‘The Gatekeepers Have Changed’: Glu Says AI Now Decides Which Brands Get Seen
Glu.ai, a Shopify‑native platform, has introduced its Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO) service in Australia to help brands appear in AI‑generated answer engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity. The offering targets mid‑market merchants, promising that clear, structured product data can outweigh traditional media spend in gaining visibility. Founder Sangeeta Mudnal argues that AI‑driven discovery is resetting e‑commerce, turning product clarity into the new competitive moat. Early adopters could shape how recommendation algorithms prioritize brands in the coming years.
Meta Simplifies Ad Performance Elements
Meta introduced AI‑enhanced tools to simplify its Pixel and a one‑click setup for the Conversions API. The new Pixel feature automatically adds product names, availability and business details to event data, reducing manual coding. The Conversions API can now be...
Oxford Road Shares The Secrets To True Crime Podcast Ad Effectiveness
Oxford Road released its ORBIT ranking of the top‑performing true‑crime podcasts, drawing on more than $1.6 billion in campaign data from over 500 advertisers. The analysis shows true‑crime is the second‑largest spend genre, ranking in the top 20 % for ad efficiency, yet...
YouTube Tests Showing Creator Posts in Your Shorts Feed
YouTube is piloting a new format that places creator Posts—image carousels with up to ten pictures, text overlays, and royalty‑free music—directly inside the Shorts feed on its mobile app. The test, rolling out globally to a limited user group, aims...
![How To Become The AI Search Authority In Your Company [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/1-812.png)
How To Become The AI Search Authority In Your Company [Webinar] via @Sejournal, @Lorenbaker
Search Engine Journal is hosting a webinar that teaches SEO leaders how to become the authority on AI‑driven search within their organizations. The session will show how to steer cross‑functional teams—PR, product, and content—to influence the data AI models trust,...
FTC Pushes Ad Agencies Into Dropping Brand Safety Rules
The Federal Trade Commission, joined by eight states, has filed a proposed settlement that would bar major ad agencies—WPP, Publicis and Dentsu—from coordinating brand‑safety rules that exclude platforms based on political viewpoints. The order stems from an antitrust complaint alleging...
Hightouch Reaches $100M ARR Fueled by Marketing Tools Powered by AI
Hightouch, a seven‑year‑old startup, announced it has reached $100 million in annualized recurring revenue after launching an AI‑powered marketing content service in late 2024. The platform integrates directly with brand assets in tools like Figma and CMSs to generate on‑brand images and...
Absurd? AI-Made Fruit Telenovelas and What They’re Really Telling the Industry
AI‑generated fruit telenovelas—short, absurd micro‑series built entirely with diffusion video, lip‑sync and voice‑synthesis models—have amassed millions of views on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube. Their ultra‑low‑cost, single‑creator workflow compresses a traditional TV pipeline from eleven steps to three, proving fully AI‑assisted...
Ad Companies Settle With F.T.C. Over Claims of Harm to Conservative Sites
Three of the world’s largest ad holding firms—WPP, Dentsu and Publicis—reached settlements with the Federal Trade Commission over allegations they coordinated policies that limited ads on conservative‑leaning sites. The FTC complaint said the collusion reduced revenue for publishers deemed to...
How Creators Are Transforming Marketing Strategy: From Campaigns to Infrastructure with Monica Khan
Monica Khan argues that creators have moved from a campaign‑centric channel to a core piece of marketing infrastructure. Brands that embed creators in an always‑on, cross‑functional model can harvest real‑time audience insights and build lasting trust. The conversation also highlights...
3 Practical Ways to Identify Keywords That Help Customers Find You
The article outlines three practical steps for identifying keywords that drive customer discovery: brainstorming industry‑specific and local terms, using keyword research tools, and studying competitor websites. It emphasizes that precise keyword selection underpins successful SEO, PPC, and social media campaigns....
Emma Grede’s 4 Rules for Making Your Brand Actually Matter on Social
Emma Grede, founding partner of Skims and author of *Start With Yourself*, outlined four brand‑building rules at ADWEEK’s Social Media Week. She argues that trust and authenticity now eclipse raw follower counts, and that product excellence must precede any marketing...
Shirofune Launches AI Summary
Shirofune, a digital advertising automation platform, unveiled AI Summary on April 15, 2026. The new tool leverages generative AI to scan performance‑metric shifts and produce a concise, actionable narrative within seconds. It sits on top of Shirofune’s existing Change Analysis...
SMX Now: The Automation Drift and How to Correct Course
The SMX Now webinar will explore "automation drift" in Google Ads, where incomplete or misaligned signals cause the platform to optimize for the wrong outcomes. Ameet Khabra of Hop Skip Media will dissect a real account that saw a 417% conversion lift that...
Senior Agency Partner, Commercial Video Sales
YouTube has secured official partner sales status and is creating two Senior Agency Partner positions to scale its commercial video offering. The senior hires will own revenue delivery across a defined patch of agencies, driving sales of YouTube inventory, including...
What Makes Content Scroll-Stopping in 2026
In 2026 the battle for attention hinges on a single element: the hook that stops the scroll. Meta reports users form an impression in just 1.7 seconds, while TikTok and YouTube Shorts show that front‑loading the core message within the...
How Manscaped Used AI to Evolve Beyond Ball Memes
Manscaped, famed for its ball‑trimmer humor, partnered with Consiglieri’s AI tool Clamor to break out of its meme‑centric niche as it expanded into hair and beard care. The platform monitors every social channel, decodes sarcasm and emojis, and delivers real‑time...
Scaling Paid Media Without Burning Cash: Smarter Testing Frameworks for Modern PPC
Scaling paid media often leads to rising CPAs when spend is increased without proper testing. Teams typically outpace their learning, causing efficiency drops as they move into broader audiences. The article advocates a disciplined testing framework that isolates variables, sets...
From Clicks to Confidence: How Brands Validate PPC Performance Without Flawed Attribution
Brands are moving beyond flawed click‑through attribution to validate PPC performance with layered metrics. Cross‑device journeys and privacy‑driven data gaps make single‑model attribution unreliable, prompting marketers to blend CAC, new‑customer rates, LTV and payback periods. Incrementality tests, geo‑holdouts, and Marketing...
Google Adds Campaign-Level Filtering to Bulk Ad Review Appeals
Google Ads now offers a campaign‑level filter in its bulk ad‑review appeal tool, allowing advertisers to target only specific campaigns when requesting policy re‑reviews. The new "Select eligible campaigns" option prevents the need to resubmit all disapproved ads across an...
Why Your Google Ads Aren’t Getting Clicks
Google Ads can fail to generate clicks for several avoidable reasons. Using overly broad or irrelevant keywords prevents ads from reaching the right audience, while generic ad copy offers no compelling reason to click. Low bids keep ads off prime...
Navigating the Agentic Frontier: The IAB Tech Lab 2026 Roadmap
IAB Tech Lab unveiled its 2026 roadmap, centering on agentic advertising frameworks, new privacy‑first standards, and CTV‑focused programmatic tools. The release includes open‑source Agentic Advertising Management Protocols (AAMP) 2.0, a live Agent Registry, and the LLM Content Monetization Protocol (CoMP)...
A Six-Figure Order and a Runway for Growth: How Thomas Helps OSE Optics Connect With the Right Customers
OSE Optics, a precision optics maker, partnered with the Thomas industrial marketplace to overhaul its brand and launch an SEO‑optimized website. The revamp lifted the company from a single website inquiry in five years to a steady stream of high‑quality...
Talon.One Releases Integration With Adobe Experience Platform to Power Real-Time Loyalty and Promotions for Enterprise Brands
Talon.One, the incentives platform behind more than 300 enterprise brands, has launched a native integration with Adobe Experience Platform (AEP). The connector links Talon.One to Adobe Real‑Time CDP and Journey Optimizer, allowing loyalty and promotion logic to run instantly across...
Your Homepage Matters Again for SEO — Here’s Why
The rise of AI assistants like Gemini and ChatGPT is steering users back to branded searches, making the homepage the primary entry point for many visitors. This reverses the early‑2000s SEO trend where deep‑link pages captured most traffic. Marketers must...
DMWF Spotlight: The Full-Funnel Performance Marketing Strategy Every Brand Needs in 2026
In 2026 marketers are merging awareness and conversion into a single full‑funnel strategy, leveraging first‑party data and AI to replace the lost third‑party cookie ecosystem. Real‑time customer insights enable brands to craft coherent journeys that span social, search and email....
Why TikTok Is the New Battleground for FMCG Sales
TikTok Shop is emerging as a dedicated social‑commerce channel for fast‑moving consumer goods, leveraging its discovery‑led format to turn viral videos into purchases. Ninety‑three percent of users engage with the shop feature and 88 % discover new brands, while a two‑click...
Agentic Engine Optimization: Google AI Director Outlines New Content Playbook
Google Cloud AI director Addy Osmani introduced Agentic Engine Optimization (AEO), a framework for making web content consumable by autonomous AI agents. He argues that token limits, not clicks or dwell time, now drive content performance, urging creators to front‑load...
Meta Is Launching An Easy Button For CAPI
Meta announced a one‑click activation for its Conversions API (CAPI) within Events Manager, simplifying server‑side tracking for advertisers. The update also introduces an AI‑powered enrichment feature for the Meta pixel that automatically extracts product and business data from web pages....
Locality and Nielsen Announce Landmark Integration of Media Data Engine, Transforming Local TV Measurement
Locality and Nielsen announced the integration of Nielsen’s Media Data Engine (MDE) into Locality’s broadcast advertising platform. The partnership makes Locality the first broadcast sales organization to deploy Nielsen’s MDE at scale, delivering demographic audience data across all 210 U.S....
Forecasting Mobile Game Profitability: How Publishers Predict UA Performance
AppQuantum’s head of marketing analytics, Iaroslav Kobozev, outlines a profit‑forecasting system that projects annual ROAS from a single week of D7 performance. By updating coefficient models weekly and enforcing a minimum cohort of 300 installs or 10 payers, the framework...
Partner Perspectives: DIRECTV Advertising on Modernizing the TV Experience
DIRECTV Advertising is merging linear TV with streaming to give advertisers the reach of traditional broadcast and the precision of digital. Leveraging PubMatic’s programmatic infrastructure, the platform has boosted live‑sports impressions by roughly 40% through streaming versus satellite alone. New...
Amazon Ads Hands The IAB Tech Lab A Tool That Promises To Waste Fewer Bid Requests
Amazon Ads has donated its Dynamic Traffic Engine (DTE) to the IAB Tech Lab as open‑source software, enabling real‑time traffic shaping for programmatic advertising. The tool lets demand‑side platforms broadcast detailed inventory preferences to supply‑side platforms, which then filter bid...
TelevisaUnivision Joins The Streaming Self-Service Bandwagon
TelevisaUnivision has partnered with ad‑tech firm fullthrottle.ai to make its streaming inventory available through a self‑serve platform. The integration adds a dedicated ad bidder, clean‑room data matching and ZIP‑code level targeting for U.S. Hispanic audiences. Fullthrottle reports a 90% match‑rate...
Google Is Replacing Dynamic Search Ads With AI Max via @Sejournal, @Brookeosmundson
Google will retire Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) and migrate eligible campaigns to its AI Max platform starting in September 2026. The transition unfolds in two phases: a voluntary upgrade window now open, followed by an automatic migration of remaining DSA,...
How Zenni Optical Leveraged Mobile Gaming to Achieve 30-Percent Sales Growth in February | Exclusive
Zenni Optical partnered with Ghost Gaming and ad‑tech firm Digital Culture Group to run a mobile‑gaming ad campaign in February. The initiative leveraged AI‑driven inventory targeting and achieved a cost‑per‑unique‑user (CPUU) of just $0.02. As a result, Zenni recorded a...
The Modern SEO Center Of Excellence: Governance, Not Guidelines via @Sejournal, @Billhunt
Enterprise SEO Centers of Excellence often fail because they act only as advisory bodies without enforcement authority. Modern AI‑driven search demands consistent, machine‑readable structures, which requires a governing CoE that defines and audits templates, structured data, and content standards. By...
Vax Appoints UK Media Agency Following 7-Way Pitch
Vax, the long‑standing UK floor‑care brand, has appointed the7stars as its new media agency after a competitive seven‑way pitch that also featured incumbent McCann Birmingham. The agency will assume media planning and buying responsibilities for Vax’s vacuum, carpet‑washer and cleaning‑solution...
The New PPC Playbook: From Media Buyer to Profit Engineer
The article argues that paid‑search professionals must evolve from tactical media buyers to "profit engineers" as Google and Microsoft automate bidding, creative testing, and audience discovery. It outlines four steps: mapping campaigns directly to the profit‑and‑loss statement, engineering AI signals...
Google: We May Use Spam Report Submissions For Manual Actions
Google has updated its spam‑report policy to state that user submissions can be used to trigger manual actions against sites violating its spam guidelines. When a manual action is issued, Google will forward the exact text of the reporter’s submission...
Gupshup Launches Superagent
Gupshup unveiled Superagent, an autonomous AI agent that designs, launches, and optimizes customer conversations across major messaging and voice channels. The platform handles everything from campaign setup and journey orchestration to transaction processing and performance monitoring, all via simple prompts....
Google Ads Consolidating Enhanced Conversions With On/Off Switch
Google Ads is consolidating its Enhanced Conversions for web and for leads into a single, unified setting that can be toggled on or off. The change eliminates the need to choose between implementation methods such as the Google tag, Google...
Why Your Search Data Doesn’t Agree (And What To Do About It) via @Sejournal, @Coreydmorris
Marketing teams routinely compare quarterly reports from GA4, Google Ads, Search Console and CRM, only to find the numbers diverge. The article explains that each platform tracks different user actions, uses distinct attribution models, and is affected by privacy‑driven data...
Navigating the Future of AI Search: The DGR Interview with Branch’s Adam Landis
Branch’s AI Search and Discovery Enterprise Benchmark Report, based on 300 enterprise leaders, shows AI‑driven search delivers fewer visits but markedly higher‑intent users for B2B platforms. Marketers are urged to pivot from sheer traffic volume to funnel quality, emphasizing personalization...
The Reddit Detour Distorting PPC Signals
A recent study shows Reddit outranks paid ads for high‑cost keywords—often $50 CPC or more—across 8,566 terms in B2B SaaS, and similar patterns appear in legal, finance, home services, and insurance. When users click a Reddit thread instead of a brand’s...
How Legora Hired Jude Law
Swedish legal‑tech startup Legora has landed British actor Jude Law for a high‑profile television ad promoting its AI‑powered contract platform. The spot, produced by agency Noa Åkestam Holst and directed by SNL veteran Rhys Thomas, was filmed in Los Angeles over...
3 Golden Insights From NBC Sports’ Social Strategy During the Milan Winter Olympics
NBC Sports leveraged its social platforms during the Milan‑Cortina Winter Olympics to treat the event as both sport and culture, targeting anyone with a smartphone. The team re‑imagined the 8 p.m. ET recap as a feature‑film‑style experience, extending conversation 24/7. Their...
How to Get More Views on TikTok (Proven Strategies That Work in 2026)
TikTok’s algorithm now rewards videos that keep users watching, making watch time and completion rate the top ranking signals. Creators who hook viewers in the first three seconds, keep videos short (8‑20 seconds), and encourage high‑value engagement such as comments,...
Why the Inbox Is the New Algorithm
At Adweek’s Social Media Week 2026, brand leaders argued that newsletters are experiencing a renaissance as a reliable alternative to algorithm‑driven social feeds. Executives from Rare Beauty, Betches, and UTA highlighted that owned email lists give brands direct access to...
Bauer Media Taps Experian to Boost Audience Targeting
Bauer Media has partnered with Experian to embed its Mosaic consumer‑insight data into the company’s digital audio platform audioXi and publishing platform Illuminate. The integration gives advertisers access to consistent audience segments across Bauer’s 120 radio stations and more than...