In early May, Google confirmed what many had been anticipating: The humble search engine would get a facelift featuring generative AI. If Google and other search engines like Bing have their way, search will soon be more conversational, offering detailed and hopefully human-sounding suggestions—or at least as human-sounding as we’d expect from a generative AI tool.

At the company’s I/O conference where the announcement was made, Google VP of Engineering Cathy Edwards showed off the update, peppering the search bar with questions like “What’s better for a family with kids under three with a dog, Bryce Canyon or Arches National Park?” and ebikes in red for a 5-mile commute with hills.”

The company is betting on generative AI as the future of search. What’s next for search advertisers, though, is still a little unclear. Last week, Google shared how the company might fit ads into the new search experience. For the most part, generative search’s ad experience—which executives have said are “experiments within an experiment” for now—looks a lot like, well, the old search ad experience.

With that said, search advertisers told Marketing Brew they expect consumer behavior to change, shifting from broad commands (“dinner Brooklyn Thai”) to something more conversational (“Where can I get the best Thai food in Brooklyn?”). That anticipated shift means advertisers are rethinking their search strategies to jockey for prime spots alongside generative AI’s replies.

“For brands, the new question is, what will it take to be the answer to these new queries?” Nirish Parsad, practice lead, emerging tech at the performance marketing agency Tinuiti, said.

Read the full story here.—RB

Campaigns come and go, but a few impactful ones make big waves in the deep, wide sea we call marketing. And before we get too philosophical (too late?), you should know that Vimeo is chatting with Semrush about how their latest campaign made an unforgettable splash.

Vimeo hosted Semrush’s Andrew Warden, CMO, and Olga Andrienko, VP of Brand Marketing, to discuss all the details behind the timeline, development, and distribution of their hit campaign video series: My Life, My Terms—The Future of Work.

Learn the risks and rewards of using real customers vs. actors, how B2B campaigns can leverage B2C tactics, the value of remaining ~real~, and what the future holds for this successful series.

Watch their chat for all the insights.

Each Tuesday, we spotlight Marketing Brew readers in our Coworking series. If you’d like to be featured, introduce yourself here.

Jason Harris is co-founder and CEO of creative agency Mekanism. He is also the author of The Soulful Art of Persuasion and host of the podcast Soul & Science.

Favorite project you’ve worked on? Creating “It’s On Us,” whose mission is to build the movement to combat campus sexual assault by engaging all students, including young men, and activating the largest student organizing program of its kind in grassroots awareness and prevention education programs. It has been running for almost a decade, and there are now chapters in all 50 states and over 500 colleges and universities.

What’s your favorite ad campaign? Our recent OkCupid work because it positioned the dating app as the most inclusive app in the world. I love work that is inclusive and encourages everyone to be themselves.

What marketing trend are you most optimistic about? Least? Most: I think there are a lot of positive possibilities in AI. It’s a hot topic right now, but I think it will allow humans to do their jobs better. Work will always require a human touch, but AI can help with brainstorming, concepting, and analyzing data to make room for more creative brain power.

Least: Creators and reality stars building their personal brands that are built on a foundation of straw.

One thing we can’t guess from your LinkedIn profile? I was in four bands. I play bass guitar. Pop punk. None of them worked out, though, which is why I am filling out a Marketing Brew questionnaire.

What’s one marketing-related podcast, social account, or series you’d recommend? Shameless Plug: the Soul & Science podcast. Every week, I interview the marketing experts behind the world’s biggest and best brands. We learn their stories, get practical advice, and fast forward our marketing minds in less than 30 minutes.

The shoe store experience, as the bipeds among you know, has a fairly consistent sequence: Enter the store, browse models on the shoe wall, pick a style that catches your eye, and ask the salesperson to bring you a size 9 1/2 in oxblood red to try on.

But Kizik, the self-described “hands-free” shoe brand, recently opened its first brick-and-mortar store, and—as befits a brand that’s a palindrome—it’s running the shoe-shopping sequence in the reverse order.

The store, by The Lionesque Group, an MG2 Studio, is in the Fashion Place mall near Salt Lake City, about 30 miles from Kizik’s headquarters in Lindon, Utah. A corner location that’s aquarium-like with two frameless glass storefront windows, the store features a floor-to-ceiling digital screen that plays the oddly mesmerizing moment of feet slipping into the shoes.

Keep reading here.—AAN

There are a lot of bad marketing tips out there. These aren’t those.

Back to the basics: This guide runs through the tried-and-true approaches to SEO even when, well, the whole industry is shifting under foot.

Search party: Read up on the API update from Meta, which will integrate Instagram search results into the app’s marketing API, and what that will mean for brands.

Short and sweet: The basics on short-form video and how you can leverage it.

Catch up on a few Marketing Brew stories you might have missed.

• Peloton unveils a rebrand that invites users to come one, come all
• Publicis is buying into the AI hype—literally
• How Bob Pittman’s marketing podcast helps him as a leader