1 Meta to surpass Google in global ad revenue
For the first time in 2026, Meta is on track to overtake Google in total global advertising revenue. This isn't just a milestone — it signals a fundamental rebalancing of where digital ad dollars flow.
Meta's creator-first strategy is a big reason why. By investing heavily in Reels, creator monetization tools, and AI-powered ad targeting, Meta has built an ecosystem where brands can reach consumers through authentic creator content rather than traditional display ads. For international brands entering the US, this means Meta should be your first — not second — media buy.
2 Creator marketing is now a "core media channel"
The IAB has officially confirmed what most marketers already knew: creator marketing is no longer experimental. The US influencer economy is on track to hit $44 billion this year, making it one of the largest advertising channels in the market.
What's changed is how brands budget for it. Creator spend is no longer buried in "experimental" or "social" line items — it's a core media channel with dedicated budgets, KPIs, and attribution models. If your brand is entering the US market without a creator strategy, you're leaving the most effective acquisition channel on the table.
3 ChatGPT is now showing ads
OpenAI has started displaying ads in ChatGPT, appearing roughly every 5 questions on the free tier. Travel-related queries trigger ads most frequently, but the categories are expanding rapidly. Self-serve ad access opens this month.
This is a watershed moment. AI platforms are now ad channels, and brands need to think about their presence in AI conversations the same way they think about search and social. For brands entering the US, this opens up an entirely new surface for reaching consumers at the moment of intent.
4 Performance-based creator pay hits 53%
More than half of all creator compensation is now performance-based — more than double from two years ago. Target scrapped its standard creator commission structure in April, signaling that even the biggest retailers are moving away from flat-fee influencer deals.
For brands, this is actually good news. Performance-based models mean lower upfront risk and better alignment between creator incentives and business outcomes. But it also means you need robust tracking and attribution infrastructure before you start scaling creator partnerships.
5 IG testing clickable links in captions
Instagram is currently testing clickable links directly in post captions, limited to Meta Verified creators with up to 10 posts per month. If this rolls out broadly, it fundamentally changes the link-in-bio economy that companies like Linktree built their businesses on.
For brands, this means the path from discovery to purchase gets shorter. A creator can now showcase your product and link directly to your store — all within a single post. Watch this space closely if you're building a DTC strategy for the US market.
6 TikTok Shop: Sample Request system
TikTok Shop has launched a Sample Request system where creators can automatically request products from brands based on their engagement rate. This closes the loop between content performance and product seeding.
For D2C brands entering the US, this is huge. Instead of manually identifying and outreaching to creators, the platform algorithmically matches high-performing creators with relevant products. It's essentially automated influencer marketing — and the brands that optimize their TikTok Shop listings for this system will have a significant advantage.
7 Google AI Max moving out of beta
Google's AI Max campaigns are replacing Dynamic Search Ads starting September. Meanwhile, 25% of searches now trigger AI Overviews, and organic click-through rates are dropping 15-47% depending on the vertical.
This is the most disruptive change in search marketing since mobile-first indexing. Brands can no longer rely on traditional SEO strategies alone. You need to optimize for AI Overviews, build topical authority that gets cited in AI-generated answers, and diversify your acquisition channels beyond search.
8 LinkedIn video views up 36%
LinkedIn video consumption is surging, with views up 36% year-over-year. More importantly, brands can now reserve high-visibility feed slots in advance — turning LinkedIn from a purely organic play into a legitimate media buy.
For B2B brands and professional services companies entering the US market, this is a game-changer. LinkedIn's targeting capabilities (by job title, company size, industry) combined with reserved inventory means you can guarantee visibility with your exact target audience. It's no longer just about posting and hoping the algorithm picks it up.
9 HubSpot launches AI Prospecting Agent
HubSpot's new AI Prospecting Agent represents a fundamental shift in marketing technology. We're moving from "AI creates content" to "AI orchestrates entire workflows."
The agent can autonomously identify prospects, personalize outreach, follow up on responses, and schedule meetings — all without human intervention. This is the beginning of the agentic marketing era, where AI tools move from being assistants that help you do work to autonomous agents that do the work for you. Brands that adopt these tools early will have a massive efficiency advantage.
10 "Share of Model" is the new KPI
How often do ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity recommend your brand when users ask for product recommendations? If you're not tracking this metric — dubbed "Share of Model" — you're already behind.
This is the new SEO. Just as brands spent the last decade optimizing for Google's algorithm, the next decade will be about optimizing for AI model recommendations. The brands that build strong digital footprints, earn consistent positive mentions across the web, and create authoritative content will be the ones that AI models learn to recommend. For international brands entering the US, this means your digital presence strategy needs to account for both traditional search and AI discovery from day one.