Each day, New Digital Age gathers the most interesting marketing and ad tech news from around the world…
AGENCIES
Performance Marketing World – Robin Langford, 30th April 2026
Agency pitching opportunities drop 19% as Iran war starts to bite
Exclusive PMW data shows confidence among UK marketing agencies has edged up after the initial shock of the Iran conflict, though clients are starting to take a more cautious stance.
AI
Digiday – Kimeko McCoy, 1st May 2026
Marketers question expensive AI visibility tools as inconsistent results fuel skepticism
The latest industry phrase keeping marketers awake at night is AI visibility.
CONSUMERS
Performance Marketing World – Bethany Lee, 30th April 2026
One in three consumers now less willing to try new products
Rising living costs are reshaping UK consumer behaviour, creating a more risk-averse shopper and new challenges for brands trying to drive product discovery.
RETAIL
Retail Gazette – Kieran Howells, 1st May 2026
High street suffers worst April sales performance in a decade
UK high street retailers suffered their weakest April sales performance in a decade, as shoppers continued to rein in discretionary spending.
ADSPEND
Press Gazette – Dominic Ponsford, 30th April 2026
Google, Meta and Amazon took two thirds of £46bn UK 2025 adspend
Press Gazette analysis based on new AA/WARC data reveals extent three US tech giants dominate UK media.
VideoWeek – Dan Meier, 30th April 2026
Addressable TV Made Up Over One-Third of TV Spend in UK Last Year
Ad spend on addressable TV in the UK grew by 37 percent YoY in 2025, according to the latest Expenditure Report from the Advertising Association (AA) and WARC, which tracks spending figures via a survey of media owners and industry bodies.
CREATOR ECONOMY
Digiday – Seb Joseph, 1st May 2026
Baller League’s creator strategy: reach is not the same as fandom
Baller League has something rare in creator economy business circles: a plan that doesn’t end with it becoming a media company. Instead it wants to become a sustainable sports league.
PLATFORMS
Digiday (also in MediaPost) – Krystal Scanlon, 30th April 2026
X upgrades its ad platform in long overdue overhaul
OpenAI isn’t the only platform rethinking its ads manager. X just rolled out what it’s calling the biggest overhaul of its advertising tools in the platform’s history.
PUBLISHERS
Press Gazette – Charlotte Tobitt, 30th April 2026
US publishers back Amazon in AI agent access dispute with Perplexity
Case centres on use of AI agents that access content while cloaked as human users.
