ConfirmedGoogle Smart Bidding changes Aug 17: budget-limited Target CPA/ROAS campaigns will optimize toward the target you set instead of overperforming it; no automatic spend changeGoogle / Search Engine Land
ConfirmedGoogle ('How this ad was made') and Meta ('AI info label', C2PA) both shipped AI-content disclosure labels this week, ahead of the EU AI Act starting August 2026Google / Meta
WatchingChatGPT Ads added conversion campaigns and custom-audience list uploads; OpenAI is expanding ads to France, Germany, Ireland and Singapore - Criteo reports 2,000 pilot clientsOpenAI / Digiday / Jon Loomer
ConfirmedMeta's official Ads MCP (open beta since April 29) connects Claude/ChatGPT to the full Marketing API via 29 tools, no developer app; agent-created entities land paused by defaultMeta
ConfirmedMeta is removing the 'Your activity off Meta technologies' opt-out (July 2026) - retargeting audiences may grow as previously-opted-out off-Meta visitors become addressableMeta / Common Thread Collective
WatchingGoogle's Demand Gen CPC-to-CPM billing switch takes effect July 15 - but only for Discover campaigns with view-through optimization on, which is off by defaultGoogle / Search Engine Land ↗
ConfirmedMeta's location-based ad fees (2-5% across the UK and EU, billed outside the budget and hidden from Ads Manager and the API) remain in effect from July 1Meta ↗
ConfirmedAdobe Advertising launched its own Custom Algorithms product - programmatic buyers get build-your-own optimization modelsAdobe / AdExchanger ↗
ConfirmedGoogle's July 1 Ads terms added Gemini formats (Conversational Discovery ads, Highlighted Answers, AI Shopping) plus a 'Business Agent for Leads' answering buyer questions in the ad unit (US testing)Google
ConfirmedDentsu struck a Meta deal to build the plumbing for mass influencer activation, and Unilever now automates everything but the relationship to manage 300,000 creatorsDigiday ↗
ConfirmedMeta's Facebook Creator Discovery API and Instagram Creator Marketplace remain open to all agencies and advertisers, with Live Video Ads on InstagramMeta ↗
ConfirmedAmazon's Alexa+ Agentic Ads (in-conversation purchase, Echo Show) and TikTok's Symphony Agent stay live from Cannes - still no independent performance data for eitherAmazon Ads / TikTok ↗
ConfirmedGoogle's automatic DSA-to-AI Max migration remains delayed to February 2027, with new DSA creation restored until January 2027Google Ads Liaison / Search Engine Land ↗
InterceptedCriteo is subject to a takeover bid as private-equity interest in ad tech continues; IAB released a 'Redefining Media Types' standard for public commentDigiday / IAB ↗
InterceptedeMarketer forecasts Meta will pass Google in worldwide ad revenue for the first time in 2026 - $243.46B (26.8%) versus $239.54B (26.4%)eMarketer / Marketing Dive ↗
Noise'Meta is broken - turn your ads off' swept r/FacebookAds July 7-10 amid a multi-day outage and bug reports; real disruption, but transient and with no measured platform-wide performance deltaCirculating on Reddit