Latest Marketing & Advertising News
Ad industry enters 2026 in âholding patternâ with modest growth and budget reshuffles
Ad executives at CES describe 2026 as a **âmodest growth recalibration yearâ**, with topline spend inching up but not accelerating after tariff and geopolitical uncertainty. Budgets continue to move out of linear TV into CTV, performance spend is concentrating on fewer data-rich platforms, Amazon is gaining share from DSP rivals and linear, and upfront commitments are thinning in favor of flexibility.
Omnicom unveils nextâgeneration Omni AI platform for âplatformâdominatedâ marketing
Omnicom launched a new **Omni AI platform** designed to integrate creativity, media, data and AI, promising more measurable sales growth for brands. The group says the upgraded Omni builds on capabilities from Omnicom and newly acquired Interpublic, aiming to help advertisers operate effectively in a marketplace dominated by walledâgarden platforms and advanced automation.
Havas launches AVA global LLM portal to democratise AI across its network
Havas introduced **AVA**, a global LLM portal announced at CES, positioned as secure, centralised access to leading AI models for its worldwide teams. The company plans to extend AVA to client partnerships over time, arguing that standardised AI access will speed up campaign development and improve consistency in dataâdriven decisionâmaking.
Meta ad innovations and IABâs âAgentic Roadmapâ accelerate AIâdriven media buying
New Meta products such as the **Andromeda algorithm** and a **Generative Ad Model** are changing paid social by optimizing against sets of creative assets rather than single ads. In parallel, the IAB Tech Labâs **Agentic Roadmap** aims to streamline fully automated, machineâtoâmachine ad buying, promising faster setup and tighter crossâchannel coordination for media campaigns.
AIâdriven search and âintelligence overviewsâ start to divert traffic from traditional SEO
Googleâs rollout of AIâdriven **intelligence overviews** and chatbots is reshaping search behavior, with Gartner forecasting that up to **25% of search volume** could go to AI agents by yearâend. This is pushing marketers to prioritise authority, expertise and original content over keywordâstuffing, as Google doubles down on experience and trust signals in ranking systems.
Creator marketing cements itself as a missionâcritical growth engine for brands
Creator marketing has moved from experimental to **âmissionâcritical,â** with U.S. creator ad spend projected to reach **$43.9 billion in 2026**, up from $37.1 billion this year. A net 61% of marketers plan to increase creator investment, often reallocating budget from print and linear TV, while paid amplification of creator content is expected to jump 48% to $13.2 billion.
WPPâs Goat Agency outlines 2026 creator marketing trends and âintentional consumptionâ
WPP Mediaâs Goat Agency predicts that 2026 creator culture will be defined by **intentional content consumption** and demand for more authentic engagement between brands and audiences. The agency highlights that brands integrating creators into longâterm strategy, rather than oneâoff activations, will be best positioned to capture growth in the evolving online culture.
Crossâmedia measurement advances with WFAâs Halo project entering next phase
The World Federation of Advertisers reports progress on its **Halo** crossâmedia measurement initiative and is defining next steps for 2026 after pilots in multiple markets. Advertisers are pushing for consistent, privacyâsafe measurement across TV, digital and platforms, aiming to better understand incremental reach and outcomes as budgets shift toward CTV and online video.
Digital marketing in 2026 dominated by AI, shortâform video and privacyâfirst tactics
Recent analyses of the **state of marketing in 2026** highlight AIâdriven personalization, predictive analytics and automation as core to campaign performance. Marketers are also prioritising shortâform video, voice and visual search optimization, privacyâfirst strategies using zeroâparty data, and sustainable, purposeâdriven brand storytelling to win Gen Z consumers.
Social platforms become âknowledge enginesâ as TikTok and YouTube rival search
Industry commentary notes that for younger audiences, **TikTok and YouTube now function as primary search engines**, shifting discovery away from traditional web search. In this environment, AI is embedded across content workflows, and brands that act like helpful creatorsâoffering structured, problemâsolving content optimised for visibility in feeds and AI summariesâare outperforming conventional ad styles.
BrandPilot AI highlights risks as AIâmarketing specialist faces client portfolio contraction
A report on **BrandPilot AI** describes a significant decline in its client portfolio entering 2026, underscoring competitive and adoption pressures in the AIâmarketing sector. The analysis situates the companyâs struggles within broader industry developments, including rapid innovation by larger holdingâcompany platforms and heightened client expectations for demonstrable ROI from AI investments.