Mastercard introduces Agent Pay today for autonomous commerce, partnering with Google on Universal Commerce Protocol as 800M OpenAI users signal demand.

The Universal Commerce Protocol threatens e-commerce platforms' differentiation while creating opportunities for merchants to escape platform lock-in.

Industry leaders argue Ad Context Protocol enables portfolio management for advertising investments rather than snapshot bidding decisions programmatic advertising uses today.

Target and Walmart enable direct purchasing through Google Gemini and AI Mode in Search, powered by Universal Commerce Protocol announced January 11, 2026.

Visa's Rubail Birwadker reveals how the company is building tokenized payment systems for agentic commerce, addressing fraud concerns as AI agents begin making purchases.

WordPress community expresses disappointment in the "childish" use of the official WordPress X account.

Ecommerce optimization is entering an agent-first era where schema, feeds, and authority decide inclusion in agent-mediated discovery and checkout.

These conversations reveal how top practitioners are adapting strategy as platforms prioritize automation over transparency.

Google's AI Mode checkout aims to reduce friction, but retailers question what it means for brand control, cross-sells, and customer data.

Apple and Google announce a multi-year AI partnership. Gemini models and cloud tech will underpin Apple Foundation Models and a more personalized Siri.

YouTube Premium hits 125 million subscribers who pay to avoid ads—precisely the affluent demographic advertisers want to reach but can no longer target.

Learn how Meta ad sequencing works, required settings, when it makes sense, and why the feature is currently buggy in some accounts.

See which Google Ads trends might have the biggest impacts on your strategy this year, and get the top predictions for advertising in 2026.

Honey browser extension terminated from Rakuten Advertising affiliate network on January 12, 2026, losing access to major retail partners including Walmart.

Industry experts predict 2026 will prioritize measurable business results over vanity metrics as AI reshapes campaign evaluation and budgets.

Security advisory warns of a WordPress vulnerability affecting up to +80,000 installations of WooCommerce Square plugin

Google's Gemini models will power Apple Intelligence starting 2026. The multi-year partnership centralizes AI control amid industry criticism of platform dominance.

Anthropic launched Cowork on January 12, bringing Claude Code's file automation to non-developers through natural language on macOS.

Integral Ad Science reports 102% ROI increase for contextual campaigns during Super Bowl LVIII, with traffic hitting 131 million impressions on game day.

Apple's services division reached unprecedented heights in 2025 with 850 million weekly App Store users and Apple Pay blocking over $1 billion in fraud.

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