Blueprint | The Gradient

Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

Featured Stories

The GRADIENT

Who Won, Who Cut and What Comes Next in Advertising

Newsweek braces for the AI answer engine future

Newsweek is launching more subscription products and expanding non-advertising revenue streams as it braces for a future where AI answer engines replace traditional search — and potentially siphon off the traffic publishers have long relied on. While Google’s rollout of AI summaries and zero-click features is still in its early days, the writing is on

The Cenobites terrified me as a kid, so Hellraiser: Revival has a lot to prove

The announcement of Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival, made using Unreal Engine 5, signals we’re having a horror game renaissance. There’s a reason Hellraiser’s Cenobites have endured; they weren’t born to be slashers or jump-scare dead-ends despite first stalking our nightmares when Freddy Krueger was playfully turning our beds into blenders. The Cenobites were designed, crafted

Google Makes It Easier To Talk To Your Analytics Data With AI

Google has released an open-source Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that lets you analyze Google Analytics data using large language models like Gemini. Announced by Matt Landers, Head of Developer Relations for Google Analytics, the tool serves as a bridge between LLMs and analytics data. Instead of navigating traditional report interfaces, you can ask questions

Baltimore’s WBAL to Add Evening Newscast, Shuffle Meteorologists

Baltimore NBC affiliate WBAL is adding a 7 p.m. newscast that starts Monday, September 15. The newscast will be co-anchored by Jason Newton and Ashley Hinson, along with longtime morning meteorologist Ava Marie, who moves to 7 p.m. “Expanding our marketing leading news offerings is further proof of our continued commitment to our viewers,” WBAL president and general manager

DTAN studio is setting the printed page into motion with an unpredictability that “digital tools just can’t replicate”

DTAN (Don’t try anything new), is “a dream that started way back in high school”, co-founder Julia Schimautz tells It’s Nice That. It’s the place where the designer and printmaker first crossed paths with DTAN’s co-founder, Bianca Brandner, during their graphic design course. Even the earliest years of the pair’s creative careers were spent imagining

Do We Need A Separate Framework For GEO/AEO? Google Says Probably Not

At Google Search Central Live Deep Dive Asia Pacific 2025, Cherry Prommawin and Gary Illyes led a session on how AI fits into Search. They asked whether we need separate frameworks for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO). Their insights suggest that GEO and AEO do not require wholly new disciplines. Photo

5 critical mistakes in marketing budget allocation, and 5 ways to spend smarter

If you own a marketing budget, you know they’re under constant scrutiny. Business leaders want to see every dollar spent contributing to tangible business growth. Yet, many organizations are guilty of making common allocation mistakes that can stunt growth, waste precious resources and obscure the actual performance of marketing. Let’s examine five critical errors in

Wuchang Fallen Feathers review | Creative Bloq

Why you can trust Creative Bloq Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test. Wuchang: Fallen Feathers details (Image credit: Leenzee / 505 Games) Publisher 505 GamesDeveloper LeenzeePlatforms PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Windows PC (Steam & Epic Games Store), and

Should Advertisers Rethink The ‘For Vs. Against’ Stance On Performance Max?

Performance Max has become one of the most talked-about campaign types in PPC for a number of reasons. Some advertisers swear by it, while others remain skeptical, and opinions are increasingly polarized. In reality, PMax is neither flawless nor fundamentally flawed. It is a campaign type with both advantages and drawbacks, and deciding whether to

Brainlabs buys Exverus to grow its full-funnel offerings

Consolidation among independent media agencies continues apace — a reaction to the holding companies getting bigger and bigger, which creates more opportunity for indies to pick away mid-market clients. Digiday has learned that performance-oriented media agency Brainlabs has acquired L.A.-based fellow independent media agency Exverus Media. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed upon request,

Collins rebrand for Muse Group channels the invisible phenomena of experiencing music

Collins aimed to visualise Muse Group’s unified goal, something they call “creative fluency”, where playing and creating music becomes second nature – technical barriers dissolve and musicianship becomes as easy as listenership. Fusing the identities across this ecosystem promises to help the brand grow for years to come as well as set itself apart from

Operationalizing Your Topic-First SEO Strategy

Last week, I walked through the shift from keyword-first to topic-first SEO – and why that mindset change matters more than ever for long-term visibility in both search and large language models (LLMs). This week, we’re getting tactical. Because understanding the shift is one thing, operationalizing it across your team is another. In this issue,

Brainlabs Expands U.S. Foothold With Acquisition of Exverus Media

Brainlabs has acquired Los Angeles-based agency Exverus Media, giving the global performance media shop a West Coast foothold and expanding its media buying capabilities across the funnel. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The addition of Exverus, which manages more than $100 million in client media spend, grows Brainlabs’ U.S. billings to $1 billion

I just got an absolute bargain from Cricut thanks to its free Hat Press promotion

Up until now, I’ve been using a basic household iron for my Cricut heat transfer projects using my Cricut Maker 4. But that’s all about to change thanks to Cricut’s latest promotion whereby it’s offering a free Cricut Hat Press (worth £139.99) with the purchase of any Cricut heat press or cutting machine. Psst –

WP Engine’s AI Toolkit Vectorizes WordPress Sites For Smart Search

WP Engine announced the release of its AI Toolkit, a way to easily integrate advanced AI search and product recommendations into WordPress websites, plus a Managed Vector Database that enables developers to easily integrate AI features directly into websites. Smart Search AI WP Engine’s AI Toolkit helps WordPress site owners improve search and content visibility

11 ways to optimize for Google AI Mode without getting lost in the weeds

Optimizing for Google’s AI Mode—and AI search more broadly—isn’t just a tweak to your existing SEO playbook. It’s a shift in mindset. But don’t worry: You don’t need a computer science degree to navigate it. What’s required is a clear understanding of how search behavior and Google’s capabilities are evolving—and how to meet those changes

The letterforms for this Mallorcan bar’s logo were scavenged from secondhand bookshops and stationary stores

Elements of visual decoration and illustration also enhance this feeling of discovery, like the hand-drawn lines and strokes that adorn pages of menus and apparel labelling, connecting various elements. While these marks may initially come across as whimsical and random, there’s usually a logic to their application, as seen in a deconstructed version of the

Google Says It Could Make Sense To Use Noindex Header With LLMS.txt

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about llms.txt related to duplicate content, stating that it doesn’t make sense that it would be viewed as duplicate content, but he also stated it could make sense to take steps to prevent indexing. LLMs.txt Llms.txt is a proposal to create a new content format standard that large language

How marketing’s next era will be powered by AI and human intelligence

Marketers are living in an era of technological disruption — a pivotal moment that is challenging every business, department and executive to rethink what’s possible and prepare for what’s next. AI is affecting both work and society by redefining how people learn, adapt, generate ideas and make decisions. And it is reshaping the marketing playbook

How I use AI in my creative workflow – these are the tools that actually help

As a creative, I’ve been careful to temper my use of AI in my workflows. None of us are quite sure how things are going to pan out, as Disney and Universal’s lawsuit against Midjourney perfectly exemplifies. I definitely don’t want to be too deep in and unable to turn back against the tide. But

Join Our Newsletter

For more professional opportunities join our newsletter.