Search marketing, once a relatively narrow and technical sect of marketing, is becoming much more wide-ranging.

One year in from the launch of Google’s AI Overviews, adoption of AI-assisted search tools has led to the rise of so-called “zero-click search,” meaning that users terminate their search journeys without clicking a link to a website.

“People don’t search anymore. They’re prompting, they’re gesturing,” said Craig Elimeliah, chief creative officer at Code and Theory.

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One year after the launch of Google’s generative AI search feature, AI Overviews, publishers are recalibrating.

One publisher is rethinking its SEO strategy, backing away from optimizing content for long-tail search queries. Another is reinvesting in exclusives, scoops and breaking news — prioritizing urgency over evergreen stories. A third is actively working to reduce its reliance on Google for traffic altogether.

These are just some of the ways publishers are shifting their strategies, having learned what’s working — and what isn’t — since the launch of Google’s AI Overviews.

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OK, ad marketplace — media buyers, marketers and all associated media players — what you just experienced this past week wasn’t an upfront. It was a sportsfront.

Sports content, both live games and all manner of shows around sports, dominated the upfront presentations like no other source of programming. From new NBA and NFL rights holders, to sports-themed series, to Michael Jordan returning to TV in some vaguely-defined capacity with NBC Universal’s NBA coverage, sports dominated all the upfront conversations and even some of the prior week’s NewFronts. 

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After more than two decades in the holdco machine, Marcy Samet knew that striking out on her own likely meant a one-way ticket. For years, the industry ran on a reliable cycle: execs left bloated networks, built indie shops then cashed out by selling right back into the machine. But that cycle’s losing steam. The exits keep coming but the re-entries aren’t always part of the plan anymore.

“There are more options open now for people like me,” said Samet, who left her role as a growth specialist at IPG last summer. 

By “people like me”, she means the wave of senior execs leaving the holdcos in droves. Some jumped, others were pushed — many under compromised agreements that allow a push to look like a jump. Whatever the backstory, the draw of starting something new has never felt strong. Not because returning is too cutthroat or bruising, but because — for the first time in a long time — it feels like building something that can stand on its own is actually possible.

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Jimmy Fallon greeted the crowd at what he called “the NBA upfront” before correcting himself at the NBCUniversal upfront presentation on May 12. He had it right the first time.

Sports has played a primary role in TV networks’ and more recently streaming services’ upfront shows for years. But this year it was the show and is expected by agency executives to dictate the upfront marketplace to a greater degree than previously.

While many ad buyers expect the amount of money committed in this year’s upfront overall across traditional TV and streaming to be flat if not down compared to last year, the sports side of the upfront is another story.

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Pinterest is still a minor line item on most media plans, but agency execs say that could change fast if its ad platform keeps evolving.

Five ad buyers told Digiday their clients’ PInterest budgets remain small. None offered exact figures but the direction of travel is clear. Even with modest spend, momentum among buyers is building.

“For those where it [Pinterest] is part of the plan, we’ve seen investment levels range from 0.50% to 11% of their budgets over the past year or so,” said Andrew Richardson, senior vice president, advanced analytics and measurement at New Engen.

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Google’s AI Overviews feature marked its first birthday this week.

The feature shows users AI generated summaries at the top of their search queries, ahead of links to articles and websites. As the AI-generated summaries have become more common in search results, marketers have begun actively examining how their sites can appeal to both human users and AI crawlers, throwing established SEO strategies into question. They’re also keeping a close eye on the performance of their paid search investments.

Overviews has been credited with cratering search traffic to publisher and brand sites since it was launched in the U.S. on May 14 last year. Clickthrough rates for publisher Mail Online fell over 56% as a result of the Overviews appearing in search results, for example. Meanwhile, 80% of consumers resolve 40% of their searches without going further than the search results page, according to research published in December by consultancy Bain.

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Earlier this week, it emerged that Microsoft is shutting down its demand-side platform, Xandr Invest. This move signals the broader strategic shift toward AI-driven advertising and an end to the old AppNexus as many once knew it. 

Related Insights

The Programmatic Marketer

Microsoft Advertising is closing the Xandr DSP, layoffs pending Read More

The company informed clients on May 14 that the DSP would cease operations by Feb. 28, 2026, citing misalignment with its evolving priorities.

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Parallel to the glitz and glamour of the upfront conversations this week, ad tech execs have also been congregating en masse in New York City, with DMS by LUMA a highlight of the past five days for such types.

The May 13 event was capped off with The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green discussing the evolving digital advertising landscape on stage. The discussion included Google’s prolonged deliberations on whether it should deprecate cookies, The Trade Desk’s recent financial performance, and its TV-play Ventura.

‘Big Google’ wants to maintain cookies

Green was vocal in his doubts that Google would follow through on its initial intention to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, a position that made him a voice in the wilderness in 2020.

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AI is speeding up everything in advertising — except how advertisers pay agencies, which is still moving at a crawl. 

There are early signs — just look at Sir Martin Sorrell’s latest quarterly reflections — but, he, his peers and their clients are still in the foothills of this shift, not anywhere near the summit.

“AI has not as of yet transformed the remuneration model,” said Forrester analyst Jay Pattissall.

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This State of the Industry Report, produced in partnership with Piano, explores how publishers engage with social media, specifically paid social media, what strategies they use, the challenges they encounter and how they plan to overcome them.

As social platforms become more fragmented and organic reach continues to decline, publishers and media companies are leaning more heavily on paid social to meet specific business objectives. But without clear, effective strategies in place, paid campaigns risk falling short — leading to missed goals, budget overruns and underwhelming performance. Determining the most efficient and impactful ways to deploy paid social is ever-critical.

To successfully manage paid social campaigns that deliver impact while separating publishers and media companies from competitors and providing value to consumers, teams need a strategic approach that combines leveraging data, testing and thoughtful campaign design.

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The creator economy is growing rapidly, but the technology infrastructure required to manage and scale it has yet to catch up. It’s a problem that some creator platforms are now trying to solve.

Major creator platforms CreatorIQ and Captiv8 expanded their measurement and AI functions last week for creator vetting and brand safety for brands and agency users working with creators. Other creator platforms are also expanding in their own focus areas, like Upfluence integrating with Shopify or Grin recently adding social listening and affiliate tools. Other platforms, like shopping app LTK or creator marketplace Aspire, are pitching themselves as specialists in creator commerce and affiliate marketing management.

The moves come as major marketers continue to increase their influencer marketing spending; Unilever said this year it plans to work with “20 times” more influencers. Meanwhile, the creator industry is projected to reach some $480 billion in size by 2027 from $250 billion in 2024, per Goldman Sachs.

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Tariffs are creating confusion in the marketplace, and retailers and advertisers alike are anxiously waiting to see how they will impact the economy. In this edition of the Digiday+ Research Briefing, we examine the impact of tariffs on consumers, retailers and advertisers. As uncertainty remains, we look at some different predictions and their impacts.

A University of Pennsylvania Wharton study noted the increase in economic uncertainty driven by tariffs: “Economic policy uncertainty can be quantified using the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) Index, a measure designed to capture uncertainty surrounding economic policy decisions. By the end of March, the EPU reached its highest point since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, doubling in value from the start of January.”

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This week’s Media Briefing looks at publishers facing the slow erosion of search referral traffic amid the shift towards generative AI search experiences — and the pressure to plan more proactively for that future.

• With AI-driven updates coming for search referral traffic, publishers are starting to plan for a more “zero-click” future.
• The Washington Post’s leadership struggles to find cohesion, L.A. Times owner doubles down on presidential endorsement decision, and more.

Publishers face a ‘zero-click’ future

Search is in flux. 

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Creators might be playing cameo roles in this year’s TV and streaming upfront marketplace – but give it time. The spotlight’s inching closer. 

What started as a YouTube sideshow is creeping onto the main stage. From the talent in the room to the lingo in the air, creators cast a long shadow over this year’s weeklong industry parade.

TelevisaUnivision rolled out vertical video mini telenovelas and a creator-artist festival at its upfront. 

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Microsoft Advertising is closing its demand-side platform, with the online giant informing clients the ad tech unit no longer aligns with its AI priorities according to separate Digiday sources.

Rumors of such a closure have been circulating for some time, with Microsoft Advertising contacting media buyers earlier Wednesday (May 14), informing them of the planned sunsetting of the DSP, according to two sources familiar with the developments.

One source, who asked not to be named in order to maintain relationships, said the closure of the Xandr DSP would involve multiple layoffs, with those impacted being informed on the day of the announcement. When asked to comment, Microsoft spokespeople pointed to a company blog post. They did not immediately respond when asked for clarity on the extent of the layoffs.

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This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at the topics and trends likely to set the tone for this year’s upfront negotiations.

• The upfront ahead
• Upfront Week: Day 1
• YouTube’s NFL exclusive, the creator economy’s studio system and more

The upfront ahead

Trigger warning for those affected by the 2020-21 upfront cycle. And the 2021-22 cycle. And the 2022-23 one. OK, maybe this year’s upfront — which formally kicked off with this week’s presentations in New York City — will be less aberration and more return to the recent norm.

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Publishers are seeking revenue beyond the old standby of advertising this year. Subscriptions seems to be one revenue stream publishers are dialing up. Events is another. Publishers are getting significantly more revenue from events in 2025, and they’re going to focus on growing that even further.

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Artificial intelligence has become a standard part of many creators’ toolboxes in 2025.

As AI technology continues to improve, creators are starting to implement generative AI at every stage of the content production process. From script writing to AI-generated voices, creators have found that AI makes their jobs simpler and their lives easier — even if some advertisers remain averse to content made using AI.

On Wednesday, May 14, AI audio generation company Wondercraft is publishing a comprehensive report on creators’ use of AI tools in their daily or weekly workflows. The report, which drew from an online survey distributed between March and April 2025, featured responses from 514 creators distributed across North America, Europe and other regions, with the majority of respondents residing in North America. Subjects were split roughly evenly between genders and age groups. 

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Move over SEO — there’s a new game in town. 

For publishers and writers, the rules of SEO are changing. Future success no longer looks like being top of the blue links on Google’s index or any other search engine’s – it will center on how to ensure your content gets surfaced in AI answer engines too. And that’s a whole new ball game. Welcome to the era of generative engine optimization (GEO) – or is it answer engine optimization (AEO)? Actually, it’s generative search optimization (GSO), right?

Confused? Here’s an explainer: 

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