Instagram Eyes Long-Form Content on CTV
Instagram is planning to add long‑form video to its connected‑TV (CTV) app, according to Vice President of Product Tessa Lyons at the Scalable Summit. The move is intended to complement the platform’s short‑form focus and give creators tools for podcasts, live streams and mini‑dramas. Lyons said Instagram aims to become a distinct part of a creator’s long‑form strategy within two years. The initiative follows a failed IGTV experiment and mirrors YouTube’s dominant position in CTV advertising.
LinkedIn Uses AI to Improve Feed Relevance
LinkedIn is rolling out AI‑powered generative recommenders that replace its legacy, siloed ranking models. The new system evaluates a member’s activity across feed, jobs, ads and notifications as a single, continuous professional journey. By aggregating signals from all product areas,...
Pinterest Updates Ad Relevance
Pinterest has upgraded its ad relevance engine by incorporating users' offline conversion data and real‑time search behavior. The new architecture uses a hybrid serving flow and novel training approach, boosting median relevance by roughly 275‑300% in tests. It also doubled...
Hyundai Motor Sponsors CNN Series
Hyundai Motor is the exclusive sponsor of CNN International’s four‑part series “K‑Everything,” which premiered on May 9 on CNN International, HBO Max and the network’s streaming platform. Hosted by Oscar‑nominated actor Daniel Dae Kim, the series examines the global rise of Korean...
Social Media Is Not Enough. How Smart Founders Market Themselves in the Age of AI
Founders increasingly rely on social media to acquire customers, but the sheer size of the ecosystem—4.8 billion users covering 60% of the global population—creates a false sense of security. AI‑driven algorithm changes threaten the stability of any single‑platform strategy, turning what...
Sales Are Up. Celebrities Are In. Is Gap Officially Back?
Gap Inc., under CEO Richard Dickson, is attempting to revive its cultural cachet by leveraging celebrity partnerships and entertainment tie‑ins after years of store closures and stagnant sales. Dickson, who previously revitalized Mattel brands, is drawing on the retailer’s 57‑year...
Gucci, Dior, Burberry: A Tale of Three Turnarounds
Wall Street is now valuing Tapestry, the parent of Coach, almost on par with Kering, the owner of Gucci, reflecting divergent turnaround progress among luxury houses. Meanwhile, Armani is reportedly preparing to sell a 15% stake to a consortium that...
Meet the YouTube Whisperers, a Booming Class of Advisors Behind MrBeast and Other Million-Dollar Channels
YouTube’s creator economy is maturing into a high‑value industry, with the platform now delivering 12.7% of U.S. streaming traffic and having paid out over $100 billion to creators since 2021. A growing class of consultants, exemplified by Paddy Galloway, charge $15,000‑$12,000 per...
Target Is Trying to Win Back Busy Families From Walmart, Starting with the Baby Aisle
Target is converting baby aisles in about 200 stores into "baby boutiques," showcasing premium strollers, car seats and high‑end brands like UPPAbaby. The move is part of CEO Michael Fiddelke’s turnaround plan to win back busy families who have drifted...
Roku Changes Its Home Screen, Pushing You to Use Its Free Streaming Service The Roku Channel on Roku TVs &...
Roku has introduced a subtle shaking animation to the The Roku Channel icon on the home screens of its TVs and streaming players, a move designed to draw attention and increase app launches. The tactic mirrors an earlier experiment with...
Flipkart Turns up the Heat with ‘Too Hot to Handle, Uncle’ Summer Campaign
Flipkart has rolled out the "Too Hot to Handle, Uncle" summer campaign ahead of its SASA LELE half‑yearly sale starting May 9. Developed by 22feet Tribal Worldwide, the ad leverages the familiar Indian "summer uncle" archetype to showcase cooling appliances and other...
Google Drops FAQ Rich Results From Search via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google announced the deprecation of FAQ rich results, ending their appearance in Search on May 7, 2026. The Rich Results Test and reporting in Search Console will be removed in June, with API support ending in August. While the FAQPage schema...
Mumbai’s Koli Women Are Rewriting the Seafood Business One WhatsApp Order at a Time
Mumbai’s Koli women have transformed their informal fish‑stall trade into Daryavardi Producer Company Limited (DPCL), a community‑owned seafood enterprise launched in April 2023. The women‑run firm now boasts over 1,000 shareholders, modern packaging, centralized logistics and digital ordering via WhatsApp and...
Stepping Into the Future with the Power of Data
Globacom rolled out two new television commercials, “Road Trip” and “Department of Imagination,” starring Nigerian celebrities to illustrate its promise of seamless connectivity. The ads juxtapose everyday reliability with a futuristic vision, underscoring the company’s recent network upgrades and the...
Heineken’s ‘The Clinker’ Smartband Creates Festival Friends
Heineken introduced "The Clinker" smartband at Coachella, a wearable that reads users' Spotify data and instantly creates a shared playlist when two bands touch. The device aims to turn strangers into instant music‑based connections, bypassing the awkwardness of approaching new...
It Seems Even Sony Thinks a New GTA 6 Trailer Is Right Above the Corner as Marketing Campaign Begins to...
Sony has begun emailing PlayStation 4 owners who wishlisted GTA 6, urging them to upgrade to a PlayStation 5 as the game will be next‑gen only. The outreach coincides with a confirmed marketing partnership between Sony and Rockstar, fueling speculation that a new...
Maruti Suzuki Extends WPP Media’s Rs 1,200 Crore Media Mandate
Maruti Suzuki India has extended its partnership with WPP Media for another year, retaining a media mandate valued at roughly ₹1,200 crore (about $145 million). The automaker’s FY2025 advertising spend climbed to ₹1,127.5 crore ($136 million) as it leaned on marketing to counter slowing...
Dreamsetgo Campaign Turns Sports FOMO Into Comedy Gold
Dreamsetgo’s new campaign pairs comedian Tanmay Bhatt with cricket legend Sourav Ganguly and actor Ayush Mehra to dramatise premium sports‑travel experiences ranging from Formula 1 paddocks to Wimbledon courts. The film leans on banter and creator‑led storytelling rather than hard‑sell messaging,...
JioHotstar, Swiggy Turn Live Cricket Into an In-App Food Court
JioHotstar and Swiggy have rolled out an in‑app food‑ordering feature that lets cricket fans order meals without leaving the live stream, already used by more than 37 million users across 690 cities. The mobile‑only experience lets viewers browse restaurants, unlock match‑triggered offers,...
Target Launches 2-Tier Creator Program: One For Superfans, One For Pros
Target unveiled a two‑tier creator initiative aimed at boosting social commerce. Club Target rewards everyday creators and superfans with weekly challenges and gift‑card incentives, while Target Ambassadors, built on the LTK platform, courts professional creators with higher commissions and deeper...
Google Adds More AI Search Links, Still No Click Data For SEOs via @Sejournal, @MattGSouthern
Google rolled out five new link features for its generative AI search, shifting inline links closer to the supporting text, adding an "Explore new angles" section, expanding source quotes, introducing hover previews, and labeling subscription content. The changes aim to...
Maury Povich Came Out of Retirement to Star in a New Campaign for This AI Tool for Creatives
Maury Povich, the 87‑year‑old former daytime‑talk host, returned from retirement to front Air’s new AI‑enhanced creative‑team platform campaign, "On Air with Maury Povich." Air, a cloud‑based operations and asset‑management service launched in 2021, has raised more than $70 million from investors...
Adidas Just Dropped Its Best World Cup Ad in 20 Years
Adidas unveiled its new World Cup commercial, “Backyard Legends,” on May 7 via Timothée Chalamet’s Instagram. The five‑minute spot assembles a street‑soccer dream team that includes Trinity Rodman, Jude Bellingham, Lamine Yamal, Lionel Messi and Bad Bunny, while Chalamet narrates the quest to dethrone an unbeaten crew...
Heineken Wraps Global Agency Review in Bid for Scale and Consistency
Heineken has completed a global review of its marketing agency ecosystem, appointing a leaner set of partners: dentsu for media, Publicis for secondary production, and creative work consolidated under Publicis, WPP and Stagwell. The restructuring supports its EverGreen 2030 growth plan,...
Lilly and Caitlin Clark Reframe Progress with “Start How You Can”
Eli Lilly, together with Wieden+Kennedy Portland, launched the “Start How You Can” campaign featuring basketball phenom Caitlin Clark. The initiative reframes exercise as a form of preventive medicine, positioning health improvement over drug sales. Debuting alongside the WNBA season, the campaign...
Great Marketing Strategies Don’t Chase Growth: They Build and Defend Advantage
Great marketing strategies now prioritize sustaining advantage over pure growth. Leading brands such as Asian Paints, Titan, and Amul first identify their unique strengths—distribution, trust, or witty voice—and align every campaign, partnership, and channel to reinforce that core. The article...
What Role Does Mobile Optimization Play in Ottawa SEO?
Mobile optimization is now a non‑negotiable pillar of Ottawa SEO as Google’s mobile‑first indexing evaluates the mobile version of every site first. With over 60% of web traffic and the majority of local queries originating from smartphones, a slow or...
Olga Bondareva of ModumUp: Enterprise Buyers Trust People Before They Trust Companies
Olga Bondareva, founder of ModumUp, argues that enterprise buyers now trust people before companies, especially as AI floods the buying process. She highlights a five‑step LinkedIn‑centric social‑selling methodology that blends inbound thought leadership with outbound, account‑based outreach. ModumUp’s approach has...
Many PGA Tour Stops Nod To Travel, Myrtle Beach’s Event Goes All In
The ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic, a PGA Tour stop, doubles as a full‑funnel marketing vehicle for the Grand Strand, pairing a private‑jet broker with the Visit Myrtle Beach tourism board. The tournament features a $4 million purse, a $720,000 winner’s check...
Why Brands Need to Treat Creators Like the True Entrepreneurs They Are
The article urges brands to treat influencers as independent entrepreneurs, granting them creative latitude rather than dictating scripts. Data shows creator‑led content delivers 70% higher click‑through rates and 159% more engagement, while 83% of consumers say they’d purchase a product...
Veronika Höller Talks on a Perfectly Set-Up but Poor Performing Campaign
Veronika Höller revealed that a seemingly flawless PPC campaign was generating clicks and conversions but no revenue, exposing a deeper positioning flaw. Competitor research showed the brand’s messaging blended in, prompting a complete rebuild with new creative, anti‑ICP targeting, and...
Amazon Is Rebranding Fire TV—Here Are the 3 Big Changes, Including the New Name
Amazon has renamed its line of smart‑TV hardware from Fire TV to Ember TV, aligning the brand with its newly launched Ember Artline model. Existing Fire TV sticks and cubes keep their original name, while all physical TV models—2‑Series, 4‑Series, QLED and Mini‑LED—receive the...
Outbound Sales Pro and Parakeet Promotes Andrew "AJ" Kissh to Head of Marketing
Outbound Sales Pro (OSP) and its sister brand Parakeet have promoted Andrew "AJ" Kissh to Head of Marketing. In his new role, Kissh will command a larger budget, expand the marketing team, and drive a more aggressive go‑to‑market strategy through...
Why ‘I Help Everyone’ Is Making You Invisible (And What to Say Instead)
A virtual‑assistant owner changed his pitch from “I help entrepreneurs” to “I help attorneys get their time back,” sparking a dramatic surge in referrals. The piece explains why generic statements render service providers invisible while specific language triggers mental shortcuts...
Schlotzsky's Taps TikTok's 'King of Sandwiches' To Launch Sub Lineup
Schlotzsky’s Deli has teamed up with TikTok influencer Owen Han, known as the “King of Sandwiches,” to launch its new Stacked Subs menu. The lineup includes a Turkey Avocado BLT, Honey Mustard Club and Zesty Italian, offered on Artisan White or Harvest Wheat rolls. Han stars...
Anthropic Takes On Local Search, Challenges Google
Anthropic’s Claude chatbot now leverages Google Maps and Places APIs to answer local queries such as hotel searches. The integration ranks results using star ratings, reviews, and relevance, and Claude can pull data from over 200 daily connectors like TripAdvisor,...
From Reddit to Revenue: Building Real Community That Drives Sales and AI Visibility via @Sejournal, @Hethr_campbell
Search Engine Journal hosted an on‑demand webinar where OGS Media CEO Bartosz Goralewicz and Reddit advisor Brent Csutoras revealed a five‑stage Reddit strategy that lifted AI visibility by 2,000% within 90 days. The session detailed how Reddit‑driven trust signals feed...
The Strategy Behind Dime Beauty’s New Fragrance
Dime Beauty introduced its newest fragrance, "Stay Awhile," priced at $62 and rolling out through Ulta Beauty, Amazon, and its own channels. CEO Cyndi Isgrig highlighted the brand’s evolution from a $100 million influencer‑driven DTC model to a retail‑focused strategy, now...
How the ‘Lumpia Queen’ Turned 1 Failed Recipe Into a Thriving Creator Business and a Collab With Gordon Ramsay
Abi Marquez’s accidental video of a marshmallow fried in a lumpia wrapper went viral, racking up one million views in two hours. She leaned into the feedback, turning the mishap into a series of lumpia‑wrapper recipes that earned her the...
How Planet Fitness Lost Its Way in the Increasingly Competitive Gym Marke...
Planet Fitness reported Q1 membership growth of 730,000, a decline from the 1 million added a year earlier, and posted adjusted earnings of 74 cents per share on $337 million revenue, beating expectations. The company cited marketing missteps that resonated with fitness...
Studio Behind EVE Online Changes Name To Avoid Confusion With Chinese Communist Party
After two decades as Crowd Control Protections (CCP), the studio behind *EVE Online* announced it will rename itself Fenris Creations. The change aims to prevent ongoing brand collisions with the Chinese Communist Party, which has led to media misidentifications and...
You’re Getting the Leads — So Why Aren’t You Growing? Here’s Where You’re Losing Them.
Businesses that generate abundant leads often stall because they fail to convert those prospects into paying customers. The article highlights that delayed or absent responses to calls, voicemails, and online inquiries erode trust and waste existing interest. It stresses that...
Brands and Celebs Lost Millions of Followers Thanks to This Instagram Update—Including Instagram Itself
Instagram’s latest update removed millions of inactive accounts, causing a sharp drop in follower counts for major brands, celebrities and even the platform itself. Nike lost 4.27 million followers, while Cristiano Ronaldo, Kim Kardashian and Victoria’s Secret each shed between 5 and...
This Company Boldly Asks You to Replace Human Workers with AI. Its Strategy Is Working Well, in One Way
Artisan, an AI startup, launched a provocative billboard campaign that urges companies to replace human sales reps with its AI agent, Ava. The ads, displayed in New York City and San Francisco, feature messages like “Fire Steve. Hire Ava” and have sparked a...
Clicks Are a Vanity Metric. Authority Is What Matters Now
Brands are moving from a click‑centric model to an authority‑centric one as AI‑driven zero‑click searches now answer roughly 60% of queries, siphoning organic traffic. McKinsey warns that 20‑50% of traffic could disappear into Google’s AI Overviews. The article argues that...
Google Ads Surfaces Tag Manager Controls Inside Its Interface
Google Ads has introduced a new “Manage” option in its Data Manager that opens Google Tag Manager controls directly within the Ads interface. The integration lets advertisers view connected data sources and adjust tag triggers without switching platforms, streamlining measurement...
What Is ‘Premium Content’ on Just Food?
Just Food has launched a Premium Content tier that places its most data‑intensive articles behind a registration wall. The new offering bundles deeper analysis, industry interviews, and exclusive reports powered by GlobalData’s proprietary research. Readers must create a basic profile...
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,...
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...