• Google Chrome will require HTTPS for all websites beginning in 2026.
• A new Google Analytics feature makes your brand marketing easier.
• Fresh research paints a dire picture: Most marketers are failing with AI.
• Can Google finally decipher the buyer journey? Either way, it’s trying.

Google to Enforce HTTPS Requirement Beginning 2026

Not the most exciting topic in digital marketing, but one that could prove indispensable to your success, is the future of secure encryption. Since 2017, browsers, including Google Chrome, have ratcheted up the pressure on websites without secure HTTPS encryption by flagging them as potentially dangerous to users.

Now, Google is taking the next step. Its browser will enforce HTTPS as a requirement, changing the browser’s default behavior to block websites without HTTPS starting in October 2026. While it may be possible for users to change this setting, don’t count on it – many users never adjust their software’s default settings.

What does it mean? If your customers are ordering or scheduling through your website, you probably already have HTTPS. However, there are many catalog and portfolio websites that lack this level of security. Update the security certification on all of your branded websites to avoid the new “warn-by-default” behavior in Chrome.

New “Branded Queries” Filter Helps You Monitor Your Brand Marketing

“Branded queries” are the search queries that match some part of a company’s name or the name of one of its offerings. When branded queries rise, it indicates that more people know about you. Your past customers may be planning to use you again, and prospective customers might be hearing about you from friends or family.

If you are using Google Analytics for your website, it’s now easier than ever to recognize these events with the new branded queries filter. This filter enables you to see branded queries at a glance and understand just what percentage of your traffic comes from those queries, helping you pinpoint a warm and engaged audience.

What does it mean? The more familiar people are with your brand, the more loyal they’re likely to be. Filtering branded traffic makes it easier to optimize your digital marketing and appeal to people who already know who you are. Event-driven marketing, loyalty programs, and more just became easier to implement.

82% of Marketing Teams “Failing” at AI Adoption, Says New Research

We warned them. “Automation without human judgment doesn’t just fail. It compounds failure faster than ever before,” is the verdict by Optimove after they commissioned a recent Forrester report to determine just what is going wrong with AI adoption in digital marketing. The picture isn’t pretty.

The majority of marketers surveyed – 80% — expect that AI will improve everything from their productivity to their conversion metrics. But about 40% admit that they are still in the early stages of figuring out what it can do for them, if anything. And the horror stories from those who’ve gone too far, too fast, continue to mount.

What does it mean? When it comes to artificial intelligence in digital marketing, businesses of all sizes need to be cautious of unintended consequences. Not every new tool is worth it or adds value – an increasing number are “vibe coded” disasters. A full-service marketing agency can help you decide what’s best for you.

Google’s New Advertising Model Aspires to Take the Whole Buyer Journey into Account

If there’s one challenge every marketer can agree on, it’s this: mapping out the buyer journey is complicated.

The buyer journey refers to all of the different steps someone might go to before they make a purchase. It has never been more complex, because potential customers have countless websites, videos, social platforms, and podcasts that could ultimately influence their buying decision, not to mention touch-points in the real world.

Into this mess steps Google, preparing a new bidding model for search advertising it calls “Journey Aware Bidding.” This new model will influence targeting and the cost of bidding on ads in the Google ecosystem. Should it work, it will have the ambitious goal of factoring in “non-biddable” stages of the journey.

What does it mean? Let’s give an example: if you have a report prospects can download, that “non-biddable” conversion could factor into the price of your Google ads and potentially reduce them. While optimizing your bid, the system will be able to recognize leads whose past behavior makes them likely to buy.

While the system is currently in beta, you can start getting ready for its future impact right now:

• Map out the entire customer journey, from the lead submission step to the ultimate purchase.
• Identify the conversion goals of each touch-point and ensure they’re reflected in your analytics.

As digital marketing evolves, New York Ave is the marketing agency you can trust to help you chart your course. Contact us today.