Greetings!

And since the northeast is a winter wonderland, I’ve included some brrr-illiant puns for your wintertainment!

• The Headline You Came For: ChatGPT is Testing Ads. Here’s the scoop:
  • It’s a test with OpenAI-chosen companies with large budgets ($1M each according to MediaPost).
  • The ads will run in the free and low-cost versions, so the advertisers will need to decide if their ideal audience relies on the free version.
  • It is planned to be an impression-based approach (which could be very controversial to advertisers that want proof of concept).
  • Gemini is still a little chilly toward ads for now. (Is this a play to get people to trust and use Gemini more than ChatGPT?)

• Remember when AI models didn’t have access to websites? They were “trained” on available data up to a certain cut-off date, rendering some responses irrelevant. That changed when the models were given access to crawl the internet. Why are we bringing this up? OpenAI’s GPTBot (their training crawler) “dropped from [having] access to 84 percent of websites in August to 12 percent by November [2025].” So, keep checking the responses you get from AI for relevance!

• EMARKETER analyst says “My take is that by the end of 2026, Google will have overtaken OpenAI as the leading source of consumer AI engagement.” His rationale is based on how Google’s AI tools are gaining traction through integration of its widely-used products. The wrap-up: Google is the world’s #1 mobile operating system, web browser, search engine, and web mail platform. (Also, don’t forget Gemini’s new integration with Siri.) While we’re not sure this will happen, it’s definitely worth keeping your eyes peeled to ski clearly.

• Are you using Headers correctly on your website? Not yet? Got you, fam: A Guide to Headers.

• Risky business… that’s what Google’s calling forced syndication to ad platforms by the DOJ. They claim advertisers could face more chances of fraud that could inflate costs, lower ROI, and result in less predictable campaign performance.

• With 325 million subscribers and a potential buyout of Warner Bros, Netflix is living its best life. For advertisers, the deal and increase in subscribership brings more ad opportunities, especially with the increase in interactivity and AI tools. If your audience is sitting on this platform, it may be worth reading the article!

For 45 years, Action Against Hunger has taken decisive action against the causes and effects of hunger. They’re a top-rated charity on Charity Navigator and Charity Watch as well as a recipient of 2023 Platinum Transparency Candid Seal. Learn more about what they do: Action Against Hunger.

Have you ever put something important down and found it again? Metaphorically, I mean.

I lived and breathed theater when I was younger.

Daily classes. Auditions. Listening to musical soundtracks until I knew the words backward, forward. It all ruled my days. Then, the obsession slowly simmered in college as I steeped in other exciting experiences and activities.

Now, I’ve found it again with a renewed joy. Like a dog jumping at the chance to tug on a newly recovered toy that sat under the couch for a millennia, theater has become “play” again, losing the serious, structured bindings of the past.

What things have come back to you recently and can you appreciate them with a new lens of experience?

(If my Jersey subscribers are interested in V-Day weekend plans, find tickets here! 🙂)

Freeze… I mean seize the day, y’all!

Natalie

Did you catch all 7 puns?

Okay, I’ll snow myself out now.