RTB House vs Seedtag

Shoppers burned by bad AI recommendations, survey finds

A SmartCustomer survey of nearly 1,200 US consumers reveals that while 89% don't fully trust AI recommendations, 76% have used AI to make purchases in the past year, and a third made regrettable purchases based on AI advice. Electronics, apparel, and footwear dominate these poor choices. The survey also indicates that 98% believe AI companies hold responsibility for validating sources and legitimacy, and 53% suspect companies of manipulating AI recommendations with false information. Additional findings show gender and generational divides in AI shopping adoption, with men shopping via AI more than women, and Gen Z being more hesitant. Other surveys by YouGov, RTB House, and Gartner corroborate trust issues and consumer preference for human oversight in AI-assisted commerce.

• 76% of consumers have used AI to make purchases in the past year, despite 89% lacking full trust in AI recommendations.
• A third of survey respondents (33%) made a regrettable purchase based on an AI recommendation, with electronics, apparel, and footwear accounting for most bad purchases.
• 98% of respondents believe AI companies should take at least some responsibility for validating the sources of a recommendation and confirming company legitimacy.

How does Agentic AI impact the holiday path to purchase?

New RTB House research, Who’s Buying? Consumer Trust in the Age of Agentic AI, shows that artificial intelligence tools are reshaping Black Friday consumer behavior, turning rapid impulse buying into a longer, AI-guided evaluation period.

Attribution Remains Difficult: First Visit Rarely Leads to Purchase

A new European Shopping Trends Report by RTB House reveals that only 27% of European consumers make a purchase on their first website visit. Half require two to three visits, and 19% need four to five visits. The study, conducted by Censuswide with 4,500 respondents across nine countries, shows that 81% compare multiple brands before buying and 75% visit more than one retailer website. Reasons for abandoning initial visits include price comparison (28%), reading reviews (20%), and seeking promotions (17%). Additionally, 22% of shoppers research online but purchase in physical stores, complicating attribution. AI-based product discovery is emerging, with 21% using services like ChatGPT or Gemini. RTB House argues for longer-term retargeting, while acknowledging that the study measures behavior, not causal effects of retargeting.

• Only 27% of European consumers purchase on their first website visit.
• 81% of respondents consider more than one brand before making a purchase.
• 22% of shoppers research online but complete purchases in physical stores.

Five Tips for Publishers Facing the Zero Click Challenge

MEEDIA reports that publishers are losing referral traffic from Google as AI-generated summaries (AI Overviews) reduce the need for users to click through to websites. Citing a Seer Interactive study showing a 61% drop in organic CTR and a 68% drop in paid CTR for information queries with AI Overviews, Malte Gibbe (Seedtag) and Carsten Sander (BCN) outline five practical responses: (1) analyze crawl behaviour and implement Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) using server logs, (2) design content to encourage exploration, (3) combine paywalled and free content, (4) retain audiences via newsletters/logins and first‑party data, and (5) prioritise brand building so publishers appear in LLM answers. The article warns that sustained Zero Click effects could undermine precise targeting and the open ad ecosystem, while also noting publishers can use AI as a tool to develop new formats faster.

• MEEDIA published the article on 2026-08-10.
• A Seer Interactive study (September 2025) found that organic CTR for informational queries with AI Overviews fell by 61% and paid CTR fell by 68% compared with queries without AI Overviews.
• Malte Gibbe is Publisher Partnerships Director DACH at Seedtag and co-authored the recommendations for publishers.

Screen On Demand names UK country manager

Screen On Demand (SoD) is launching a dedicated UK operation based in London and has appointed Dan Ward as Country Manager UK to lead the local team and grow the British business. The Munich-founded adtech provider offers cross-device high-impact advertising and combines data management, creative services and media distribution on its platform, with campaign delivery across mobile, web, DOOH and Connected TV. SoD says it has run campaigns for international clients in the UK for years and will now scale the market with a local subsidiary. The company — founded in 2017 and employing about 60 people (roughly 50 in Germany) — already operates offices in Vienna, Paris and Stockholm in addition to German locations.

• Screen On Demand (SoD) appoints Dan Ward as Country Manager UK to build its UK operation from London.
• SoD will establish a local UK team and a UK legal presence to grow business beyond existing campaign work in the market.
• SoD offers cross-device high-impact advertising combining data management, creative studio output and media distribution; channels include Mobile, Web, DOOH and Connected TV.

Agentic AI Shifts Marketing from Assist to Execute

The article explains how agentic AI is moving marketing beyond analysis into operational activation — automating creative variants, in-flight campaign optimization, and workflow execution. It recommends a three-layer AI stack for marketers: multimodal generative models for scalable creative production, reinforcement-learning systems for self-optimizing campaign control, and agentic systems to turn strategic insights into automated activations. Contextual intelligence and real-time signals are presented as critical for detecting purchase moments and driving responsive campaign changes. The piece stresses the need for a strong, high-quality open web and data foundation, transparency of agent actions, and integration across AI layers to avoid fractured workflows and to improve time-to-activation, attention, and conversions.

• Agentic AI translates insights into activations, shifting AI's role from assistance to execution in marketing.
• The article recommends a three-layer AI stack: multimodal generative AI, reinforcement-learning models, and agentic systems.
• Contextual AI can identify moments of purchase and agentic systems can optimize campaigns in-flight using real-time signals.