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The Future of Shopping? AI + Actual Humans.
AI has changed how consumers shop by speeding up research. But one thing hasn’t changed: shoppers still trust people more than AI.
Levanta’s new Affiliate 3.0 Consumer Report reveals a major shift in how shoppers blend AI tools with human influence. Consumers use AI to explore options, but when it comes time to buy, they still turn to creators, communities, and real experiences to validate their decisions.
The data shows:
Only 10% of shoppers buy through AI-recommended links
87% discover products through creators, blogs, or communities they trust
Human sources like reviews and creators rank higher in trust than AI recommendations
The most effective brands are combining AI discovery with authentic human influence to drive measurable conversions.
Affiliate marketing isn’t being replaced by AI, it’s being amplified by it.
Every year, Meta Ads "changes".
Based on what actually worked (and broke) in 2025, Meta is pushing ads toward more AI automation, less manual control, and heavier reliance on creative, data quality, and signals.
Not because Meta wants to annoy advertisers but because the old way of running ads simply doesn’t scale anymore.
Below are my top predictions for Meta Ads in 2026, based on platform updates, account-level results, and where Meta’s incentives are heading next.
No crystal ball. Just patterns I see.
More Creative Ad Testing
Meta’s AI runs on signals.
In 2026, creative is the strongest signal you control.
That means:
more ad variations
more formats (video, statics, UGC, hybrid)
more angles tested continuously
The “one campaign” shortcut didn’t age well in 2025 and it won’t magically work in 2026.
What works instead:
steady creative production
clear roles for campaigns (testing, scaling, retargeting)
fewer tweaks, more creative rotation
Meta’s AI can find the audience.
Your job is to give it something worth showing.
Read more about signals here: DAS #64 - How the Meta Ads Algorithm Signal Actually Works
Less Control, More Automation
Meta is moving in one direction, more decisions handled by AI, fewer by humans.
In 2026, expect:
simpler campaign setup
more automated optimizations
fewer visible levers in Ads Manager
Some controls will still exist and many will still need to be turned off.
In practice, this means less micromanagement, more trust in the system, and more responsibility for your inputs.
You’ll control what you feed the algorithm.
Meta will control how it delivers.
Tracking Keeps Evolving
If the last few years proved anything, it’s that tracking is never finished.
In 2026, expect further changes around:
first-party data usage
server-side tracking
how events are connected across devices and sessions
Pixel and CAPI aren’t going away but how they work together will keep evolving.
You don’t need perfect tracking.
You need reliable, consistent tracking.
If Meta can trust your data, it can optimize.
If it can’t, no AI update will fix that.
Attribution Becomes Multi-Touch
As tracking evolves and privacy tightens, last-click attribution keeps losing relevance.
In 2026, expect:
wider rollout of multi-touch attribution models
better visibility across devices and platforms
We go from:
“Which ad got the sale?” to: “Which touchpoints helped create the sale?”
Similar to how Google Ads already works.
That means more credit for assistive ads and better understanding of the full customer journey.
Smarter attribution leads to smarter budget decisions.
New Metrics in Ads Manager
If Meta pushes for better tracking, better attribution, and stronger signals, then metrics have to evolve too.
As a marketer, this is what I want to see natively:
CAC
LTV
new vs. repeat purchases
clearer separation between acquisition and retention
more business context, less vanity
Will we get all of this in 2026? Probably not.
But I do expect incremental improvements:
more native business-oriented metrics
better purchase breakdowns
less emphasis on vanity metrics
Meta measures ad performance.
You measure business performance.
Conclusion
2026 won’t bring a single “game-changing” Meta Ads update.
It will bring more change, more automation, and less control.
Recap:
More creatives.
Less manual tweaking.
Evolving tracking.
Messy attribution.
Metrics that still lag behind real business needs.
None of this is new.
The brands that win won’t be the ones chasing features or updates.
They’ll be the ones who adapt faster, test continuously, and understand their business numbers beyond what Ads Manager shows them.
Meta will keep changing the engine.
Your job stays the same.
Adapt or get left behind.
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