The feed
Martech news and analysis. Every story says what changed, why it matters and what marketers should do next.
On September 29, 2026 Discord announced Ads Manager, with auction pricing and managed access now and full self-serve planned for early 2027, plus a rewarded video format, Video Quests.
Why it matters
It opens another gaming-audience channel to performance advertisers, although the audience is concentrated and self-serve is still months away.
On September 29, 2026 Meta introduced Muse for Small Business in the US and Canada. It connects to more than 20 services and, Meta says, nothing publishes, sends or spends without the owner's approval.
Why it matters
It moves an ad platform's help from a dashboard to an agent that acts on a business's own data, which changes where small advertisers start a campaign.
On September 28, 2026 Google introduced Vertical Video Unification in Display & Video 360. In early testing with Hellmann's and WPP Media, Google reports 24% more unique reach and 25% lower cost per unique user.
Why it matters
Vertical video is spread across social and publisher apps, so one place to buy it with shared frequency control is attractive, and it adds to Google's role in programmatic buying.
Adobe's October 1, 2026 outlook projects a 130% rise in AI-referred traffic to US retail sites. It says AI-referred shoppers add to cart 32% more often and bring 43% more revenue per visit.
Why it matters
If the reversal holds, AI assistants are becoming a sales channel, not only a source of curious visits, which raises the value of showing up accurately in AI answers.
Salesforce and Listen Labs announced a definitive agreement on September 29, 2026. Salesforce did not state the price; outlets reported about $2 billion.
Why it matters
Customer insight from interviews, not only behavior data, would sit alongside CRM records, which could feed personalization and agent decisions.
On September 23, 2026 OpenAI opened ChatGPT Ads, with self-serve access from day one, in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan.
Why it matters
Advertisers outside the US can now buy this channel directly, but privacy rules differ by market and independent measurement is thin outside the United States.
At its UNBOUND conference on September 16, 2026, HubSpot announced a Smart CRM that updates itself, a Breeze Assistant that assigns work to agents, a Marketing Studio and an integration with ChatGPT Ads.
Why it matters
It brings AI visibility tracking, agents and a new paid channel (ChatGPT Ads) into one CRM-based workflow for the mid-market, the segment HubSpot sells to most.
Seven months after its $96 million Series C, Profound raised a $180 million Series D co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, and says it will fund an AI marketer and an ads product for AI search.
Why it matters
It shows investors still pay for the AI-visibility category as suites add similar tracking, and it shows the leading specialist moving beyond measurement, which is where suites are also heading.
Salesforce says it completed the Contentful acquisition on September 1, 2026, adding a headless content layer to Agentforce. It has not stated the price or how open Contentful will stay.
Why it matters
A large CRM vendor now owns a leading headless content platform, which matters to the teams building sites and apps on it and to anyone choosing a content platform for AI agents.
The Trade Desk reported second-quarter revenue of $715 million, up 3%, below the guidance it gave in May; it launched Kokai Zuma with agentic AI features on August 27.
Why it matters
The largest independent demand-side platform is the neutral alternative to Amazon and walled gardens, so its growth is a signal about where programmatic budgets are going.
