Today, we’re bringing you the latest in AI-powered marketing and business strategies. Here’s what’s inside:

🚨 AI Top Story: Online ads have come a long way since that first banner in ’94—here’s a quick ride through 30 years of evolution, from pixels to AI-powered personalisation.

🔧 AI Tool Of The Week: Canva’s new AI video tool, powered by Google’s Veo 3, turns simple prompts into cinematic 8-second clips.

🎯 AI Use Case Of The Week: Duolingo’s using AI to simulate real conversations—scaling personalised language tutoring without needing a single human teacher.

🌟 Creator Spotlight: Ankush Gupta shares a 30-second AI test that shows how your site shows up in AI search—and what to fix before it costs you clicks.

💬 Killer Marketing Prompt: Want better AI video results with tools like Veo 3? Steal this plug-and-play prompt formula to generate scroll-stopping clips

🎥 YouTube Resource Of The Week: Midjourney just dropped its first video model. This breakdown compares it head-to-head with Veo 3 so you can see which one actually delivers.

The Evolution of Online Advertising

Three decades ago, online advertising was born with a single banner ad: AT&T’s “You will” on HotWired in October 1994, playfully asking folks, “Have you ever clicked your mouse right here?” That humble moment sparked a revolution: suddenly marketers could count impressions, clicks, and even measure effectiveness in real time. What began as a flashy 468×60-pixel novelty on dial-up evolved into a powerhouse of measurable, digital-first marketing.

The magic really kicked in when search ads arrived. In 2000, Google launched AdWords (later renamed Google Ads), and by 2002 shifted to a click‑based model that balanced bid prices with ad quality. That pivot didn’t just fill search results; it rerouted ad dollars and introduced the idea of targeting people at the very moment they showed purchasing intent.

Then social media and mobile amplified everything. Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, and later smartphones evolved advertising into a multi‑screen, multi‑format experience. Suddenly it wasn’t just banner ads anymore. It was sponsored posts, video pre-rolls, pop-unders, and ads tailored to your age, location, interests, even recent app behaviour.

Fast‑forward to today: AI supercharges personalisation. It’s not rare anymore for campaigns to use algorithms to pick ad format, placement, timing, and even creative elements automatically. That AT&T banner from ’94 would barely recognize today’s landscape. Now ads are shaped with predictive analytics, programmatic real-time bidding, and dynamic personalization that adapts to what we do, like, or buy online.

What’s striking is how privacy concerns and regulation are reshaping the path forward. With cookies phasing out and new consent rules in Europe and beyond, marketers are being pushed to innovate again. This time, it’s about first-party data, transparency, and trust, while still reaching people with meaningful, timely messages.

Looking back, it’s wild: from a single clickable sidebar back in 1994, to an industry now generating over $600 billion in annual digital ad spend, projected to top $700 billion in the next couple years. For us in marketing, that means mastering not just the tools, but the ethics and empathy behind them. Because at the end of the day, ads aren’t just interruptions; they can be connection.

🕵️‍♂️ How to spot AI washing in vendor marketing - More companies are slapping “AI” on their offerings; but how do you tell what’s real from just marketing fluff.

🤖 Intel Plans to Replace Its Marketing Employees With AI -
(Intel is reportedly using generative AI to automate large parts of its marketing workforce, sparking questions about scale, ethics, and creativity).

🎬 Google’s Veo 3 comes to Canva: Introducing Create a Video Clip - This integration puts cutting-edge video generation directly into marketers’ hands, enabling quick, customisable content creation without the need for production teams.

⚠️ Marketers warned AI can lead to the loss of brain power - As AI tools become more embedded in daily workflows, some researchers warn that overreliance could erode marketers’ analytical thinking and creative problem-solving skills.

Duolingo’s new “Video Call” feature gives language learners a chance to hold real-time conversations with Lily, an AI-powered character with a dry sense of humour and a carefully scripted personality. Available to Duolingo Max subscribers, it blends natural, unscripted dialogue with structured learning objectives - offering learners a way to practice speaking in a fun, low-pressure environment.

This is a masterclass in using AI to scale personalisation. By combining scripted structure, character consistency, and memory, Duolingo delivers human-feeling interactions that are fully automated. For marketers building chat-based experiences, educational platforms, or branded assistants, this is a blueprint worth studying.

Persona-driven system prompts: Lily’s personality and language level are defined by a tightly controlled system prompt. This ensures conversations stay pedagogically useful while feeling casual and playful.

Scripted conversation arc: Each call follows a four-part structure—greeting, first question, open conversation, and sign-off—designed to balance fluidity with focused learning.

Built-in memory for personalization: After each session, the system reviews the conversation transcript to extract key personal facts (like pets, hobbies, or preferences) and stores them for future conversations. That way, Lily can make personalized callbacks that feel surprisingly real.

Scaled speaking practice: Learners get unlimited access to interactive speaking sessions, removing the need for live tutors while keeping engagement high.

Increased learner confidence: There’s no “wrong answer” environment here—just open-ended conversation with a character who’s designed to support and gently correct, not judge.

Premium product value: As a core part of Duolingo Max, this feature helps justify the subscription tier and plays a major role in customer retention and upsell. The company's bullish AI roadmap is a key driver behind its revenue projections, which are expected to top $960 million in 2025.

ANKUSH GUPTA - This 30-second AI test reveals how tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity interpret your site—and what to fix to protect your SEO and traffic.

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