Marketing

📊 December 2027, US: ChatGPT Ads launch, revolutionizing paid media. Advertisers shift from keywords to contextual bidding, targeting user intents based on dialogue history. Google faces pressure from ChatGPT’s "Answer Independence," pushing clarity between organic and paid links. Cookies decline as first-party data gains importance for targeting. Performance data reveals conversational environments diminish flashy ads' effectiveness, prompting AI-driven, variant-rich campaigns tailored to user histories and preferences. Fact Cards replace generic visuals for impactful, data-driven engagement.

🛫 Expedia reported its strongest Q1 on May 7, with an 83% EBITDA growth and a 6% increase in booked room nights, yet the stock dropped by ~9%. Despite improvements in revenue and AI efficiencies, market fears overshadowed performance. Hotel commissions remain unchanged, questioning the impact of AI on costs. Geopolitical and economic pressures complicate prediction in the travel sector, highlighting the need for companies to manage volatility as customer behaviors remain unpredictable.

🖥 May 14, 2026, Google notes a decline in generic hotel searches, attributing it to AI, while specific-name searches rise double digits. Social media plays a key role: 69% of Gen Z and millennials find travel inspiration there, with 44% from TikTok. UK data shows 23% use TikTok for holiday ideas; 18% book. AI, like ChatGPT, uses commercial data from places like Expedia. Specific-name search growth stems from creator content, word-of-mouth, and AI, not Google Search.