In today’s podcast episode, we discuss the main takeaways from Meta’s landmark trial over kids and social media addiction, the safety features it plans to roll out, whether this makes a teen social media ban more or less likely, what we know about social media’s role in youth mental health, and what could change as a result of the settlement. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Senior Analyst Beth Snyder Bulik and Analyst Marisa Jones. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.
The Trade Desk buckles: A 15% headcount reduction reflects an industry shift from the open web toward walled gardens.
API and Smartly support make its existing automation easier to adopt, helping Reddit compete for more ad budgets.
Its shopping assistant can guide high-intent purchases, but retailers must keep recommendations useful, not salesy.
AI referrals are converting at nearly the same rate as other traffic as consumers use the technology to research trips and find savings.
Tech partners can determine how quickly institutions add the features Gen Z expects.
AI adoption outruns marketing readiness: Poor data, unreliable outputs, and weak training are keeping widespread AI use from delivering its full value.
AI Mode and Search rarely show the same products, requiring marketers to treat them as distinct commerce channels.
We look at what payment providers need to do to win agentic commerce share.
This FAQ covers how UGC influences purchases, the authenticity problem, and how brands should build UGC programs in 2026.
Signs point to the broader "touch grass" shifts elsewhere, from phone-free events to Gen Z's own efforts to cut screen time while engaging in phone-free concerts and venues.
The retailer looks to restaurant delivery to drive consumers to open its app and place orders more frequently.
AI can fill capacity gaps, but marketers still need to sit in the driver’s seat.
Its scale could challenge US banks, but rivals have about 18 months to strengthen digital offerings.
Nearly half (48%) of US Gen Z online searchers looked for information on a video platform in the past 30 days, compared with 34% of all searchers, according to a July report from YouGov.
EU oversight validates AI’s role in discovery, but marketers shouldn’t divert traditional search budgets yet.
Consumers trust AI as much as they trust experts, giving lesser-known brands a strong route to credibility and consideration.
Gen Z’s varied AI use expands brand visibility: Marketers can reach users with content built for AI answers, ideas, and decisions.
AI assistants rank last among trusted sources for shopping recommendations, named by just 23% of US shoppers, according to an April survey from Profitero.
Socially influenced store experiences often lead to return visits and sharing, creating a cycle retailers can extend.