Bonded Bitesize – Your Midweek Roundup

YouTube is beta testing a new ad format called ‘Peak Points’, which uses AI to detect the emotional high points of a video and places ads at those moments. The goal of these ads is to catch users when they’re most engaged and likely to respond to a message. The AI analyses video frames and transcripts to pinpoint moments of high emotional resonance, allowing brands to align their messaging with viewer attention. While some have flagged ethical concerns around emotional targeting, YouTube frames it as a smarter way to boost engagement. For marketers, this could mean more impactful placements – especially as video attention spans tighten and emotional connection becomes key to performance.

For more innovations from the platform, read the Brandcast 2025 Highlights post on the YouTube blog. 

New data from BrightEdge shows that while Google search impressions have risen 49% year-over-year, click-through rates have dropped 30%, largely due to Google’s AI Overviews – the AI-generated summaries that launched a year ago. These overviews are changing SEO by prioritising visibility and citations over traditional clicks. Queries with eight or more words have increased sevenfold, and technical terminology is up 48%. Industries like healthcare, education, B2B tech, and insurance have seen significant growth in AI Overview coverage, while ecommerce has declined. 

So, what does this mean for your SEO strategy? According to BrightEdge, SEO should evolve beyond rankings to focus on being recommended and cited in AI results, even without guaranteed clicks.

Netflix is rolling out its in-house Ads Suite to all EMEA ad-tier markets by June, offering advertisers better data, creative flexibility, and deeper measurement. The platform now boasts 94M global monthly ad-tier users – up 34% since November – and promises enhanced targeting tools including 100+ interest segments and new modular formats launching in 2026. Advertisers can now integrate first-party data, leverage third-party insights, and tap into programmatic or direct buys, depending on their needs. With localised tools and flexible regional formats, Netflix aims to merge the power of streaming entertainment with ad innovation — a move that could reshape the connected TV ad landscape.

Explore more highlights from Netflix’s upfronts, including updates on live events and generative AI formats, via their post: Netflix Upfront 2025. 

Google has unveiled a new generative AI tool that can create high-quality, shoppable 3D product visuals from as few as three images. Powered by Google’s Veo video generation model, the tech simulates realistic lighting, textures and angles to help shoppers interact with products more dynamically online. The feature is already being used across categories like furniture, apparel, and electronics, and could prove a game-changer for brands wanting to elevate their eCommerce listings — no expensive 3D capture setups required. While still rolling out, this innovation also hints at the future of immersive shopping, with potential VR integrations down the line.

Read Google’s full announcement here. 

TikTok has launched AI Alive – a new tool that transforms still images into short, animated video clips via the TikTok Story camera. The feature uses AI-powered editing to add movement and atmospheric effects to static photos, opening up new opportunities for visual storytelling on the platform. While the results may vary (some animations may veer into uncanny territory), the tool is designed to help creators and brands enhance their content with dynamic visuals at speed. Available now through the blue ‘+’ button in the Story camera, it gives users another creative format to engage audiences across the For You feed, Following tab, and profile view.

Google Ads has rolled out device targeting options for Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, allowing advertisers to optimise spend across computers, mobile phones, tablets, and TV screens. This long-awaited feature gives marketers granular control previously unavailable at the campaign level, enabling the inclusion or exclusion of specific device types within PMax settings. By tailoring campaigns to device-specific user behaviors – such as excluding TV screens in B2B campaigns or focusing on mobile users – advertisers can better align with their business goals and potentially improve ROI. This update addresses a major pain point of limited transparency in PMax campaigns and marks a significant shift toward greater customisation while retaining AI-driven automation. 

ITV aired a silent, signed and subtitled ad break during the premiere of Code of Silence, supporting representation of the deaf community. Major brands including The National Lottery, Virgin Atlantic, and Boots Hearingcare participated in this three-minute, 20-second commercial break. The innovative move aligns with the series’ theme and reflects growing industry efforts to improve ad accessibility – an area where only 21% of ads were subtitled in 2024. Code of Silence, starring Rose Ayling-Ellis, centers on a lip-reader involved in a police operation and will air on ITV1, STV, and ITVX with British Sign Language options. This initiative follows Channel 4’s pledge to caption all ads by 2026.

Google is rolling out a new ‘Ads funded by’ section in its My Ad Center, showing who actually paid for the ads you see in Search. The label displays the advertiser’s payment profile name — even if it differs from their official brand name — making it easier for users to understand financial backers behind campaigns. The move could shift how consumers perceive ads, especially for brands operating under parent companies or agencies. While the policy was set to show differing payer names from May 2025, early sightings suggest the label is already visible in some cases – even when names match – hinting at a wider push for ad transparency.

The latest Rajar Q1 2025 figures reveal UK radio continues to expand, now reaching 50.1 million weekly listeners, a 0.4% increase year-on-year. Commercial radio’s audience share edged up to 54.9%, outpacing the BBC’s 43.1%. Growth is largely driven by digital listening, especially smart speakers, which hit record highs with a 17.6% share of total radio listening. Global continues to dominate commercial radio, with brands like Heart and Hits Radio overtaking BBC Radio 2 in weekly reach for the first time. Bauer saw mixed results but grew its Hits Radio network audience by 5.7%. Top breakfast shows on Global also saw audience gains, while GB News breakfast show surged 25.4% year-on-year. These trends highlight the ongoing evolution of radio consumption and advertising opportunities in a digital-first landscape.

Get in touch with our media team to find out how radio could supercharge your media strategy.

Google Ads has begun rolling out new AI-driven image optimisation features for Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, giving its AI greater control over how images appear in ads. This includes automatic reformatting of uploaded images to improve performance and the default use of landing page visuals to dynamically populate creatives. The use of landing page images is now enabled by default for new campaigns with the Dynamic Images opt-in, though advertisers can still adjust this at the campaign level. While these enhancements aim to boost ad effectiveness, they also increase AI’s influence over creative elements, potentially impacting brand consistency and user experience without direct advertiser input. 

Our advice: Marketers should monitor these changes closely to maintain control over brand representation as PMax campaigns become more autonomous.