑touch attribution (MTA) to its TikTok user‑acquisition campaigns in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina. MTA revealed TikTok’s return on investment was twice the level reported by last‑click models, with a 70% assisted‑install rate,...
Building a Better Supply Chain: PubMatic on the Future of Programmatic Performance with Amazon Ads
PubMatic has integrated Amazon Ads’ Dynamic Traffic Engine (DTE) across its global supply‑side platform, adding demand‑side signal intelligence to its existing traffic‑shaping tools. The partnership aims to prioritize high‑value bid requests, delivering up to a 10% lift in eCPM and...
How ‘Vaseline Ghabga’ Turned Ramadan Gatherings Into Entertainment on MBC Shahid
Vaseline, through Unilever Arabia, launched “Vaseline Ghabga,” a four‑episode branded series on MBC Shahid that captures the traditional Gulf Ramadan gathering known as a ghabga. Produced by Team Reactivate Middle East with media agency PHD and influencer agency Mumkin, the...
SEO Tactics for GenAI Visibility
Generative AI search agents like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini now rely on traditional SEO to surface content, making low‑ranked pages invisible to AI‑driven queries. Keyword research must shift toward longer, intent‑rich phrases that mirror conversational prompts, while optimized, problem‑solving content...
EXCLUSIVE: Leaked Pitchdeck Reveals Amazon’s Pitch to Get Advertisers on Rufus
Amazon is preparing to roll out Sponsored Ads on its AI‑driven shopping assistant Rufus, moving the feature from open beta to a general‑availability launch. The leaked pitch deck reveals that advertisers will be charged on a cost‑per‑click (CPC) basis and...
Is the Era of ‘Rip and Replace’ over for Martech Stacks?
The 2025 MarTech Replacement Survey shows a marked slowdown in wholesale platform swaps, with SEO tools becoming the most‑replaced applications amid AI‑driven disruption. CRM replacements fell more than 12% year‑over‑year, reaching the lowest levels ever recorded. Artificial intelligence now influences...
The Hidden Tradeoffs in Moving to a Composable Martech Stack
The article examines the hidden costs of swapping a monolithic marketing cloud such as Adobe or Salesforce for a best‑of‑breed composable stack. It highlights ongoing integration overhead, tool sprawl, data‑governance challenges, multi‑vendor management, skill‑gap expenses, and latent execution delays. It...
Reporting Uncertainty Without Losing Credibility via @Sejournal, @Bngsrc
Attribution and analytics reporting are riddled with uncertainty due to tracking gaps, modeling approximations, data pipeline delays, and unpredictable human behavior. The article argues that hiding this uncertainty erodes trust and leads to poor decisions, while transparent communication of ranges,...
Google Chimes In On Teen SEO Wants To Save Family Spain Vacation Rental
Google’s John Mueller weighed in on Reddit after a teenager tried to rescue his family’s Spain vacation‑rental business through DIY SEO. Mueller warned that SEO isn’t a magic fix and that the vacation‑rental market is dominated by large aggregators. He...
Industry in Flux: DealMaker Shines Spotlight on Affiliate Transformation
The 2026 DealMaker conference underscored a rapid, AI‑driven transformation in affiliate marketing, with industry leaders warning that traditional measurement can no longer keep pace. Rakuten Advertising announced a partnership with Similarweb to track affiliate‑generated content inside large language models and...
Astrotalk Taps Everyday Uncertainties in New Ad Films
Astrotalk has launched a three‑film digital campaign for the IPL, directed by Nitesh Tiwari, that spotlights everyday dilemmas in relationships, careers and finances. Each short film shows a character turning to the Astrotalk app for a personalized astrological reading to...
Social Media For Advisors: Market Scalably With Evergreen Content
Social media marketing promises low‑cost visibility for financial advisors, but Kitces research shows acquiring a client via these channels averages $16,700 when hard and soft costs are included. The approach is time‑intensive, with only about 10% of posts driving most...
How Sportsbooks Plan to Turn Bracket-Mania Into Long-Term Betting Interest
Sportsbooks are leveraging March Madness to turn casual bracket participants into long‑term bettors. BetMGM and Fanatics deployed former college athletes—Haley and Hanna Cavinder and gymnast Livvy Dunne—as social‑first influencers to attract younger, especially female, audiences. The campaigns combine digital content,...
Unity Sees Growth in Engine Revenue, Shuts Down IronSource Ad Network in Favour of Vector AI User-Acquisition Platform
Unity announced it will shut down the IronSource advertising and user‑acquisition network on April 30, 2026 and will divest its Supersonic publishing arm. The move is framed as a simplification effort that lets the company double‑down on its AI‑driven ad platform, Vector,...
The Battle for Attention on CTV: Premium Video Platforms Vs. YouTube
Connected TVs will be in 83% of U.S. households by 2027, prompting advertisers to lift CTV spend, with 70% planning a 17% increase in 2026. A VAB‑TVision study of 21 premium video platforms versus YouTube measured hard‑working impressions—co‑viewing, attention, and...
How to Turn the Insights You Already Have Into Better Commercial Outcomes
A global beauty brand shifted a large portion of its media budget to influencer and social channels to win Gen Z, but sales stalled despite higher engagement. The post‑campaign analysis showed the brand ignored existing consumer research that highlighted the continued...
Big Betty Partners Launches the Big Deal Promo for Affiliates
Big Betty Partners, an iGaming affiliate network launched in 2021, introduced the Big Deal Promo running from March 10 to June 1, 2026. The campaign adds a reward layer—Betty Points—on top of standard commissions, letting affiliates earn points for each first‑time deposit. New...
Why Attend Retail MediaX Europe – 14th May 2026
Retail MediaX Europe will be held on May 14, 2026 in London as the flagship event of RetailX’s Spring Commerce Media Festival. The conference gathers retailers, agencies and marketing leaders to explore the latest in retail media, connected TV, OTT...
Fix the Foundation: Marketing’s Signal Problem in the AI Era
Marketers are paying a growing "fragmentation tax" as scattered, low‑quality signals across platforms, channels, and tech stacks erode confidence and waste budget. AI does not solve this problem; instead it magnifies the impact of bad or incomplete data, leading to...
Why Tech Startups Are Pivoting to Localised Digital Marketing in 2026
Tech startups are abandoning broad, global ad campaigns in favor of hyper‑local digital marketing as venture capitalists demand early profitability. Rising customer acquisition costs in 2026 make generic outreach inefficient, prompting founders to target specific geographic markets. Partnerships with local...
As Customer Journeys Fragment Across AI and Chat, Contentsquare Adds New Analytics Tools. Here’s What’s New
Contentsquare has expanded its digital analytics platform with tools that surface interactions with large language models, on‑site chat, and support channels. An out‑of‑the‑box dashboard now reports LLM traffic share and conversion, while the acquisition of conversation‑intelligence firm Loris adds sentiment,...
How to Build an Award-Winning Social Media Campaign
The ET Trendies Awards recognize India’s most viral and effective influencer and social‑media campaigns, judging impact, brand metrics, and business results. Winners start with a human insight‑driven story, then choose a single platform—Instagram Reels, YouTube, or X—and tailor content to...
Shoptalk Las Vegas: Reddit and YouTube Discuss Next-Gen Search
Google Gemini Sends More Traffic To Sites Than Perplexity: Report via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google Gemini more than doubled its referral traffic to websites between November and January, posting a combined 115% gain after the Gemini 3 rollout. In January Gemini sent 29% more visitors than Perplexity worldwide and 41% more in the U.S., reversing...
Pinterest Bets Measurement and SMBs Will Boost Performance Revenue
Pinterest has reorganized its monetization team, appointing Vik Gupta as VP and GM of Monetization and Sumanth Jagannath as VP of Measurement. The duo will fuse product, engineering and data‑science functions to tighten ad measurement and attribution, targeting greater spend...
What to Look for and How to Measure Your Brand’s Algorithmic Presence
Brands are increasingly discovered through AI assistants that synthesize digital footprints, shifting the focus from traditional SEO to Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO). Tools like ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews now drive the majority of chatbot-to-website referrals, shaping consumer perception...
Melbourne Holocaust Museum Appoints TAG to Elevate Social Strategy
The Melbourne Holocaust Museum has engaged digital growth consultancy TAG to overhaul its social media strategy, emphasizing a purpose‑driven, future‑focused approach. The partnership will spotlight the museum’s corporate engagement programs, aiming to deepen business‑sector understanding of Holocaust history and prejudice....
Australian Eggs Reclaims Its ‘OG’ Status in Satirical Big Chocolate Social Film via Liquid Ideas
Australian Eggs refreshed its "The Easter OG" platform for 2026 with a social‑first hero film created by Liquid Ideas. The satirical "Big Chocolate" boardroom spot positions real eggs as the original Easter hero and underscores a dual‑play with chocolate. The...
GumGum Reveals The Land Down Under To Be A Strong ‘Growth Market’ For Contextual Ads
GumGum’s chief revenue officer says Australia is a strong growth market for its contextual advertising platform, citing the nation’s high per‑capita digital ad spend of $769 per person and $568 per internet user. The company’s Attentive Lift solution, launched globally...
LinkedIn Will No Longer Allow Real-Time Livestreams
LinkedIn announced that, starting June 22, 2026, all LinkedIn Live broadcasts must be scheduled in advance, ending the ability to stream spontaneously. The platform allows short‑notice scheduling, letting users set a start time minutes before going live. The change follows...
LinkedIn Will No Longer Allow Real-Time Live Streams
LinkedIn announced that, effective June 22, 2026, members can no longer start live streams spontaneously; all broadcasts must be scheduled in advance, though events can be set up minutes before airing. The change follows a 24 % quarter‑over‑quarter rise in LinkedIn events and...