NYC bans data-based prices for shoppers

Hi there, this is your daily ☕️ MarketingShot.

NYC bans charging shoppers prices based on their data LINK

• New York City has passed a law banning businesses from using algorithms and personal data to charge individual shoppers different prices for the same goods and services, one of the strongest limits on surveillance pricing in the country.
• The City Council approved Introduction 891-A yesterday; it lets the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection investigate complaints and fine businesses up to $1,000 per violation, with each affected consumer or transaction counting separately.
• The law still allows loyalty rewards, student and veteran discounts, and buy-one-get-one-free deals, while small businesses get a chance to fix certain violations quickly and avoid penalties.

Apple's holiday ad bets on belief over product LINK

• Apple has released its 2026 holiday film, 'The Dreamer', a four-minute story about a young artist whose parents gift him a MacBook Neo to help him reconnect with his creativity, selling belief and support rather than the product itself.
• Directed by Melina Matsoukas and made with TBWA\Media Arts Lab, the film features artwork by Hebru Brantley, who drew every piece seen on screen, including the final animated character that was developed on the MacBook Neo itself.
• Brantley has also appeared in a companion social film, 'Creating the Art', made for Apple's Instagram account, taking viewers behind the scenes of how the artwork was produced.

Google rolls gemini 4 Hydrogen into Search for everyone LINK

• Google today put Gemini 4 Hydrogen, the third model in its Gemini 4 line, into Google Search for all users worldwide, thirty days after the first model, Argon, reached only paying subscribers.
• Google says Hydrogen handles multi-part questions better and widens its query fan-out technique, running simultaneous searches across subtopics to connect users with a broader range of links, plus more images, comparison tables and custom tools.
• The blog post gives no numbers for any of this, does not name the model Hydrogen replaces, and says nothing about ads, clicks to websites or how visual answers sit alongside links.

Poppi founder says creators now want equity in her new brand LINK

• Allison Ellsworth, who sold Poppi to PepsiCo for $1.95 billion, said creators now ask for ownership stakes and advisory roles before they will promote Jetty, her new hydration brand, because they watched creators profit from Poppi's sale.
• Jetty is structuring two creator deals with terms that differ by person: one based on deliverables such as one to two TikToks a month and ad use, the other a looser "best effort" to mention the brand on a podcast and book tour.
• Ellsworth said creators who invest should post without brand approvals, so they can work Jetty into their lives without labeling each post paid, though the FTC's guidance says a financial relationship with a brand must be disclosed.

GWI finds AI audience insights often mislead marketers LINK

• Marketers relying on AI for audience insights are seeing worse ad results, with a GWI survey finding 80% of senior professionals frequently run into inaccurate or misleading AI findings even as nearly 90% use the technology daily.
• The report, based on 1,883 senior marketing and insights professionals in the U.K., U.S. and Singapore, found more than three-quarters think AI reinforces outdated assumptions and nearly 70% have seen it fail to reflect their target audience in profiles.
• Over half of senior decision-makers made a major business decision on AI insights that proved wrong, 21% saw weaker campaign performance from such mistakes, and only 36% of respondents verify AI insights most of the time.

Strategies & Tactics

> How to build content clusters around bottom-of-funnel pages: Build each content cluster around a converting page first, then add a pillar guide and linked supporting articles so search engines and AI tie your expertise to revenue.

> Google explains why analytics won't match Search Console click counts: Google's new guide explains that referrer data lumps Search, Discover and image clicks together and often goes missing, so analytics counts rarely match Search Console.

> How to do an SEO competitor analysis with the Semrush MCP: Connect Semrush's search data to Claude so the AI finds rivals' keyword gaps and top pages, telling you whether to create or update content.

> Before you ask for better leads, define ‘better’: Define a shared ideal customer profile scored per product so marketing and sales agree on which accounts to prioritize, not just chase lead volume.

> Could an AI Influencer Help Your Brand? From Campaign Idea to First Post: An AI influencer can supply a consistent virtual presenter across posts, but only verified product photos and specs should carry factual claims.

> Google Ads makes AI Max expansion traffic identifiable in click data: Google Ads now tags AI Max expansion clicks separately in tracking data, letting advertisers see which traffic came from automation versus their own keywords.

Other news you might like

• 76% of shoppers don't want AI agents buying for them, Salesforce finds LINK

• Nothing changed but the price: B2B Google clicks cost 21% more LINK

• Google Ads Data Strength Uplift Metric Doc LINK

• YouTube Studio now turns 16:9 podcast segments into vertical Shorts LINK

• X now lets you share 5x more photos and videos per post LINK

• Amazon's plan to own the world's product data and fight AI shopping agents LINK

Trending tools

CREEM 2.0: a payments platform for AI builders that bundles checkout, tax, payouts, affiliates, and usage billing, so you can charge customers globally without stitching separate tools together. LINK

OpenSEO: handles keyword research, competitor analysis, backlinks, and site audits on real DataForSEO data, with MCP support so AI agents build SEO strategies. LINK

Naise AI: an AI marketing teammate that turns one brief into social posts, visuals, influencer outreach, PR, and multilingual market research across channels. LINK

Articos MCP: runs synthetic user interviews and generates full research reports in under 30 minutes, validating product ideas without recruiting real participants. LINK

GenPage 3.0: generates personalized landing pages per ad, keyword, or account and auto-tests variations, helping you convert more traffic into pipeline and revenue. LINK

Busabase: open-source shared workspace where teams and AI agents store records, docs, and apps with access controls and change tracking, keeping work reusable. LINK

See you tomorrow for a new dose of ☕️ MarketingShot!