With 95% of gamers active weekly, brands that balance ad quality and compliance can gain lasting recall.
It makes AI central to Search, Android, and Chrome, but integration might invite antitrust scrutiny.
Gaming ads offer high engagement in a market that is underutilized relative to its potential.
Smart glasses surged as carryables flopped, but product announcements outpaced actual releases.
In 2025, Apple doubled down on AI while refocusing on device, ecosystem, and design differentiation, seeking to stay ahead in a maturing smartphone market and a global regulatory maze.
AI discovery is rewriting the rules of B2B marketing—and most CMOs admit they’re not ready. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of B2B tech marketing leaders lack the skills, budget, or strategy to compete with AI-native firms, per a new report by 3Thinkrs. Brands that don’t adapt could disappear from view. CMOs need to focus on staying visible in AI-powered summaries and answers. That means publishing fresher content, showing up in trusted news sources, and telling a consistent story across every channel. It also means learning new metrics that track how often your brand is mentioned by AI, not just humans.
In 2026, Apple will introduce additional ad placements beyond the single premium slot at the top of search results, giving brands more chances to reach users who are actively looking to download. Apple Ads is evolving from a scarce, premium product to a scaled performance channel. Apple reports more than 800 million weekly App Store visitors, with over 85% downloading at least one app per visit. By expanding search ads, Apple increases monetization without changing user behavior—while raising competitive pressure for advertisers.
OpenAI opened up its app store in ChatGPT to all developers, inviting them to create apps that operate directly inside ChatGPT’s user interface, per Engadget. Rather than downloading separate programs from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, users can run mini apps directly inside the chat window. ChatGPT is growing as a content marketplace and shopping platform, offering a fresh surface for brand engagement. Start testing interactive brand utilities, see where conversational AI fits into user acquisition strategies, and identify branded content or tools that could eventually be packaged as digital goods.
DoorDash is testing an AI-powered app that helps consumers find new restaurants to explore, expanding its business model beyond food delivery. Zesty pulls in signals from across the web and provides citations like Yelp reviews, Google Maps ratings, and mentions on Reddit threads, per Bloomberg. Brands should focus on both generative engine optimization and earned, shared, and owned (ESO) media placements to maximize the chances of showing up in AI responses. Monitor brand mentions and reviews on ESO channels to address any negative responses from customers and ensure accuracy of business details.
The deal lets mid-market advertisers tap intent-rich audiences with automated, outcome-based TV campaigns
On today’s podcast, we will cover a few of the takes from our Top Trends to Watch in 2026 report. Our analysts (or bakers) will compete in a Great British Bake Off style episode discussing if the micro-drama craze will mint a new generation of creators with dual support from social networks and entertainment studios, and why AI’s content takeover will shake consumer trust in the internet. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Jacob Bourne and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.
ChatGPT is closing 2025 as the most downloaded iPhone app in the US, vaulting past entrenched social platforms, search, and shopping apps, per TechCrunch. Google Gemini was the only other AI app in the top 10, landing in the final slot. This is the first time an AI assistant has outranked every social and utility app in the US. AI assistants are the new entry point for mobile discovery, and brands should optimize content, creative, and ad journeys for users who start—and often finish—inside conversational interfaces.
Mobile advertising remains concentrated around a few dominant platforms, but challengers are gaining ground, per AppsFlyer’s Performance Index. Worldwide, Google Ads and Apple Ads remain No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, but AppLovin, Mintegral, Meta Ads, and TikTok for Business are climbing the rankings. As industries push further into mobile ads, competition is intensifying around creative efficiency, privacy-safe measurement, and cross-platform diversification. Marketers should prioritize mobile-first creative, test emerging networks early, and diversify across iOS and Android to hedge volatility.
Meta acquired AI wearables startup Limitless as part of an effort to accelerate development of AI-enabled devices. Limitless’ main product is an AI-powered pendant that records, transcribes, and summarizes users’ conversations. Acquiring Limitless is likely less about the pendant itself and more about getting access to the startup’s technology. Meta could integrate Limitless’ Rewind software—which can compress over 10 GB of data into a 3 MB file, per 9to5Mac—into its glasses to maximize storage. The winners in the AI wearables category could be those that balance hardware innovation with the privacy challenges that come with always-on intelligence.
Samsung is showcasing its Z TriFold foldable just as chatter intensifies around Apple’s first foldable, expected in 2026, per The Verge. The TriFold unfolds into a 10-inch display—essentially a tablet that folds down into a phone—clearly aimed at productivity, multitasking, and Samsung’s vision of pocketable computing. Brands should prepare for content to stretch across larger, flexible canvases. Build adaptable layouts, vertical-first creative, and productivity-friendly experiences that respond to multi-window use. Those who design for these hybrid screens will gain an early advantage in a premium, high-engagement segment.
33% of US restaurant diners discover promotions via email/newsletters and 32% via social media, according to a September 2025 survey from YouGov.
Nine in 10 US consumers are open to watching TikTok-style vertical clips on publisher sites, according to a new survey from Media.net, pointing the way to how audiences consume content and where brands can meet them. Clips shorter than 60 seconds deliver roughly 2.5x higher engagement, per Media.net. By offering targeted vertical video on their websites and mobile apps, publishers can ramp up engagement and time spent. Brands integrating in-stream ads and links on these websites and apps could open up a new funnel for engagement.
Google, which successfully pushed for standardizing RCS messaging between Android smartphones and iPhones last year, has taken another step toward multi-platform interoperability by enabling its Quick Share feature to work with Apple’s AirDrop. Cross-platform connectivity can convert every customer’s phone into a node for frictionless word of mouth and every physical location into a potential digital touchpoint. Proximity-based marketing could take flight provided campaigns are firmly anchored by security and privacy.
On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Amazon in Q3 and beyond: What Amazon's corporate layoffs tell us about how AI is actually affecting the broader job market. Is Amazon’s new “Help Me Decide” feature a significant stepping stone toward agentic AI? And could Amazon’s AI smart glasses for delivery workers be a Trojan horse for broader smart-glasses adoption? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Rachel Wolff. Listen everywhere, and watch on YouTube and Spotify.