UBS has issued a warning that there is a 93% chance of a US recession this year, per Moneywise. The prediction is based on data such as personal incomes, consumption, industrial production, and employment rates. When consumers feel stressed, they’re more likely to turn to advice that promises to fix their problems quickly. But much advice like this on social media is misleading—or downright dangerous financially. FIs are well positioned to combat misinformation and share more trustworthy advice via social media on navigating economic challenges. Advice could center around specific products.
JPMorgan Chase and Plaid have renewed their data access agreement, resolving a dispute that arose when the bank started charging fintechs for access to customer data, per PYMNTS. The new deal includes a pricing structure but reportedly won't result in new fees for Plaid customers. It’s noteworthy that JPMorgan and Plaid reached an agreement while the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is still collecting public comments on a new iteration of its open banking rule. The agreement may influence the rule’s final outcome and encourage other financial institutions who are considering similar moves.
Samsung updated its Family Hub refrigerators to display ads on the Cover Screen in a pilot program, per Android Authority. Ads will appear when the large-format screen is idle, and the feature is currently limited to specific themes, including Weather, Color, and Daily Board. Art and Gallery themes are exempt. For brands, personalization of ads will be key. Samsung is counting on the family cook or hungry teen to see the placements. Using the tech giant’s data, advertisers can reach a hungry crowd just as they reach for their next snack.
YouTube is making livestreaming a central pillar of its platform with its most sweeping update yet. More than 30% of logged-in viewers watched live video in Q2 2025, and new features aim to boost engagement and monetization. Updates include YouTube Playables, dual horizontal and vertical streaming with a unified chat, AI-generated highlight Shorts, and side-by-side ad formats that don’t interrupt streams. The company is also enabling midstream exclusivity for members. For creators, livestreaming is now easier to scale and monetize; for brands, it’s a fresh avenue to connect with highly engaged audiences—and increasingly, to drive commerce.
Despite the rise of artificial intelligence in advertising, marketers worldwide still overwhelmingly rely on user-generated content (UGC) for engaging audiences, per a new study from PhotoShelter. Authenticity is the clear differentiator that makes ads connect with audiences, necessitating continued reliance on UGC.
As brands broadly step away from diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) commitments, consumers are looking to those who stay the course. While the pressure to scale back DEI efforts is real, the backlash from doing so can be significant.
Amazon used its annual seller conference, Amazon Accelerate, to unveil new tools and fulfillment capabilities that underscore its ambition to serve as the infrastructure of retail. The retailer is weaving together AI-driven tools, externalized logistics, and its vast seller network to extend its influence beyond its own marketplace. As Amazon extends its reach through MCF and Buy with Prime, it increasingly sees merchants and marketplaces not as rivals but as collaborators.
Nvidia is putting $5 billion into Intel, buying common stock at $23.28 per share for a 4%–5% stake. The two companies plan to co-develop custom PC and data center chips that blend Nvidia’s GPUs with Intel’s x86 CPUs and manufacturing muscle, per ABC News. For Intel, it’s a last chance to remain relevant in advanced computing. For Nvidia, it’s a strategic hedge—ensuring supply resilience and expanding influence over x86 chip design. The partnership will reshape the semiconductor industry and strengthen US tech leadership.
Marketers agree creative drives results, but many still struggle to define and scale it. Taylor Stewart, global head of retail media engagement at TripleLift, joins EMARKETER’s Arielle Feger to discuss how brands are closing the creative gap by using AI, testing roadmaps, and full-funnel strategies to turn ideas into measurable performance.
Meta is back in licensing talks with publishers like Axel Springer, Fox Corp., and News Corp., marking a reversal from its 2022 exit from news payments. The move comes as AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews cut publisher traffic, pushing outlets to secure compensation. Meanwhile, Reddit is pressing Google for richer terms, citing undervaluation of its human-authored content under existing $203 million contracts. For publishers, licensing deals provide revenue but risk cementing dependence on platforms that control discovery. For marketers, the shift highlights how AI-driven answers—rather than search results or feeds—are becoming the gateways to consumer attention and content discovery.
Nvidia is putting $5 billion into Intel, buying common stock at $23.28 per share for a 4%–5% stake. The two companies plan to co-develop custom PC and data center chips that blend Nvidia’s GPUs with Intel’s x86 CPUs and manufacturing muscle, per ABC News. For Intel, it’s a last chance to remain relevant in advanced computing. For Nvidia, it’s a strategic hedge—ensuring supply resilience and expanding influence over x86 chip design. The partnership will reshape the semiconductor industry and strengthen US tech leadership.
Amazon sellers using sponsored product ads now have access to Amazon’s Marketing Cloud clean room. Amazon’s expanded access to its clean room solution will enable SMBs to measure and optimize campaigns with the same sophistication as enterprise advertisers while allowing the ad giant to accelerate its push against larger rivals.
Meta is making its boldest play yet for wearable computing, unveiling $799 Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses with a lens display, onboard Meta AI, and a neural wristband for gesture control. Meta won’t stand alone in the field for long if it can prove smart glasses are more than a novelty. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Snap will follow, each layering AR into their ecosystems and competing to define the next advertising frontier. For brands, this means new hooks—ads woven into navigation, translation, and real-world interactions—that feel less like interruptions and more like an extension of everyday life.
As AI fundamentally changes how consumers find products and services, experts continue to explore what marketers must do to adapt. "The most surprising thing, the most pressing thing about AI adoption isn't just that people are starting to use it. It's that they're trusting it, it's that they're using it within their shopping journeys," said EMARKETER analyst Nate Elliott during last week's Future of Digital Summit.
The vast majority (89%) of US adults use generative AI (genAI), per a Centerfield GenAI Consumer Survey commissioned by Search Engine Land. But not everyone uses it the same way. Eighty-seven percent read AI summaries in search results, and the same percentage have used AI for shopping, but only 41% click on a source link after reading a summary. Training and education are top next steps. Keyword research will become less important as competitor analysis ramps up. SEO/GEO specialists need to understand specific user needs and the companies surfacing in AI results to adopt their methods.
Amazon Ads has unveiled an agentic AI tool inside Creative Studio, designed to serve as a real-time creative partner for advertisers. Through a conversational interface, brands can brainstorm, storyboard, and generate professional-quality video and display ads in hours instead of weeks—at no extra cost. Powered by AWS models like Amazon Nova and Anthropic Claude, the system combines retail insights with automation to democratize high-quality ad creation once limited to big-budget brands. Early testers, including Nestlé Health Science, praised its ability to surface new insights and scale campaigns, underscoring how platforms like Amazon, Meta, and Google are redefining advertising.
YouTube is piloting Edit with AI, a remixing tool that turns raw smartphone footage into draft Shorts. The system automatically selects highlights, adds transitions, suggests music, and even generates voiceovers in English or Hindi. The goal is to give creators a starting point for Shorts rather than making them edit from scratch, per TechCrunch. For advertisers, this creates a twofold opportunity: more ad inventory and a larger, more engaged audience than on TikTok. Marketers should prioritize Shorts in their media mix now. Test campaigns to remain competitive and build creative strategies that balance AI efficiency with human authenticity.
One in three Gen Zers and one in four millennials prefer to go to generative AI (genAI) platforms—not search, social media, or influencers—when deciding what to buy, per a new Future Commerce survey of consumers from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, and the US. Trust in AI is a key driver, with these users viewing platforms as trusted companions, not just tools. Brands that design campaigns to build discovery and trust within AI-driven journeys will amplify their reach and relevance as AI-assisted shopping scales.