Just Ad'Ed December 29 - January 04

This week: Paid digital advertising was all about year-end retrospectives and looking ahead. Google dominated headlines with its AI Mode expansion and major algorithm updates, while Meta stepped back from brand safety audits (raising some eyebrows), TikTok doubled down on sports content for 2026, and the programmatic world continued wrestling with transparency issues that just won't quit. Plus, AI chatbots started testing ads, because of course they did.

GOOGLE'S AI MODE GETS WIDER ROLLOUT AS CORE UPDATE WRAPS

📈  What Happened?

Last week, Google expanded its AI Mode feature in search while simultaneously completing its third core update of 2025 - an update that took over 18 days to roll out. The AI Mode, which can disappear mid-query and show a blue "Send" button instead, represents Google's continued push into AI-powered search experiences.

🔍  SO WHAT?

If you're spending millions on search ads, you need to understand how AI Mode changes user behavior and where your ads show up. The extended core update timeline (18+ days) also means you're potentially throwing money into the wind during ranking volatility periods. Track your performance daily during these updates, as what worked on day 1 might be burning budget by day 10.

META EXITS BRAND SAFETY AUDITS (JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU HAD CLARITY)

📈 What Happened? 

Meta made the controversial decision to step away from MRC brand safety audits last week, effectively shifting brand safety oversight from the platform itself to third-party verification vendors. This comes as generative AI content makes brand safety measurement even more complex.

🔍 SO WHAT?

This is platform pixel politics at its finest. You can't rely on Meta to self-police brand safety anymore, you need third-party verification tools in place yesterday. For brands spending $5M+ annually, this means budget reallocation: invest in independent brand safety vendors or risk your ads appearing next to content that tanks your brand reputation. The days of trusting platforms to protect your brand are officially over.

TIKTOK PIVOTS TO SPORTS CONTENT FOR 2026

📈 What Happened?

Last week, TikTok announced plans to make sports a significantly bigger focus in 2026, positioning itself to compete more directly with traditional sports media platforms and capture sports advertising dollars.

🔍  SO WHAT?

For performance marketers, this opens up new high-intent inventory. Sports content typically drives better engagement and click confidence than entertainment content, users watching sports are in a different mindset. If you're in betting, sports apparel, or any sports-adjacent vertical, start testing TikTok sports placements early in Q1 before CPMs spike. Early movers always win when platforms open new premium inventory.

AI CHATBOTS START TESTING ADS (BECAUSE NOTHING IS SACRED)

📈 What Happened?

AI search platforms began introducing advertising formats last week, raising immediate questions about whether ads can maintain authenticity in conversational AI experiences without destroying user trust.

🔍 SO WHAT? 

This is solving three steps ahead territory. Most marketers are still figuring out SEO vs. GEO (Generative Engine Optimization), but AI chatbot ads are the next battlefield. The challenge? These ads need to feel native to conversation while actually converting. Start small tests now on platforms like Perplexity to understand user behavior before this becomes table stakes. The brands that crack conversational commerce early will have massive advantages when AI search scales.

PROGRAMMATIC TRANSPARENCY ISSUES PERSIST (SHOCKING NO ONE)

📈 What Happened?

The programmatic advertising industry continued wrestling with transparency challenges last week, despite ongoing efforts toward supply chain optimization. The tension between DSPs and SSPs, particularly around "reseller" margins and value contribution, remained a hot topic as 2025 closed out.

🔍 SO WHAT? 

If you're running programmatic at scale, you're still likely drowning in data while getting questionable ROI. The DSP vs. SSP war matters because every middleman takes a cut of your budget. Demand single source of truth reporting from your programmatic partners, and audit your supply path quarterly. The agencies and platforms solving the data normalization problem (traditionally takes 4-6 months per client) are worth their weight in gold. Everyone else is just building death by dashboard solutions.

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