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.
Industry
France's data protection authority, the CNIL, has issued recommendations on cross-device consent for cookies and trackers. When users consent to cookies on one device, that consent can apply across all devices connected to their account, but there are strict conditions.
Industry
Disney has announced vertical video integration for its streaming environment. The format will complement landscape mode rather than replace it, designed as a native fit for mobile environments.
Google Ads
I've been part of Mike Rhodes' AdsToAI community, and it's one of the few places focused on practical AI for Google Ads: scripts, automation systems, and tools you can actually use.
Display & Video 360
Google has announced new biddable live sports features in Display & Video 360, including access to NBCUniversal's programmatic inventory for the Olympic Winter Games. New capabilities include unified reach combining Google's audience signals with live sports CTV inventory, cross-device frequency management with household-level signals to prevent ad fatigue, AI-powered cross-device conversion tracking connecting CTV impressions to purchases, and a redesigned Marketplace for one-click live sports package activation.
Google Tag
Google has expanded the supported data sources in Data Manager to include Google Drive. Advertisers can now use files stored in Google Drive to import offline conversion data or upload customer lists via direct connection workflows.
Industry
Google has released a comprehensive checklist for implementing enhanced conversions for leads correctly. The guide covers prerequisites, including customer data terms acceptance and auto-tagging, website tagging requirements for PII collection, data preparation with SHA-256 hashing and normalisation standards, and the data import process.
Google Merchant Center
Google has relocated the logo upload location in Merchant Centre, causing confusion for merchants and agencies. The logo setting has moved from Settings > Business Info > Logo to Settings > Marketing > Brand > Logo.
Industry
Italy's Data Protection Authority has warned that using AI to process personal data, including voice or image data, without consent can be illegal. The warning specifically references tools like Grok that make it easy to misuse images and voices of third parties.
Anthropic
Anthropic has announced that Claude Code is now included with every Team plan seat at no additional cost. Teams can use Claude Code to accelerate coding workflows including debugging, refactoring, and shipping features.
Google Merchant Center
Google mandates migrating from the Content API to the new Merchant API, with deadlines of February 28, 2026, for Beta users and August 18, 2026, for Content API users. Check your setup in Settings > Data Sources > Primary Sources.
Google Merchant Center
Google Shopping has updated its promotion policies to support additional promotion types starting January 2026. New supported promotions include subscription fee discounts (e.g., "Get first month free" or "95% off for 2 months"), common abbreviations such as BOGO, B1G1, MRP, and MSRP, and, in Brazil only, payment method-specific promotions, including cashback to digital wallets.
OpenAI
OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT Health, a dedicated experience that enables users to connect medical records and wellness apps to deliver personalised health responses. Over 230 million people worldwide already ask ChatGPT health questions weekly, and this feature consolidates fragmented health data into a single place.
Industry
Microsoft has introduced Copilot Checkout, enabling shoppers to complete purchases directly within Copilot conversations without redirects. Merchants remain the seller of record and retain customer data and relationships.
Reddit Ads
Reddit has introduced Max campaigns, an AI-powered campaign type that automates settings to optimise for every impression. Early split tests show a 17% lower CPA and 27% higher conversion rate than manual setups.
Google Tag
Google Tag Gateway is rolling out a GCP integration that enables one-click deployment via an External Application Load Balancer. The feature allows advertisers to host Google's tagging technologies on a first-party domain, adding resilience against Apple's Intelligent Tracking Prevention and ad blockers.
Industry
Google has released Disco through Google Labs, an experimental AI-powered browser built on Gemini 3. The browser's GenTabs feature creates interactive web apps from your open tabs and browsing context, turning research sessions into structured dashboards without coding.
Google Merchant Center
Google Merchant Centre is updating how multi-channel products work, unifying online and in-store inventory into a single product listing instead of separate records. The change affects users of the Content API, Merchant API, and BigQuery Data Transfer.
Google Search Console
Google Search Console's links report does not show all backlinks to your site, and Google intentionally limits the data to prevent misuse by spammers. Third-party tools can provide more comprehensive data, though users should be cautious about over-relying on "toxic links" metrics.
Gemini
Google is bringing Gemini to Gmail with several new features rolling out now. AI Overviews summarise long email threads and answer natural language questions about your inbox.
Google Ads
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Industry
Alibaba has open-sourced AgentScope, a Python framework for building multi-agent AI applications with visual development tools. The framework includes memory, RAG, and reasoning capabilities, works with any LLM provider, and supports integration with MCP tools.
Anthropic
Anthropic has added native document creation to Claude, allowing users to generate Excel, PowerPoint, and PDF files through conversational prompts without leaving the browser. The feature removes the need for separate tools or API integrations for basic document automation.
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