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MAY 8, 2026 |
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In this edition: |
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TOP STORY |
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Marketers believe real-time creative optimization could drive significant performance gains, yet fragmented workflows, delayed insights, and unclear ownership continue to stand in the way.Creative is widely recognized as a core driver of campaign performance, but most marketers acknowledge they are far from maximizing its impact. |
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IN THE NEWS |
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The Trade Desk’s Q1 revenue growth comes amid transparency and walled-garden pressures. While revenue beat expectations, growth was much slower than Q1 2025, when revenues grew 25%. |
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AppLovin’s Q1 earnings show its AI ad pivot is paying off. While AppLovin did not break out ad revenue figures, we forecast the company’s US ad platform revenues will grow 52% this year to $3.49 billion. |
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Digital video ad spend pulls further ahead, pushing linear TV’s share under 40%. Growth in ad spend is normalizing but staying at a high baseline, indicating that digital video is entering a more mature and predictable phase rather than losing momentum. |
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EMARKETER SUMMIT |
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Every question facing ad buyers in 2026 gets worked on May 14 at City Winery NYC. |
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The latest Spring advertising forecasts? ✅ |
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AI perspectives with Bayer, Mondelez, and Seer Interactive? ✅ |
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CTV’s after the Upfronts with Hershey, Haleon, and M+C Saatchi Performance? ✅ |
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Commerce media trends with Newell Brands, Horizon Commerce, and Chobani? ✅ |
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Fireside chats with NBCUniversal’s Mark Marshall and Digitas’ Liane Nadeau? ✅ |
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Seats are going fast. Qualified brands attend free. Agencies discounted. |
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ANALYSIS |
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Agentic commerce, where AI agents autonomously discover, compare, and purchase products on behalf of consumers, is emerging as one of the defining commerce trends of 2026. Amazon, Google, OpenAI, and Meta have all launched AI shopping tools in the past year, while retailers like Shopify and Walmart navigate how much access to grant external agents. |
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PODCAST |
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We discuss if Google is winning at search, where is its ad machine quietly losing, and are the new traditional TV-style “Stations” the right model for YouTube? | | |
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