Paid Media & MarTech through the lens of Zenda
Clear analysis on what shifts in the growth ecosystem: platforms, data, martech and judgment.
Google started writing the description on your Shopping ads
On July 30, AI-generated descriptions began appearing next to Shopping and Product ads, extending a test already running on Search. There is no documented opt-out and no clean way to isolate the CTR effect. What stays under your control is the feed, and that changes how it should be reviewed.
LinkedIn launched 5 AI creative tools in Campaign Manager: what changes for B2B teams in LATAM
On July 1, 2026, LinkedIn activated five AI tools inside Campaign Manager. The most important figure in the announcement is not the feature list but the benchmark that accompanies it: campaigns with 5 or more ad variants achieve more than 20% higher CTR than single-ad campaigns. For B2B teams in LATAM operating with limited creative resources, that number redefines what acceptable testing looks like.
Every ads platform now speaks MCP
Between February and June 2026, six ads platforms (Amazon, Google, Meta, TikTok, Pinterest and Microsoft) shipped official MCP servers: the ads account became operable by AI agents through official OAuth, with no sketchy connectors and no account-ban risk. But the platforms diverge on how much power the agent gets: Google chose read-only, Meta chose full write with everything paused by default, TikTok and Amazon chose full write without that documented brake. That divergence is the news: the governance decision does not come solved out of the box, it has to be made by every team spending real money.
ChatGPT Ads: what early testers are reporting, and which countries are next
In four months, ChatGPT advertising went from a US-only test to five live countries, with Mexico and Brazil next in line. The performance data looks attractive, but almost all of it comes from OpenAI or its commercial partners, with no independent verification. For a team in LATAM, the move today is not to enter the channel: it is to get your own measurement ready before it lands.
X Ads Manager Got a Makeover: New Dashboard, AI Targeting, Vertical Video. But the Migration Broke Things.
X redesigned its Ads Manager with real improvements: AI targeting, vertical video, unified dashboard. The product is better. But the migration brought data discrepancies between API and dashboard, a policy overhaul with 35% rejection rates, an aesthetic scoring system that financially penalizes non-compliant creative, and a global outage during the rollout.
Stripe Enters Facebook Ads: Native Checkout, the Agentic Commerce Protocol
Stripe launched native checkout inside Facebook Ads where users can buy without leaving the app. This isn't just a payments feature: it's the first concrete step toward a model where the funnel compresses to ad-to-checkout. For paid media teams, the urgent question isn't whether to activate, but how to measure when the click to your site disappears.
Meta Andromeda: real revolution in ad delivery or black box with better marketing?
Andromeda radically expanded how many ads compete for each impression on Meta, feeding Advantage+ with more data and more options. The operational response depends on team size, budget, and tolerance for concentration risk.
Manus AI in Meta Ads Manager: the platform now also operates your account
Meta integrated Manus AI into Ads Manager as an autonomous agent available to all advertisers. Current capabilities are reporting and analysis, not campaign execution. But the conflict of interest is structural: the platform that sells your inventory now also controls the intelligence layer inside your account.
ChatGPT Ads Are Now in Testing: An Operational Update
OpenAI started testing ads in ChatGPT for free tier users in the US. Ads appear below responses without influencing content. There's no buying platform and no performance benchmarks. The honest move today: awareness, not resource investment.
ChatGPT Ads: The Rise of Answer Engine Marketing (AEM)
The launch of ads in ChatGPT marks the transition from Search Engine Marketing (SEM) to Answer Engine Marketing (AEM). This shift will impact performance measurement, especially in Latin America, where deployment is expected by late 2026. Success will depend on brands' ability to become the suggested answer, prioritizing semantic influence over traditional click bidding.
The click tax: The trap of Retail Media fragmentation in LATAM
If you are a mass consumption brand in Latin America, you are not buying advertising; you are paying a "data toll" to each retailer separately. Retail Media is the great promise of the decade, but the lack of standards is creating a black hole in marketing budgets. This post analyzes why your reports from Mercado Ads and Rappi are never going to match and how to avoid being charged three times for the same sale.