Technology

Mobile gaming profits lean on whales, not installs: IAP revenues climb in EU and the UK even as downloads slip, requiring publishers to mine loyal players.

CTV’s data gap stalls TV ad dollars: 86% of media planners want better show-level targeting; without it, CTV could struggle to continue prying budgets from linear.

Brand safety gets costlier in EU: Scam ads near legit buys risk reputational damage—and CMOs may demand tougher controls.

46% of US genAI assistant users are resistant to both AI advertising and agentic AI commerce, more than the share open to either format, according to a January survey from Mod7 Research Strategy.

Reddit builds a performance case: Beta attribution and unified reporting aim to prove Reddit’s role beyond awareness.

Meta cuts 8,000 employees as AI spend soars: Layoffs and a 7,000-person shift to AI units show how compute costs are rewriting Big Tech workforce math.

YouTube scales up AI integrations: Conversational search and Gemini tools demand tighter transcripts, metadata, and thorough testing.

Contractor sales and ecommerce gains offset DIY drag in a slow housing market.

Digital shoppers embrace branded AI: Online-first buyers welcome AI, while 70% of store loyalists avoid it, tying comfort to channel habits.

Google protects its lead: By building multimodal AI into Search, it aims to hold onto valuable queries and limit competitor gains.

AI hype meets TV reality: Media giants pitch smarter, personalized ads, while skeptics question whether tools connect—or just multiply silos.

Spotify debuts podcast badges to fight AI slop: Platforms are turning to patchwork solutions as they struggle to contain the flood.

AI discovery lags traffic reality: Organic and social dominate web traffic, giving brands time to test AI before users’ search habits change.

Meta courts creators and cautious advertisers: New content planners and block lists aim to lift originality, time spent, and ad dollars.

The tool acts as a shopping hub, enabling users to shop across merchants and Google Services, find savings, and check out

Fortnite back on iOS worldwide: After its ban slump, global distribution could reignite teen reach and ad demand.

Search as productivity OS: Google turns Search into a coding, agent, and widget hub—keeping users inside its walls, not sending them out.