Blueprint — page 21 | The Gradient

Skydance Owns the Pipeline. What Happens to the People?

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Skydance Owns the Pipeline. What Happens to the People?

Google’s Updated Guidance Urges FTC Complaints Against Shady SEOs

Google updated its guidance for businesses interested in SEO to make it concise and easier to read. There is also a new mention of AEO/GEO services, caution about the use of third-party SEO tools, and, for the first time ever, Google is encouraging businesses to contact the United States government Federal Trade Commission if they

The World Cup Is Back, But U.S. Brands Are Still Lost in Translation

It’s been 30 years since the U.S. last hosted the World Cup. In that time, the Hispanic population has nearly tripled, and nearly 45 million people in America speak the Spanish language at home. That makes the U.S. the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world, after Mexico. The face of the country has changed,

Behold! Lego’s biggest set ever, the Sagrada Familia. Pre-order it today

Lego has announced its biggest set ever, at 12,060 pieces. The model is a replica of Gaudí’s impressive La Sagrada Familia. You get to build it as it was actually constructed too, beginning with the Apse with Crypt, the Nativity façade – the only part Gaudí completed before he died – and the Passion façade.

Google Gives Sites AI Search Opt-Out, But Not The Data To Use It

Some websites can now opt out of Google’s AI search features without losing their place in standard search results. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority imposed a conduct requirement this week, and Google began testing its own Search Console toggle the same day. The real question is whether there’s enough information to make a decision.

Why platform certification doesn’t equal martech transformation

The growing martech delivery gap comes from an ecosystem that treats platform fluency as proof of transformation capability. While certification matters, it doesn’t prove that an internal team or an external partner can redesign workflows, resolve governance issues, manage stakeholder complexity, or deliver sustained operational value from a platform. Martech transformation typically hits a snag

DRIFT FORMS ? Utah, USA

This series explores wind-shaped desert dunes, revealing sculptural forms, fine textures and shifting patterns created by light, shadow and constantly moving sand.

Your Next AI Visitor Will Know Who Sent It

The agent visiting your website knows the person who sent it. That is the shift underneath Google’s Gemini Deep Research Max, launched on April 21, 2026, as a public preview on the paid Gemini API tier. Deep Research Max itself is a narrow rollout. The pattern it ships is a preview of what the agentic

YouTube’s AI remix push exposes a looming reckoning for the creator economy

Late last month, Google plugged its Gemini Omni model into YouTube Shorts’ existing Remix tool, turning it into a way to heavily rework or transform creators’ videos. Billed as a way to “easily step into the trends and conversations on YouTube,” the update has instead raised fresh questions across the creator economy about who controls

The Weekend With Julia Schimautz

“I’m obsessed with my collection of Japanese magazines, specifically Graphic Design (グラフィックデザイン) from the 1950s-70s. Every time I page through them, something different surfaces – a layout, a detail, a colour choice I’d flipped past a hundred times before. It’s always connected to whatever I’m interested in or working on at the time. I also

AI Literacy Is Not Prompt Literacy. Ann Handley Says It’s Judgment Literacy

Ann Handley posted something on LinkedIn last week that stopped me mid-scroll. She’s a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and one of the most respected voices in marketing, and she wrote: “AI literacy is not prompt literacy. It’s judgment literacy.“ Her post went on to ask a question that nobody in the AI training industry

5 Questions For…CNN’s Clarissa Ward Reporting from the Epicenter of the Ebola Outbreak

For the past few days, CNN’s chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward, has been reporting from Bunia, the capital of the Ituri Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the epicenter of the latest Ebola outbreak. Ward and her CNN crew, who have been the only TV news organization in the region, visited an Ebola “red

Are junior creative roles really disappearing?

A UK government review published recently revealed one million 16-24 year olds are out of work, with ministers warning of a “lost generation” of talent. In the creative industry it has been widely reported that entry level roles are disappearing. The annual IPA Agency Consensus showed a drop from 56% to just 43.4% in the

Google Analytics Is Adding Google Business Profile Data

Google has published documentation for a native link between Google Business Profile and Google Analytics, bringing local metrics like calls and direction requests into Analytics reports. The link may not appear in every Analytics account yet. What Shows Up In Analytics Once a profile is linked, a Google Business Profile section appears in your reports.

Brands want to be in and out of the closet for Pride Month

It’s Pride Month, and we’re seeing Schrodinger’s marketing, as brands try to be both in and out of the closet with their support of the LGBTQ+ community. It’s no secret that since the 2024 presidential election, corporate support for the 31 million Americans in this community has dropped faster than a disco ball on New

Google Tests AI Search Data, UK Requires Opt Out

Welcome to the week’s Pulse: updates affect how you measure AI search visibility, whether you can opt out of it, and how the completed core update reshaped rankings. Here’s what matters for you and your work. Google Adds AI Search Controls And Reports To Search Console Google is testing two new Search Console features for

How agencies are betting on entertainment to survive

Chris Hassell launched Ralph in 2010 wanting to make cool things and get paid for it. Fifteen years of running an independent shop in advertising made that harder than it sounds. Now he thinks he’s found a way through. The way Hassell sees it, entertainment is the one part of the creative business that can’t

Mark your calendars for New Designers 2026

One such graduate, who embodies both the contemporary creative dialogue and New Designers’ progressive approach, is Ella Blow, who studied Textiles at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. Her project, Interwoven, took to reclaiming second-hand, deadstock or found materials and transforming them into interlocking patterns that contrast geometric forms and floral ones. For Ella,

Google’s May Core Update Favored Pages That Match Intent

An analysis of SISTRIX visibility data by Aleyda Solis found a pattern in the final days of Google’s May core update. Sites that best fit a query’s intent, market, and result type tended to gain visibility, while sites a step removed from that fit lost ground. She measured domain visibility in the US and UK

MS NOW Has Demo Growth in Primetime and Total Day

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of May 25, 2026. All three cable news networks came out of the Memorial Day Holiday weekend with some semblance of good news. However, it was MS NOW that finished the week on a better footing, as it was the only

I take back everything I said about the PS5 DualSense controller – especially now it’s 30% off

Look, April 2020 was a strange time. Unprecedented, you might say. Emotions were high. But I’m sorry for slagging off Sony‘s new DualSense controller based on looks alone. Now that, six years later, I’ve actually held the thing, I take it all back. This week I was persuaded, for the first time in over a

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