In this week’s digital news, Interactive and shoppable TV ads are surging this autumn, with spending up sharply ahead of the holiday season. Politicians and campaigners fear that an advertising law designed to improve transparency could stifle it.
Google’s Lighthouse 13 replaces many legacy audits with insights aligned to Chrome DevTools, removes outdated checks, and keeps performance scoring unchanged. Google quietly updates NotebookLM documentation to make it clear that it ignores robot.txt. This is how to block it anyway.
What actually matters when building AI products when the world keeps changing. Influencer marketing is right up there with TV when it comes to ROI, according to a new study of influencer effectiveness.
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Brand advertisers find awareness-boosting niche for interactive and shoppable CTV formats
Interactive and shoppable TV ads are surging this autumn, with spending up sharply ahead of the holiday season. Platforms like Fubo, Amazon and Roku are expanding formats featuring QR codes, carousels and games, driving higher engagement and brand awareness. Fubo reports a fivefold rise in campaigns and a 217% revenue jump year on year. While retailers lead adoption, sectors such as travel, finance and automotive are joining in. Studies show interactive ads boost attention and brand favourability, though direct sales remain limited due to clunky user experiences. Overall, the formats are evolving into effective brand-building tools rather than pure sales drivers.
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Backlash as new EU political ad rules kick in
New EU transparency rules on political advertising have prompted major tech firms including Google, Meta and Microsoft to suspend such ads across Europe rather than comply. Critics warn this blackout limits democratic debate, silences smaller parties and reduces access to vital campaign data. The law, aimed at curbing manipulation and foreign interference, requires detailed disclosure on ad funding, targeting and election links. Tech companies argue the rules are overly broad and restrictive. Lawmakers fear the changes will entrench larger parties and weaken pluralism, while researchers warn of a significant loss of historical political advertising data.
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Google Lighthouse 13 launches with streamlined SEO audits
Google confirms NotebookLM bypasses robots.txt
Bitter lessons building AI products
You shouldn’t try to make AI work for your existing roadmap with fancy, clever engineering because much of it will be obsolete with the next major model upgrade. Instead, aim to understand model capabilities and how you can best pivot your roadmap accordingly. Companies need to learn to kill projects quicker if they need to hack together a solution to make up for intelligence.
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Influencers deliver disproportionately through long term ROI
Influencer marketing delivers strong long-term ROI on par with TV, according to a new study presented at the IPA Effectiveness Conference. Short-term influencer ROI scored 99, close to the all-channel average of 100, while long-term ROI reached 151 and drove 6.2% of sales. Influencers outperformed paid social in both ROI and long-term impact, with Health & Beauty showing the strongest returns. The study noted limitations in sample size and representation but found that brand-creator fit is critical for success.
Read more here.
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