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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Klaviyo reported $370.6 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2026, and Braze $227.2 million for the quarter ended July 31. Both say AI agents are driving adoption.
The market for messaging and customer-data platforms is growing at a similar rate for a specialist in e-commerce (Klaviyo) and one aimed at larger brands across channels (Braze), which gives buyers a benchmark.
At Google Marketing Live on May 20, 2026, Google announced new ad formats for AI answers in Search, a Gemini agent that spans its advertising and analytics tools, and marketing mix modeling inside Analytics 360.
More of campaign setup, bidding and measurement is being delegated to Google's AI, so advertisers need their own checks on what it does and what it reports.
Publicis Groupe agreed on May 17, 2026 to acquire LiveRamp for $38.50 a share in cash. LiveRamp's shareholders approved on August 17; Publicis says LiveRamp will stay neutral.
LiveRamp's identity and clean-room products are used by advertisers, publishers and agencies, including competitors of Publicis, so ownership affects trust in the data collaboration they share.
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