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Macy’s brings back Maya Dukes to lead creative and sharpen brand storytelling
Macy’s rehired Maya Dukes to lead creative and branding, reuniting the retailer with a former designer to centralize creative leadership as it advances the Bold New Chapter strategy.
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Google’s AI Mode Gives Breaking Coverage Bigger Link Placements
Google has extended developing-topic link carousels to AI Mode, placing timely article cards inside some AI-generated responses. The placement can increase visibility and clicks for original reporting, though Google doesn’t yet expose a Search Console filter to isolate carousel traffic.
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Sept. 23 — SEO for Paws livestream: AI and search insights with fundraising for Kyiv animal shelters
SEO for Paws returns Sept. 23 with a free livestream featuring Barry Schwartz, Glenn Gabe and other search experts discussing AI and search while raising funds for animal shelters in Kyiv, Ukraine.
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- SEO
- Advertising
Sephora Pilots Monthly ‘Drop Shop’ Livestreams on TikTok to Turn Discovery into Sales
Sephora will pilot a “Sephora Drop Shop” on TikTok Shop in the U.S. starting Sept. 19, staging monthly livestreamed, creator-led product launches and exclusive drops to convert TikTok discovery into sales.
Get Named by ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews: A Practical 90‑Day Plan for Local Businesses
AI assistants increasingly deliver short, vetted shortlists of local businesses. This 90‑day playbook shows how to build review velocity, citation consistency and machine‑readable service pages so ChatGPT and AI Overviews are more likely to name you.
Advertisers Have Spend — Not Benchmarks: Six Months Into ChatGPT Ads
Advertisers are spending on ChatGPT Ads but lack auction-level reporting and cross-industry benchmarks. Here’s what the Ads Manager shows, where gaps remain, and practical next steps for testing and measurement.
Michaels expands Knit & Sew to 1,200+ stores and brings fabric to 90% of locations
Michaels has expanded its Knit & Sew Shop to more than 1,200 stores and now stocks fabric in nearly 90% of locations, following its acquisition of Joann’s IP and private labels.
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From Refunds to Remodels: What Macy’s $116M Investment Means for Marketers
Macy’s received $116M in tariff refunds and is investing most of the cash into brand-building, faster store remodels and operational buffers rather than broad price cuts. That bet protects margins and reshapes holiday and promotional strategies—here’s what marketers and merchandisers need to know.
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Search Trends, Narrowed: Google Trends Introduces Pre-Defined Category Filters
Google Trends now offers pre-defined category filters on the Explore page, letting marketers surface top-searched terms within a vertical and refine queries by category without first entering a search.
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Google’s Search Central Live Heads to Mexico City and Bogotá — Register by Sept. 16
Google will hold Search Central Live in Ciudad de México on Oct. 15 and in Bogotá on Oct. 19. Register by Sept. 16; confirmations go out Sept. 21. Sessions cover Search, Discover and News, with Spanish translation available.
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How Gemini’s selective video processing will change AI answers on YouTube
Google’s Gemini now analyzes targeted video segments for Ask YouTube, cutting token usage and costs while improving accuracy. The mode is available to developers now and will power the watch-page Ask experience in the coming months.
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Search Console now shows AI performance and lets sites opt out — globally
Google has completed a global rollout of Search Console’s AI performance report and a site-level opt-out toggle. The report tracks AI impressions (no click data) and the toggle prevents sites from being used to ground generative AI responses.
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If Rankings Fell Days After a Disavow, the Disavow Probably Isn’t the Cause
John Mueller warns disavow effects are processed incrementally—often over months—and sudden ranking drops after a disavow usually indicate technical mistakes or coincident algorithm updates.
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Gemini 3.8 Flash Lands in Search AI Mode — Here’s How to Measure Impact
Google has updated Search’s AI Mode to Gemini 3.8 Flash and enabled it for Google AI Pro and Ultra subscribers. The company cites improvements in multi-step reasoning, agentic tasks and software-engineering outputs; marketers should run focused tests and monitor referral traffic.
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Burlington bets $55M tariff windfall on lower prices to protect shoppers and market share
Burlington will put a $55 million tariff refund toward lower prices, trading a one-time earnings boost for customer relief and competitive positioning as off-price peers diverge in comp performance.
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Kohl’s expands home lineup with Martha Stewart appliances and Bobby Flay cookware
Kohl’s is adding Martha Stewart small kitchen electrics and a candles collection plus Bobby Flay cookware sets (rolling out in September) as it broadens home offerings amid modest Q2 sales and wider cosmetics and juniors updates.
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USPS seeks temporary parcel rate hikes ahead of 2026 holiday peak
USPS filed for temporary parcel-rate increases covering Oct. 4, 2026–Jan. 17, 2027, affecting Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, Ground Advantage and Parcel Select. Merchants should model zone and weight impacts and adjust shipping and pricing strategies.
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Inside Discover: how retrieval, prediction, ranking and embedding shape publisher reach
Google’s Discover job ad explicitly names retrieval, prediction, ranking and embedding. Independent monitoring across 42 million cards finds three of those layers leave measurable traces—here’s what publishers should optimize and watch next.
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Target Removes Kids’ Costume After Critics Flag Minstrel-Like Imagery
Target removed a children’s Halloween costume after critics said its design echoed racist stereotypes. The retailer apologized and said it is reviewing how the product reached its assortment.
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Walmart Begins Hunt for New Communications Chief; Allyson Park Becomes Advisor
Allyson Park will step down as Walmart’s chief communications officer on Sept. 1 and serve as an advisor through Feb. 1 while the retailer conducts an external search for her replacement, a company memo shows.
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QXO taps Ken West, ex-Honeywell CEO, as president and COO to steer integration
QXO has named Ken West, formerly CEO of Honeywell Process Technology, as president and COO starting Sept. 1. The hire underscores QXO’s focus on integrating large acquisitions — including Beacon and Kodiak — as it pursues a $50 billion revenue target.
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Google’s region-specific enforcement: site reputation policy changes for the EEA
Google will stop applying site-reputation manual actions to EEA search results starting Aug 30, 2026; affected site sections may instead be separated in Google’s systems, while outside the EEA manual actions continue to apply directly.
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Builders FirstSource and Digs Partner to Deliver AI-Powered Home Digital Twins
Builders FirstSource has led a $25.3M Series A in Digs and will work on a five-year integration to bring Digs’ AI tools and digital twins to residential builders, aiming to centralize construction documents and improve homeowner visibility.
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Gap Hires Walmart’s Justin Breton to Build Content and Commerce
Gap Inc. hired Justin Breton, a former Walmart head of partnerships and content, as VP of development to lead original content across its brands—part of a broader “fashiontainment” strategy under entertainment chief Pam Kaufman.
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How Generative UI and Preferred Sources Are Changing Google Visibility — and What the August Spam Update Means
Google began rolling out an August 18 spam update as Generative UI expands into AI Overviews and a new Preferred Sources button lets users boost chosen sites across Search, Discover and News. What marketers should monitor and do next.
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EmDash Reaches Production Milestone as Cloudflare Completes Blog Migration
Cloudflare has migrated its blog to EmDash and signals a v1 release soon. The move tests EmDash’s serverless scaling and plugin sandboxing under real traffic, while editorial features still need polish.
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Weak DIY Spending Narrows Lowe’s Guidance; Pro, Home Services and Online Sales Keep Comps Afloat
Lowe’s narrowed its full-year guidance after reporting modest comp gains driven by Pro customers, home services and a strong online showing, while discretionary DIY spending and big-ticket projects lagged.
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Target’s Q2: Beauty, Hardlines and Food Propel Sales as Apparel and Home Lag
Target’s Q2 showed broad sales growth led by hardlines, beauty and food, with net sales of $26.5B and earnings near $1.9B; apparel and home still lag as Target accelerates remodels and preps a new Beauty Studio.
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Medline books $243M in tariff refunds; Q2 sales rise 11.6% while profit falls 58%
Medline recorded $243M in tariff refunds and $7.7B in Q2 sales (up 11.6%), but net income fell 58.3% after a California warehouse fire and increased investments; company lowered full-year EBITDA guidance.
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The Crenshaw Rec: Nike and Foot Locker test a hyperlocal store that doubles as a community hub
Nike and Foot Locker opened The Crenshaw Rec, a hyperlocal Foot Locker location in Los Angeles that doubles as a community hub with a gym, workspaces and local programming. The move signals renewed emphasis on localized store formats as both brands reshape physical retail strategies.
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