Advertising & Marketing

The web, as we know it, is about to disappear. Not the infrastructure, but the paradigm of PageRank, clicks, and funnels that has defined digital commerce for three decades. In the coming weeks, not years, agentic AI will transform websites from destinations into API endpoints, and user journeys into autonomous workflows. Continue Reading →

On Wednesday, Google announced a new Gemini AI-powered ad product called Peak Points at its YouTube Brandcast event in New York. The AI identifies moments during a video when viewers are most engaged, then drops in an ad. In theory, ads will perform better because the messages appear during emotionally resonant or attention-rich segments. Of course, it could completely backfire. People may be so engaged in the programming that they ignore the ads. Test and learn. Continue Reading →

If you're serious about getting value from AI, there's one thing you need that almost no one talks about: a context profile. Think of it as content governance for the age of intelligent agents. Without one, you're guessing. With one, you're guiding. Continue Reading →

For the first time since Google became the default search engine in Safari, its share of search activity is declining. This isn’t a glitch. It’s a signal. Continue Reading →

Pinterest has added a new AI-powered feature to its visual search engine. Now, when a user taps on an image, Pinterest will suggest words to describe what they’re seeing. Tap a chair and get “mid-century,” “woven,” “Japandi.” The AI guides discovery, teaches vocabulary, and sharpens consumer intent – which all sounds very useful. Continue Reading →

The real world is complicated, chaotic, and decidedly NSFW. Foundational AI models, however, are trained to pretend otherwise. OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, and other major players meticulously sanitize their training data, scrubbing out adult content, extremist ideology, politically sensitive topics, and anything that might trigger regulatory scrutiny or brand risk. The result is a cohort of safe, predictable, and polished assistants that play well with risk management frameworks and emerging compliance regimes. Continue Reading →

Mastercard, Visa, and PayPal just rewrote online checkout. Within 24 hours, all three networks launched agent-ready platforms that let autonomous AI systems shop, decide, and pay for us. Mastercard: Agent Pay. Tokenized card credentials slip directly into AI workflows. Verified software agents can authenticate, choose the best payment method, and close a sale, whether it is Continue Reading →

You’re already sick of the words Agent and Agentic, but you know they are the new new thing. You may not have heard the initialism MCP, but you’re going to start hearing about it now. A lot. Continue Reading →

In “If You Can't Tell the Difference, There Is No Difference,” I argued that when AI-generated work is indistinguishable from human-made content, the distinction becomes irrelevant. Microsoft’s latest Surface commercial (created with the help of generative AI) puts that theory into practice. Continue Reading →

The great AI transformation of 2025 isn’t a technology challenge—it’s a leadership challenge. The tools are already here. What’s missing is the executive vision and operational discipline to use them. Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke has taken a firm stance: no new hires unless you can prove AI can’t do the job. Continue Reading →