Creator marketing now a ‘core media channel’ while search slows
Dive Brief:
- Digital advertising revenue grew 13.9% year over year to a record $294.6 billion in 2025 despite economic headwinds and a lack of cyclical events such as the Olympics, according to the latest annual report from the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PwC.
- Video, creator content and performance media were three pillars of growth while artificial intelligence reshaped discovery, creative production and monetization. Creator advertising grew at a faster clip than the overall ad market last year while search saw its rate of growth cool.
- The research, now in its 30th year, noted that many of the same trends that are driving momentum for digital advertising are leading to further consolidation among leading global platforms as marketers require scale, richer first-party data and integrated commerce capabilities for success.
YouTube rolls out option to turn off Shorts, expands time controls
YouTube has begun rolling out a feature that lets users remove Shorts from the app by setting a daily limit of zero minutes. This marks its most direct step yet to curb short-form video consumption, according to a report by The Verge
The option, now available to parents and gradually expanding to all users, builds on YouTube’s earlier time-limit tools. A YouTube spokesperson told The Verge that it is ‘live for all parents, and is currently rolled out to everyone, including adult accounts.’
Shorts can now be effectively disabled
LinkedIn expands AI-powered conversational search
LinkedIn announced an expansion of its artificial intelligence-powered conversational search tools, which are designed to make it easier to find relevant members, pages and posts.
LinkedIn launched its conversational search tools to LinkedIn Premium members in November, and now, it’s expanding the same capacity to all users, with improved AI matching via the search bar.
So now, users can describe what they’re looking for, and LinkedIn’s search system will surface contextually relevant results, based on a broader understanding of language.
Google tests video ads in local search results
Video ads in the local pack could give advertisers a more engaging way to stand out in high-intent, location-based searches.
Google is experimenting with video ads inside the local pack, signaling a shift toward more immersive, visual formats in location-based search.
Driving the news. The test was spotted by Anthony Higman, who shared that Google is integrating “immersive map view videos” into PPC ads tied to local results.
These video ads appear within the local pack — the map-based listings that show businesses near a user’s search.
What’s new. Instead of static listings or text-based ads, some advertisers may now have the option to surface video content directly in local search results.
- The feature appears tied to settings within Google Ads’ Location Manager.
- It may be enabled through a pre-opted setting in the shared library.
- The format blends paid ads with Google Maps-style immersive experiences.
Google Rolls Out ‘Agentic’ AI Allowing Users to Book Restaurants
Google has launched AI Mode with restaurant booking in India. Now, it does more than just provide information. It helps you complete real-world tasks. With this new feature, you simply describe your dining needs, such as cuisine, location, date, time, and number of guests, and AI Mode handles the rest.
Instead of searching through different apps or websites, the AI checks platforms like Zomato, Swiggy, and EazyDiner in real time to find available tables and gives you selected booking options.
Makes AI Mode Truly “Agentic”?
Unlike older AI assistants that only offer suggestions, Google’s AI Mode can take action for you. It understands complex requests and can find and start reservations across different platforms.
How Voice Search Ads Are Changing Search Data in 2026
The Voice Search Market in 2026: Key Data
The scale of voice search growth in 2026 makes it impossible to treat as an emerging channel. It is a mature, high-volume search modality that spans devices, demographics, and purchase stages. Here are the voice search statistics that define the current landscape.
Voice search market numbers have compounded rapidly. The global speech and voice recognition market is expected to reach $30 billion by 2026, growing at a 20% CAGR through 2032, and voice commerce alone is forecast to exceed $100 billion by year-end 2026. In India, voice search growth has been particularly dramatic: India’s voice search usage grew three times faster than text-based search, driven by regional language AI models and affordable smart device penetration.
For paid search specifically, voice search analytics data from SEMrush shows that over two-thirds of voice search answers on Google Assistant come from featured snippets or top-three organic results. This means your google ads voice search campaigns and your organic SEO strategy are more interconnected than ever: ranking organically for a conversational query increases your Quality Score for that query type, which reduces your CPC when the same query triggers a paid result.
That’s our wrap for today
That’s our wrap. With global ad spend hitting record highs and voice search reaching 68% penetration in India, the shift is undeniable. From YouTube giving users more control over Shorts to Google turning search into a direct booking agent, the future is conversational, agentic, and localized.
I’m your host, signing off. Stay ahead, and I’ll see you in the next one!”
