The most disruptive changes in artificial intelligence (AI) right now aren’t technological— they are behavioral. Inspiration, discovery, and conversions are collapsing into single AI interfaces.
New research shows that 80% of Google searches now end without a click due to AI overviews, and one third of U.S. adults discover brands via AI agents rather than traditional search. It’s a paradigm shift, and simply adopting new tools isn’t enough.
The winning playbook for 2026 requires a fundamental strategic shift. Brands must meet people where attention truly lies, maintain that attention amid distractions, and seize high intent moments efficiently. In other words, expect to hear a lot more about channel diversification, re-engagement strategies, and seasonal precision. Let’s dive in.
Minding the Gap: Diversifying for Attention
The attention gap is widening. Markers still over-index spend on walled gardens, but users are actively trying to leave them. People are shifting toward curated mobile experience and away from the noise of social feeds. Indeed, 53% of app users say they want to spend less time on social media.
For users aged 18 to 34, that number is a staggering 63%. While it’s undeniable that phones have become our primary screens, only 32% of mobile app time is spent on Meta and Google-owned platforms. The majority of attention lives in the independent app ecosystem, spread across 3+ million apps.
Go Where the Consumer Is
As such, marketers who diversify beyond the duopoly see a 48% increase in ROAS on average. Consumer apps enjoy a 116% increase. How is that possible? The AI powering ad decisioning is ever-evolving. It’s nothing new a marketer must adopt, but the decision to trust the algorithms and the strategy to cast a broader, contextually efficient net, is what’s key.
The lesson? Stop chasing users where they were and start finding them where they are. Diversification into the independent app ecosystem isn’t just about reach; it’s about resilience. It protects your growth model from the volatility of AI-disrupted search algorithms and social feeds.
For the lucky few, the first impression might seem like enough. However, re-engagement is essential, both to drive the initial conversion and to protect lifetime value potential. Simply put, acquisition without retention is financial leakage.
Re-engagement as Asset Protection
During the consideration phase— and even for the critical few days after conversion— loyalty is fragile. If you don’t intervene early, an AI agent will happily suggest a competitor. In verticals like gaming or dating, which BCG identifies as “loyalty challenged,” the transactional nature of the user to brand relationship is even more pronounced. Indeed, 55% of gaming users never return after the first session. For non-gaming apps, two third of users drop off within just three days of install.
As such, speed to re-engage is vital. If a non-paying user is inactive for three days, there is only a 35% chance they will ever return organically. For paying users, return rates drop below one third after six days. Fortunately, these campaigns don’t need to bleed out 70% or more of their potential. Re-engagement campaigns generate nearly 900% higher ROAS at a quarter of the CPA of UA campaigns.
The solution? Shift your mindset from acquisition marketing to asset protection. First, implement proactive re-engagement before the day three cliff. Waiting for day seven is too late — the asset has already depreciated. Second, lean into AI-powered churn prediction and re-engagement. After all, a user that starts to disengage around day 47 still has that three-day window of opportunity to re-engage. Seize those moments and re-engage those users as the moments arise; don’t rely on static messaging sequencing flows to limit the fluidity of your retention efforts.
Winning with Seasonal Precision
While re-engagement efforts must be fluid, acquisition pushes must be surgical and specific to the vertical. Industry headlines might focus on how brands fared over the holidays, the Super Bowl or the Olympics, but there are countless other moments that offer significant ROAS multipliers at a much lower cost of entry.
Today, savvy marketers are looking at both peak seasons specific to their industries as well as broader trends that influence how far their dollar can stretch. For instance, Q1 offers a 22% increase in impressions per dollar and a 25% increase in conversions relative to the holiday rush. At the same time, user intent is at a high for numerous verticals, such as investing, fitness, and productivity apps. The combination is a performance marketer’s dream.
These moments exist for every vertical. The key is to be bold and bid aggressively when user intent is high. Fortunately, once you’ve embraced channel diversification, finding these moments becomes easier. What might be a competitive season for your category could align with a lower CPM window in the content where your future users are spending their time. So, shift the goal. Don’t be afraid to double down when others pull back. You could be unlocking a moment that will drastically improve your ROI.
Relationships and the Revolution
AI is changing how users find you, and you must change how you garner attention, foster loyalty, and increase lifetime value in an increasingly fragmented, distracted, and competitive ecosystem. Channel diversification finds users in new contexts, re-engagement protects the investment, and seasonal precision maximizes the ROI.
Finding people where they truly are, re-engaging them before they’re pulled away, and seizing seasonality efficiencies will be your key to thriving in 2026. While tech evolves and journeys shift, relationships endure.
Beth Berger oversees strategic initiatives and growth for the core advertising business, bringing deep experience reshaping brands and building commercial models for high-growth tech companies. Previously, she served as VP & GM at Bumble Inc., leading the revitalization of Bumble BFF and the global launch of its standalone app, which won Google Play’s “User Choice App of the Year: Best for Fun” in 2023. She was also CEO of Exym, a behavioral health software company, guiding the business through a successful merger with KCare, part of Radicle Health, in 2021. Earlier in her career, Beth held leadership roles at Google, including Global Product Lead for the mobile app ads suite, where she launched the company’s first fully machine-learning-driven app install solution.
