Paid Media News (Week 26)
Paid Media News (Week 26)
Explore every update from this edition, with the original reporting and contributor credits.
A digest of the original edition. Updates and availability reflect what was reported at the time.
Maximise Conversion Value bidding returns to Standard Shopping
Google is rolling out Maximise Conversion Value bidding for Standard Shopping campaigns, flagged by Yash Mandlesha and also spotted by Boyd Klerk via Ruben Runneboom. Until now, advertisers who wanted to optimise toward conversion value in Standard Shopping had to use a Target ROAS strategy; the return of the uncapped Maximise Conversion Value option gives them a way to chase value without setting a hard target.
Read this update in detail →Google tests "Strongest match" and "Strong match" labels on Search ads
Google is testing new "Strongest match" and "Strong match" labels on Search ads, flagged by Arpan Banerjee. The labels surface a match-quality signal on sponsored results, indicating how closely an ad is judged to match the query.
Read this update in detail →June's Demand Gen Drop adds video resizing, Gemini creative insights, and web-to-app measurement
Google has published its June Demand Gen Drop on the Ads & Commerce blog, detailing how it is expanding Demand Gen capabilities on YouTube. Video enhancements now support broader aspect-ratio transformations: vertical to square, vertical to landscape, and square to landscape: making it easier to adapt a single asset across placements.
Read this update in detail →Google releases Agent Skills for advertising and measurement
Google has launched a set of Agent Skills for Google Advertising and Measurement in its public skills repository on GitHub, announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog. Agent Skills are token-efficient, modular instruction sets that turn AI coding assistants into Google Ads and measurement specialists: for example, guiding an agent through setting up Google Ads API credentials and a client library inside an agentic IDE.
Read this update in detail →YouTube expands Gemini-powered creator-insights tools at Cannes Lions
Google has announced a set of Gemini-built insights tools for YouTube at Cannes Lions 2026, on the Ads & Commerce blog. New trending insights in Google Ads Insights Finder give US advertisers a more granular, real-time view of what is popular on YouTube.
Read this update in detail →Custom labels arrive in Demand Gen campaigns
Google has added support for custom labels in Demand Gen campaigns, flagged by Emmanuel Flossie. Custom labels: long available in Shopping for segmenting products by attributes such as margin, season, or bestseller status: can now be used to organise and report on Demand Gen, giving advertisers a familiar lever for structuring campaigns around product groupings.
Read this update in detail →Google rebrands brand-safety inventory categories
Google has renamed the brand-safety "Inventory Type" categories within the Content Suitability settings, as Aleksejus Podpruginas flagged. The older "Expanded" and "Standard" labels are retired in favour of clearer names: Maximum inventory (formerly Expanded), Moderate inventory (formerly Standard), and Limited inventory (formerly Limited).
Read this update in detail →Google adds three new search-coverage columns to Google Ads
Google has added three new columns to Google Ads reporting, flagged by Arpan Banerjee: Unique Search Categories, alongside related search-term insight metrics that reveal gaps in an account's search coverage. The column surface shows where a campaign is and is not appearing across search categories on Google Maps, giving advertisers a clearer view of unaddressed demand.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads API v24.2 ships with AI transparency labels
Google has released version 24.2 of the Google Ads API, announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog and flagged by Arpan Banerjee. Alongside the multi-party approval requirement for sensitive actions, the release adds the ability to programmatically tag AI-generated creatives with transparency labels ahead of the EU AI Act's disclosure requirements, and introduces granular Performance Max placement visibility.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads API requires multi-party approvals for sensitive actions
Google is adding multi-party approvals to the Google Ads API for sensitive account actions, announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog. From 27 July 2026, rolling out over several weeks, certain API calls: such as inviting a new user via the access-invitation service: will require a second administrator to approve before they take effect, mirroring a broader change in Google Ads accounts that now require multi-party approval for sensitive actions.
Read this update in detail →Google Ads API v21 sunsets on 5 August
Google has issued a reminder on the Google Ads Developer Blog that version 21 of the Google Ads API will sunset on 5 August 2026. After that date, all v21 requests will begin to fail, so integrations still on v21 must migrate to a newer version to avoid disruption.
Read this update in detail →Google will stop new Smart Campaigns in the Ads API from 3 August
Google has announced on the Google Ads Developer Blog that, from 3 August 2026, advertisers will no longer be able to create new Smart Campaigns through the Google Ads API. Existing Smart Campaigns will continue to serve and can still be updated, but new ones must be built another way.
Read this update in detail →Google expands financial advertiser verification across the EU and EEA
Google is rolling out its mandatory financial-services advertiser verification programme to every member state of the European Union and the European Economic Area, announced on the Ads & Commerce blog by Keerat Sharma, VP & GM of Ads Privacy and Safety. The programme requires advertisers promoting financial services to verify their identity and authorisation before running ads, aiming to stop scams before they reach users.
Read this update in detail →Google to allow online lottery ads in Peru from 8 July
Google has updated its Gambling and Games policy to allow online lottery advertisements in Peru from 8 July 2026, in its advertising policy help centre. Eligible advertisers must hold a favourable technical opinion from Peru's Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) and complete Google's country-specific certification before running ads.
Read this update in detail →Gmail ads move to the bottom of the Promotions and Social tabs
Hana Kobzová has noticed that Gmail ads on desktop now appear at the bottom of the Promotions and Social tabs rather than at the top. For years, these ads: which look like ordinary emails with a "Sponsored" label and expand on click: held the top position for maximum visibility.
Read this update in detail →Google updates its guidance on pinning headlines and descriptions
Google has expanded the tips section of its responsive search ads help document with four new recommendations on pinning, reported by Barry Schwartz. The guidance warns against pinning identical or very similar text to the same slot, since it gives Google's system nothing to test and reduces Ad Strength without any offsetting benefit.
Read this update in detail →Use the popularity_rank attribute instead of dropping out-of-stock products
Ruben Runneboom has shared two feed-management pointers for Google Merchant Centre. He calls the relatively new popularity_rank attribute one of the most interesting Merchant Centre additions in years, since it lets advertisers send Google a much stronger signal about which products matter most.
Read this update in detail →Excluding kids' content placements remains a constant battle
Wijnand Meijer has revisited a long-running placement-hygiene problem: kids' content, such as Baby Shark, reappearing in placement reports no matter how often it is excluded. Exclude one cartoon channel, and another takes its place the following month, with new ones going live daily.
Read this update in detail →ChatGPT ad formats evolve toward shopping placements
Juozas Kaziukėnas has flagged a third iteration of ads inside ChatGPT, with the format evolving to carry a larger image while taking up less horizontal space: a layout that would allow multiple ads side by side, though only one ad shows at a time so far. He notes that more ad formats are coming, specifically for shopping.
Read this update in detail →Google merges enhanced conversions for web and leads into one toggle
Google has unified enhanced conversions for web and enhanced conversions for leads into a single setting, flagged by Matteo Zambon. From June 2026, the long-standing distinction between the two disappears from the Google Ads interface, with one toggle now controlling both.
Read this update in detail →GTM documents improved measurement of server-to-server conversions
Google has updated its Tag Manager documentation to improve the measurement of server-to-server conversions in the Tag Manager help centre, effective 22 June 2026. The update clarifies how server-to-server conversion events are measured and deduplicated, part of the wider push toward server-side measurement resilience as client-side signals erode.
Read this update in detail →Microsoft Clarity shows which AI bots ignore robots.txt
Microsoft has added a Violations card to the Bot Analytics dashboard in Microsoft Clarity. For the first time, site owners can see which automated crawlers are accessing pages explicitly disallowed in robots.txt, shown as a percentage of total bot traffic with trends over time and filters by operator, bot name, and activity type.
Read this update in detail →BigQuery adds update-based triggers for scheduled queries
Google has launched update-based triggers in BigQuery, flagged by Johan Strand and Luka Cempre. Scheduled queries can now run when a table changes, rather than only on a schedule, so aggregated tables update as soon as new data lands in the warehouse, not waiting for the next scheduled run.
Read this update in detail →BigQuery conversational analytics reaches general availability
Google has made BigQuery conversational analytics generally available, flagged by Luka Cempre. The capability lets teams build data agents on top of BigQuery data: tables, views, and other sources: and query them in natural language, lowering the barrier to self-serve analysis.
Read this update in detail →Meta adds appointment booking inside instant forms
Meta has launched a way to integrate a booking scheduler with instant forms, flagged by Jon Loomer and also surfaced by Nona Grigoryan and Matias Axel Ramayo. A scheduling widget from a supported booking provider appears on the thank-you page immediately after a lead submits an instant form, letting users view available slots, pick a time, and confirm an appointment without leaving the flow.
Read this update in detail →Meta renames its Advantage+ Audience opt-out to "I need a specific audience"
Meta has changed the wording of the control that turns off Advantage+ Audience, flagged by Jon Loomer and Bram Van der Hallen. The button at the bottom of the Audience section, previously labelled "Further limit the reach of your ads," now reads "I need a specific audience."
Read this update in detail →Meta adds AI translation for ad copy and creative
Meta is adding AI-generated translation of ad text and creatives into the languages that an advertiser's audience speaks, as flagged by Bram Van der Hallen. If advertisers do not review the relevant settings, Meta may automatically translate their copy and creative, which risks off-brand or inaccurate wording reaching audiences in other languages without explicit sign-off.
Read this update in detail →Meta drops radius exclusions and expands live video ads
Meta has made two changes to its ads, flagged by Karthik Rai. It is removing the option to exclude a radius around a city: city-level exclusions remain, but radius exclusions are no longer supported: and it is bringing live video ads to Instagram and expanding them to Facebook, giving advertisers access to a format tied to live content.
Read this update in detail →LinkedIn launches a Creator Marketplace
Matt Navarra has flagged that LinkedIn has launched a Creator Marketplace, with leaked reports pointing to a wider set of creator-monetisation tools in development: subscriptions, events, and the ability to sell paid "experiences" such as advice sessions. He frames it as LinkedIn catching up to platforms like YouTube in building out creator monetisation.
Read this update in detail →LinkedIn tests collaborative posts
Matt Navarra has flagged that LinkedIn is testing collaborative posts, allowing members and pages to co-author and share a post. The feature is being trialled with a handful of creators and brands at Cannes, with a wider rollout planned over the coming months via a new "Add Collaborators" option in post settings.
Read this update in detail →Prime Day 2026 opens softer than 2025, according to the early reads
Several practitioners shared opening-day Prime Day data this week. Isaac Gross reported that Day One was notably softer year on year: the opening-day lift over a clean 30-day baseline came in at +55% versus +81% in 2025, around 26 points lower across the same brands: and that Day Two has historically been the event's softest revenue day.
Read this update in detail →Amazon introduces Alexa+ agentic ads
Amazon has announced Alexa+ Agentic Ads on the Amazon Ads account. The format lets shoppers complete purchases entirely within a conversation: from ordering pizza to buying concert tickets: turning a voice or chat exchange with Alexa into a transactional surface.
Read this update in detail →Amazon Ads partners with Asda on UK retail media
Amazon Ads and Asda have announced a partnership to reach customers across Asda's digital platforms, on the Amazon Ads account. The deal lets brands engage Asda shoppers through Amazon's advertising infrastructure, marking a step in the evolution of Amazon's retail-media offering beyond its own properties and into a major UK grocery retailer's channels.
Read this update in detail →Amazon Ads adds multi-touch attribution to Sponsored Products
Amazon has introduced a multi-touch attribution toggle in the Sponsored Products reporting console, flagged by Liran Hirschkorn and also covered by Ivan Marynych. In beta for US advertisers, it sits alongside the existing last-touch model and shares sales credit across multiple ads that influenced a purchase, rather than handing all the credit to the last ad clicked or seen.
Read this update in detail →Amazon expands its New Selection programme for 2026
Amazon has announced enhancements to its New Selection programme, effective 30 July 2026, flagged by Ivan Marynych. The programme provides brands with more support when launching new FBA products, including fee credits on the first 200 units, reduced referral fees, and credits that can offset referral and FBA fulfilment costs.
Read this update in detail →Anthropic's revenue run rate is reported to have overtaken OpenAI's
Anthropic is now reported to generate a substantially higher annualised revenue run rate than OpenAI despite having a fraction of ChatGPT's users, flagged by Endrit Restelica. Anthropic's run rate, around $9bn a few months ago, is now reported at roughly $47bn, compared with OpenAI's roughly $25bn.
Read this update in detail →Google says good SEO is good GEO
Google's Brendon Kraham has stated that good SEO remains the foundation for visibility in AI experiences, flagged by Glenn Gabe. Kraham said Google's generative AI features are rooted in the same core ranking and quality systems as traditional Search, and because those AI experiences retrieve up-to-date content from the existing search index, the best formula for success remains foundational SEO.
Read this update in detail →Google releases the June 2026 spam update
Google has released the June 2026 spam update to Search, announced on the Google Search Central account. Described as a normal spam update, it rolls out across all languages and locations and may take a few days to complete.
Read this update in detail →Google brings back Business Profile messaging with an AI chatbot
Google is bringing back Google Business Profile messaging, this time with an AI chatbot, flagged by Darren Shaw. The chatbot can answer questions about a business drawn from its Business Profile, and reportedly its website, then hand the conversation off to the business owner when human input is needed.
Read this update in detail →Google's I/O autocomplete display appears in AI Mode
SERP Alert has flagged the first sighting of Google's new autocomplete display: announced at I/O: appearing within AI Mode. The previews Google showed had the feature surfacing in the global search bar with coloured autocomplete, and this is the first time it has been spotted live inside AI Mode, suggesting wider rollout may follow.
Read this update in detail →OpenAI previews the GPT-5.6 family under a government-restricted release
OpenAI has unveiled the GPT-5.6 family: Sol, Terra, and Luna, but general availability is paused at the US government's request. The models are rolling out first to a limited group of trusted partners via the API and Codex, after Commerce Secretary Lutnick reportedly warned Sam Altman not to launch without agency approval.
Read this update in detail →The UK's under-16 social media ban forces a rethink of teen marketing
Matt Navarra has argued that the UK's under-16 social media ban is prompting brands to reconsider how they reach younger audiences in a post that sparked wide discussion. His central point: what was called "youth marketing" was, for years, really platform marketing: brands buying placement on the platforms teens frequented, then layering research and targeting on top.
Read this update in detail →Claude launches a Slack integration with Claude Tag
Anthropic has introduced Claude Tag, a way for teams to work with Claude inside Slack, announced on its Claude account. Claude joins a workspace as a team member with access to the channels and tools an admin chooses, so users can delegate tasks by tagging @Claude with a request: writing or merging pull requests, running data analysis, and other work: while focusing on other things.
Read this update in detail →Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel adds Skills
Microsoft has added Skills to Microsoft 365 Copilot in Excel, flagged by Jack Rowbotham. Teams can teach Copilot a repeatable workflow once, then have it follow that process on demand: prebuilt, custom, and developer/partner skills are supported.
Read this update in detail →Google launches Google Finance with AI portfolio tracking
Google has launched a rebuilt Google Finance, flagged by Joseph Michael. The new version tracks portfolios with AI assistance and is available globally on the web and Android, with an iOS app to follow.
Read this update in detail →The advertiser takeaway
Each update reflects the source reporting at the time. Open an individual update for its full description, original links and media.
Explore the original edition
Every update from this edition is linked above. Explore the original newsletter for its full context, contributor credits and reporting links.
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