🎬 A look back at some brands inspired by Rob Reiner’s classics.

🏆 YouTube just won the Oscars.

💸 Meta might start charging Business Pages to post links.

🤖 Google says AI search optimization is the same as traditional SEO.

🥖 Panera says its okay to circle back in January.

🎁 Combating the consumer “joy deficit” this season.

Google Ads had quite the year.

Here are some of the biggest updates from 2025:

1. Power Pack launch. Combines Performance Max, Demand Gen, and AI Max to manage awareness, conversion, and full-funnel performance.
2. AI Max for Search. Enhances Search campaigns with keywordless targeting, Search Term Matching, Text Customization, and URL Expansion.
3. Performance Max improvements. Adds negative keywords, brand exclusions, expanded reporting, and device/demographic targeting for more transparency and control.
4. High Value Mode. Allows higher bids for potential long-term customers, optimizing for customer lifetime value.
5. Smart Bidding Exploration. Uses AI to capture new queries by temporarily adjusting ROAS targets.
6. Investment Strategy Tool. Suggests where additional budget will be most efficient across campaigns.
7. Asset Studio. Creates scalable, AI-powered ad creatives with visual and video editing options.
8. Brand Guidelines integration. Ensures automated creatives stay on-brand, maintaining tone, font, and colors.
9. Responsive Search Ads Asset Report. Provides performance insights at the headline and description level.
10. Search Network Performance Reports. Offers visibility into partner site performance.
11. AI Overviews and AI Mode. Incorporates ads into AI-powered search experiences for better SERP visibility.

Head to Wordstream to drill down into each new feature.

Think of Digital Summit Tampa as spring break for marketers who need it most.

Burnt out? Undervalued? Overwhelmed with the pressure to perform? Spend 2 days with marketing leaders dealing with the same challenges and walk out with strategies to fix them.

You’ll build a social-first campaign live with Dakota Lowe (VP of Social Strategy at Edelman), learn how to reach the 95% of B2B buyers who aren’t ready yet with Lee Odden (CEO of TopRank Marketing), and get ahead of AI search with Tom Shapiro (CEO of Stratabeat).

“It was reassuring to see that many others face similar challenges no matter where and what size they are. And I left feeling more confident, informed, and connected. Would I attend again? Absolutely. I’d even encourage others to join.” — Kortney Klepac, Marketing Supervisor, Culligan Southwest

Early Bird pricing saves you $300.

Learn more and register before prices go up Jan. 16.

KFC Canada is promoting tax evasion this holiday season.

Since Canada won’t have a GST tax rebate this year, KFC’s “Tax Evasion Menu” will cover the tax itself for online and app orders.

A :30 spot from Courage features a shadowed and voice-altered Colonel Sanders encouraging viewers to visit ChickenTaxEvasion.com.

The campaign extends to mobile digital trucks that read “Commit Tax Evasion” parked outside of… banks.

Yay, a fun new search term for KFC’s SEO team.

Campbell’s, 1925