Marketing tech

Marketing tech

The digital advertising industry has always been eager to create standards that simplify complexity. Taxonomies-structured systems for labeling content and products-are one such attempt. And while the IAB Tech Lab's new guidance to connect Content Taxonomy 2.1 with Ad Product Taxonomy 2.0 represents progress, it also raises a fundamental question: Is this really the evolution we need? Or is it just a neater version of a system that no longer fits the reality of how people engage with content?

Speaking of Google, the search giant unveiled the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP): a new open standard for AI agent-based shopping. Developed in collaboration with companies including Shopify, Etsy, Wayfair, Target and Walmart, the protocol is designed to allow AI agents to operate across multiple stages of the customer journey, from product discovery through to post-purchase support, without requiring separate agent connections for each function.

If you're an email marketer trying to deliver messages to the 3 billion Gmail users around the world, more AI in Gmail probably raises your anxiety. That's understandable. We've all seen how AI has upended the work of colleagues in SEO. One of the new features for Gmail is essentially AI Overviews for email. Another feature, AI Inbox, summarizes messages and helps users prioritize tasks and requests.

Will Critchlow is joined by Matthew Morrissey, Organic Search Director EU at adidas to talk about life at the cutting edge of enterprise SEO at a major global brand. Learn about the power of hunting insights, and insight rate over wins and testing cadence, team alignment, and where great ideas come from.

TeqBlaze, an independent ad tech vendor, announces the release of TeqMate AI, the intelligent assistant that streamlines AdOps workflows. By automating routine tasks, TeqMate AI turns hours of manual troubleshooting into instant insights and actionable recommendations. AdOps teams face constant pressure: responding to partner requests quickly, keeping performance metrics stable, and resolving auction issues as they arise. Scaling under these conditions leads to even more manual checks and monitoring.

EscalaX, a global programmatic advertising company, begins its third year with sustained market growth, an expanded product portfolio, and ongoing strategic alliances with partners such as Human, The Media Trust, and Pixalate. Over the past two years, the company has developed its own proprietary technology, launching a multichannel Ad Exchange and an SSP designed by publishers for publishers. This approach aims to adapt the value of supply to the programmatic environment while enabling optimal and transparent monetisation.

Many factors make the CTV home screen a powerful ad opportunity. In a recent study of senior ad buyers with a $1m-plus CTV spend, 70% said CTV data sparked effective ideas, and 84% linked creativity to business outcomes on one of advertising's most lucrative channels. This winning blend of science and art is most evident on the CTV home screen, 2026's hero spot - and a unique gateway that sparks action before a show has even started.

By combining Regit's first-party vehicle data with Blis's unique mix of aggregated real-world movement, telco-derived insights, spending, and digital behaviour data, the collaboration gives automotive brands unmatched precision in reaching the right drivers at pivotal moments in their ownership journey. With drivers becoming harder to reach, smarter targeting is critical. Regit data shows two-thirds of UK motorists are considering an electric or hybrid car for their next purchase, while 76% say they will be less loyal in the low-emission era.

Today (15th January, 2026), VIOOH, the leading premium global digital out-of-home (DOOH) supply-side platform, announced a strategic partnership with Atmosphere TV, the world's largest streaming TV platform built for businesses, expanding access to premium place-based video inventory in the UK, North America, and Australia. The partnership delivers access to over 60,000 venues generating more than 1 billion monthly impressions across restaurants, bars, gyms, airports, hotels, and other high-traffic business locations.

The online casino industry is evolving rapidly, and operators are exploring new ways to engage and retain players beyond traditional promotions. Historically, casinos have relied on bonuses, loyalty points, and advertising to attract users. While effective in the short term, these methods often encourage passive engagement, with limited long-term impact on retention or revenue. As the digital entertainment landscape becomes more competitive, operators are turning to innovative approaches that integrate technology, behavioral science, and gamified experiences.

A Verizon outage started a few hours ago and has led to customers seeing nothing but an SOS option if they are trying to use the cellular service. In response, a post by T-Mobile went viral because it doesn't mince words: "T-Mobile's network is keeping our customers connected, and we've confirmed that our network is operating normally and as expected. However, due to Verizon's reported outage, our customers may not be able to reach someone with Verizon service at this time."

"Storytelling implies one-way communication: I am telling a story and you are listening to it," Hickman told The Drum. "If that's what you want to do maybe don't use an interactive medium to do it. Use a film, use a book, use a blog - tell a story in a medium designed for storytelling. If you're doing it with VR, you have to recognise that no matter what, the person in the virtual world has decision and choice."

Akhil Savani has joined the company as vice president of publisher development, while longtime OpenX leader Rebecca Bonell has been elevated to regional vice president of publisher development, The Americas. Together, they will shape OpenX's next phase of publisher growth, working with publishers to innovate and increase monetisation while driving fair value exchanges. As publishers face critical challenges, including zero-click search and advancements in large language models (LLMs), OpenX is innovating to support publisher revenue and data strategies.

Buffer is a social media productivity tool for creators, small businesses, freelancers, and agencies. A place to schedule posts, manage comments, and track performance across Instagram, LinkedIn, Threads, Bluesky, Facebook, X, TikTok, YouTube, Mastodon, and Google Business Profiles without getting sucked into the feed. Most social media tools are built for brands with big budgets and dedicated teams. We build for everyone else: the creator just starting out, the small business owner doing everything themselves, the freelancer building a personal brand between client work,

According to data from Statista, approximately 67% of Roblox users were under the age of 17 - and the vast majority were under the age of 13 - in September 2020. Now that distribution appears to be shifting - there now appear to be more daily active users (DAUs) over the age of 13 than below. At the same time, Roblox has been falling short of its financial goals; the company's most recent financial report shows that it missed both its top and bottom lines.

Salesforce is moving beyond simple generative tools with a major upgrade to Slack's signature assistant - now a true AI-powered work agent that could change how marketers and cross-functional teams get work done. The rebuilt Slackbot, now generally available to Business+ and Enterprise+ customers, taps into your actual Slack conversational data to answer questions, organize tasks, draft content and automate workflows - all with natural language prompts right in the flow of work. The company promises it will soon even be able to schedule meetings.

In this article, you'll discover how to navigate the new Andromeda algorithm and use a specific creative strategy to lower your costs. In late 2024, Meta introduced a completely new algorithm dubbed Andromeda, effectively replacing the old targeting systems advertisers relied on for years. Previously, advertisers controlled the experience by manually selecting audiences based on interests or behaviors. Andromeda flips this dynamic; now, Meta controls the targeting, using your ad creative to determine who should see your content.

New artificial intelligence tools are poised to reshape the retail industry, but brands and retailers are still trying to identify the right playbook for incorporating this emerging technology into their business. Surveys conducted in the months leading up to Black Friday showed that anywhere from 33% to 83% of respondents used AI to do their holiday shopping in 2025. In turn, 97% of retailers plan to maintain or increase their AI investments next year, according to a survey from Ameprity.

The market pressure was intense, and clients kept asking us to integrate with the platforms they were buying. It was tempting to follow the trend. But after digging into the use cases, the economics and the liabilities associated with storing person-level data, the answer was no. It was not the popular recommendation, but it freed our team to invest in the infrastructure that would actually matter for privacy and efficiency.

Going into the Consumer Electronics Showcase, there are a few things you expect to see every year when you enter the main convention center show floor - like dancing robots, for example. (Bonus points if they don't fall down .) At C-Space, which is the convention's digital advertising hub, the innovation might be a little less eye-grabbing (and, hopefully, less laugh-inducing.) But for marketers, there's still a lot to take in. Heck, some of it might even be useful!

More and more small and medium-sized businesses are turning to TikTok to drive real business results, from discovery through to leads, bookings, and sales. Sitting under the Marketing Technology badge, the Channel Sales Partner Program recognizes partners that meet TikTok's technical, operational, and go-to-market standards while driving SMB adoption and investment through their platforms at scale.

A marketing technology firm that seeks to influence C-suite executives, policymakers, and other important people is getting a major infusion of cash from one of the world's biggest investors. Applecart received a $100 million investment from the private equity giant Blackstone last year, two people familiar with the situation first told Semafor, in a fundraising round that would value the New York-based data company at around $500 million.