🤖AI & Martech 

Adobe unveils AI Foundry for brand‑trained models 

Adobe launched AI Foundry, a service that lets companies build generative models using their own images, video, audio, and graphics. Early adopters include Home Depot and Disney Imagineering. It will give enterprise businesses greater control over content creation and accelerate the production of on-brand media across image, video, audio, vector, and 3D formats. 
 

What it means for marketers: Faster, on‑brand asset production without handing IP to third parties. 
 

Buy it in ChatGPT” edges to retail reality 

OpenAI’s new Instant Checkout plus a Walmart partnership will let people find and buy Walmart products inside ChatGPT. Walmart says “soon.” 

 
What it means for Marketers: Prepare product feeds, attribution, and customer service for conversational commerce. 

🖼️Platforms & Ads 

Instagram adds stronger teen protections 

Meta introduced auto‑on teen content filters and stricter defaults for under‑16s; rollout starts in the EU and UK.  

 
What it means for Marketers: Expect reduced reach to minors; ensure age‑appropriate targeting and creative. 

This comes after Meta’s push to move teens into Teen Accounts. In April, Meta began using AI to detect under-18s and automatically place them in Teen Accounts with stricter privacy and messaging limits. The rollout expanded globally in September. 
 

TikTok in the US 
 

The current U.S. plan would create a U.S.-controlled TikTok, with a new company, backed by American investors including Oracle, Silver Lake, and Andreessen Horowitz, taking over U.S. operations. Under the proposal, the company would rent TikTok’s recommendation algorithm from its Chinese parent, ByteDance. 

The White House says Oracle would oversee and retrain the system on U.S. data to address national security concerns. However, lawmakers argue that any ongoing license still gives China influence and are pushing for a fully U.S.-built algorithm instead. An executive order on Sept 25 opened a 120-day window to finalise the deal. 

What it means for Marketers: Be ready for either a U.S. TikTok shutdown or a feed that changes significantly. Spread campaigns across Reels, Shorts, and creators, and keep your audience data in formats you can transfer between platforms. 

👩‍⚖️Policy & Regulation  

(sorry this one’s a bit more wordy) 
 

EU spotlight on Google’s AI answers in Search 
 

In the EU, Google’s “AI Overviews” feature, where an AI-generated summary appears at the top of search results, often above normal website links, is facing formal investigation. For example, Italian publishers claim it reduces traffic to news sites and have filed a complaint with European Commission regulator AGCOM. 
 

Key issues: 

• Publishers say the summaries use their content without consent and offer no effective opt-out without losing search visibility.  

• Data show sharp drops in visits to news sites after the summaries rolled out. Studies suggest “zero-click” searches (where user gets the answer without clicking through) have increased. 

• Regulators are evaluating whether Google’s feature violates EU laws on competition (the Digital Markets Act) and media diversity (the European Media Freedom Act). 

What it means for Marketers: 

• Paid and organic search strategies may need revisiting: you may allocate more budget to ads or alternative channels. 

• Content optimisation will matter more: you might need to ensure your brand appears in the AI summary-context, or on platforms beyond Google Search. 

• Monitor traffic trends for your brand’s content closely, if click-rates drop but impressions stay, it might signal the summaries are diverting users. 

Google Ads’ new dishonest pricing rules start 28 Oct 
 

From 28 October 2025, Google is enforcing an update to its “Misrepresentation” advertising policy focused specifically on pricing. 

• Advertisers must clearly disclose the full cost a user will pay, both before and after a purchase. 

• Ads cannot advertise a low price and then charge more or force users into a pricier offer (“bait-and-switch”). 

• Advertising an app as “free” when payment is actually required is prohibited. 

• Free trials must clearly state the trial length and when charges begin if automatic renewals apply. 

• Enforcement will ramp up over about four weeks after the start date; Google will issue warnings (at least 7 days) before suspending accounts for repeated breaches. 

 
What it means for you: Audit all offers now. Make total costs and auto‑renew terms obvious. 

ICO: direct marketing guidance refresh enters consultation 
 

The ICO (Information Commissioner's Office) is updating its public guidance on direct marketing and the rules under the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003 (PECR). The refresh is driven by the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025, which took effect on 19 June 2025.  

Key facts: 

• The ICO’s “Plans for new and updated guidance” page states that the direct-marketing guidance is in drafting stage and will undergo a public consultation from October 2025. 

• The final version of the updated guidance is expected in winter 2025/2026.  

• The guidance covers things like: identifying when an activity is “direct marketing”, lawful bases for processing data, how to collect data fairly, respecting opt-outs, cookies and tracking technologies, business-to-business marketing, and sharing or selling data. 

What this means for Marketers: 

Check you have: 

• Clear records of how you collect, use and store marketing-contact data. 

• Opt-out mechanisms that are easy for people to use. 

• A lawful basis for using personal data for marketing (consent or legitimate interest) and it’s appropriate for your activity. 

• Transparency about cookies/tracking, especially if you use them for marketing. 

• As the guidance evolves you’ll likely need to update policies, training, partner/supplier agreements, and possibly how you handle lists and profiling. 

• Use the consultation period as an opportunity: provide feedback if you see ambiguous parts. This means you’ll be better prepared for the final version when it drops. 

💰Agencies & Holding Companies 

WPP’s new CEO strikes a $400m AI deal with Google 

Under Cindy Rose, WPP agreed a five‑year, $400m expansion with Google to embed Gemini, Veo and more across its stack.  
What it means for you: Expect faster, AI‑assisted production and new measurement offers across WPP agencies.