Digital Marketing News 2026: Trends, Updates & Industry Insights
🗞️ Welcome to your go-to hub for Digital Marketing News 2026! Stay ahead with the latest trends, updates, and expert insights shaping SEO, social media, Google Ads, AI-driven marketing, content strategy, and more. Whether you’re a marketer, business owner, or digital enthusiast, this page is designed to keep you informed, competitive, and ready for what’s next. 🚀📈
👉 Looking for quick updates on what’s trending right now? Visit our Latest Digital Marketing News and Trends page for bite-sized insights and breaking updates.
👉 Want to explore past developments? Check out our Digital Marketing News 2025 page to revisit last year’s major trends, updates, and industry shifts.
📰 January 2026
🔍 Bing Tests Expanding “People Also Ask” Results
Microsoft Bing is experimenting with dynamically expanding “People Also Ask” sections, loading more related questions as users click—mirroring a long-standing Google feature to encourage deeper search exploration.
🛡️ Google Ads Deploys New AI to Detect Fraud
Google Ads rolled out a new AI fraud-detection model, boosting detection rates by over 40 points and achieving 99.8% precision, according to a research paper published December 31, 2025.
⚡ Google Ads Adds ‘Go To’ Shortcut in Change History
Google Ads introduced a “Go to…” shortcut in Change history, letting advertisers jump directly to impacted campaigns or ad groups, reducing clicks and speeding up audits and troubleshooting workflows.
📊 Google to Allow Prediction Market Ads Under Strict Rules
Google will allow U.S. prediction market ads starting January 21, but only from CFTC-regulated exchanges and certified brokers, enforcing strict compliance and regulatory requirements for advertisers.
🛒 Google Requires Separate Product IDs for Multi-Channel Items
Beginning in March, Google Merchant Center will require separate product IDs for online and in-store versions when pricing or availability differs, forcing retailers to split multi-channel listings.
☁️ Google Launches Tag Gateway Integration via Google Cloud
Google rolled out a beta Google Cloud Tag Gateway integration, enabling easier first-party tagging deployment through a one-click setup in Google Tag Manager and Google tag settings.
🎥 Google Tests Expanded Video Limits in Performance Max
Google is testing higher video asset limits in Performance Max, allowing up to 15 videos per asset group and giving advertisers more creative flexibility without splitting campaigns.
🔍 Microsoft Boosts Performance Max Search Themes to 50
Microsoft Advertising now lets advertisers add up to 50 search themes in Performance Max, offering stronger guidance for automation and improved alignment with high-intent search queries.
🧪 Google Rolls Out A/B Testing for Performance Max Assets (Beta)
Google’s new beta enables A/B testing of Performance Max asset sets, letting advertisers compare creative performance while keeping shared assets consistent across both test variations.
🤖 Google Trends Integrates Gemini Into Explorer Page
Google Trends’ Explorer page now uses Gemini to automatically surface and compare relevant search trends, helping users discover additional terms and insights more efficiently.
⚡ Google Tests Faster Ads Account Setup With Pre-Built Campaigns
Google Ads is experimenting with pre-built campaign setups that allow new advertisers to launch campaigns almost instantly, reducing onboarding friction and speeding up time to market.
🔐 Google Adds New Data Transmission Controls to Ads Consent Stack
Google introduced enhanced data transmission controls, giving advertisers more granular options to manage how ad and analytics data is shared when user consent is restricted.
🚀 Microsoft Advertising Introduces Custom Columns for Reporting
Microsoft Advertising now lets advertisers create custom columns in its UI and console, offering more flexible reporting—though some key metrics, like segmenting by conversion action, are still unavailable.
🚀 Microsoft boosts PMax control with new acquisition goals
Microsoft Advertising is enhancing Performance Max with new customer acquisition goals, deeper visibility, and improved measurement, giving search-first marketers more control, clarity, and streamlined campaign management in 2026.
🚫 Google Ads introduces account-level placement exclusions
Google Ads now allows advertisers to block unwanted inventory at the account level, simplifying brand safety and control by applying placement exclusions across all campaigns from one centralized setting.
🧪 Google Ads tests A/B experiments for Shopping product data
Google Ads is piloting “product data experiments,” enabling advertisers to A/B test Shopping ad titles and images, compare performance, and receive results within three to four weeks to optimize product listings.
💰 Google adds total campaign budgets for Search
Google has launched total campaign budgets for Search, letting advertisers set spend limits over days or weeks while Google automatically optimizes delivery, reducing manual adjustments and keeping campaigns on budget.
🚀 Meta Takes Threads Ads Global
Meta will begin a gradual global rollout of ads on Threads next week, giving advertisers access to its 400+ million monthly users as the platform positions itself against X.
🔍 Google Search Gets More Personal with AI Mode
Google is rolling out Personal Intelligence in Search AI Mode, letting AI Pro and Ultra subscribers connect Gmail, Photos, Search, and YouTube history for more personalized, cross-product answers.
🧪 Google Ads Launches Campaign Mix Experiments Beta
Google Ads’ new Campaign Mix Experiments beta allows advertisers to test multiple campaign types, budgets, and settings together, making it easier to measure performance and optimize spend across campaigns.
📱 Apple Expands App Store Search Ad Inventory
Apple is expanding App Store search ads with additional slots per query, increasing install opportunities and competition, starting March 3 in the UK and Japan before expanding globally by March.
🧪 Google Ads Launches Centralized Experiment Center
Advertisers can now run, compare, and measure experiments across campaigns from one dashboard, helping validate performance impact and reduce risk before rolling out changes at scale.
🤖 Bing Tests AI Performance Report—But Key Metrics Missing
Bing is testing an AI Performance report, but it reportedly merges AI and web data, still hiding clicks and CTR, leaving publishers without insight into visibility from AI-powered search results.
🤖 Yahoo launches Scout, its AI search comeback
Yahoo unveiled Scout, an AI-powered answer engine embedded across Yahoo properties like News, Finance, Mail, and Search, positioning itself as a branded AI companion guiding users within Yahoo’s ecosystem.
👀 Google adds one-click previews to Performance Max creatives
Google introduced instant asset previews inside the Performance Max asset group table, making it faster and simpler for advertisers to review creatives without navigating away from the interface.
⚙️ Google Ads API v23 unlocks deeper PMax data and faster releases
Google’s first 2026 Ads API update accelerates release cycles while adding richer Performance Max insights, AI-driven audience capabilities, improved invoicing, scheduling, and more granular reporting options.
📰 Google tests third-party endorsements inside Search ads
Google is experimenting with showing publisher logos, names, and quotes beneath Search ads, adding external validation and credibility signals directly into paid results during early testing.
📰 February 2026
🔁 Microsoft rolls out multi-turn search globally in Bing
Bing now supports multi-turn search worldwide, showing a Copilot box as users scroll so follow-up queries build contextually on previous searches without starting over.
💼 Microsoft launches Publisher Content Marketplace for AI licensing
Microsoft’s new marketplace lets publishers license premium content to AI systems, set usage terms, track how content informs AI answers, and receive compensation based on usage.
📢 Stay tuned for more updates! Bookmark this page to track the biggest digital marketing trends, updates, and insights throughout 2026. 🚀