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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

Adobe is making bold claims about its new Firefly AI Assistant

Tech companies often (read: always) make bold claims when unveiling their latest innovations. But even in this context, Adobe‘s positing that its new Firefly AI Agent will mark a “fundamental shift in how creative work is done” is big talk. The brand is heralding a move towards “agentic creativity”, where creators can describe the desired

The AI Slop Loop

Last year, after spending a few days at a work summit in Austria, I asked Perplexity for the latest news related to SEO and AI search. It responded with details about a supposed “September 2025 ‘Perspective’ Core Algorithm Update” that Google had just rolled out, emphasizing “deeper expertise” and “completion of the user journey.” It

Salesforce redesigns platform for agent-driven automation

\ Salesforce today announced Headless 360, an API-first system designed to make its software easier for AI agents to use. At a high level, Headless 360 allows agents to access data, workflows and logic without relying on a traditional user interface. That lets AI agents execute tasks in the background, rather than requiring users to

Pokedbots Delta city :: Behance

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Google Just Made It Easy For SEOs To Kick Out Spammy Sites

Google updated their report spam documentation to make it clear that they may use reported spam to initiate manual actions against websites that are found to be spamming. This is a change in policy that makes it easier for site owners and SEOs to report actual spam. Change In Spam Report Policy The previous spam

Forbes launches wine commerce shop and membership

Forbes is creating a wine-focused content vertical, commerce site and membership program to grow direct consumer revenue beyond its traffic-dependent businesses, as it looks to offset zero-click traffic declines and content discovery challenges. There’s a sense of urgency to the strategy. In Q1 2026, Forbes’ site traffic was down 37 percent year over year, according

“Nothing is new” to Dave Bowers, so he illustrates the familiar in his own style

Dave Bowers hails from Sacramento, California. He used to draw a lot, but today his practice has some limitations: his drawings are now fitted around the routines of his new daughter. When she naps, he tries to make quick sketches. Of course, the short moments where he could free up his hands led to him

New Google Search Console Message Glitch Gives SEOs A Scare

Google Search Console erroneously sent out emails to site owners advising them that Google has just started to record impressions beginning on April 12th. The implication of the message is that Search Console has not previously been collecting those impressions, which is incorrect. Search Console Impressions The Search Console impressions report shows how often a

How AI Is Democratizing Content and Creating Today’s ‘Access Era’

Creativity and AI can properly co-exist for brands as long as the right tools are implemented, according to Higgsfield AI’s Mahi de Silva. The co-founder and chief strategy officer of Higgsfield AI spoke to ADWEEK’s COO, Zoë Ruderman, during a Social Media Week session in New York on Tuesday, where he said his company is

Save 75% on Spider-Man merch, from Lego to luxury watches

As the hype for Spider-Man: Brand New Day ramps up with the release of new posters and an exclusive sneak peek from this year’s CinemaCon, it’s feeling evermore like an endless slog until that 31 July release date. But if, like me, you’re self-admittedly impatient, might I suggest a healthy dose of retail therapy to

Why Your Webinar Program Isn’t Working (So, Copy Ours)

5 years ago, I stepped into the role of webinar ringmaster. I said yes to moderating, but it was all the background work that gave me butterflies. I’d second and third guess everything. Is the title right? What if it flops? Is the content level right for the attendees? Will the right attendees sign up?

Google simplifies enhanced conversions in Ads

Google is removing friction from one of its most widely used measurement tools, simplifying how advertisers track and optimize conversions in Google Ads. The update combines existing features and reduces the number of decisions teams need to make during setup. Currently, enhanced conversions for web and enhanced conversions for leads operate separately, which adds unnecessary

I AM ITALIANO | The Most Italian Chocolate :: Behance

Fascinated by the secret of Italianità we explore the symbols that make us recognized in the world as Unique.For years, Sabadì has been internationally recognized for producing the finest cold-processed chocolate, for its aging techniques, the refined balance of its flavorings, and the precision of its pairings. With I AM ITALIANO, the challenge was to create a high-quality chocolate

How To Measure PPC Performance When AI Controls The Auction

For most of the history of paid search, performance measurement followed a clear cause-and-effect relationship. Advertisers controlled the inputs inside their campaigns like bid strategies, keyword and campaign structure, ad copy, and landing pages. All these factors contributed to conversion performance in some shape or form. When performance changed, the explanation was usually traceable. For

Inside The Trade Desk’s programmatic power struggle

No one said running the largest independent demand-side platform in the world would be easy. If recent headlines indicate anything, The Trade Desk now knows that better than anyone. Major agencies, including Dentsu and WPP, are pulling back ad spend from TTD’s OpenPath platform, citing concerns of hidden fees and lack of transparency. Most notably,

Old matchboxes are igniting new ideas for these Indian creatives

Maachis Designer Sonal Nagwani, who started Maachis with Kevin Thomas and is now running it on her own, used to build miniature furniture out of matchboxes while growing up. “That tactile, almost obsessive relationship with the object never really left me,” she says. Years later, she found phillumenist Gautam Hemmady’s matchbox archive through the Tasveer

The Dangerous Seduction Of Click-Chasing

It works, until it doesn’t. The Chase Imagine you’re a news publisher. Your journalism is good, you write original stories, and your website is relatively popular within your editorial niche. Revenue is earned primarily via advertising. Google search is your biggest source of visitors. Management demands growth, and elevates traffic to the throne of all

Meta is Quietly Becoming a Bigger Ad Business Than Google

Meta is poised to surpass Google in digital ad revenue for the first time this year. According to Emarketer, Meta is projected to generate $243.46 billion in global ad revenue in 2026, edging past Google’s $239.54 billion. The social media network is also expected to take a larger share of global ad spend—26.8% compared to

Donald Trump’s AI Jesus image could finally break his brand

The US president has built an entire personal brand around self-aggrandisement, but Donald Trump’s AI Jesus post this weekend may be the moment that brand starts to crack. From his property developments to the Trump Kennedy Center, the US president loves stamping his name on things. The Trump NFT cards and reposts of a shocking

New Google Spam Policy Targets Back Button Hijacking

Google added a new section to its spam policies designating “back button hijacking” as an explicit violation under the malicious practices category. Enforcement begins on June 15, giving websites two months to make changes. Google published a blog post explaining the policy. It also updated the spam policies documentation to list back-button hijacking alongside malware

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