WPP, once the top advertising group globally, will be retired from the FTSE 100 after almost 30 years as its market value has fallen dramatically in recent years. Removal from the FTSE 100 and a plummeting market value indicates that WPP’s struggles are deep-rooted and unlikely to vanish in the near future. For advertisers, the current imperative is to rethink partnerships, explore alternatives, and increase diligence.
Google is leaning hard into hyper-personalization as its key advantage in AI, and its secret weapon is decades of user data across Gmail, Maps, Photos, Chrome, YouTube, and Nest, per TechCrunch. Google Search vice president Robby Stein says advice-seeking queries are rising, and subjective questions benefit most from AI that “knows you.” Discovery is shifting from keyword inputs to content-rich multimodal signals, and brands can anticipate this by treating Gemini as one channel in a broader mix.
Despite recent rumors and leaks, ChatGPT doesn’t run any ads today, not even for free users—but a viral Peloton “recommendation” sparked confusion and backlash while offering a possible preview of how OpenAI could eventually weave advertising into ChatGPT. The incident coincided with reports that OpenAI has been testing ad placements in its Android beta. The recent leaks, rumors, and glitches give advertisers—and competitors—insights on how ads are likely to appear in ChatGPT’s interface and competing AI chatbots. Understanding the context of AI chats and finding non-intrusive placements could require an entirely different toolset than existing ad models.
Microsoft is lowering its expectations for enterprise AI revenues as customer spending proves more cautious than anticipated. It reduced its sales quotas for AI software after many reps missed sales growth goals for the fiscal year that ended in June, per The Information. The problem could stem from clients’ challenges in measuring ROI from AI initiatives and determining savings from automating tasks. Competition to prove product value is intensifying, and Microsoft’s softening expectations for sales suggest that AI isn’t a guaranteed revenue engine. This lowered forecast marks both cautious customer spending and a shift toward value-driven AI adoption over experimentation.
Svedka is planning an AI-forward ad for the 2026 Super Bowl as brands continue to test consumers’ appetite for AI-powered ad experiences. The alcohol company will use AI to portray its previously retired “Fembot” robot mascot, which the brand dropped 12 years ago, per The Wall Street Journal. Svedka’s and Coca-Cola’s AI-powered campaigns mark how quickly major brands are moving into AI despite mixed reactions to earlier tests. A Super Bowl ad is a high-stakes, high-cost, and high-scrutiny moment, and using AI in that space suggests brands believe consumer sentiment is turning in their favor.
Marketing professionals see AI leading to several shifts in consumer behavior that will greatly impact the fundamentals of digital advertising in the next 2 to 3 years, per a Funnel and Ravn Research study of in-house marketers and agency professionals. As AI reshapes digital and search advertising, the brands that thrive will be those who seize the opportunities presented by AI-driven changes.
The FDA is introducing agentic AI to help its drug reviewers, investigators, and scientists carry out more complex tasks and develop AI-driven workflows. Its move into agentic AI signals that AI-driven review is becoming a regulatory norm.
A leaked memo from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed his “code red” orders to staff to prioritize ChatGPT improvements in the face of mounting competition. OpenAI is fast-tracking GPT-5.1 upgrades at the cost of new initiatives, including an advertising platform, its AI wearable, and an AI shopping agent. Its rush to refocus on model quality could improve user interactions and boost engagement while building loyalty. Brands should follow developments from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and others to track consumer preferences on AI use to optimize content for specific markets.
Generative AI tools increasingly rely on community-driven platforms—Reddit, YouTube, Wikipedia, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and more—as primary sources that feed directly into consumer-facing answers. Because AI does not distinguish between search content, social chatter, reviews, creator posts, or earned media, brand visibility now depends on cross-team coordination rather than siloed optimization. Upstream conversations matter: if forums, reviews, or public commentary lack clarity or depth, AI responses will mirror those gaps. And because users often begin with general queries—not shopping-specific ones—early influence happens long before product discovery. To stay visible, brands must unify search, social, PR, and content workflows.
Brands are ramping up GEO efforts to ensure maximum visibility this holiday season. Tactics include flooding the internet with content; paying influencers to post on TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook; and building entire websites visible only to AI scrapers. If that fails, companies have more opportunities to pay for advertising within AI search results as Walmart, Amazon, and Google ramp up efforts to monetize their AI tools. GEO is a strategic imperative for brands looking to remain discoverable as more shopping research migrates to AI platforms. Given the opportunity, companies should also be experimenting with AI search ads to see how shoppers interact with the format and whether these promos drive purchases or reduce trust in AI recommendations.
Alphabet shares hit an all-time high last week—up about 70% this year and nearing a $4 trillion valuation—after investor enthusiasm surged around its new Gemini 3 model, per CNBC. Google’s parallel push on AI models and custom hardware may pay off faster than expected. Its scale and consumer reach give Google a rare advantage anchored on rapid deployment, lower inference costs, and a massive user base already positioned to adopt whatever Google ships next through services they use every day.
Omnicom officially owns IPG after completing its long-discussed acquisition last week—and the new company is already implementing a massive wave of changes. Advertisers should prepare for an agency landscape where AI-driven capabilities become the norm and where consolidated services become a competitive differentiator.
An OpenAI leak indicates that ads are coming to ChatGPT in the near future, according to computer engineer Tibor Blaho. Advertisers should anticipate a future where ads become a core part of the ChatGPT experience and act quickly to test and learn before competitors, but should remain agile in their strategies and remain informed about developments in consumer behavior.
US startups are rapidly adopting Chinese open-weight AI models to cut costs, ship features faster, and keep data on-device—putting pressure on closed, pay-per-user systems from OpenAI and Google, per NBC News. Free, customizable models lower the barrier for early-stage builders, letting brands and teams experiment with AI tools at a fraction of traditional subscription costs. The next wave of AI-development will come from teams mixing closed systems with fast, inexpensive open models—many of them from China. This hybrid approach lets marketers test ideas quickly, tailor models to their data, and drive down cost per interaction.
Accenture announced it will roll out ChatGPT Enterprise to tens of thousands of employees for internal workflows and client-facing products, per Reuters. The move follows Deloitte adopting a similar expansion—deploying Anthropic’s Claude to more than 470,000 employees across 150 countries. With big consultancies adopting the same AI agent playbook, the risk of AI-driven sameness grows. Companies seeking stricter compliance and tighter risk management might benefit from Accenture’s and Deloitte’s agentic offerings, even as a starting point toward longer-term, more independent agentic adoption.
Consumers are turning toward social media and AI tools to guide their holiday shopping journeys, pulling influence away from traditional search and retail sites. Fifty-seven percent of US consumers plan to use social media for holiday shopping research and 39% plan to use AI for that task. Discovery is happening before consumers know what they want—inside social feeds and AI chats. To capture social shoppers, brands should diversify spend away from saturated platforms like Instagram and experiment with others, and invest in content partnerships that are visible in platform algorithms and increase user trust.
AI is playing a notable role in holiday shopping this year as consumers express comfort with AI-supported gifting and receiving. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of US adults would consider using genAI for holiday shopping this year, up from 11% last year, per HUMAN Security’s SantaGPT report. With AI becoming a trusted partner for stressful gift-buying moments like the holidays, marketers have the opportunity to frame AI features—including smart gift finders or on-site AI-powered shopping guides—as stress-reducing tools to streamline the shopping journey.
The US public and AI experts have diverging perspectives on how AI will reshape the job market over the next 20 years. Nearly two-thirds (64%) of US adults expect fewer jobs, and just 5% forecast more jobs, per Pew Research. However, only 39% of AI experts predict fewer jobs, and 19% expect the number of jobs to grow. Despite those projections, jobs may not simply disappear. Instead, a new class of workers will emerge. As businesses across sectors accelerate enterprise AI adoption, the goal should be focused on streamlining workflows around collaboration.
Black Friday 2025 sales outperformed expectations as consumers, motivated by steep discounts, drove 4.1% retail growth and a 10.4% jump in ecommerce despite ongoing inflation pressures. Shoppers responded strongly to major deals across toys, electronics, apparel, and TVs, even as overall enthusiasm for the day slipped and higher prices weighed on order volumes. Mobile dominated online activity, BNPL usage grew, and genAI-powered shopping surged, boosting conversion rates for retailers using the technology. The results suggest consumers are cautious yet still willing to spend selectively, signaling a steadier holiday season than anticipated.