YouTube influencers have an AI audience: What millions of citation events reveal about influencer sponsorships (9 minute read)
Sponsored YouTube videos can extend their marketing value into AI search when the video is cited, especially through the description text that names the sponsor. The sponsor appeared in 40% of AI answers that cited a sponsored video, compared with 32.3% when the video was not cited, and the lift reached 1.35x on unbranded prompts. Brands should make specific description language part of influencer contracts and track YouTube citations for the prompts that matter to them, rather than treating sponsorship as a view-based channel alone. The opportunity is temporary because YouTube citation rates fell 43% within a month, so citation monitoring needs to be ongoing.
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AI Overviews may be affecting Shopping ad CTR and impressions (2 minute read)
Shopping ad CTRs are rising while impressions are falling across thousands of campaigns, with clicks relatively flat or slightly down. One hypothesis is that Google's AI Overviews are appearing on queries less likely to generate ad clicks, leaving Shopping ads for higher-intent searches. The data doesn't prove AI Overviews are causing the decline, but advertisers should look beyond CTR and track impressions, clicks, and overall traffic to understand whether performance is actually improving.
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Don't recommend your most expensive option (2 minute read)
Increase sales by labeling a mid-priced product as “recommended” instead of your most expensive option. In eight experiments involving more than 6,200 participants, sales of a recommended cafe drink increased 58% when a pricier option was added, while sales were unchanged without the recommendation. Consumers appear more receptive to recommendations when the suggested product is cheaper because the brand seems less motivated by profit. Use objective badges such as “Bestseller” when recommending a premium product, and test this pricing tactic on comparable products where customers can easily evaluate the price difference.
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The Legacy Brand De-Aging Playbook (6 minute read)
Sometimes a brand's old identity becomes valuable again simply because the category around it moved. As dining shifted toward fast casual, delivery, and pricier meals, Chili's leaned into value, booths, and the Triple Dipper, and a format that once looked dated became the countertrend against expensive takeout. Barnes & Noble made a similar bet, handing individual stores control over what to stock and display instead of running every location identically, so each one behaves like a local bookstore again. Both bets worked because the brand stopped trying to outrun its category and let the category's shift make its old strengths relevant.
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Google launches tool to check whether ads actually increase sales (2 minute read)
Google released an open-source tool that tests whether an ad actually caused a sale, not just which platform claims credit for one. GeoX works by comparing regions where a campaign keeps running against regions where it's paused or given more budget, then measuring how sales in each group differ from what historical data would have predicted anyway. It can track spend across platforms beyond Google's own and combine online and offline sales in the same test. It plugs into Google's existing Meridian measurement software, so the results can also refine how a budget gets split across channels.
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Amazon gives OpenAI's ad business a boost, letting its advertisers into ChatGPT (2 minute read)
Amazon has spent months locking AI shopping agents like Claude and Gemini out of its own storefront while building its own AI shopping tools, then quietly became ChatGPT's top retail advertiser between April and August instead. It's now opening that same access to other brands that already buy through its demand-side platform, letting them run ads inside ChatGPT conversations too. Campaigns are still set up and managed inside Amazon's own systems, while OpenAI's ad system keeps control over which ad actually gets served.
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Some companies are using ads to influence AI agents (3 minute read)
Time magazine is testing ads designed specifically for AI agents, exposing them to brand-verified facts before they access webpages. The goal is to influence what AI systems retain and potentially correct inaccurate information about brands. As agentic traffic grows, companies are also optimizing websites and product data for AI discovery and recommendations. Brands are beginning to treat AI agents as an emerging advertising and distribution channel.
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How Starface Made Pimple Patches Cool (5 minute read)
Skincare spent decades built around the idea that a good product should be invisible. Starface inverted that by making a pimple patch impossible to miss, then expanded through Target, Walmart, Sephora, and Ulta specifically because its bright yellow stars stand out against a retail aisle of clinical whites and pastels. That same bet is now showing up industry-wide, with LED light masks and other visible skincare wearables replacing creams that disappear on the skin.
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AI, tools and transformation (8 minute read)
AI will not eliminate software so much as change how companies decide what gets automated, standardized, or left improvised. Most employees do not naturally identify the workflows that should become software, and important processes often span multiple teams and systems, so successful automation still requires people who can spot problems, design solutions, and get the organization to adopt them. AI will expand existing software and make tools like spreadsheets, email, and chatbots more capable, while also creating new vertical applications that move work between improvised and institutionalized systems. The bigger opportunity for businesses is to look beyond faster versions of existing workflows and identify new products, services, and operating models that AI makes possible for the first time.
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