Mackerel Media’s Search, Media and Digital Marketing Roundup – May 2026

May gave marketers plenty to talk about and even more to keep up with. Google rewrote the rules (again), ChatGPT started eyeing up ad budgets, and consumers continued finding new ways to divide their attention across screens, speakers and social feeds. Here’s a look at some of the key developments over the last month.

 

Google announced this month at their Google I/O developer conference what it describes as “the biggest change to Search in over 25 years” – a new AI-powered Intelligent Search Box. This new search makes it easier for users to ask questions and find relevant information. Users can formulate questions and ask follow-up questions within the AI search box, and text, images, files, videos and even Chrome tabs can be used as search inputs. Alongside these features, Google has published guidance on optimising websites for AI search – reinforcing that traditional SEO best practices remain important for visibility in AI search. Google’s guidance also debunks several common AI search myths, such as creating llms.txt files, “chunking” content or rewriting pages specifically for AI systems are not required. 

For a closer look at the highlights from the Google I/O developer conference and what they mean for the future of search, you can read our Google I/O 2026 recap here.  

 

 

FAQs Are Out. AI Is In.

Google released an update this month that FAQ rich results will no longer appear in Google search results. FAQ rich results provided additional information to users and would help improve the visibility of websites and lead to higher click-through rates when showing in search results. Google has started to simplify search results and is moving towards AI-generated answers, placing less importance on maintaining FAQ specific search features.

 

Google Ads has launched a new built-in lead management dashboard. It’s now possible to track, qualify and manage leads from Google-hosted forms directly within Google ads. This new dashboard allows advertisers to track total leads, new leads, qualified leads and lost leads all within a single interface. Lead quality can then be fed back into Google ads, and Smart Bidding can optimise campaigns for higher-value leads rather than overall lead volume.

 

ChatGPT Wants Your Media Budget

OpenAI is now offering self-serve Ads for ChatGPT, meaning that ad campaigns can now be created and managed within the ChatGPT ads manager platform. OpenAI has added CPC bidding, pixel tracking and Conversions API support, and advertisers can measure purchases, sign ups and leads to better optimise their AI ad campaigns. This positions ChatGPT as a growing competitor to other established advertising platforms such as Google Ads and Meta, and provides a new opportunity for businesses to reach users and promote their products and services within AI platforms.

 

 

From AM/FM to WiFi…

Online radio listening has reached a record high. The latest RAJAR figures for the first quarter of 2026 show that online radio listening now accounts for 30.4% of all radio listening and has overtaken traditional AM/FM listening for the first time. Commercial radio continues to lead the market, holding a 54.3% share of listening compared to 43.4% for the BBC, whilst smart speaker listening has also increased year-on-year. Ofcom’s latest Audio Listening in the UK report shows that listening to radio, podcasts and other audio content remains an important part of daily life, with 93% of UK adults listening to audio each week, and rising to 98% among 16 to 34 year olds. As more people are listening to radio online and through smart speakers, advertisers now have greater opportunities to reach audiences through targeted audio campaigns, making radio and podcasts as valuable channels within a broader digital marketing strategy.

 

More Screens, More Stars, More Football Fever

With the FIFA World Cup 2026 being predicted as the “largest” in history, global brands are major launching talent-led campaigns featuring icons like Gary Lineker, Ant & Dec, and Maya Jama. However, capturing this audience requires navigating a complex fragmented media landscape – 24% of fans are planning to blend traditional TV and streaming (a 14% increase from 2022) as viewers shift between platforms. Despite this digital shift, the big screen remains the home of live sports, with 89% of UK fans still planning to watch matches on television. Advertisers also benefit from a highly resilient audience, as 85% of UK viewers intend to keep watching even if their supported team is eliminated.

 

 

Big Billboards, Even Bigger Social Buzz
Out-of-home (OOH) advertisers are increasingly using special build campaigns to increase and drive engagement from billboards over onto social media. New “Point of Social” research shows that displaying eye-catching OOH displays are far more likely to encourage people to share the content online, helping brands generate additional world-of-mouth reach and earned media. As social media and OOH become more closely connected, many brands are designing campaigns with social media hype in mind from the start, ensuring that their content reaches audiences far beyond the physical location.