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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

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Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

Why server-side tracking is making a comeback in the privacy-first era

Digital analytics is coming full circle. After years of relying on browser-based tags and cookies, marketers are returning to a familiar concept — server-side tracking — to regain control of data accuracy, privacy and performance. The long view: Nearly 30 years in analytics Some people see the gray beard and gray hair. What they don’t

Great, now even Microsoft Paint can make AI slop

If there’s one creative app you might think would be safe from generative AI, it’s MS Paint. Still part of Windows after 40 years, the classic painting app’s charm was, for a long time, its low-tech simplicity compared to the many more sophisticated digital art programs that emerged after it. Alas, with the Copilot chat

Measuring When AI Assistants And Search Engines Disagree

Before you get started, it’s important to heed this warning: There is math ahead! If doing math and learning equations makes your head swim, or makes you want to sit down and eat a whole cake, prepare yourself (or grab a cake). But if you like math, if you enjoy equations, and you really do

Brand ‘fundamentals’ are what will drive success in the era of AI

The “underlying fundamentals” of brand building are what will set brands apart in a future where AI may be driving many consumer choices, says Procter & Gamble’s chief financial officer. During the company’s quarterly results for the period ended 30 September, CFO Andre Schulten was asked by an investor how the FMCG company, which owns

Constantine Costi’s latest film documents a world famous competition for porridge making

With the idea for a documentary somewhere on the horizon, Constantine travelled even further into his deep dive. The director spent a good deal of time watching old competition footage, reading everything that had been written about the event online and even reaching out to past competitors to hear about their experiences. As a creative

Microsoft Updates Copilot With Memory, Search Connectors, & More

Microsoft announced its Copilot Fall Release, introducing features to make AI more personal and collaborative. New capabilities include group collaboration, long-term memory, health tools, and voice-enabled learning. Mustafa Suleyman, head of Microsoft AI, wrote in the announcement that the release represents a shift in how AI supports users. Suleyman wrote: “… technology should work in

Marketers confront the brand safety risks of AI-generated video

The latest thing keeping marketers up at night about AI isn’t deepfakes or disinformation — it’s SpongeBob. The cartoon character has become an unlikely mascot for the flood of AI-generated videos taking over feeds, blurring the lines between parody, harmless fun, copyright infringement and misinformation. In the ensuing panic, it’s made one thing clear: AI-generated

This artist blends cosy Animal Crossing vibes with impressionism

The young Australian concept artist Mel Mo shows how traditional art influences can be mixed with contemporary popular culture to great effect. She says she was inspired by the cosy vibes of Animal Crossing and the modern animation style of movies like the Spider-Verse films and Bad Guys but also by the dreamy palettes of

OpenAI Releases Shared Project Feature To All Users

OPenAI announced that it is upgrading all ChatGPT accounts to be eligible for the project sharing feature, which enables users to share a ChatGPT project with others who can then participate and make changes. The feature was previously available only to users on OpenAI’s Business, Enterprise, and Edu plans. The new feature is available to

CNN’s Christiane Amanpour Reveals She’s Battling Cancer Again

Christiane Amanpour, CNN’s chief international anchor, recently disclosed that her ovarian cancer has returned. Amanpour’s announcement came during the latest podcast episode of Changing the Ovarian Cancer Story, hosted by former CNN International anchor Hannah Vaughan Jones. “I have it again, but it’s being very well managed,” Amanpour said. She said the cancer, which is

Elizabeth Goodspeed on why design studios are making fonts

The origin of custom type is often creative rather than technical – a need for letterforms that echo a brand’s physical environment, emotional tone, or specific ethos. Brooklyn design studio R&M’s work for Banker’s Anchor, a public plaza in Greenpoint, exemplifies how helpful tailored type can be as connective tissue between form and idea. For the

Perplexity Responds To Reddit Lawsuit Over Data Access

Reddit sued Perplexity and three data-scraping firms in New York federal court, alleging the companies bypassed access controls to obtain Reddit content at scale, including by scraping Google search results. Perplexity posted a public response, saying it summarizes Reddit discussions with citations and doesn’t train AI models on Reddit content. The position is consistent with

IAB Tech Lab pushes privacy standards forward with GPP and DDRF updates

The IAB Tech Lab has announced two major developments aimed at strengthening privacy and transparency across the digital advertising ecosystem: a new update to the Global Privacy Protocol (GPP) and the release of Version 2 of the Data Deletion Request Framework (DDRF). Both updates are now open for public comment through December 1. GPP update

This AI tool could speed up one of the most awful parts of 3D modelling

AI is one of the most divisive topics in creative tech at the moment, but AI isn’t only generative models trained on artists’ work. There are lots of non-generative AI tools that automate time-consuming tasks without replacing artistry and craftmanship, and the Tractive AI retopology tool look like a good example. Releasing soon in beta,

4 Expert Tips To Reach More Inboxes

This post was sponsored by Campaign Monitor. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own. Does it seem like fewer emails are getting delivered? Are bounce rates and spam numbers too high for your liking? Your well-crafted campaigns are at risk. They are at risk of missing the mark if deliverability isn’t a

Sainsbury’s CMO Mark Given named Marketer of the Year

The grocer’s chief technology, data and marketing officer has been awarded the title of Marketer of the Year at the Marketing Week Awards 2025. Sainsbury’s chief technology, data and marketing officer Mark Given has been named Marketer of the Year at the 2025 Marketing Week Awards. Given was selected from the Marketing Week Top 100

Weareseventeen rebrands as Seventeen, with a suite of bespoke icons inspired by each team member’s personality

This ethos shines in the studio’s new positioning – Odd Minds. ‘Odd’ represents the agency’s dedication to non-conformity and originality, while ‘Minds’ represents the plurality of the business, and the creative heads that come together to make it what it is. It’s also visualised in a suite of personalised icons. “We asked each person to

Search Engine Journal Is Hiring!

We’re looking for a powerhouse project manager to keep our marketing team inspired and on track. This is a Philippines-based, fully-remote position working on U.S.-adjacent hours (8 p.m. – 4 a.m. PHT) to be my partner in crime execution on some exciting projects. We do things a little differently here, and we’ve learned that culture

Amazon launches AWS RTB Fabric to power RTB in the cloud

The ad dollars are nice but the real prize for Amazon is the infrastructure itself – the rails on which the entire system runs. Up until now that’s been the quiet part of its ad strategy. Moving forward it’s saying it out loud. The company is launching a managed cloud network built specifically to handle

This digital artist’s work is all about failed paradises

Based in Paris, Marius Villard is a concept artist who focuses on worldbuilding, visdev and general environment. With a love of black-and-white photography, he cites the Iranian photographer Abbas Attar as a perhaps unusual inspiration for a digital artist, but this influence can be seen in the expressive spontaneity of much of his work. Marius

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