While Americans are increasingly pinching pennies, the silver lining is that it's driving them to ad-supported streaming services or tiers, indicating an expansion of ad inventory supply.

Most researchers don't understand statistical significance. So, marketers -- and planners and buyers -- can be forgiven for misunderstanding it, too. For all the good it does, it also brings much bad to making decisions. Not because statistical significance is out of place in marketing research and marketing. But because it is frequently misused and misapplied. Making it a perilous safeguard.

Jake Paul is not a good boxer. That's right, I said it. Jake Paul is rubbish at boxing. But he managed to get 108 million of us to watch a boxing match that we pretty much knew would be bad. And he got paid $40 million for it.

With Apple devices responsible for nearly half of all email, any change to the inbox experience has ripple effects. iOS 18 means opens no longer are a reliable measure of success.

High-profile lawsuits mean the public's perception of gambling brands as ruining lives needs to be countered by responsible advertising that focusses on wellness, rather than just winning.

I'm not saying my inbox is a representative sample of ad industry hype, but it's not nothing. So here are the "industry-first" pitches I've gotten so far this year, including two claims this morning from suppliers Magnite and Clinch, respectively.

"Alexa, did the Mavs win?" That's usually what I hear from my son's room when he wakes up in the morning. Usually followed by "Alexa, what's the weather?" or "Alexa, what time is it?"; the former for when he wakes up early, the latter when he knows he's going to be late for school. On more days than not, his first interaction is with an AI voice assistant before a human being. While slightly offended, I understand it. After all, Alexa has more answers than I do.

On the spectrum of nice-, want- and need-to-have, there's now academic proof that ethics can make you a better advertising pro. Who would have thought?

The measure of success is targeting, not the coherence of segments. Which is to say that many times, marketers rely on the statistical fit of segmentation solutions rather than the targeting fit of offerings to determine marketing strategy.

The latest audio collaboration between the two companies effectively gives advertisers and agencies the ability to plan podcasts alongside TV, radio, digital and social media buys.