Semrush

Google is messing with search results to foil AI rivals; the industry waits for Skydance’s tech stack decision; and TV car commercials go local to drive performance.

The media brands that remain locked in the traditional marketing funnel are the ones AI content farms will maul first. But if they create a trust-driven marketing flywheel, publishers can keep their businesses alive.

WPP airs some dirty laundry; HubSpot buys itself a media brand; and data centers are more politically unpopular than ever.

Publishers have been losing 20%, 30% and in some cases even as much as 90% of their traffic and revenue over the past year due to the rise of zero-click AI search.

Meta’s not beating the scam ads allegations; SEO tools are getting into AI prompts; and the telcos are at it again.

Adobe acquires SEO tech business Semrush; brands want to know what AI search engines think of them; and the LGBTQ community is an under-targeted audience.

While Reddit had plenty to crow about on the advertising front, it was less sanguine about the rise of generative AI search, which CEO Steve Huffman said is “not a traffic driver today.”

Ari Paparo’s Marketecture acquires another ad-tech publication; Spotify is launching an SSP; and CPG brands turn to “chaos packaging” to stand out among the crowd.