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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

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The GRADIENT

Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

Selling AI Search Strategies To Leadership Is About Risk

Boost your skills with Growth Memo’s weekly expert insights. Subscribe for free! AI search visibility isn’t “too risky” to invest in for executives to buy-in. Selling AI search strategies to leadership is about risk. Image Credit: Kevin Indig A Deloitte survey of +2,700 leaders reveals that getting buy-in for an AI search strategy isn’t about innovation,

Timothée Chalamet Didn’t Mean to Drag Marketers, But He Did

Have you seen the deliciously postmodern promo for Timothée Chalamet’s new film Marty Supreme? It’s ricocheting around the internet right now, and for good reason. The spot offers a bone-dry portrayal of a virtual marketing meeting between the film’s agency team and Chalamet himself, who joins the call to share his “thinking.” He wants to

Tickets now available for December’s Nicer Tuesdays!

It’s here! The final Nicer Tuesdays of the year! See out 2025 with a series of talks set to blow your creative socks off (don’t worry, you’ll be getting more in your stocking). At December’s event, you can expect talks from Charlotte Mei, a London-based contemporary artist, painter and illustrator who has worked with Sony

Google Brings Gemini 3 To Search’s AI Mode

Google has integrated Gemini 3 in Search’s AI Mode. This marks the first time Google has shipped a Gemini model to Search on its release date. Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers in the U.S. can access Gemini 3 Pro by selecting “Thinking” from the model dropdown in AI Mode. Robby Stein, VP and GM

10 of the most thought-provoking quotes from the November MarTech Conference

The November MarTech Conference featured six panel discussions and one keynote presentation, all focused on the theme of AI and agents, and featured speakers from brands such as Cisco, Google, Citrix, Fluency, Stensul and Braze. All the November sessions are now available on demand at the link below. Here are 10 quotes from the November

How Photoshop sparked the design behind this colourful hand-drawn indie game

Metroidvanias are one of the most popular indie game genres, as you can also tell from a recent interview about Possessor(s). Of course, with so much competition, especially from the ‘indie GTA 6’ that has been Hollow Knight: Silksong, it’s more crucial than ever to stand out. Constance certainly shares a similar kind of hand-drawn

Google On Generic Top Level Domains For SEO

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about whether a generic Top Level Domain (gTLD) with a keyword in it offered any SEO advantage. His answer was in the context of a specific keyword TLD, but the topic involves broader questions about how Google evaluates TLDs in general. Generic Top Level Domains (gTLDs) gTLDs are domains

Viagogo, AA and Wayfair in online pricing probe

Eight companies are being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority for their use of fees and misleading time-limited offers. Source

Apple invites you to decorate Battersea Power Station

“Our tree definitely has some unique elements to it,” Yonk says, also speaking to the specifically odd canvas offered by the iconic building, and in turn, the creative benefits of working within unusual parameters. “For instance, having the top branches thinner to accommodate the tower’s chimneys. Those limitations eventually ended up adding to the character

Google Search Console Adds Custom Annotations To Reports

Google launched custom annotations in Search Console performance reports, giving you a way to add contextual notes directly to traffic data charts. The feature lets you mark specific dates with notes explaining site changes or external events that affected search performance. What The Feature Does Custom annotations appear as markers on Search Console charts. Google’s

Media Buying Briefing: Q4 wobbles a bit, and buyers wonder how it will affect 2026 spending

It seems mixed signals are all over the place in the fourth-quarter ad marketplace, with some media buyers reporting a recent drop off in ad spend from a number of categories, while others acknowledge a slowdown but not of any amount that rings alarm bells for 2026. One chief media officer even said he’s seen

8 controversial campaigns that won over audiences

Controversial brands, campaigns or rebrands tend be the ones we remember. We’re all still talking about Cracker Barrel and Jaguar after all. But what happens when the controversy works in a brand’s favour? What about when a brand does something so bold is ends up skewing public opinion towards it? Here are eight examples of

Google Extends AI Travel Planning And Agentic Booking In Search

Google announced three AI-powered updates to Search that extend how users plan and book travel within AI Mode. The company is launching Canvas for travel planning on desktop, expanding Flight Deals globally, and rolling out agentic booking capabilities that connect users directly to reservation partners. The announcement continues Google’s push to handle complete user journeys

As Alex Lubar Exits, Omnicom Won’t Say If It Will Backfill DDB Global CEO Role

DDB Worldwide global chief executive Alex Lubar has left the network, following reports that the agency’s brand may be retired following Omnicom’s $13.5 billion acquisition of Interpublic Group. Lubar has joined Fundamentalco, a brand strategy consultancy spun out of Blackstone, as CEO. Fundamentalco’s clients include Bain Capital, Visa, Hilton, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Robert Alice’s 700 page celebration of NFTs is a rousing education on misconstrued technology

Alongside Rutherford Chang, Leander Herzog, Kim Asendorf, Shl0ms, Roope Rainisto and Jack Butcher, the book also includes 60s computer compositions by A. Michael Noll, Rafael Rozendaal’s trippy patchwork art recently shown in MoMa, generative WebGL artworks, and Anna Ridler’s early and important NFTs, all of which share unique relationships with the digital medium and the

Google Adds AI Shopping Tools Across Search, Gemini

Google is rolling out AI shopping updates across Search and the Gemini app, introducing conversational shopping and agentic features that automate price tracking and local inventory checks. The updates begin rolling out today in the United States. What’s New AI Mode Shopping Upgrade AI Mode in Search now pairs Gemini models with Google’s Shopping Graph

Conversational AI is growing rapidly, but consumers have a few concerns

MarTechCharts regularly highlights data of interest to marketers and marketing operations professionals. Source: “Inside the Conversational AI Revolution,” from Twilio. The use of conversational AI for customer service and sales is rapidly increasing, according to a new report from Twilio, which found 63% of organizations in either the final or complete stages of development, and

I’m addicted to watching this logo unfurl

You may or may not have heard of Furl, a British company that designs and makes high-end things to sit/lie on with storage in them – that’s sofa beds, storage beds and storage sofas. But you’ll be more likely to pay attention if you do come across them as Furl now have a revamped new

Google Defends Parasite SEO Crackdown As EU Opens Investigation

Google has defended its enforcement of site reputation abuse policies after the European Commission announced an investigation into whether the company unfairly demotes news publishers in search results. The company published a blog post stating the investigation “is misguided and risks harming millions of European users” and that it “risks rewarding bad actors and degrading

Center Parcs strengthens marketing leadership with three senior hires

Center Parcs has completed an overhaul of its marketing leadership team with three senior appointments, as the business ramps up investment in brand, digital and guest experience. Source

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