Link Archive
January 20, 2026
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI): 6 things marketers need to know about search and discovery in 2026
Highest rated content by Search Engine Land Editorial Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3780
Search Engine Land's 90-day AI visibility plan prioritizes 'answer-first' content and structured data to capture traffic from AI Overviews and chatbots. Brands seeing double-digit traffic shifts are moving beyond blue links to optimize for entity recognition and citation. Tactical implication: Audit top 20 pages for 'direct answer' structures and implement Schema.org markup to ensure AI engines can parse and cite your entity data.
Why AI is the most unpredictable cost in the martech stack
by Angela Vega / MarTech Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3480
84% of companies report AI infrastructure drives gross-margin erosion, with training costs rising 2.4x annually (MarTech). Inference costs from dynamic agentic systems create invisible, compounding expenses that defy traditional licensing models. Tactical implication: Implement 'Levelized Cost of AI' (LCOAI) tracking per workflow and cap token usage for experimental agents to prevent silent margin bleed.
Best loop marketing tactics for the era of AI-powered marketing
by HubSpot Marketing Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3390
HubSpot's Loop Marketing framework replaces linear funnels with four AI-driven stages: Express, Tailor, Amplify, and Evolve. Early adopters see improvements in 30-60 days by unifying CRM, email, and analytics data to personalize content at scale. Tactical implication: Audit current funnels for 'dead ends' and implement the 'Amplify' stage by optimizing content for AI search (AEO) and community platforms.
Emotion AI Marketing 2026: How AI Reads Human Feeling in Ads
by Spinta Digital Editorial Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3030
Meta's Lattice 3.0 and Google's Gemini now prioritize ads triggering specific emotional signals, boosting ad recall from 45% to 68% in beta tests. A travel brand using YouTube's AdVibe Beta saw 27% higher CTR by optimizing for 'awe + nostalgia'. Tactical implication: Use generative tools like RunwayML to create emotional variants (calm vs. energetic) of video creatives for A/B testing against standard engagement metrics.
Gartner: 60% of brands will use agentic AI for one-to-one engagement
by Digital Commerce 360 Staff (citing Gartner Research) Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +2960
Gartner predicts 60% of brands will deploy agentic AI for continuous, one-to-one customer interactions by 2028, replacing channel-based campaigns. By 2027, 50% of influencer budgets will shift to authenticity safeguards like identity verification and provenance checks. Tactical implication: Pilot autonomous agents for a single customer journey phase (e.g., support or onboarding) and implement 'content provenance' checks in creator contracts now.
January 19, 2026
Paid Media Marketing: 8 Changes Marketers Should Make In 2026
Highest rated content by Search Engine Journal Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3090
North American consumers now own 13 connected devices on average, driving a 63% increase in touchpoints since 2018 (Search Engine Journal). Google Ads’ new Creator Partnerships tool integrates influencer content directly into paid workflows, treating creators as a scalable media channel rather than a side experiment. Tactical implication: Shift influencer budgets from standalone posts to 'Partnership Ads' within Google Ads to track ROI alongside standard display placements.
January 18, 2026
3 strategies for killing AI slop in your email copy
Highest rated content by MarTech Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3450
Data from Jay Schwedelson shows AI-sounding language directly correlates with lower email engagement rates. MarTech outlines a three-step defense: mandatory messaging briefs, structure-first editing (AIDA for leads, PAS for mid-funnel), and line-level 'sweeps' adapted from Copyhackers. Tactical implication: Implement a 'Rule of One' sweep on all LLM drafts to ensure every sentence conveys exactly one idea before approval.
B2B marketers trust AI for execution but not strategy
by MarTech Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3260
MFS's '2026 State of AI' report finds 78% of B2B marketers use AI for task execution, yet only 6% trust it for brand positioning. While 71% plan to increase AI spend, the majority limit use to tactical efficiency rather than strategic decision-making. Tactical implication: Audit 2026 roadmaps to identify one low-risk strategic pilot (e.g., competitor analysis) to bridge the trust gap beyond simple content generation.
January 17, 2026
How Shopify and Google built the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP) so AI agents can transact with any merchant
Highest rated content by TLDR AI Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3910
Shopify and Google co-developed the Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), an open standard allowing AI agents to negotiate transactions with merchants like Target and Wayfair. The protocol uses "Embedded Checkout" to hand off to humans when agents hit logic gaps (e.g., age verification). Tactical implication: Ask your dev team to implement the `.well-known/ucp` endpoint to make your catalog 'agent-readable' before the Q4 bot rush.
Understanding Manus sandbox - your cloud computer
by TLDR AI Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3380
Manus (now part of Meta) unveiled "Sandbox," an isolated cloud VM that gives AI agents root access to a full file system and browser. Free users get 7-day persistence for environments, while Pro users get 21 days, allowing agents to deploy long-running backend services or compile full apps. Tactical implication: Use Sandbox to build and host temporary internal tools (like lead scrapers) without provisioning local Docker containers.
Is AI becoming another data plumbing project?
by TLDR AI Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +2820
A new CData report surveying 200+ leaders reveals only 6% of enterprises are satisfied with their AI data integration, with 71% of teams spending over 25% of their time on manual "data plumbing." 83% of firms are now building semantic data layers to unify context. Tactical implication: Audit your AI roadmap for "plumbing debt" and shift budget to semantic layers (like vector stores) before scaling model training.
January 16, 2026
Why internal alignment is your real growth engine
Highest rated content by MarTech Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +3000
MarTech highlights the importance of internal alignment for driving growth. Strategy: Foster collaboration across teams. ROI: Improved efficiency leads to better outcomes. Action: Conduct regular alignment meetings to ensure all teams are on the same page.
Make Your Sales Kickoff the Party of the Year
by Salesforce Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +2900
Salesforce argues that a captivating Sales Kickoff can energize teams and drive performance. Strategy: Create engaging agendas that inspire participation. Tools: Utilize interactive formats to enhance engagement. Action: Gather feedback post-event to refine future kickoffs.
Rethinking Complexity in Martech with AI
by Scott Brinker Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +2800
Scott Brinker breaks down the complexity introduced by AI in marketing operations. Strategy: AI increases complexity but can simplify management. Action: Evaluate the benefits of complexity against its costs.
Build an AI Business Agent with Google ADK and Universal Commerce Protocol
by Shubham Saboo Read time: 4 minutes · Marketing
Score: +2700
[Shubham Saboo] breaks down the development of an AI business agent using Google ADK and Universal Commerce Protocol. Tools: AI agents can now handle the entire shopping experience. Action: Explore implementing the Universal Commerce Protocol for your e-commerce platform.