iPX Austin 2026

David A. Yovanno, impact.com CEO, opens iPX 2026 by mapping the shift from the search era to the answer era, from clicks to recommendations, from brand-led discovery to community-led decisions, and makes the case for commerce partnerships as the operating system of growth.

David A. Yovanno, impact.com CEO, reveals why traditional performance marketing faces an existential crisis, with customer acquisition costs rising 200% while consumers actively avoid brand messaging. Despite partnerships delivering superior ROI, they receive only 2% of the $600 billion spent on traditional channels like paid search and social media. Through analysis of consumer evolution from 2005 to 2025, Yovanno demonstrates how purchasing decisions shifted from brand-led to community-led, with 89% trusting personal recommendations over advertising.