Blueprint — page 34 | The Gradient

Paramount, Warner, and the Price of Consolidation

Featured Stories

The GRADIENT

Paramount, Warner, and the Price of Consolidation

Vox Media Welcomes a Bidding War

This story was originally published in On Background with Mark Stenberg, a free, weekly newsletter that explores the key themes shaping the media industry. You can sign up for it here. On Wednesday, media scion James Murdoch joined the bidding war for Vox Media, which has in recent months signaled its openness to selling parts of

The promise and panic of Unity AI’s open beta rollout explained

Unity AI, for use in Unity 6, launched in beta yesterday, and I’ve been mulling over what it all means, and on paper, in fact I’ve been curious ever since the Unity AI announcement back in February, but now it’s here it feels like a turning point, with the editor becoming your collaborator, your coder,

Google Adds More Links & Link Context To AI Search

Google is rolling out five updates to how links appear in its generative AI Search experiences, including AI Mode and AI Overviews. The changes add subscription labels and inline links within responses, among other features. Here’s an example of how the changes will appear: Image Credit: Google Hema Budaraju, VP of Product Management, wrote about

Twilio launches conversation layer to unify AI and human interactions

Twilio is rolling out a new set of platform capabilities to address one of the most persistent problems in customer experience: conversations that don’t carry over from one interaction to the next. Announced today at SIGNAL 2026, the three new components are a new “conversation layer” designed to connect data, channels, and both human and

Is Your Small Business Showing Up in Local Search? How To See

Most small business owners have a Google Business Profile. Few have optimized it for how customers are actually searching today. Local search has split across multiple surfaces. Customers are using Google Maps, asking voice assistants like Siri and Alexa, checking Yelp and Facebook reviews, and getting answers straight from AI tools like ChatGPT, often before

Google’s AI Max has pushed up search budgets – and costs

In the 12 months since Google debuted AI Max for Search, brands have increased their search budgets and seen cost-per-clicks (CPCs) rise, while compounding search’s transition into a media channel ruled by automation. For some clients, search costs increased by as much as 15% in the last year, according to four media buyers who spoke

The acclaimed Marina Willer on her stacked design career

Brazilian graphic designer, filmmaker, Pentagram partner and D&AD jury judge Marina Willer, who has worked on major brand identity projects for clients such as Rolls Royce, Tate and Southbank Centre, joined the Nicer Tuesdays stage in April to deliver a talk on her expansive design career, the importance of human insight and creative experimentation in

OpenAI Launches Self-Serve Ads Manager for ChatGPT

OpenAI has officially launched the next phase of advertising inside ChatGPT, introducing a beta self-serve Ads Manager alongside new CPC bidding and expanded measurement tools. The update moves ChatGPT advertising further beyond its original pilot phase. Advertisers can now create and manage campaigns directly through OpenAI instead of relying only on managed partnerships and agency

OpenAI Opens ChatGPT Ads to Self-Service Platform

OpenAI is making it easier for advertisers to buy ads in ChatGPT with a self-service ads platform, new partners, measurement tools, and bidding options. The AI giant’s self-service ads manager is now available in beta to U.S. advertisers, according to a blog post on OpenAI’s website. Brands can also buy ads through new adtech partners,

Nintendo missed a trick with the Pokémon Pokopia Switch 2 bundle

Attention Pokémon fans! Nintendo has answered our prayers and finally announced a Pokémon Pokopia Bundle for the Switch 2. Available on 5 June 2026 (not too long to wait), the nifty deal gets you Nintendo’s latest Switch console and a full game download, so you’re ready to get straight into building your cosy Pokémon world.

Women Are on the Front Line of AI Disruption

Women are on the front line of AI disruption. Gini Dietrich describes why we face the highest risk—and how to protect our power and value. The post Women Are on the Front Line of AI Disruption first appeared on Spin Sucks.

Google Sued Over False AI Overview About Musician

Canadian fiddler Ashley MacIsaac has filed a civil lawsuit against Google, alleging an AI Overview falsely identified him as a convicted sex offender. The lawsuit could test how courts treat liability for false AI-generated search summaries. The statement of claim, filed in February with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, seeks at least $1.5 million

AI drives a major industry reset

In 2026, the marketing technology landscape grew by just 0.7%, increasing from 15,384 to 15,505. At first glance, it appears to have stalled and reached its limits. But that headline number hides what’s really happening beneath the surface: nearly 1,500 tools were added, while more than 1,300 disappeared. This is not stagnation. It is renewal.

Casa Macui :: Behance

Casa Macui, Where Precision Meets Ancient Soul Casa Macui is an artisanal Mexican knife brand rooted in the country’s western heartland. Each blade is crafted with the passion of an artisan’s soul, meticulously refined through the exacting standards of high-precision engineering. The Origin of the Name The name “Macui” pays homage to the macuahuitl, the

The New PESO Model® Graphic Is Here. So Are the Rules.

TL;DR The PESO Model® has another graphic refresh. It’s outcome-based—organized around what each media type produces (Authority, Credibility, Discovery, Growth) and how those compound when the integrations run together. It’s free to download with attribution. Commercial uses—paid courses, books, software products, training, teaching, speaking that teach PESO(paid or unpaid), and branded reuse, require a license.

Google Says A New Wave Of AI Users Is Transforming Search

Google’s Martin Splitt and Nikola Todorovic discussed the impact of AI on search, revealing that there’s a new wave of people that are doing things with Google search that is markedly different than in the past and that this is an upward trend. Martin Splitt noted that AI in search is not new and that

WTF are brand health metrics?

Talk about a blast from the past. The phrase “brandformance” is becoming popular across the ad industry again as marketers push to once again marry brand and performance marketing. Call it a performance marketing correction. It’s not a new phenomenon, per se, as Tim Peterson, executive editor, video and audio at Digiday, and the reporter

London’s Ours! Celebrating the posters, billboards and publicity stunts that put two fingers up to Thatcherism

One of the most annoying things about Margaret Thatcher (there’s many), is how quotable she is. A classic of hers – ‘There’s no such thing as society’ – printed in a Woman’s Own interview in 1987, summarises her obsession with ‘individual responsibility’ and her incessant inability to see government as something that should be closely

Google On Keyword Fragmentation And User Needs In AI Search

Google’s Liz Reid explained on the Bloomberg Odd Lots podcast how AI Mode and AI Overviews are enabling detailed, need-based query patterns that create new challenges for Google. This points to a consequential change in search behavior that directly impacts how to approach SEO. Keyword Fragmentation In AI Search Liz Reid explained that users have

How Spirit Airlines’ Low-Cost Branding Contributed to Its Crash

In 2011, visitors to Las Vegas were treated to a colorful bit of marketing: a panel truck converted into a plexiglass fishbowl with female pole dancers gyrating inside. Lettered across the flank appeared the promise: “For $9, I’ll let you see my Vegas.” This roving cab of concupiscence wasn’t an ad for a strip club

Join Our Newsletter

For more professional opportunities join our newsletter.