Microsoft says Copilot access on WhatsApp will end on January 15, 2026, after Meta moved to block general-purpose AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Perplexity from the app. Meta is tightening control of AI in its ecosystem, prioritizing its own Meta AI and limiting APIs to businesses building specialized customer-service tools rather than hosting third-party assistants

Programmatic ads have entered the chat … bots. On Tuesday, PubMatic announced a partnership with Kontext, a platform that uses LLMs to generate relevant ads within AI chatbots.

AI users behave nothing like traditional searchers – and most AI chat activity has zero commercial intent, according to a new analysis.

WPP Media revised its full-year revenue projections upward by over two percentage points as areas like retail media and gaming attract investment.

Havas has announced the acquisition of Kaimera, an award-winning, independent media agency recognised for its expertise in simplifying media complexities and delivering tailored, impactful solutions.

Marketers who lean too heavily on Meta and Google’s performance metrics may be limiting long-term growth, say Ad Results Media executives. They argue that the industry’s focus on quick clicks and short-term ROAS favors convenience over truly accurate measurement.

Publicis Media dominated major holding groups in new business for the first nine months of the year, with COMvergence’s Global New Business Barometer showing it led total and net wins, generating $7.7 billion in net new billings.

Hello social friends! This week we’re seeing some shifts for improved collaboration across social platforms, including TikTok’s shared feed feature and Instagram’s re-sharable public stories. There are some holiday-inspired tools as well, like custom greeting cards and shoppable grocery pins through Pinterest to help make your holiday menu complete. Let’s dive in and see where these tools can be most useful.

Global ad revenue is forecast to grow 8.8% year on year to $1.14tn in 2025 despite persistent macroeconomic headwinds, WPP Media’s This Year Next Year report has predicted.

Three major themes emerge. McKinsey said the 20 priorities for 2026 – which put branding, budget management, and data privacy in the top three – led to the emergence of three major themes

Paramount Skydance has launched a hostile $108.4 billion bid for Warner Bros. Discovery, just days after WBD agreed to an $82.7 billion deal with Netflix. Paramount is appealing directly to shareholders with a $30-per-share all-cash offer — $18 billion more in cash than Netflix’s $27.75-per-share mix of cash and stock

Key stat: Most age groups show negative sentiment as the dominant response to personalized ads, with negativity ranging from 36% to 58%, according to an August 2025 survey from Verve and Censuswide.

The savviest marketers cut through chaos with strategies and tactics that portend where advertising could head next year.

Hello social strategists and welcome to another week! There are plenty of new tools to discuss, including Facebook’s nickname option and Threads’ new profile summaries.

AI enables digital marketers to target audiences with previously unattainable data, helping run cross-channel campaigns that understand a brand, its products, and audience motivations, revealing insights beyond traditional performance metrics.

This infographic overview from the team at Red Website Design covers what they see as the key trends of note, along with pointers on what they mean for brands.

A new study highlights the strong impact of combining streaming TV and social in cross-media campaigns. It found viewers are 43% more likely to watch ads on streaming TV than on social media, and 67% spend more time viewing them.