News
News
Short briefings on the AI and marketing stories that matter for mid-market brands.
OpenAI Adds Daily Budgets, State/DMA/ZIP Geo-Targeting, and Dynamic CTAs to ChatGPT Ads Manager Beta
On May 22, 2026, OpenAI rolled out three ChatGPT Ads Manager Beta updates: daily or lifetime budgets on new campaigns, U.S. geo-targeting down to state, DMA, and ZIP, and aggregate list-view totals....
Google Launches Ask Advisor at Marketing Live 2026: Unified Gemini Agent Spans Ads, Analytics, Merchant Center, and Marketing Platform
On May 20, 2026, Google launched Ask Advisor at Google Marketing Live: a Gemini-powered agent that unifies Ads, Analytics, Merchant Center, and Google Marketing Platform behind one conversational...
Google I/O 2026: Gemini 3.5 Flash Becomes AI Mode Default and Search Box Gets Biggest Redesign in 25 Years
At Google I/O 2026, Gemini 3.5 Flash became the default model powering AI Mode in Search globally, paired with the biggest Search box redesign in over 25 years. Information agents, Gemini Spark, and...
Condé Nast CEO Tells Teams to Plan as if Google Search Traffic Will Be Zero
On May 12, 2026, Condé Nast CEO Roger Lynch directed every brand to plan as if Google search traffic will be zero, expecting search to settle into single digits of total traffic. For mid-market...
OpenAI Launches Product Feed Ads in ChatGPT: Retailers Can Auto-Generate Shopping Campaigns From Catalogs
On May 12, 2026, OpenAI launched product feed automation inside ChatGPT, letting retailers auto-generate shopping ads from existing catalogs rather than building campaigns SKU by SKU. The system...
Google Ads Brings Tag Manager Setup In-Platform Ahead of Google Marketing Live 2026
Google Ads is pulling Google Tag Manager controls directly into its interface and rolling out a no-code visual setup flow for the Google tag, reducing handoffs between media buyers and developers...
Google Officially Deprecates FAQ Rich Results May 7, 2026: Search Console and Rich Results Test Support to Follow
Google stopped showing FAQ rich results in search on May 7, 2026, per Google Search Central. Search Console reporting and the Rich Results Test lose FAQ support in June 2026, and API support ends...
Google Previews Journey-Aware Bidding, Smart Bidding Exploration for Shopping and PMax, and Demand-Led Pacing Ahead of GML 2026
On May 7, 2026, Google previewed three Google Ads updates: journey-aware bidding in beta for Search lead-gen Target CPA, Smart Bidding Exploration expanding to Shopping and Performance Max with...
Google Previews Meridian GeoX, Meridian Studio, and Data Manager Map View Ahead of Google Marketing Live 2026
On May 5, 2026, Google previewed three measurement tools ahead of Google Marketing Live 2026: Meridian GeoX for open-source geo incrementality, Meridian Studio for enterprise MMM on Google Cloud, and...
OpenAI Expands ChatGPT Ads to Australia, New Zealand, and Canada in First International Rollout
OpenAI is rolling out ChatGPT ads beyond the US for the first time, with pilots launching in Australia, New Zealand, and Canada on Free and Go tiers. Minimum spend dropped to $50,000 and CPMs as low...
Adthena Tracks 50,000+ Daily ChatGPT Ad Placements Across 600+ Advertisers as OpenAI Pilot Scales
Adthena's ChatGPT Ads Intelligence index is tracking 50,000+ daily ad placements across 600+ advertisers as of May 1, 2026, per Search Engine Land. The dataset signals OpenAI's ad pilot is scaling...
Google Signals Gemini App Ads at Q1 2026 Earnings as Network Ad Revenue Falls 4%
On Alphabet's Q1 2026 earnings call, Google CBO Philipp Schindler said ad formats working in AI Mode would "transfer successfully to Gemini app." Google Network ad revenue fell 4% to $6.97B, while...
Google Demand Gen April 2026 Update: Commerce Media Suite Support and YouTube View-Through Conversion Optimization
Google's April 23, 2026 Demand Gen Drop adds Commerce Media Suite support inside Google Ads and a new view-through conversion optimization toggle for YouTube inventory. The changes let Smart Bidding...
Creator Advertising Hits $37B in 2025, IAB Projects $44B in 2026 as Always-On Replaces Burst Campaigns
Creator ad spend hit $37B in 2025 and is projected to reach $44B in 2026, per IAB. Growth is running roughly 4x the broader media industry, and brands are shifting from one-off bursts to always-on...
Meta Rolls Out AI Business Assistant Globally to All Advertisers and Agencies
On April 22-24, 2026, Meta moved its AI business assistant from a U.S. small-business beta into a global beta open to advertisers and agencies of all sizes, embedded inside Ads Manager, Business...
Google Ads Demand Gen Review Delays Disrupt 2026 Launch Timelines
Google Ads Demand Gen campaigns are stuck in review for days, with some image ad approvals stretching past a full week. Search and Performance Max are unaffected. Google has acknowledged the issue....