"If nobody sees it, it doesn't exist," said David Van Veen, managing director of beauty branding agency MSLK, summing up what may become the defining challenge for beauty brands in the AI era. As consumers lean on ChatGPT and Google's AI Overviews to narrow their options, brands get fewer chances to make an impression. AI doesn't return pages of search results. It surfaces a handful of recommendations, favoring brands that appear most consistently across trusted sources on the web.

Stronger discretionary spend suggests consumer resilience

Amazon will begin selling its ad tech to third-party retailers: The new Amazon Retail Ad Service will give companies access to the retailer’s advanced targeting and sizable advertiser network.