Funnel

Paid Search Still Growing Despite Answer Engines

A Funnel report analyzing ad spend from over 5,000 companies finds paid search continuing to grow despite the rise of answer engines and generative search. Paid search spend rose 122% in the 15 months to April 2026 in the US (from $45m to $100m), with most growth concentrated in Google/Alphabet and Meta/Facebook. Social media spend grew faster (150%) over the same period and is increasing its share of total digital spend, with TikTok showing rapid growth in EMEA. APAC experienced very strong growth overall. Digital ad spend is also becoming more seasonal, with Black Friday seeing large year-on-year increases across regions, particularly on social channels.

Closing the Trust Gap Starts at the Opt-In

Diana Williams (VP of Product Management at Intuit Mailchimp) argues that ecommerce brands must treat the opt-in as the start of a long-term customer relationship to close a growing trust gap. Research from Intuit Mailchimp shows wide disparities between what brands ask for and what consumers share (e.g., 65% of brands request phone numbers while only 28% of consumers provide them). The article recommends prioritizing list quality over volume, matching data asks to the user journey (timing popups after browsing or near purchase), using behavioral signals to infer intent, and deploying AI to automate personalized follow-ups at scale. Transparency about data use and clear value exchanges are presented as essential to improving opt-in conversion and long-term engagement.

Visme Launches Microsite Builder for Marketers

Visme announced the launch of a Microsite Builder that lets marketing teams design, build, and publish interactive microsites without developer handoffs. The product integrates creation and publishing within Visme’s existing platform and targets use cases such as campaign landing pages, resource hubs and product showcases. Key capabilities listed include section-based layout control, built-in interactivity (animations and transitions), automatic mobile responsiveness, and secure hosting with access controls. Visme says the feature removes workflow bottlenecks between content creation and web publishing and is available now across its platform.