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The GRADIENT: Why Taste Is the New Moat

Google exec says AI search optimization is ‘the same’ as SEO

Google’s Nick Fox, the SVP of Knowledge and Information at Google, said in a recent podcast that doing optimization for AI search is “the same” as doing optimization and SEO for traditional search. He added, you want to build great sites, with great content, for your users. More details. This came up in the AI Inside

MindsEye tops Metacritic’s worst games of 2025 list, raising hard questions for developers

Metacritic has revealed the worst-scoring games of 2025, and sitting at number one is MindsEye, a game that arrived wrapped in promises of revamping how open worlds work and instead crashed headlong into its own hype. Built by Build A Rocket Boy and led by Leslie Benzies, formerly of Grand Theft Auto fame, it was

How AI Search Is Forcing Publishers To Rethink Revenue

Since search engines started sending traffic to websites, the balanced relationship has always served both parties. Publishers allowed search engines to crawl and index and in return search engines sent traffic and readers to the pages. That unspoken agreement allowed publishers to support their work through ads and affiliate revenue. Search engines had content and

Seven trends that will impact media and marcoms in 2026

From AI search and commerce media to measurement and consolidation, we share the seven trends that will shape marcoms over the coming year. Source

“We’re shifting towards real meaning, honesty and IRL community connection”

Through Oh Yeah, a platform which takes a more balanced approach to exploring career change, I’ve heard from many questioning their level of pace and reactivity and wanting real change in their working lives. We’ve been trained for years, if not decades, to go at a certain pace, react fast, and constantly strive for success.

Google AI Mode & AI Overviews Cite Different URLs, Per Ahrefs Report

Google’s AI Mode and AI Overviews can produce answers with similar meaning while citing different sources, according to new data from Ahrefs. The report, published on the Ahrefs blog, analyzed September 2025 U.S. data from Ahrefs’ Brand Radar tool and compared AI Mode and AI Overview responses for the same queries. The authors looked at

Managers are unprepared to lead a human-agent hybrid workforce

The introduction of AI agents into the corporate workforce is not like other technology disruptions. Unlike previous automation, agents are empowered to act autonomously on a user’s behalf, which means work decisions will no longer be entirely made by humans. This represents an enormous leadership challenge. How do managers apply the standard skills of management

Meet the JUZEAR Harrier: A new earphone that skips the hype train to get the tuning right

The JUZEAR Harrier is a new in-ear monitor that feels refreshingly uninterested in showing off. Yes, it has nine drivers per side and eye-catching stone faceplates, but the real story here is its tuning. Why? Because the Harrier is the first IEM that’s officially, “Tuned with Squiglink”; the huge, crowd-sourced library of headphone and IEM

Google Warns Noindex Can Block JavaScript From Running

Google updated its JavaScript SEO documentation to clarify that noindex tags may prevent rendering and JavaScript execution, blocking changes. When Google encounters `noindex`, it may skip rendering and JavaScript execution. JavaScript that tries to remove or change `noindex` may not run for Googlebot on that crawl. If you want a page indexed, avoid putting `noindex`

ADWEEK 2026 Creative 100 Now Open for Nominations

Back for its 12th year, the ADWEEK Creative 100 is now open for submissions. This renowned list highlights the top creative minds in the marketing, advertising, media and entertainment industries, spanning industry talent to celebrities. Past winners include Jon Chu, Vince Staples, and Zendaya. The Creative 100 will honor individuals who have shaped culture over

Review of the Year 2025: Top 25 Moving Image

Our snapshot of what stirred you in the world of moving image begins with an inside scoop of the ever-emotive kids TV programme Bluey, from its creative director Catriona Drummond. The running thread of 2025 was you lot wanting a peek into the room where it happens, curious on how The White Lotus’ opening sequence

WooCommerce Is Integrating Agentic AI Capabilities

WooCommerce announced that it will roll out integration with Stripe’s Agentic Commerce Suite, which will enable AI shopping assistants to conduct transactions. Agentic AI Shopping Agentic AI seems a long way off but OpenAI currently supports end-to-end shopping from the discovery and comparison stages to completing purchases. With the rollout in WooCommerce the infrastructure will

The Vibe Marketing manifesto

The term “Vibe Marketing” emerged in February 2025, when OpenAI co-founder Andrej Karpathy described “vibe coding” as fully embracing the vibes and letting AI handle the technical details, while humans focus on the creative direction. The concept grew since then. According to Exploding Topics, searches for “Vibe Marketing” increased nearly 700% in the past year,

New Animal Farm animated comedy is getting roasted already

George Orwell’s 1945 novella Animal Farm remains obligatory reading at many schools, but teachers will be hoping their students don’t base their essay responses on a new animated interpretation instead of the book. Written by Nicholas Stoller and directed by Andy Serkis, the new Animal Farm movie turns the cautionary tale into a fantasy comedy

How To Win Buyers In 2026

We have entered a new buyer era, one defined not by hesitation, but by a fundamental trust deficit in vendor promises. Buyers are almost twice as likely to do business with vendors they trust; yet many have not established that trust before the crucial moment when shortlists are formed. 85% of buyers choose from their

Waitrose retains spot as public’s favourite Christmas ad, study finds

Google Pixel is also scoring highly for brand empathy and brand feel good, according to Ipsos data. Source

In Masanobu Hiraoka’s music video for Max Cooper a single line become a thousand forms

Upon discovering the vulnerability people had shared to facilitate the album’s making, Masanobu was drawn to his own personal memories in response to the brief: “I decided to create the music video like it was a personal vlog – something I could link to my own memories and look back on years from now together

Scoring My 2025 Predictions

Boost your skills with Growth Memo’s weekly expert insights. Subscribe for free! Every year, I hold myself accountable for my previous predictions by scoring them. This year, I got three misses, two mixed results, and five hits: 1. Agentic LLM Models Reach +100 Million Users Score: Miss Thought Process: When I made this prediction, I

Publishers’ growing focus on video doesn’t translate to social

Big names in the publisher world are investing in vertical video: Time, CNN, The New York Times. Meanwhile, a Pew Research Center study found that 21% of adults in the U.S. and 37% of those under 30 regularly get their news from creators or influencers. Logically, this trail would lead down the path of social

The surprising thing Toy Story and Mario have in common

This year, two epic franchises from my ’90s childhood hit major milestones. Super Mario turned 40 and Toy Story celebrated its 30th anniversary. To really make us feel the passage of time, both have new films slated for 2026 (though Creative Bloq’s editor can’t bear to watch Toy Story 5). It’s clearer than ever that

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