Last month, I heard an ad on a podcast for 1-800-Flowers.com. It reminded me that Valentine’s Day was coming up. I didn’t do anything about it – I just filed it away mentally. A day later, I’m streaming a show on Peacock, and there’s a 1-800-Flowers.com ad. Again, a reminder. I still hadn’t acted, but the brand had entered my head twice in a short period.
Then I’m reading an article online, and a 1-800-Flowers.com ad pops up – this time with 30% off. That’s when I ordered roses for my wife.
That sequence, podcast to CTV to display, isn’t an accident. It’s how digital marketing works now. And it illustrates something bigger happening across the industry: audiences are fragmented across platforms, and the way we reach them has essentially changed.
Search is Happening to Everything Everywhere All at Once
For years, search meant “Google it.” If you wanted to be found, you optimized for Google. That’s still important, but it’s no longer the whole story.
Gartner predicts that by the end of 2026, up to 25% of traditional search volume will shift to AI and virtual agents. People are asking ChatGPT, CoPilot, and Gemini the questions they used to type into Google. And honestly? I’m seeing this in my own behavior too. When I ask Siri to look something up, it uses ChatGPT, or when I Google, it now uses Gemini to display my results.
But it’s not just AI. TikTok and Instagram Reels have become search engines, especially for younger audiences. Today, 41% of U.S. consumers have used TikTok for search – and that number skews even higher for Gen Z. They’re not searching for products or services the way we used to. They’re looking for “how do I fix this,” “what’s the best way to,” “show me how people are using…” And they’re finding those answers in short-form video, not text results.
This means visibility isn’t about ranking on a single platform anymore. It’s about showing up where your audience is looking, and that might be in an AI-generated summary, a TikTok tutorial, or an Instagram Reel, not a traditional search results page.
Video Killed a Social Media Star?
Video isn’t just part of the mix anymore. It’s becoming the default format across digital advertising. Connected TV (CTV) and streaming video are growing fast. U.S. CTV ad spending hit over $33 billion in 2025 and is projected to surpass traditional TV by 2028. Recent data mentions that YouTube is watched over 1 billion hours daily on TVs. That’s not “online video,” that’s living room viewing on big screens.
But CTV isn’t just traditional TV ads on a different screen. Interactive formats are taking off. QR code usage in CTV ads is growing. People are actually pulling out their phones to engage while watching TV.
Meanwhile, on Meta, 90% of inventory is now vertical. The 9:16 format isn’t optional anymore, it’s essential. TikTok continues to prioritize interactive ads and branded effects. YouTube is a hybrid of social video and streaming CTV, and the same video asset won’t perform equally well across all these environments. What works as a 15-second vertical Reel doesn’t work as a 30-second CTV spot. What drives engagement on TikTok doesn’t necessarily translate to YouTube. Video is everywhere, but each platform has its own context, format requirements, and viewer expectations.
Omnichannel Is No Longer Optional
With all this breakup, search happening across multiple platforms, video behaving differently everywhere, the temptation might be to pick one or two platforms and go all in. But data shows that’s not the best way forward. It’s all about Omnichannel, which is an integrated experience across every way your audience could possibly interact with you, including physical locations, websites, digital advertising, social media, billboards, TV, print mailers, mobile apps, and phones.
Advertisers are now including CTV in their omnichannel strategies, and they’re seeing a boost in overall campaign performance. That’s not just correlation, it’s because different platforms serve different roles in how people find you, think about you, and eventually take action.
Each platform plays a different role in that journey. Google and YouTube are still where people go when they’re actively looking for something like a solution, a service, or an answer. Meta is where people discover things they weren’t looking for yet, which makes it powerful for building awareness. TikTok does something similar but skews younger and moves faster. CTV gives you the credibility of a TV spot in a space where people are actually paying attention. And audio platforms, like Spotify and podcast networks, reach people through voices they already trust.
The key isn’t being everywhere. It’s understanding what each platform does best and how they work together. A potential customer might discover you on Instagram, hear your ad on Spotify while at the gym, see your CTV ad while streaming their favorite TV show, and finally convert through a Google search. If you’re only visible in one of those moments, you’re missing the full journey.
This is why the platforms themselves are changing how they work. Meta’s AI-powered update now rewards running fewer campaigns with more creative variety rather than creating a new campaign for every audience. Google is leaning into Performance Max and AI-powered search. The platforms know people are spread out, so they’re building tools to help advertisers reach them wherever they are.
None of this is getting simpler. Search is happening in more places. Video lives everywhere but behaves differently depending on where it shows up. And reaching people effectively means understanding how all these platforms work together, not treating them as separate silos.
The good news? This fragmentation creates opportunity. The brands and organizations that understand where their audiences are looking, how they’re watching, and why each platform plays a distinct role are the ones that will break through.
It’s a lot to keep up with. But that’s also what makes this work interesting.
By the way, the roses arrived on time and looked beautiful. Sometimes the system works exactly as it should.
