The Marketing Impact – October 2026

Some big announcements from Meta regarding new AI tools (and ways to spend more money). Elsewhere, there have been some insights from Google and Instagram about their inner workings, whilst others continue their expansion into the world of ads and sponsored content.

Ready for the highlights (and lowlights)?

The TL:DR you need:

• Meta announced an AI agent specifically designed to help small businesses AND a new AI subscription service.
• TikTok focused on longer-form content with ‘The Next Episode’ in partnership with Amplify.
• Adam Mosseri explained how Instagram’s algorithm works and how content is ranked on the platform
• Google Ads started automatically shifting Search campaigns to AI Max.
• Snapchat aims to make marketers realise the discovery potential of the platform.

Search Updates for September

AI Updates for September

• ChatGPT Ads expanded into Southeast Asia and Taiwan, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. The programme now reaches eligible businesses across more than 60 countries.
• OpenAI introduced Sponsored Agents and advertising tools that let businesses use natural-language prompts to create, update and analyse campaigns. Integrations with HubSpot and Shopify have also been added.

Search Updates for September

• Search Console explained how AI Mode and AI Overviews are counted. AI Mode data is included in overall Search Console totals, whereas AI Overviews are recorded in the Performance report like other search-result features.
• Google’s September 2026 spam update was rolled out this month and may have caused some short-term ranking volatility.
• Microsoft tested a change from “Copilot Search” to “AI Mode” in Bing’s search navigation. The test appeared to change the naming and interface rather than introducing a new underlying product.

Social Media & Platform Updates

Lots of AI-related news for the majority of platforms, either with new tools being announced or additional guidelines and restrictions being put in place.

Instagram Updates for September

• Instagram clarified labels for AI-generated accounts. The “AI creator” label is being replaced with “AI-generated profile,” and will be applied to accounts representing a fully synthetic person or character. The label is distinct from ordinary AI-assisted editing or caption writing.
• The new ‘Add to grid’ feature allows users to showcase their tagged posts directly on their main profile grid, rather than living in a separate tab.
• Adam Mosseri posted a series of videos offering some clarification and insight into Instagram’s algorithm and how content is ranked. The 4 principles behind the algorithm are: originality, recency, breaking content and model size.

Meta Updates for September

• Meta introduced Meta One, a subscription service that offers additional features and AI capabilities to give more creative tools and freedoms to users. There are several plans available for individuals and businesses, with 50+ features available across the majority of Meta platforms with more to come.
• Muse for Small Business was announced, an expansion of their personal AI agent that will supposedly help people to run their business. This expansion includes the ability to integrate Muse into a range of tools that small businesses are likely to use, such as Canva, Shopify, Slack, Zoom, and Instagram and Facebook business accounts. 
• Advertiser control over placements is being reduced, moving away from manual placement exclusions and deciding where ads appear across Facebook, Instagram, Threads and the Audience Network based on predicted performance. Advantage + placements are now being pushed and supposedly offering the best results for your budget.

YouTube Updates for September

• YouTube is expanding AI-assisted creation. Conversational Editing is designed to let creators build or refine projects using plain-language instructions. The platform is also expanding feedback tools that allow creators to review Shorts before publication.
• Ask YouTube is becoming a product-discovery surface. A shopping functionality is being added, which can organise review videos into comparison tables and answer product questions directly on watch pages.
• YouTube shopping is being integrated more directly for creators. Its US shopping affiliate programme is being integrated with Amazon, giving creators another route to monetise product recommendations.

TikTok Updates for September

• In partnership with Amplify, TikTok launched “The Next Episode,” a programme for creator-led series including micro-dramas, interviews, game shows, docuseries and reality formats. It gives brands a way to sponsor recurring content rather than relying only on individual short videos.
• TikTok is improving its response to AI-generated spam. The platform said it is testing detection systems aimed at accounts that post large volumes of AI-generated material and crowd out original creators

LinkedIn Updates for September

• LinkedIn shared tips on how B2B marketers can maximise their Ads performance. The key takeaways were to run longer campaigns using broader job role targeting to help increase discovery at an earlier stage, and to run these campaigns alongside consistent organic content.
• The platform expanded user verification. Now users can be verified by their connections, page admins can remove imposter accounts that appear under their company name and verified users can connect their profiles to partner platforms without an additional verification process.

Google Updates for September

• Google Ads began automatically migrating eligible Search campaigns to AI Max. Campaigns using Automatically Created Assets and campaign-level broad match are being upgraded during September. Dynamic Search Ads are also being moved toward AI Max, with the transition expected to conclude by the end of the month.
• Google says legacy settings are being carried across to reduce disruption, but advertisers should review the resulting campaign structure and reporting.
• AI Brief is now available for more languages, including Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese and Spanish.
• A new reporting feature for Google Ads was announced, which will provide more clarity on AI-driven performance… but we have to wait until later this year to find out the details.
• There were a bunch of new data and management changes: Data Manager integrations now connect directly with Google Analytics and Display & Video 360. Enhanced conversions can securely improve matching between customer data and advertising interactions. The Data Strength Uplift metric is intended to estimate additional conversions recovered through better first-party data. Meridian GeoX became generally available globally, allowing marketers to run geographic incrementality experiments and incorporate those results into marketing-mix models.
• View count returns to Business Profile posts, a metric that was discontinued over 3 years ago.
• Gmail gets an AI overview feature, although the rollout is gradual so its only available for those with specific account types or Google AI plans.

More Social Media Updates for September

• Threads redesigned Insights with AI-generated summaries explaining how posts and accounts are performing.
• Snapchat’s latest campaign ‘Spend Smarter’ aims to encourage B2B marketers to rethink their strategy and utilise the value of the platform as a discovery tool.

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