China’s antitrust regulator accused Nvidia of violating commitments from its 2020 Mellanox acquisition, intensifying US-China tech tensions. The probe sent Nvidia’s stock down more than 2% in trading before it recouped most of the losses Monday, per The New York Times. If Nvidia’s access to China narrows, ad tech platforms—built on AI engines for media buying, personalization, and measurement—would see higher costs, delayed feature rollouts, and bottlenecks in innovation. Advertisers and CMOs should diversify providers, press vendors on supply chain resilience, and stay nimble in deploying AI tools.
Last week’s Amazon-Netflix partnership represents a convergence between commerce media and streaming TV that promises to blur the lines between brand-building and performance marketing while raising fundamental questions about which budgets, which teams, and which strategies will control advertising's future.
The 77th Primetime Emmy Awards underscored streaming’s dominance in television, with HBO Max, Apple TV+, and Netflix sweeping major categories. Traditional TV was largely absent from the spotlight, with The Late Show among the few exceptions. The ceremony’s cross-platform broadcast—CBS, Paramount+, Showtime, Hulu—reflected shifting consumption habits, as Emmys remain culturally relevant even as streaming platforms cement their awards clout.
Penske Media, owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard, and Variety, has filed the first major US publisher lawsuit against Google over its AI Overviews feature. The company alleges Google’s summaries exploit journalism while diverting traffic that previously supported ad and affiliate revenues. Penske says affiliate earnings dropped by a third as AI Overviews appeared on 20% of searches. Google calls the suit “meritless,” but traffic declines reported by others suggest otherwise—placing AI Overviews at the center of a looming legal test for publisher survival.
Value menus are the rare bright spot in an otherwise sluggish year for the restaurant industry. Traffic related to value menus rose 1% YoY in Q2, per Circana. Overall restaurant traffic fell by 1% YoY in the same period, indicating that meal deals are getting diners to open their wallets. But as restaurants have also discovered, meal deals alone aren’t enough to get customers through the door. Instead, operators need to excite would-be diners about what they’re offering—whether by emphasizing the scale of their discounts, product or service quality, or the temporary nature of offers.
Social media managers (SMMs) report blind spots in AI’s ability to assist with trendspotting and market analysis, leading to wasted time, loss of employee trust, and delayed campaigns. With all of these pain points, marketing teams are finding that investment doesn’t always equal impact. CMOs should Involve their teams in AI tool selection to ensure real-world fit;Regularly evaluate whether applications are actually saving time; and provide training on prompt writing and the strengths of various models to cut down on wasted time.
New studies from leading AI labs OpenAI and Anthropic reveal how generative AI (genAI) is being used, painting a picture of rapid adoption. OpenAI’s analysis found that 73% of ChatGPT interactions were personal rather than professional. In stark contrast, Anthropic’s report on its Claude AI software found an overwhelming business focus on automation. For CMOs, the opportunity is to design campaigns and brand experiences that are approachable enough for personal use and scalable enough for enterprise integration. Marketers who frame AI as both empowering and efficient will be best positioned to earn trust across the adoption divide.
Volvo and Mastercard are trialing the US’s first in-car toll payment pilot program, per a press release from the North Carolina Turnpike Authority. Google will supply payments-enabled in-car infotainment systems for the limited 100 Volvo participants. If E-ZPass payment technology gets shifted onto Google’s platform, E-ZPass Group no longer has to worry about the cost of their transponders and can receive payments automatically for those who don’t have a transponder, instead of waiting for a billing period. If Google becomes a permanent partner for toll payments, the tech mammoth stands to reap the windfall of multi-state toll volumes from certain commuters likely loyal to toll routes.
Gen Z’s recent banking and payments behavior shows they are integrating cryptocurrency into their normal banking habits. Their widespread adoption of cryptocurrency for transactions and investment signals a critical challenge for traditional banks. Meanwhile, fintechs and other nontraditional platforms are targeting these younger customers with in-demand products. Banks must embrace this shift by offering crypto-related products and services and integrating them seamlessly into core offerings. This presents an opportunity for banks to innovate, build new revenue streams, and solidify their position as the central financial hub for the next generation of consumers.
Gen Zers are putting their careers and financial health above family, community, and love, according to a recent NBC poll. These results give financial institutions perspective around these younger consumers’ primary goals. They also highlight the importance of assessing and understanding the needs of individual customers. Some Gen Zers have already bought homes and started families but likely want to further improve their financial health and status. This points to the importance of life-stages banking, including personalizing recommendations for each individual customer. Most Gen Zers want products that help them set money aside and make it work harder for them.
According to a recent Bank of America survey and a KNPX News report, 55% of Gen Zers have more than one source of income. Products like side-hustle savings accounts help track multiple income sources, automate tax withholdings, and separate business expenses from personal finances. Banks must move away from the traditional model built around a single, consistent paycheck. This means offering flexible products that adapt to fluctuating incomes as well as considering customers’ overall financial health—including side-hustle income—when making lending decisions.
Chime debuted the Chime Card, a secured credit card with no fees or interest. Cardholders can receive 1.5% cash back in rotating categories for groceries, gas, restaurants, and utility bills after placing a qualifying deposit of $200 or more into a Chime checking account. With zero fees or interest, Chime’s ability to make a profit on this card is fairly limited. However, drawing more consumers from underbanked or underprivileged backgrounds into its ecosystem with enticing features could help build loyalty to eventually graduate cardholders to more traditional and profitable financial products as their credit histories improve and mature.
Citi and US Bank cardholders will get first access to Mastercard’s agentic payments technology, per Finextra. Consumers are skittish about the rise of genAI, but their hunger for hyperpersonalized offerings fueled by AI technology may slowly sway more people to the pro-genAI camp. A recent study of 1,000 college-educated US adults showed that 70% participants believed the benefits of AI outweighed the risks, per a KPMG study. Citi and US Bank can increase adoption of the tech—and make sure their cards are the payment methods attached to the new shopping medium—by linking increased rewards for consumer use to kick off new payment behavior.
Black Friday kicks off the holiday season, and standing out takes more than sharp promotions. Marketers are turning to AI-driven personalization and performance tools to deliver faster, smarter experiences that convert.
Even as advertisers shift budgets to creators, consumers are more distrusting of influencer marketing than other advertising, per a National Advertising Division (NAD) of BBB National Programs report. Authenticity is the differentiating factor that will earn consumer trust even as audiences remain skeptical of influencers.
Junior ad jobs are gradually disappearing as the industry faces upheaval. While overall ad jobs ticked up slightly earlier this year, employment is still trending downward—and younger workers are taking the brunt. Without a pipeline of entry-level talent, agencies risk eroding their long-term relevance.
Pinterest is making a bigger push for CPG dollars with its latest ad format. The company is introducing “where to buy” links to make standard product image ads shoppable, allowing CPG advertisers to direct shoppers to preferred retailers where items are in stock and receive valuable purchase intent data. Pinterest’s play could prove profitable as CPGs invest in marketing to win over wary consumers. The company’s young user base, ability to inspire consumers to take action, and increasing role in product discovery all position it to benefit as advertisers focus on channels most likely to drive sales.
Google is rolling out new ad tools for AI Overviews targeting retailers in a bid to curb concerns about AI responses’ impact on referral traffic and clickthrough rates (CTRs), per a blog post. Giving retailers more opportunities to show up prominently in AI results could curb worries about AI Overviews cannibalizing CTRs and traffic, but brands still need to adapt to the rise of AI responses to remain competitive.
Two years after its US debut, TikTok Shop has become a dominant force in social commerce by turning discovery into conversion, with nearly half of its American user base expected to make purchases in 2025. While livestream shopping initially gained traction, its appeal quickly faded as US consumers resisted scheduled shopping events, unlike in China. Instead, TikTok Shop’s growth has been fueled by short, authentic creator content, which now drives two-thirds of its revenues and has attracted more than 184,000 sellers. It seems increasingly clear that TikTok Shop’s strength lies in its creator-driven, recommendation-based model rather than putting a fresh spin on QVC-style livestreams.