Paramount, Warner, and the Price of Consolidation

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Paramount, Warner, and the Price of Consolidation

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Smoking Diaries reimagines the humble ashtray in 17 different ways

Smoking Diaries reimagines the humble ashtray in 17 different ways

With the aim to explore the social rituals that smoking creates through this humble and universal 3D form, the designers reached out to a range of creatives with a simple but open brief: “design an ashtray however you wish.” The pieces would then be put on show at a ‘smoking event’ at the classic old-school

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Should Small Brands Go All In On TikTok For Audience Growth?

Should Small Brands Go All In On TikTok For Audience Growth?

This week’s Ask An SEO question is about whether small brands should prioritize TikTok over Google to grow their audience: “I keep hearing that TikTok is a better platform for small brands with an easier route to an audience. Do you think that Google is still relevant, or should I go all in on TikTok?”

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TikTok works to shore up organic social capabilities

TikTok works to shore up organic social capabilities

Although the chance of a TikTok shutdown has a minority of marketers worried about their time and cash investments there, it’s still a key vehicle for organic social, particularly for brands pursuing trend-setting Gen Z audiences. That status is an important asset to the platform, given brands which devote more time to their organic activities

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Please, Watch The Artwork transforms the paintings of Edward Hopper into a casual psychological horror

Please, Watch The Artwork transforms the paintings of Edward Hopper into a casual psychological horror

Despite having made a series of games based on famous paintings, Thomas Waterzooi wouldn’t call himself a connoisseur of art. “I know art like the average person,” he admits. “I had a mother who was really into art and took me to art galleries when I was younger, but it wasn’t my passion either. Especially

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Google AI Mode Adds Agentic Booking, Expands To More Countries

Google AI Mode Adds Agentic Booking, Expands To More Countries

Google is adding agentic booking features to AI Mode in Search, beginning with restaurant reservations for U.S. Google AI Ultra subscribers enrolled in Labs. What’s New Booking Reservations AI Mode can interpret a detailed request, check real-time availability across reservation sites, and link you to the booking page to complete the task. For businesses, that

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CNN Headlines Debuts New Programming Schedule

CNN Headlines Debuts New Programming Schedule

Top of the Ticker: On Monday, CNN’s domestic FAST channel CNN Headlines debuted a new weekday schedule running from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. ET. Featuring a mix of live news and roundups of can’t-miss moments, CNN Headlines’ lineup includes news shows like CNN Headline Express, a live news program hosted by anchor Brad Smith;

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Us By Night 2025 is coming – get ready to be inspired (and party)

Us By Night 2025 is coming – get ready to be inspired (and party)

Across the stages over the three days, you’ll also find the likes of Studio Yukiko, Mindy Seu, Karlotta Freier, Dinamo, Stephanie Specht, Pablo Delcan, Nicole McLaughlin, and creative director Mandy Smith alongside lead designer Estefan Richter from the animation studio Buck, who will delve into the studio’s recent branding and design systems – and the

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Tips For Running Competitor Campaigns In Paid Search

Tips For Running Competitor Campaigns In Paid Search

Paid search professionals constantly debate the merits of running paid search campaigns bidding on competitor brand names. Questions such as the following may arise: Is bidding on your competitors ethical? Are the high costs-per-click (CPCs) worth spending the budget on? Are you actually reaching people with buying intent? In this article, I’ll talk through answers

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One-third of consumers turn to AI when shopping

One-third of consumers turn to AI when shopping

MarTechCharts regularly highlights data of interest to marketers and marketing operations professionals. One-third of consumers now regularly use AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude throughout their shopping journey, according to a report by Cordial. The report, “Brands Battle for Attention as AI Redefines the Funnel,” (registration required) found Millennials (33%) and Gen Z (11%)

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Pizza Hut’s new logo is a masterclass in nostalgia

Pizza Hut’s new logo is a masterclass in nostalgia

Restaurant chain Pizza Hut has announced a new logo design for its branches in the UK, Canada and some other markets. The new look moves away from the round background (below) – presumably meant to evoke a pizza – and has echoes of an older design originally introduced in the 1970s, which is still used

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Google Confirms New Google Verified Badge for Local Services Ads

Google Confirms New Google Verified Badge for Local Services Ads

Google just announced a new unifying identity for its Local Services Ads (LSAs) verification badges. Called Google Verified, the badge will replace several different trust signals that advertisers and consumers have been seeing over the years. This includes the Google Guaranteed, Google Screened, License Verified by Google, and the Money Back Guarantee program. Starting in

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As Trump’s tariffs squeeze margins, Walmart turns to ads

As Trump’s tariffs squeeze margins, Walmart turns to ads

Walmart has a plan to stay profitable as President Donald Trump’s tariffs push up costs. It’s called advertising. In the second quarter, Walmart’s ad revenue jumped 46% year over year, a number padded by the addition of Vizio, the smart TV maker it picked up last year. Strip that out, and the U.S. business still

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A new exhibition gets to the creative core of Newcastle United

A new exhibition gets to the creative core of Newcastle United

Alongside Joonho’s work sits a collaboration between Jimmy Turrell and Ewan Spencer, the former bringing a pop arty, rave flyer ethos and the latter bringing a photographic eye to the project. Working with collage aesthetics, combining photography, screen printing, painting and combining hand-drawn elements with modern digital tools, nothing represents the breadth of Newcastle’s potential

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Why Lazy Loading Can Delay Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

Why Lazy Loading Can Delay Largest Contentful Paint (LCP)

In a recent episode of Google’s Search Off the Record podcast, Martin Splitt and John Mueller discussed when lazy loading helps and when it can slow pages. Splitt used a real-world example on developers.google.com to illustrate a common pattern: making every image lazy by default can delay Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) if it includes above-the-fold

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Leaked Doc Shows How Much Walmart, Best Buy, and DoorDash Charge For Retail Media Ads on The Trade Desk

Leaked Doc Shows How Much Walmart, Best Buy, and DoorDash Charge For Retail Media Ads on The Trade Desk

For advertisers, retail media’s biggest selling point is the customer data to get ads in front of the right people and determine whether an ad led to sales. Through demand-side platforms like The Trade Desk, advertisers can use that data to target shoppers from retailers like Walmart, Albertsons, Best Buy, and Instacart. The Trade Desk

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Resident Evil Requiem had me drenched with terror like the series never has before

Resident Evil Requiem had me drenched with terror like the series never has before

If you’ve been thrilled by Resident Evil’s leaning more into its horror element compared to its more actiony iterations, then I think you’re going to love Resident Evil Requiem based on the terrifying demo I got to play at Gamescom 2025. Leaving behind the faceless and not especially sympathetic Ethan Winters from the last two

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Finding The Balance That Wins Retrieval

Finding The Balance That Wins Retrieval

Marketers today spend their time on keyword research to uncover opportunities, closing content gaps, making sure pages are crawlable, and aligning content with E-E-A-T principles. Those things still matter. But in a world where generative AI increasingly mediates information, they are not enough. The difference now is retrieval. It doesn’t matter how polished or authoritative

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A strategic framework for turning small-scale events into ABM wins

A strategic framework for turning small-scale events into ABM wins

Trade shows and virtual conferences still dominate marketing calendars, especially for field marketing teams. But more sophisticated ABM programs are discovering that privately hosted events beat scale for driving qualified pipeline. These intimate gatherings create something that large-scale events simply cannot: meaningful, relationship-building conversations with the decision-makers who matter most to your revenue goals. For

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Blur drummer Dave Rowntree on photographing the rollercoaster ride of the band pre-fame

Blur drummer Dave Rowntree on photographing the rollercoaster ride of the band pre-fame

It’s Nice That (INT): In the book’s intro you mention that a lot of your memories of Blur’s early days are quite foggy. I’d love to know what has the process of returning to all these images and writing the book been like? Dave Rowntree (DR): It’s been interesting, seeing what I do and don’t

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Google Quietly Announces Search Partner Network Placement Visibility

Google Quietly Announces Search Partner Network Placement Visibility

Google quietly rolled out a change advertisers have wanted for years: site-level reporting for the Search Partner Network. Until now, advertisers could only opt in or out, with little understanding of where their ads actually showed. This update finally gives visibility into where budgets are spent outside of Google. Google lists this as an August

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