AI can reroute purchase decisions: Consumers are changing brands and relying less on owned channels for answers, making AI engine audits crucial.

Google adds AI opt-out: UK regulators prompt a toggle letting publishers skip AI Overviews without hurting non-AI search rankings.

This FAQ examines how the D2C model has evolved and what brands must do to make it profitable in 2026.

Search users are up 30% YoY, validating its shift to AI answers and setting the stage for new ad and data revenues.

Retailers faced a challenging year as economic factors, new technologies, and changing consumer behaviors reshaped the landscape. Here are our top five stories from this past year and what they meant to a tumultuous industry.

The commerce media landscape is bracing for a defining year. Pressure is building across retailers and platforms to rethink how shoppers discover, evaluate, and buy products.

Three major AI releases—Microsoft’s Agent 365, Google’s Gemini 3 Pro, and xAI’s Grok 4.1—could point the way to how businesses will deploy and govern AI. Following OpenA’s GPT 5.1, each new product update approaches intelligence from a different angle: Microsoft is offering operational control, Gemini is touting multimodal reasoning and search, and xAI is demonstrating emotional fluency. The brands that map these tools to specific workflows—governance with Microsoft, discovery and search with Google, and engagement with xAI—could see faster execution, sharper insights, more resilient customer experiences, and tangible ROI.

The news: Financial institutions (FIs) must prioritize generative engine optimization (GEO)—the evolution of SEO—or risk disappearing from AI-powered customer journeys, according to The Financial Brand. As tools like ChatGPT increasingly guide users in choosing financial products, FIs must ensure their content is optimized for visibility and relevance within these AI environments. Our take: Nearly 80 million Americans are already using generative AI search engines, and that number is growing. FIs that move early to optimize their content will increase visibility and credibility with AI-driven consumers, while those who delay risk losing brand presence altogether.

The startup is building momentum to challenge Google but faces IP hurdles in the fierce AI search landscape.

Google put ads in its Search Generative Experience. YouTube has a new unskippable 30-second ad spot. HBO Max relaunched as Max. And The Kroger Co. is paving the way with in-store retail media. Here are what updates from these companies and more mean for advertisers.