Weekly Marketing Round-Up (8–12 September 2025)

Illustration of a female marketer at her desk with Google AI Mode search results, PPC dashboards, and a glowing global map in the background.

So, what’s new in marketing this week? The big theme is the latest AI Marketing Update, as Google pushes AI deeper into both Search and Ads, making it one of the most important AI-search stories to watch. We also saw new reporting features roll out for Demand Gen, giving advertisers better clarity on performance. On the brand side, CEOs are putting more pressure on marketing to prove its role in growth and accountability. Here are the highlights and the suggested actions to carry out so you can adapt quickly.

Photo-realistic illustration of a glowing globe highlighting India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, and Brazil, with digital AI and search icons representing Google AI Mode expanding beyond English.

1) Google AI Mode expands beyond English

What happened: Google’s AI Mode now supports Hindi, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Brazilian Portuguese. That widens the audience for conversational search experiences and increases the chance your content and ads will be surfaced in AI-led answers in more markets.
Suggested actions to carry out

  • Update your international content and schema in supported languages. Prioritise pages that answer questions clearly and cite sources.

  • Map priority markets to AI-ready assets. If you are active in those languages, align PPC and SEO messages so both benefit from AI Mode exposure.

  • Track impressions and queries by locale to spot early AI Mode lift. For measurement support, see your Marketing Metrics Hub.

2) Five AI-search stories shaping September

What happened: Search Engine Land’s monthly briefing highlighted key AI-search shifts this month, including the pace of AI Mode adoption, how AI answers are changing click behaviour, and the growing role of answer-engine optimisation.
Suggested actions to carry out

  • Refresh your “answer-first” content. Lead with the plain-language answer, then add depth, sources, and structured data.

  • Add an internal process to monitor how your brand appears in AI answers and Overviews. Record citations and missing links.

  • Keep budget flexible. As AI answers reduce some clicks, you may need to lean harder on PPC to hold qualified demand. If you need campaign control and ROI clarity, our PPC Management page explains how we approach this.

3) Google adds YouTube breakdowns for Demand Gen campaigns

What happened: Advertisers running Demand Gen can now see YouTube breakdowns, making it easier to understand which YouTube surfaces and creatives are pulling their weight. It’s a small but useful step toward clearer reporting.
Suggested actions to carry out

  • Split creative and placements in your reports. Compare Shorts vs in-feed vs Watch Next to focus spend where attention converts.

  • Build a simple test plan: one hypothesis per week, clear KPI, and hold-out where possible. Log results in your Marketing Metrics Hub to keep learning centralised.

  • Tie insights back to ROAS and CPA to defend spend with stakeholders. If you need help tuning budgets, see PPC Management.

4) Google’s retail guidance for the holidays: AI-powered, value-minded shoppers

What happened: Google shared holiday guidance noting more deliberate shoppers, longer consideration windows, and the need to meet value-seeking behaviour with AI-powered formats and personalisation.
Suggested actions to carry out

  • Build value messaging into ad copy and landing pages now. Promote bundles, loyalty, and returns.

  • Use AI-assisted creative and Performance Max feed hygiene to surface the right products at the right time.

  • Extend attribution windows and align remarketing cadence to three-month shopping cycles. Track assisted conversions in your Marketing Metrics Hub.

5) AI Max for Search expands availability (beta)

What happened: Google announced that AI Max is now available to all advertisers globally in beta across Google Ads, Editor, SA360 and the Ads API. AI Max promises a one-click way to apply Google AI across Search campaigns.
Suggested actions to carry out

  • Pilot AI Max in a contained test. Ring-fence budget, define guardrails, and compare to a well-tuned manual or portfolio strategy.

  • Watch query quality and conversion paths. Keep negative lists, brand controls, and budget caps in place.

  • Report outcomes at the business metric level (profit contribution, lead quality), not just CPC. For governance and ROI tracking, see PPC Management.

6) CEOs want harder links between marketing and growth

What happened: Marketing Week reported that CEOs expect tighter alignment between marketing activity, measurable growth, and clear accountability. With AI making execution faster, leaders want sharper strategy and proof of impact.


Suggested actions to carry out

  • Tie every major campaign to a revenue or pipeline target. Set interim leading indicators you can influence weekly.

  • Publish a simple scorecard: cost per lead, cost per order, contribution margin, and retention signals.

  • Build a joint “board view” with finance and sales so marketing impact is visible and credible.

The common thread this week is visibility with control. AI is widening reach through new languages and automation, but the onus is on marketers to keep sight of performance drivers. Focus on answer-ready content for AI Mode, smarter Demand Gen reporting, value-led retail messaging, and governance for AI Max. Link it all to business outcomes and you’ll be on firm ground.

Sources:

Author

Hope Varnes is a Chartere Marketer with over 15 years experience in digital marketing. She is specialises in Google Ads, PPC, content marketing, and marketing strategy. She has a Master’s in Digital Marketing and eCommerce and is Google Certified. She is an expert in leveraging digital platforms to drive brand awareness, lead generation, and revenue growth.