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

The DLSS 5 controversy explained: why does it feel so wrong?

I’ve tried to give DLSS 5 the benefit of the doubt, because on paper, it offers better performance, cleaner images, improved immersion at little cost (aside from needing NVIDIA‘s most expensive GPUs), and that’s been the pitch for every version of DLSS so far, and broadly, it’s always worked to benefit gamers and developers. But

From SEO And CRO To Agentic AI Optimization (AAIO)

For 25 years, we’ve built websites for humans who click, scroll, and browse. That era is ending. I’ve been in website optimization for 15+ years, and this is the biggest shift I’ve seen since mobile. And honestly, I think it’s way bigger than that. The internet is undergoing its most significant transformation since it began.

15 HubSpot updates from February 2026 you don’t want to miss

The February 2026 HubSpot updates bring a mix of long-requested functionality and meaningful improvements to AI-powered tools. Some updates make HubSpot smarter, like prospecting tools that identify buying signals and suggest who to contact. Others finally address long-standing frustrations around campaign attribution, automation and CRM cleanup. There are also several updates focused on usability, making

Alice in Wonderland / Through the Looking Glass :: Behance

div:not(.PrimaryNav-siteSearch-yuO) :focus-visible{outline:1px solid var(–be-one-off-custom-outline-color, var(–be-accessibility-outline-color));outline-offset:3px}.PrimaryNav-hamburgerMenu-iBG :focus-visible{outline:1px solid var(–be-one-off-custom-outline-color, var(–be-accessibility-outline-color));outline-offset:3px}.PrimaryNav-transparentStrip-u4D :focus-visible{outline:1px solid #fff;outline-offset:3px}.PrimaryNav-transparentStrip-u4D .PrimaryNav-skipContent-y_5,.PrimaryNav-transparentStri

Google Removes ‘What People Suggest,’ Expands Health AI Tools

Google has removed “What People Suggest,” a search feature that used AI to organize health perspectives from online discussions. The confirmation came as Google held its annual Check Up event, where it announced new AI health features for YouTube. A Google spokesperson confirmed the removal to The Guardian, calling it part of a “broader simplification”

Ad agency operating systems face a differentiation problem

Agencies have spent years betting that proprietary AI platforms would set them apart. A Gartner note published last week put a deadline on how long that bet has to pay off. WPP developed WPP Open and Omnicom launched Omni, while indies like Max Connect built tools like Kudos. (Other examples include Stagwell’s The Machine, Havas

Laika’s 20 years of stop-motion carry lessons aplenty in craft and storytelling

Having joined the company seven years ago, Dave sits in a unique position at Laika, straddling both its creative and business sides, overseeing how films connect with their audiences. For Laika’s 20th anniversary, Dave has the treat of releasing its first feature-length film since he joined – after all, Laika’s films often take five to

Google AI Overviews Cut Germany’s Top Organic CTR By 59%

AI Overviews cut the click-through rate on Germany’s top organic position by 59%, according to a SISTRIX analysis of more than 100 million keywords. The data, published by founder Johannes Beus, puts numbers on a pattern that multiple studies have now documented across different markets. The dataset stands out for its size and for offering

How an Air Force Stint in South Korea Helped Make Chuck Norris a Uniquely American Brand

Chuck Norris, the martial-arts meister turned actor—and, later in life, entrepreneur and ambassador for brands from Toyota to Glock—died on March 19 in Hawaii. He was 86. While Norris never quite reached the stratospheric fame of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Sylvester Stallone—two other muscle men who found their way to Hollywood stardom—his tough-as-nails persona, heroic roles,

Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro review: it’s the mullet of phone design, and I love it

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. Ever since the first Nothing Phone 1 released with all its exposed internals and glowing Glyph bravado, I’ve thought that design couldn’t last

SEO Test Shows It’s Trivial To Rank Misinformation On Google

An SEO crafting a newsletter with AI spotted a hallucination about a March 2026 Google Core Update and decided to publish it as an experiment to see how misinformation spreads. While search marketing industry publications ignored the fake news some independent SEOs picked it up and ran with it without first checking the factual accuracy

The hidden costs of chaotic content workflows

Most content team inefficiencies aren’t caused by talent or resources, but by the absence of a defined system. Without structured workflows, content operations default to rework, inconsistency and reactive execution. It’s 4:52 p.m. on a Thursday. Your VP just Slacked you a campaign idea: three bullet points, a fuzzy deadline and “can we get this

Where light falls, perspective changes :: Behance

Where light falls, perspective changes Light acts as a guide, carving out new ways of seeing within the same space. It exposes, obscures, and reframes—turning the ordinary into something open to interpretation. Perspective lives in that tension between shadow and illumination.

404 Crawling Means Google Is Open To More Of Your Content

Google’s John Mueller answered a question about Search Console and 404 error reporting, suggesting that repeated crawling of pages with a 404 status code is a positive signal. 404 Status Code The 404 status code, often referred to as an error code, has long confused many site owners and SEOs because the word “error” implies

Macy’s has a cautious outlook for 2026

On Wednesday, Macy’s, Inc. posted its fourth-quarter and full-year results for 2025. The department store giant and owner of Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury reported a 1.5% growth in comparable sales with net sales of $21.8 billion for 2025. Looking ahead to 2026, however, the company is projecting annual sales to reach $21.4 billion to $21.65 billion,

Annie Atkins on how designing film props is like specialising in forgery

Author and designer Annie Atkins joined us for a Q&A at our first Nicer Tuesdays of the year in London to talk us through her career, beginning at her first design job on BBC’s The Tudors to working with the iconic Wes Anderson and creating her own book Fake Love Letters, which is devoted to

Google Ads Creative Tools Expand, Microsoft Simplifies Bidding – PPC Pulse

Welcome to this week’s PPC Pulse. Updates focus on expanding creative tools in Google Ads and updates to bidding strategies in Microsoft Ads. The newest version of Nano Banana Pro is now available to advertisers in Google Ads. In a separate creative update, marketers spotted an expansion to Google’s Creative Toolkit in the platform. Lastly,

Middle East Conflict Fuels Viewership

This is TVNewser’s basic cable network ranker and cable news report for the week of March 9, 2026. Despite the war in the Middle East affecting the economy, viewers have been less glued to their screens as the conflict continues. This has contributed to double-digit declines in total viewers and the Adults 25-54 demo for

Watch better TV! Get 2 months of Paramount+ for just $2.99 a month

After a long day creating, you need to switch off. But which streaming option to sign up to? There are so many available now that it can be tricky to know where to spend your money. One thing that might help you decide is this deal from Paramount+, which is currently offering subscriptions for $2.99

Google AI Mode Goes Personal, Crawl Limits Clarified – SEO Pulse

Welcome to the week’s Pulse: updates affect how Google personalizes AI Mode, what Googlebot’s crawl limits look like in practice, and what new data shows about AIO click behavior and publisher traffic. Here’s what matters for you and your work. Google Personal Intelligence Now Free For US Users Google expanded Personal Intelligence from paid AI

Join Our Newsletter

For more professional opportunities join our newsletter.