Only 30% of Gen Z adults plan to travel for the holidays in 2025, down from 44% in 2024, according to an October report from Bankrate and YouGov.
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Become a ClientLiveRamp CEO Scott Howe says marketers are now fighting a “war for signals”—a race to collect, clean, and connect data fast enough to prove every dollar’s impact. Speaking alongside Q2 earnings of $200 million (up 8%), Howe described marketing’s new reality as “precision and proof.” LiveRamp’s clean room tech now lets brands merge data across partners like Netflix, Uber, and PayPal to tie spend directly to transactions. With AI acceleration and data collaboration redefining performance, Howe says growth depends less on scale and more on signal speed: “Access to better data gets the flywheel going—and determines who wins.”
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Target is overhauling its ecommerce fulfillment model by reducing the number of stores that handle online delivery orders to ease strain on operations and improve the in-store experience. After testing the approach in Chicago, it has expanded to 36 markets with more planned next year. The strategy helps cut transportation costs, reduce out-of-stocks, and raise customer satisfaction, while allowing longer next-day delivery windows. However, Target still trails Walmart and Amazon in delivery speed and coverage and faces ongoing challenges as shoppers increasingly focus on essential purchases.
Snapchat revenues and users grew in Q3—but the company warned that age verification laws would have unpredictable results on its business. While innovative ad tools and a new partnership with Perplexity could offer more value, stagnant growth and new policies that would restrict access to over 18% of Snapchat’s audience make the social platform a riskier investment than those with ad businesses less reliant on a youth-oriented audience like Instagram.
AppLovin beat expectations again, delivering a blowout quarter that affirmed its place among the most profitable players in adtech. Even as the company faces ongoing scrutiny over data practices and an SEC probe, its financial momentum appears unaffected. AppLovin is proving that controversy doesn’t always kill momentum. Its ability to execute quarter after quarter suggests marketers may be more pragmatic than moralistic, following results over rhetoric.
Meta’s internal documents show it knowingly earned up to 10% of its annual revenues in 2024—around $16 billion—from scam and banned product ads, per Reuters. Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, reportedly served 15 billion high-risk scam ads daily, often letting them run unless 95% fraud certainty was detected. Brands should audit ad placements to see if scam ads dilute their impact. Seek platforms guaranteeing ad integrity, and require clear enforcement and accountability from ad platforms.
Highwire developed the AI Index, a tool that helps marketing and communications professionals understand how their brands show up in genAI search, per a press release. AI Index benchmarks brand appearances across genAI engines, including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, and Google’s Gemini. SEO shouldn’t be tossed by the wayside just yet, but as genAI matures, tools like Highwire Index can help brands navigate changes in search. To boost brand visibility in AI engines, marketers should focus on user-generated content and building brand affinity across social, community-driven platforms.
U.S. Bank launched the Split World Mastercard, a credit card that puts every transaction on an installment plan, per a press release.U.S. Bank wants to capitalize on consumer demand for both card-linked installments and BNPL cards. It’s a play specifically for Gen Zers, who tend to gravitate toward installments. These younger consumers can also use the card as a credit-building tool, a sought-after feature. But the Split Card may be a tough sell to prospects.