The feed
Martech news and analysis. Every story says what changed, why it matters and what marketers should do next.
PPC Land reported on October 12, 2026 that Profound extracted instructions dated September 25 for Meta's Muse agent that make ranking well-known merchants first "imperative". Meta has not responded and Profound calls its sample small.
Why it matters
If agents favour known brands and web results, smaller merchants may need web presence as well as feed data.
In case C-568/25, Advocate General Laila Medina's October 15, 2026 opinion says refusing invoice or instalment payment based on a fully automated credit check can be a decision caught by GDPR Article 22. The opinion is not binding.
Why it matters
Retailers use automated risk scores to hide or show pay-later options, and a ruling in line with the opinion would add transparency and justification duties.
An October 12, 2026 NVIDIA blog roundup of French AI deployments says Mirakl onboarded more than 70 million products using fine-tuned open models, with seller catalog onboarding under two hours. All figures are NVIDIA-supplied.
Why it matters
Product data quality limits marketplace growth and agent-driven shopping, so faster onboarding matters.
Search Engine Roundtable reported on October 12, 2026 that Google edited a Merchant Center help page: low image quality no longer says products may be blocked. The 500 x 500 pixel minimum still applies, with enforcement from January 31, 2027.
Why it matters
Weak images may still cost clicks even if products show, so feed quality remains a conversion lever.
On October 15, 2026 Google began rolling out Universal Cart in US Search and the Gemini app. It holds products from several retailers, tracks prices and stock, and checks out through Google Pay or the merchant's site. YouTube is absent.
Why it matters
A shared cart moves some of the shopping journey onto Google's surfaces, which changes where merchants win or lose a sale.
CX Today reported on October 13, 2026 that Meta and Sierra announced the Personal Agent Protocol covering authentication, visibility and consent for customer agents. Sierra plans a version 0.1 specification in October; none is published yet.
Why it matters
Businesses need a way to tell a customer's agent from a bot and to know what it is authorised to do.
CX Today's October 15, 2026 analysis says Pindrop saw Muse call volume reach 8x its first-week level, with 47% of calls using keypad IVR navigation and 727,000 confirmed AI agent interactions labelled 94% good. Most figures are vendor-reported.
Why it matters
If agents call for customers, call volumes, IVR design and fraud controls all change, and blocking or welcoming them is a policy choice.
CX Today's October 14, 2026 report from CCW Nashville cites Customer Management Practice research that 89% of customers feel steered toward self-service. Speakers stressed customer trust, a clear route to a human, connected data and oversight.
Why it matters
Customers who cannot reach a person lose trust, and several regulators are moving toward a right to a human.
In an interview at CCW Nashville, contact centre operator IAA and Five9 said IAA's NPS rose from 17 to 47 and its case backlog fell from 20,000 to 1,000. The figures come from the two speakers and baselines were not given.
Why it matters
Few contact-centre vendors publish customer numbers, so even self-reported figures help set expectations.
At CCW Nashville in October 2026 Sanas launched Supervised AI, in which AI leads voice calls and one supervisor monitors up to four at once from a console. It is by invitation now, with broader availability planned for December 2026.
Why it matters
Customers and regulators increasingly expect a human to be reachable, and a ratio such as 1:4 turns that into a staffing number.
