Marketers bemoan the culture of ‘good enough’ as standards fall amid the AI bubble

September 25, 2026 In the early days of AI, most on-stage pitches centered on innovation and efficiency, but as the latter has given way to mounting job losses in adland and a resulting drop in standards, a weariness has crept in. Amid these dynamics, marketers and their advertising teams are seeking to implement new standards and build a talent base fit for the challenges of the contemporary era. TOP STORY Marketers bemoan the culture of ‘good enough’ as standards fall amid the AI bubble ‘Drowning in measurement,’ marketers mull priorities in an internet where ‘two audiences’ exist.  OTHER THINGS TO KNOW Your last chance to enter the Digiday AI Awards is Oct. 2. Don’t miss the opportunity to gain recognition for the innovative AI strategies, tools and campaigns shaping the future of media, marketing and advertising. Join past honorees including Canva, VidMob, Bloomberg Media Studios and McDonald’s by submitting your entry today. Advertising has traditionally treated verification signals, contextual signals and performance signals separately. But that separation hinders more than it helps. To avoid these mistakes, buyers need to understand the entire media environment. Partner insights from Peer39. Eighty-four percent of publishers said non-AI referral traffic data is important to their subscription strategy, compared with 82% who said the same of AI referral traffic data, according to a new Digiday and Braze survey. Partner insights from Braze. Advertisement MARKETING The Creator Economy YouTube invests in AI agents, live ‘gamification,’ and editing tools to keep creators close Made On YouTube announced a spate of new features for the creator platform; here are the most important ones and what they mean for creators. The Business of AI DMexco ’26 Briefing: From scaling AI operations to teaching the next generation of 'bold' CMOs DMexco 2026 media partner Digiday hosted two panels that outlined the challenge of AI at scale and the CMO of the future. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM BLUEPEAR How brands are evaluating affiliate marketing and stopping budget leakage For online fashion outlet Otrium, auditing its affiliate program uncovered nearly 5,000 suspicious transactions, preventing €40,842 in commission leakage in only 3 months. Retail Revolution Why Instacart is focused on reducing item markups to grow its delivery platform Instacart CEO Chris Rogers says lower online markups, loyalty perks and cheaper delivery options are crucial to driving more online grocery growth in the coming years. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM AUDACY How podcast audiences are changing and becoming more valuable Gen Z is poised to become podcasting’s largest generation, women and multicultural audiences are driving growth, and brands are increasingly tapping the trust between hosts and listeners. Advertisement DIGIDAY+ Member exclusive Future of Marketing Briefing: Imagining the ad business hiding inside Meta’s Muse Meta’s Muse is ad-free for now. Don’t expect that to last. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM ZETA GLOBAL How CMOs earn credibility in the AI era The next generation of CMOs will earn influence by building an intelligence system that continuously connects customer context, AI, measurement and financial performance to better business decisions. ICYMI The Business of AI AI Briefing: Tech giants adopt AI content standards, but will it be enough to curb fakes? Meta, OpenAI and Google all announced new transparency and detection tools for AI content. The Business of AI AI Briefing: Watermarking AI content doesn't go far enough, researchers warn Mozilla researchers say popular methods for disclosing and detecting AI content aren’t effective enough to prevent harm. Meanwhile, Pindrop is bringing more scrutiny to AI-generated audio. Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy