You almost definitely use a web browser everyday, whether it’s Chrome (if you’re like moi), Firefox (if you’re ancient) or Microsoft Edge (if you’re vanilla). But now, new-age AI-fuelled browsers like SigmaOS and Arc are eating away at the decades-old ecosystem we’ve come to know - and they’re taking the URL bar with them. As the age of webpage surfing gets eclipsed by the era of AI-generated bullet point summaries, how can digital marketers thrive without getting overshadowed?

- Devin Pike, Guest Editor 💜

(btw - If you’re already using Claude Code or Cowork daily, scroll on by bc this isn’t for you)

But if you’ve just dabbled in using AI, maybe you’re using ChatGPT to help you look up recipes, write basic emails, or attempt to diagnose that insect bite you just got, stay with me for a sec.

When it comes to AI, there’s a lot of “bro you’re so behind” messaging out there. When, in reality, within just a couple hours, you can learn how to use AI better than 95% of people you know. And this why we put together the Beginner’s Guide to Claude AI course.

It’s a 4-week cohort where you learn how to go from using AI as a glorified Google to getting it to actually help you with the sh*tty admin (life or work) you hate doing every day.

We kick off on 18 May, so if you want to go from feeling behind to using AI to make your life better, this is for you 👇

Well, last Thursday, Canvas parent company, Instructure, was hacked. Students were locked out, but that’s not the worst of it. The people responsible apparently stole billions of messages and accessed more than 275 million individuals’ data, according to the hacking group "ShinyHackers", who sought to extort the company.

They warned that a failure to pay could result in the release of "several billions of private messages among students and teachers”, messages that could include "medical circumstances, accessibility accommodations & even sexual assault allegations”, giving Infrastructure until May 12 to respond and "negotiate a settlement" before the hackers leaked the information. It’s unclear how the company negotiated, but Canva is now up and running and no personal information was leaked.

However, the incident is being called the biggest student data leak in history, and highlights the danger of centralising the educational and personal data of millions of students in a single service.

Okay next - Bumble is killing the swipe? Crazy news.

The problematic (imo) feature that has been the backbone of equally problematic apps is being ditched (along with other core features) and making a pivot towards… yup, you guessed it: AI-driven matchmaking.

I literally wrote about this the other day, how AI is changing the face of online dating, and each piece of news just makes me so happy I’m not in the trenches (praise the lord).

To be fair, Bumble has been struggling with dating app fatigue and competition from Tinder and Hinge, so a “product overhaul” is now in the works, founder and CEO Whitney Wolfe Herd announced Wednesday on The Axios Show.

There's also a general consensus that the swipe has degraded love lives all over the world, so I wonder what the future looks like then, without it.

The next thing AI is also changing, is kids' toys. Which is kind of a surprise headline for me. Because, like, how?

This article on arstechnica.com highlights how the main antagonist in the upcoming Toy Story 5 is a green, frog-shaped kids' tablet named Lilypad, and that's it’s easy to see why Pixar would choose a device as the new villain for the toy protagonists. But as writer Sophie Charara explains, "if Pixar had its ear to the ground, it might have used an AI kids’ toy instead”.

These toys come often in the form of plushies or kid friendly “robots” – and they’re freaking everywhere in 2026. In October 2025, there were over 1,500 AI toy companies registered in China, and Huawei’s Smart HanHan plush toy sold 10,000 units in China in its first week.

But they're not without their serious flaws. Some, like FoloToy’s Kumma bear, are powered by OpenAI’s GPT-4o. This same bear gave instructions on how to light a match, find a knife, and discussed sex and drugs. On top of that, Alilo’s Smart AI bunny talked about leather floggers and “impact play”, while Miriat’s Miiloo toy spouted Chinese Communist Party talking points.

All definitely very important things for children as young as 3 - the target market for many of these toys - to be learning about...

-Sophie Randell, Writer

Like a utility, a predictable, invisible piece of hardware that just worked without having to think too much about it. Or about it at all.

You opened Firefox (yes, I’m old), Safari or Chrome, typed in a URL, and landed at your desired destination. As marketers, our job was to optimise for that destination, always obsessing over landing pages, SEO, and clicks.

But the Web War III era has officially arrived, and it’s turning the toaster into a high-tech curator. Because the browser is becoming an agent. And if you’re still marketing like it’s 2018, you’re about to find yourself locked outside - with no toaster, and no bread.

We’ve spent years, TOO MANY years, talking about the death of the cookie. But we haven't spent enough time talking about the death of the URL bar. New-age browsers like Arc, SigmaOS, and even the AI-integrated versions of Brave aren't interested in just taking you to a site. They want to interact with the site for you.

When a browser summarises your 2,000-word deep dive into a three-bullet point TLDR before the user even scrolls, the traditional value exchange of the web breaks. If the user gets the value without the visit, where does that leave our conversion metrics? We are moving from an era of destination marketing to an era of interface marketing

Look at what Arc is doing with live folders and "browse for me" tools. This is where it gets spicy for creators and marketers.

Imagine you run a fashion brand or a tech newsletter. Traditionally, you pray the user remembers to click your bookmark or open your email. With Arc’s Live Folders, the browser can automatically pull updates from your site and surface them in a sidebar folder without the user ever hitting refresh. I mean… come on. It's invaluable.

It’s frictionless, yes. It’s always on, sure. But it also means the browser is now the one deciding what part of your content is worth seeing. We’re now competing for a spot in the browser’s automated workflow, not just other brands in the feed. The browser is becoming a permanent mini-app for your brand, and it seems if your site isn’t structured to be read by these agents, you simply won't even exist in the user's sidebar.

At my company, we talk about attention as the ultimate currency. The Web War is essentially a battle for who gets to hold the wallet.

If the browser becomes the primary interface, the aesthetic of the website matters less than the portability of the data. We’re entering the age of BEO (Browser Engine Optimization). This is all about whether an AI agent easily extract a brand's unique value and present it in a sidebar.

And it’s hungry for the control we used to have. We can’t stop the Web War, but we can ensure our brands are the ones the new gatekeepers actually want to let in.

The click is evolving into a handshake between your data and the user’s AI. Are you ready to play?

-Sophie Randell, Writer

The sound is Positive by Jamback, a restlessly energetic track built on a gritty bassline and a bubbling synth sample that's been turning heads all summer. The internet heard it, felt absolutely nothing positive about their finances and, naturally, got to work.

The format is simple: bad news for my wallet, and then the culprit. That's it!

My favourites so far:

How you can jump on this trend

Use the sound over a photo or video and put your sentence on screen. "Bad news for my wallet, [blank]"

A few ideas to get you started

-abdel khalil, brand & marketing exec

😲WTF
😂Yap’s funniest home videos: What kind of engine is this?
❤How wholesome
✨Daily inspo: Be limitless.
😊Soooo satisfying: Relaxing paint
🎧Soooo tingly
🍝What you should make for dinner tonight: Crispy Chicken Strips

Hey Sara!

I know you're probably wanting to find clients ASAP, so it's tempting to create content with a strong CTA. But, if you're just building your audience, you need to give people a reason to follow you.

Depending on your audience, you need to decide what kind of content to create. Of course, this will depend on the platform(s) you are trying to grow on. You will likely want to focus on educational or entertaining content that's shareable. The purpose is to get attention, build your audience, and get your brand out there.

Once you've got a solid audience, you can begin asking them to do stuff like sign up for your email list or attend a webinar. But if you try to do this too soon, people will very quickly tune you out!

- Charlotte Ellis, Editor ♡

We get it. Creating content that does numbers is harder than it looks. But doing those big numbers is the fastest way to grow your brand. So if you’re tired of throwing sh*t at the wall and seeing what sticks, you’re in luck. Because making our clients go viral is kinda what we do every single day.