YouTube Tests Sticky Banner After Ad Skip
YouTube is piloting a sticky banner overlay that stays visible after a viewer skips a video ad. The banner, linked to the original ad, remains on‑screen until the user dismisses it, extending brand exposure beyond the skip point. This experiment could reshape how skippable inventory is valued by preserving visibility without forcing a full ad watch. Early sightings were shared by Adsquire CEO Anthony Higman on LinkedIn.
Informa TechTarget Launches AI Visibility and GEO Solutions
Informa TechTarget unveiled two new offerings—the AI Visibility Audit and the GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) Topic Planner—to help B2B marketers navigate AI‑driven search ecosystems. The audit evaluates how audiences discover brands via AI, pinpointing gaps in visibility and accuracy, while...
fullthrottle.ai Launches Enhanced SmartMail Capabilities
FullThrottle Technologies introduced an upgraded SmartMail feature on its fullthrottle.ai platform, enabling marketers to fuse identity‑driven direct‑mail with digital display, audio, and CTV campaigns. The solution converts third‑party audiences into verified first‑party households, allowing real‑time, trigger‑based mail activations. Integrated into...
Smartly Signs Letter of Intent to Acquire Measurement Platform Incrmntal
Smartly has signed a letter of intent to acquire Incrmntal, a real‑time marketing measurement platform. Smartly’s AI‑driven suite automates campaign creation, while Incrmntal provides incremental lift analytics across channels. Financial terms were not disclosed. The acquisition aims to embed live...
As Retail Media Enters Its Second Act, Savvy Brands Diversify Networks and Tactics
Retail media is evolving from a bottom‑funnel, search‑only model to a full‑funnel ecosystem that includes video, display, and off‑site formats. Amazon’s share of retail media spend dropped from 56% to 46% as marketers allocate more budget to Walmart and mid‑size...
AURN Teams With AdGrid For Multicultural Marketer Push
American Urban Radio Networks (AURN), a Black‑owned radio consortium led by Chesley Maddox‑Dorsey, announced a strategic partnership with ad‑tech platform AdGrid. The collaboration will launch a new initiative that blends AURN’s multicultural radio reach with AdGrid’s programmatic technology. The goal...
Compound Growth: How U.S. Bank Uses AI to Drive Revenue and Results
U.S. Bank is embedding artificial intelligence into its core growth engine, using AI‑generated synthetic audiences to slash campaign development time by roughly 50 percent. The bank’s AI‑driven personalization platform is already delivering tens of millions of dollars in incremental revenue by...
14 Digital Marketing Conferences to Attend in 2026
The 2026 digital‑marketing conference lineup spans five continents, featuring flagship events like Social Media Marketing World, OMR Festival, and Web Summit, each adding AI‑focused tracks or new formats. Organizers are blending hybrid access, extended virtual recordings, and intimate networking experiences...
Conversational Keywords as the Foundation of Generative Engine Optimisation
The article argues that generative engine optimisation (GEO) now hinges on conversational keywords rather than traditional, rigid terms. As users pose full‑sentence questions, AI‑driven search engines evaluate intent and context, making keyword stuffing ineffective. Voice‑assistant adoption—over $9 billion in market size...
Publicis Advises Clients to Avoid The Trade Desk, According to a Leaked Memo
Publicis has instructed its clients to stop recommending The Trade Desk after a third‑party audit uncovered improper fee applications and a lack of transparent cost invoicing. The audit, performed by FirmDecisions, concluded that The Trade Desk charged fees without clear...
Beverage Marketer Sees Cost Savings with Agentic Media-Buying Test
PubMatic and Butler/Till executed Geloso Beverage Group’s first fully autonomous, AI‑driven media campaign using the AgenticOS platform. The test cut buy‑side supply‑chain costs by 5.5× while delivering a 98% video‑completion rate and 40% more impressions than planned. Quality metrics were...
MarkApp Joins IAB MENA
MarkApp has joined IAB MENA, reinforcing its commitment to transparent, standards‑driven digital advertising in the Middle East and North Africa. IAB MENA is a leading industry body that shapes programmatic standards, best practices, and education across the region. MarkApp brings...
Gamma Adds AI Image-Generation Tools in Bid to Take on Canva and Adobe
Gamma has unveiled Gamma Imagine, an AI‑driven image‑generation tool that lets users create brand‑specific marketing assets such as charts, infographics, and social graphics from simple text prompts. The product plugs into a suite of integrations—including ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier, Atlassian, n8n,...
IAB Connected Commerce Summit to Highlight the Path for Scalable, Sustainable Commerce Media
The Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) will host the 2026 Connected Commerce Summit in New York on April 14, gathering senior leaders from retail, brands, and media to address the next phase of commerce media. The event will concentrate on establishing...
Future Is Training Its AI On Publisher First-Party Data
Future Media unveiled Helix, an AI‑powered audience platform that builds on its first‑party data assets. Helix replaces the legacy Aperture system in the U.S., adding predictive modeling and real‑time audience segmentation for outcome‑based campaigns. Early tests across 20 fashion, retail...
Best Influencer Database Software in 2026
Influencer database software has become essential as brands scale creator programs, with 59.4% of marketers planning to raise influencer budgets in 2026. These platforms turn manual scouting into searchable, filterable datasets that include demographics, engagement, and cross‑platform reach. The article...
TrafficGuard Appoints Head of AI to Battle Rising Fraud
TrafficGuard has appointed Scott Thomson, a former Google, Adobe and Telstra AI leader, as Head of AI to strengthen its fight against sophisticated agentic bots. The move comes as autonomous bots that mimic human behavior are reshaping the digital ad...
Retail Media X Europe 2026: Why Retailers Need to Be in the Room This May
Retail Media X Europe will convene over 750 senior executives, brands, agencies, and tech innovators in London on 14 May 2026 to discuss the fast‑growing European retail media market, projected to reach £25 billion by 2026. The conference features three tracks—scaling networks,...
Google Knowledge Panel: What It Is & How to Get One
Google’s Knowledge Panel is an information box that appears in search results when Google identifies a recognized entity such as a brand, person, or place. The panel can occupy up to half of the visible SERP, offering facts, images, and...
OPINION: Retail’s $210 Billion Paid Advertising Blind Spot
Global ecommerce retailers—estimated at nine to twelve million—are collectively spending about $210 billion on paid digital advertising each year, yet confidence in the returns from that spend is eroding. The rise of privacy regulations, cookie deprecation and AI‑driven ad platforms has...
The Next Phase of Social Strategy: Giving Audiences Ownership of the Story
Social marketers are moving from one‑way authenticity to audience ownership, inviting fans to co‑create brand stories. Panels at Ragan’s Social Media Conference highlighted how gaming, National Geographic, Xbox and U.S. Soccer use two‑way conversation, repeatable formats, and layered content capture...
Burberry’s Trench Coat Campaign Shows Luxury Marketing’s Shift to Social Platforms
Burberry’s latest trench‑coat campaign marks a decisive shift from traditional, season‑driven luxury advertising to a digital‑first approach. By tailoring assets for Instagram and TikTok, the brand can launch content in real time, reacting to viral moments and algorithmic boosts. The...
Limelight Inc Report Calls for “Efficiency Reset” In Ad Tech to Tackle Environmental Costs & Waste
Limelight Inc. released a whitepaper urging an “efficiency reset” across programmatic advertising, highlighting that operational waste now threatens economic performance, brand reputation, and the environment. The report details how practices such as circular trading, over‑intermediation, and bid duplication inflate costs...
The Value of Search Visibility
Despite headlines proclaiming the death of search, Google’s query volume grew more than 20% in 2024, handling billions of searches daily. While zero‑click rates now hover around 60% overall and up to 77% on mobile, the total number of clicks...
“Demand Doesn’t Disappear. It Relocates”: Jessica Saunders, Eyeota
Jessica Saunders of Eyeota warns that AI‑driven search is compressing the traditional click economy, with daily AI search usage more than doubling and click‑through rates softening. Marketers are shifting spend from intent‑heavy search to discovery‑focused channels such as CTV and...
Empowering the Affiliate Ecosystem with Affilka
Affilka, an award‑winning iGaming affiliate management platform, has launched two major features: a Sub‑affiliate Module and Hierarchy‑Based Roles Management. The Sub‑affiliate Module gives operators granular visibility into multi‑level affiliate structures, offering detailed performance metrics and two configurable reward models. Hierarchy‑Based...
Digest: OpenAI Tests Ads Manager and Prepares Agentic Storefronts Feature; Meta Plans Layoffs While Publishers Back Its Expulsion From IAB...
OpenAI is expanding its commercial toolkit, testing an Ads Manager dashboard with a select partner group while preparing the Agentic Storefronts feature that will surface Shopify merchants’ products directly inside ChatGPT. In Sweden, major publishers have backed Meta’s expulsion from...
The Vital Role of Advertising in Times of Uncertainty
Terry Kane of The Trade Desk argues that advertising is a critical infrastructure that keeps the free internet, quality journalism, and economic activity alive during periods of uncertainty. Historical research shows brands that maintain or increase ad spend in downturns...
Why LinkedIn Might Have Two Algorithms — and Why Marketers Should Care
A recent analysis by Christopher Penn suggests LinkedIn runs two distinct algorithmic systems: a retrieval stage that decides whether a post enters a viewer’s candidate pool, and a ranking stage that orders those candidates in the feed. Retrieval relies on signals...
The 10 Best Mailchimp Alternatives in 2026
Mailchimp remains a top email marketing tool, but growing user demands for better pricing, specialized features, and AI capabilities have spurred a vibrant alternatives market. Zapier’s updated 2026 guide lists ten contenders, ranging from advanced automation platforms like ActiveCampaign to...
Meta Switches up Its Ad Transparency Labels In-Stream
Meta is replacing the “Sponsored” label with a smaller “Ad” tag on Instagram, part of a broader UI refresh. The change is already live on Instagram and being piloted on Facebook in limited tests. By reducing label size, the disclosure...
AHA Launches New Ad Celebrating Hospitals’ Compassion and Care
The American Hospital Association (AHA) unveiled a new television and digital advertisement that spotlights the compassion and care delivered by hospitals across the United States. The ad, released during Patient Safety Awareness Week, weaves together authentic patient narratives and frontline...
United and Marriott Pitch Ad Strategies to Target Travelers on Plane and Hotel Screens
United Airlines and Marriott are urging advertisers to shift spend toward in‑flight and in‑room screens, arguing that travelers are most receptive while en route or staying at a destination. Both companies have built proprietary platforms—United’s Kinective Media and Marriott Media—that...
Gartner Marketing Symposium/Xpo London 2026
Gartner’s Marketing Symposium/Xpo will convene senior marketing leaders in London on May 11‑12, 2026. The two‑day event emphasizes AI, growth strategy, and customer experience across brand activation, CMO leadership, and demand generation. Attendees will participate in data‑driven sessions, workshops, and the exclusive...
Google Brings Helpful Changes to Ads Editor with Version 2.12
Google has released Ads Editor version 2.12, bringing several web‑interface features to the desktop tool. The update lifts the Performance Max video asset limit to 15 and adds support for 9:16 portrait images. New Demand Gen enhancements include flighted budgeting,...
DMWF Spotlight: Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): A Comprehensive Guide for 2026
Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is emerging as a critical discipline that enables brands to appear within AI‑generated answers on platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini, and voice assistants. Unlike traditional SEO, AEO focuses on concise, structured content and schema markup so...
To Succeed With Paid Media, This Indie Agency Advises Nailing Organic First
LV8, a social‑first agency founded in 2024, has launched a dedicated paid‑media practice led by Ian Hiscock. The firm treats content creation and media buying as a single workflow, amplifying high‑performing organic posts with paid spend. By using organic insights...
Escalated.io Releases Next Generation Software Update for Its Invalid Traffic Filtration Service
Escalated.io announced a next‑generation update to its invalid traffic filtration service, extending its JavaScript pixel and pre‑bid solutions. The upgrade accelerates detection, allowing many fraud types to be identified on the first impression rather than after accumulating data. Real‑time blocking...
3 CMS Platforms Control 73% Of The Market & Shape Technical SEO Defaults via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Chris Green’s analysis of 17 million sites shows WordPress, Shopify and Wix now dominate 73 % of the CMS market, eclipsing legacy platforms like Joomla and Drupal. Their combined 2025 revenue exceeds $13.5 billion, funding engineering teams that set default technical‑SEO configurations for...
US X-Venture & India’s SbInfowaves Announce Global Alliance To Launch ‘Agentic AI’ Marketing Infrastructure For USA-SMEs
X‑Venture.US and India’s SB Infowaves have formed a strategic alliance to deliver an Agentic AI‑driven marketing and operational platform for U.S. small‑and‑medium enterprises. The partnership pairs X‑Venture’s private‑capital placement expertise with SB Infowaves’ autonomous AI “digital colleagues,” aiming to modernize legacy firms...
How AI Agents Decide Which Brands To Recommend: Trust Is The New Ranking Factor via @Sejournal, @Purnavirji
Autonomous AI agents are turning trust into a ranking factor, shifting marketers from chasing visibility to proving eligibility. Brands must supply clear, verifiable data that agents can parse and use to justify recommendations. The Wharton paper outlines three trust pillars—goal...
Store Tab Appearing in Google Shopping
Google Shopping now includes a “Stores” tab that surfaces local retailers alongside product listings. The feature appears after clicking the “More places” button and redirects users to the Places navigation bar. It is distinct from the existing “Nearby” filter, which...
Most Marketing Agencies Are Held Together by Duct Tape. GoHighLevel Wants to Fix That.
Marketing agencies typically juggle six to twelve separate tools, driving up costs and operational friction. GoHighLevel offers a single‑platform alternative that bundles CRM, email, SMS, funnel building, scheduling, reputation management and AI‑driven automation. Its architecture provides unlimited, isolated sub‑accounts per...
Ineos Grenadier Shuns the Glossy Shots for the Boozer
Ineos Automotive has launched a new ad campaign, “Born in a Pub,” that tells the Grenadier 4×4’s origin story inside a recreated London pub. The 80‑second film shows the vehicle being assembled on the bar while patrons mingle, rejecting the...
“The Metrics That Matter Are in the Inventory Supply” – Buy-Side View with Mindshare’s Dave Sargent
Dave Sargent, UK Head of AV at Mindshare, argues that the most critical metrics for video and CTV lie in the quality of the inventory itself, not just view counts. He warns that CTV inventory is often diluted by non‑CTV...
Tells.co Among First U.S. Platforms Approved for RCS Business Messaging
Tells.co has become one of the first U.S. platforms cleared to run Rich Communication Services (RCS) Business Messaging campaigns. RCS upgrades traditional SMS with high‑resolution images, branded sender IDs, interactive buttons, and swipeable product carousels, and its adoption is accelerating...
Uber Emboldens St Patrick’s Day Partygoers to ‘Irish Exit’ with a Quick Getaway
Uber has launched the "IrishXit" campaign for St. Patrick’s Day, urging partygoers to leave safely via UberX. The initiative features Love Island star Maura Higgins in a meta‑creative spot that dramatizes an "Irish exit" from a party. Partnering with Mother New York,...
7 Cinematic Ads From the 2026 Oscars
During the 98th Academy Awards, advertisers turned the commercial break into a showcase of cinematic storytelling, with brands such as Coinbase, Burger King, Mazda, Disney Cruise Line, Credit One Bank, Panera Bread and L’Oréal unveiling high‑production spots. The ads leaned...
Beyond the Brief: Inside SnackaChangi’s ‘One Chip per Kiwi’ Campaign – a Triumphant Trainwreck
SnackaChangi and Pitchblack Partners launched a "one chip per Kiwi" stunt that turned an impossible sampling brief into a nationwide content engine. By framing the absurd promise as a media‑driven narrative and later handing over the unspent sampling budget, the...
Rethinking AEO when Software Agents Navigate the Web on Behalf of Users
The rise of AI‑powered agents that browse the web on users' behalf is eroding the long‑standing assumption that every click, scroll or purchase funnel step reflects a conscious human decision. While the raw data—page views, button clicks, time on page—remains...