Search

Google quietly kills Q&A for an AI button most won't use

Google replaces Business Profile Q&A with AI-powered Ask feature, completing a systematic dismantling of customer interaction tools that began with chat removal in 2024.

AI

IAS Agent promises instant campaign insights without the AI black box

Integral Ad Science launches AI assistant with explainable recommendations for brand safety and campaign optimization, rolling out free in Q1 2026.

Retail

Credit cards now dominate as shoppers plan record holiday spending

TransUnion Q4 2025 study shows 42% of Americans will rely on credit cards for holiday purchases, up from 38% last year, as 58% plan to spend over $250 despite inflation.

AI

Brands can now track and influence what AI says about them

impact.com partners with Evertune to integrate AI Brand Monitoring into performance marketing platform, enabling brands to measure and optimize visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, and other large language models.

AI

Gemini now serves local results from Google Maps in visual format

Google's Gemini AI assistant integrates Maps data with photos and ratings directly in conversational interfaces starting December 13, 2025.

Data

Your dating app activity is TikTok's business now

Privacy advocates filed two GDPR complaints against TikTok on December 9, exposing systematic tracking across mobile apps including Grindr, incomplete data access responses, and potential violations involving sexual orientation data worth up to €530 million in fines.

AI

ChatGPT holds two-thirds market share as Gemini and Grok gain ground

ChatGPT maintains commanding lead in U.S. AI chatbot traffic with 66% share while Google Gemini climbs rankings and X's Grok enters top 10 despite declining visits.

AI

AI washing exposed: how empty promises destroy marketing credibility

AI washing research reveals systematic exaggeration of artificial intelligence capabilities creating consumer mistrust cycles that threaten brand credibility across marketing.

AI

Australian watchdog sounds alarm on AI risks marketers need to know

ACCC releases comprehensive AI industry snapshot on December 17, warning of consumer risks from agentic systems, fake reviews, and privacy-degrading practices across platforms.

Display

How digital advertising quietly undermines the news industry

IAB Europe's December 2025 report reveals digital advertising's social impact remains fragmented and unmeasured, threatening media plurality and journalism funding.

AI

Recipe bloggers warn: Google's AI recipes risk ruining holiday meals

NBC News investigation reveals AI-generated recipes produce hazardous results as Google displays untested content using stolen photos from publishers.

Data

Honey targeted minors in advertising while leaking business codes

Investigation reveals Honey collected data from children despite policy claims, while systematically leaking private discount codes from small businesses without consent.

Retail

China mandates new rules targeting platform pricing and behavioral tracking compliance

China releases comprehensive pricing regulations for internet platforms requiring PIPL compliance for behavioral pricing by April 2026.

AI

Google sues scraper while being the internet's biggest scraper itself

Google filed a December 19 lawsuit against SerpApi for scraping search results, yet the company scrapes billions of web pages for AI training without compensation.

Retail

John Lewis tops AI's Christmas shopping recommendations as ChatGPT reshapes retail

John Lewis achieved the highest visibility in ChatGPT's shopping recommendations this Christmas, outranking over 1,000 retailers as artificial intelligence transforms how consumers discover products.

Data

Deezer's marketing partner hit with €1 million in processor violations

France's data protection authority fined Israeli marketing platform Optimove €1 million on December 11, 2025, for systematic GDPR violations affecting 9.8 million French users in a breach exposing Deezer customer data.

Video

YouTube's TV interface gets its first major makeover in years

YouTube redesigns television playback interface with repositioned controls, new description button, and improved subscriber experience across TV screens.

Search

Google clarifies JavaScript rendering for error pages in December documentation update

Google updates JavaScript SEO documentation on December 18, 2025, explaining how Googlebot processes non-200 HTTP status codes and canonical URLs.

Data

AI crawlers now consume 4.2% of web traffic as internet grows 19% in 2025

Cloudflare's 2025 analysis reveals AI bots originated 4.2% of HTML requests while global internet traffic expanded 19%, with post-quantum encryption reaching 52% adoption.

Social

TikTok data shows beauty brands operate at 50% of optimal spending levels

TikTok partnered with NIQ for a two-year marketing mix modeling study revealing Romanian beauty brands dramatically underinvest in the platform while achieving superior ROI efficiency.

Retail

Amazon quietly shifts Brand Store ratings to prioritize sales over time spent

Amazon replaced Brand Store quality ratings with sales-based scoring on December 12, 2025, abandoning engagement metrics for revenue attribution.

Video

Amazon DSP adds content exclusion categories for brand suitability control

Amazon DSP introduces content exclusion categories enabling advertisers to block specific topics across Twitch and third-party inventory through unified controls.

Video

YouTube gives creators an AI image editor to jazz up posts

YouTube integrates Nano Banana, Google's Gemini 2.5 Flash image editing model, into Posts feature for creators in four countries starting December 2025.

Display

Google gives programmatic buyers new freedom on prescription drug ads

Google allows Authorized Buyers to promote prescription drugs without certification starting January 2026, departing from Google Ads requirements.

Video

Sports documentaries fuel Gracenote's push into streaming hub technology

Gracenote expands On Sports platform with documentary linking and athlete imagery as viewing minutes surge 260% since 2021, targeting deeper fan engagement beyond live games.