Mark your calendars for Jan. 4, 2024, all you deprecation skeptics. That's the day Google will release a new browser feature called Tracking Protection. When enabled, it will automatically cut off a website's access to third-party cookies. On Jan. 4, Chrome will activate Tracking Protection for 1% of a randomly selected group of Chrome users globally. People will know they've been chosen if they see a modal pop up on the right side of the address bar in their browser when they open C...

Creator content isn't an experimental area for advertisers anymore. It's an established, full-funnel channel that can deliver measurable results. Why is the channel so important right now? Advertisers take creators seriously. Some 44% of advertisers plan to increase investment in creator content in 2024, with an average increase of 25%, according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau's (IAB's) recent Creator Economy Opportunity : Where Authenticity Meets Impact report. More than 90% of adver...

Marketers have taken on more responsibilities since the pandemic, and CMOs are increasingly being tasked with demonstrating markeitng's impact on the bottom line while facing pressures to "do more with less." Along the way, marketers are using more channels, navigating more technology solutions, and managing more product and service partners, according to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Quad. One of the biggest changes for marketers has been the number o...

Consumers are increasingly engaging with brands on social media across various platforms, making social media one of marketing's top responsibilities. There are some behaviors on social media that brands should avoid, though, according to a report from Hootsuite. In asking more than 4,500 consumers across 3 countries which behaviors that brands they follow on social media engage in that have a negative impact on how they view them, a leading 34% of respondents cited brands being too focuse...

Key stat: 59% of US adults interested in using AI chatbots for shopping-related activities would use the tech for product research, according to SurveyMonkey. Beyond the chart: Amazon just announced Q, a chatbot akin to ChatGPT. While the product is aimed at professionals, the retailer is innovating in the generative AI space. 'We want everything that we're looking for to instantaneously appear in front of us, and that's obviously not possible,' said our analyst Jeremy Goldman on an episode...

As the internet becomes flooded with cheap content, discerning truth from falsehood will turn into a Herculean task. A deluge of untrustworthy content threatens to drown out the voices of credibility. It's under these circumstances we can imagine a revival in the value of print. Content printed with ink on dead trees could gain a new kind of premium and cachet that would be counter to every trend of the last 20 years. The reason for this counter-trend is that print will bring with it 'proof of...

AI may be one of the year's top buzzwords, but in the beauty industry, it's a necessity. Ulta Beauty, the 1,355-unit cosmetics chain, has been dabbling in such digital experimentation for a while as it seeks to connect with customers and offer the best recommendations for products. Innovation is a chief priority for Michelle Crossan-Matos, a former Samsung executive who joined Ulta earlier this year as chief marketing officer. 'I always have an innovation section and the innova...

Today Meta rolled out brand safety and creative tools for Reels advertisers, expanding the brand suitability controls it released for Facebook and Instagram feeds in March. Meta's inventory filter uses AI to help sort organic content into categories aligned with Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) suitability standards, a framework that helps identify content related to topics some marketers may not consider brand safe, such as 'arms and ammunition,' 'spam or harmful content,' and 'adu...

Social media marketers sharing photos of people vacationing in exotic locales or attending events at exclusive venues may actually be driving new customers away, according to a recently published Tulane University study. The study analyzed more than 14,000 Instagram travel photos from a top influencer and conducted a series of experiments that asked viewers to choose between venues with or without another person in the photo. Across a diverse range of destination venues, the authors consiste...

Marketers may be obsessed with reaching younger consumers, but that doesn't mean that baby boomers aren't worth their time. Next year, 11.3 million consumers ages 55 to 64 and 10.8 million consumers 65 and older will make a purchase via social media, per our forecast. Boomers are a valuable consumer base for marketers to target. Some 63% report having a credit card, per GWI's Q2 2023 report. In addition, 39% have purchased a product or service online within the last week, and 30% are in a hi...