The changes that matter to advertisers, with the sources behind them and a practical next step. Pick a topic and catch up at your own pace.
Meta Ads
OpenAI plans to charge advertisers around $60 per 1,000 impressions for ads inside ChatGPT, according to The Information. That puts pricing on par with premium TV and live sports inventory, and roughly three times Meta's typical $15–20 CPM.
Google Ads
New Google Ads help pages detail bulk-editing workflows for callout and structured snippet assets. The documentation describes edit, find and replace, add text, and change case functionality across multiple assets at once.
Industry
Google is exploring ways to let websites opt out of AI generative search features, including AI Overviews and AI Mode. No specific mechanism has been confirmed yet.
Google Merchant Center
As previously mentioned, Google has added a Conversational AI Customer Journey feature called Business Agent in Merchant Centre, enabling an AI Business Agent to represent your brand in Google's AI-led shopping conversations. The agent recommends products based on customer intent, answers shopper questions, and guides users from query to purchase.
Industry
The UK Competition and Markets Authority published proposed conduct requirements for Google under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act (DMCC). Proposals include mandatory search choice screens on Android and Chrome, publisher opt-out controls for AI features such as AI Overviews, fair ranking obligations that ban self-preferencing, and consumer data portability.
Google Ads
Google Ads support forms now auto-populate information from your previous cases, including company name, email, and issue summary. This reduces the need to re-enter the same details when raising new tickets.
Microsoft Advertising
Google Ads now lets you click a product title under the Products tab to see every campaign where that product is active and how it performs in each. You can compare performance between Standard Shopping and Performance Max at the product level.
Anthropic
Anthropic has made file creation and editing available on Claude's Free plan, alongside skills and compaction features previously limited to paid users. This enables free users to handle more complex tasks and to stay logged in for longer.
YouTube
A new YouTube ad format has been spotted in which the banner ad partially overlaps the Skip Ad button, increasing the risk of accidental clicks. The format has appeared on YouTube on mobile.
Anthropic
Anthropic released plugin support for Cowork, its desktop automation tool. Plugins bundle skills, connectors, slash commands, and sub-agents into role-specific packages.
Industry
The European Commission published the provisional non-confidential version of its 363-page AdTech decision, fining Google €2.95 billion for abusive leveraging across display advertising intermediation markets. The decision states that merely stopping the conduct is insufficient and that the underlying conflicts of interest must be eliminated.
Google Ads
Google Ads has renamed the Advertiser Verification page to "Account," consolidating verification, business information, certifications, and compliance status into one hub. The new section is located under Admin > Policy > Account.
Google Tag
Google Tag Manager release notes confirm that Google Tag Gateway for advertisers can now be configured with Akamai as the content delivery network. This integration gives you control over your data flow and improves the accuracy of Google Analytics reporting.
Google Ads
Google Ads has retired the classic contact form and replaced it with an AI-based chatbot as the initial support channel. Direct access to a human consultant is no longer available at the initial contact step.
Microsoft Advertising
Matteo Braghetta has spotted sponsored product ads appearing directly inside Google's Images tab on mobile search results, displayed as sponsored image and text units clearly labelled as "Sponsored." The placement is distinct from standard Search and Shopping placements, reaching users in discovery mode rather than transactional intent.
Google Ads
Google has added new insights to Conversion Diagnostics that show whether Consent Mode is correctly implemented and whether conversion modelling is active. The diagnostics now report the exact date modelling started and the resulting conversion uplift percentage.
Campaign Manager 360
Google will shut down Campaign Manager 360 API v4 on February 26, 2026. All v4 requests will fail after that date.
Anthropic
Claude now displays connected work tools directly inside conversations, enabling users to draft Slack messages, create Figma diagrams, or manage Asana timelines without switching tabs. Supported integrations include Slack, Figma, Asana, Amplitude, Box, Canva, Clay, Hex, and Monday.com.
Amazon Ads
Starting March 31, 2026, Amazon sellers not enrolled as Brand Registry representatives can no longer use manufacturer barcodes (UPC, EAN, ISBN) for FBA. Every unit will need an FNSKU sticker.
Industry
Google's Project Genie uses the Genie 3 model to create full navigable 3D environments from text prompts. Users can walk through, explore, and remix generated worlds in real time, with physics and interactions simulated on the fly.
Meta Ads
Meta has acquired Manus, the general-purpose AI agent platform, and is testing premium subscriptions on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp. The paid tier will include exclusive AI tools, AI video creation via Vibes, and Manus-powered agent capabilities.
Gemini
Google announced that Gemini in Chrome is shifting from a conversational assistant to an agent that can navigate, reason, and execute multi-step tasks across the web. The update includes an "auto browse" feature to handle workflows such as comparing listings or scheduling across multiple sites.
Industry
Microsoft reported Q2 FY26 revenue of $81.3 billion, up 17 per cent year over year, with operating income growing 21 per cent to $38.3 billion. Search and news advertising revenue excluding TAC grew 10 per cent, while Azure and cloud services grew 39 per cent.
TikTok Ads
TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC has been established in compliance with US regulatory requirements, enabling 200 million Americans and 7.5 million businesses to continue using TikTok. The majority American-owned joint venture will operate under safeguards protecting national security through data protections, algorithm security, content moderation, and software assurances.
Google Ads
Google has announced three Demand Gen features now in general availability.
YouTube
YouTube has upgraded its Promotion tool for creators to include interest-based targeting beyond basic demographics. Interest categories are built on aggregated, anonymised signals.
Meta Ads
Meta has enabled impression share visibility in the Facebook Ad Library. You can now see which ads from any brand are getting high or low impression share.
Google Ads
Google has launched the Experiment Centre, a unified dashboard centralising Experiments and Lift Studies. Experiments test campaign features, settings, assets, campaign types, and custom multi-variable setups using randomised audience groups.
Meta Ads
Google Ads AI is now suggesting Facebook Ad videos sourced from third-party provider Pathmatics (Sensor Tower) when editing assets. The suggestions appear in both Performance Max and Demand Gen campaigns, showing competitor creative that could be uploaded.
Industry
X released its latest 'For You' feed algorithm on GitHub, confirmed by Elon Musk as 'purely AI' since November via xAI servers. The feed includes Thunder (posts from followed accounts, ranked by engagement) and Phoenix (AI recommendations analysing your last 128 engaged posts).
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