- Universal Ads’ Adam Royle: Koddi Partnership Brings CTV to Commerce Buyers ‘Where They are Working Today’Connected TV buying, planning, and measurement integration into commerce platforms eliminates traditional barriers that prevented retail media advertisers from accessing television inventory through familiar workflows. “This week, Universal Ads and ad tech company Koddi announced ... read more
- Beet@20: Lou Paskalis Says AI will Rewrite Marketing’s PlaybookTwenty years ago, Beet.TV pressed record at Google’s campus in Mountain View and quietly began documenting what would become a two-decade sprint through the media industry’s identity crisis, reinvention and occasional existential spiral. Fast forward ... read more
- Upfronts Day One: Publishers Jostle For Position As Performance DriversAnd that’s a wrap on Day One of upfronts 2026! AdExchanger Senior Editors Alyssa Boyle and Victoria McNally traversed the island of Manhattan on Monday to scope out upfront presentations by NBCUniversal, Fox and Amazon. The ... read more
- Viant Sees A Growth Wave Coming, But First Marketers Must Really Ditch Walled Garden Ad TechViant reported Q1 2026 earnings on Monday, with its DSP revenue growing by 18% to $50.3 million. The company’s total net loss in the quarter shrank from $3.3 million a year ago to $2.2 million. ... read more
- TelevisaUnivision’s Upfront Pitch To Advertisers: ‘We Get Hispanics’Joining a television broadcaster as head of ad sales just weeks before its annual upfronts presentation is certainly a tall order. But that’s just what John Kozack did. Kozack unexpectedly took over ad sales at ... read more
- Program 'Attention'? What About Media Buyers 'Attention'?How much do those premium, scripted entertainment shows really factor into media-buying decisions? They seem to need much more focus - everywhere. ... read more
- OpenAI Launches AI Services Outsourcing CompanyThe new business made possible with the acquisition of Tomoro, an applied AI consulting and engineering firm that helps enterprises turn AI into operational advantage, also announced today. The acquisition will bring 150 experienced engineers ... read more
- Fox Upfront: More Unscripted, 'Baywatch' Reboot Coming MidseasonNew shows for this season have already inked some upfront deals and sponsorship. " 'Baywatch" has been an incredibly strong performer in the ad community," says Katrina Cukaj, Fox EVP of entertainment ad sales. ... read more
- Many Marketers Boost Their Upfront TV Buying As Budgets Hold SteadyMost marketers expect their 2026 budgets will increase or stay the same, according to a survey by iSpot, Martech Cube reports. Of those polled, 31.5% expect to boost their spending, while 41.5% will hold steady. ... read more
- California County Sues Meta For Allegedly Profiting From Scam AdsSanta Clara County, California has sued Meta Platforms, accusing it of tolerating fraudulent advertising on a global basis, Reuters reports. The suit filed on Monday alleges that Meta profited from Facebook and Instagram ads promoting ... read more
- From ‘Rank Me’ To ‘Trust Me’: How AI Is Rewriting The Rules Of DiscoveryThe mass adoption of LLMs is shifting internet search for consumers from following blue links to synthesized answers from LLMs. Zero click is here. As generative engines and personal AI agents begin searching, comparing and ... read more
- New NBC 'Rockford,' Fox 'Stewie' Spinoff Enliven Monday UpfrontsThe new "Rockford," slated to premiere next January and starring David Boreanaz, was one of four new scripted shows - two dramas and two comedies - announced by NBC for next season. ... read more
- Are Ad Networks Cool Again?; Oil Costs Are Seeping Into Grocery AislesAgents of Confusion Marketers and publishers are testing agentic solutions for media buying. But it’s unclear whether agents will simplify or further obscure the programmatic supply chain. Omnicom CEO John Wren told investors last week ... read more
- On Neutral Ground: Why Content Licensing Needs Independent Settlement And Verifiable PaymentsThe content licensing economy has arrived faster than anyone expected. Microsoft and Amazon have both entered the marketplace business. Venture-backed startups like TollBit and ProRata have built infrastructure for publishers to license their content to ... read more
- Why Duluth trusts AI agents with bidding, but not brand storytellingSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify There seems to be two schools of thought when it comes to agentic media buying. There are those who want to be at the so-called cutting edge, embedding AI agents ... read more
- OpenAI makes it easier to run shopping ads in ChatGPTOpenAI is making it easier for e-commerce companies to run ads on ChatGPT, adding automation that lets retailers generate ads directly from their product catalogues rather than building them one by one. To be clear, ... read more
- How GameStop went from struggling retailer to eBay bidderThis story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail. Earlier this month, GameStop offered to buy eBay for about $55.5 billion. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen, who previously led pet marketplace Chewy, told The Wall Street Journal ... read more
- Amazon positions live sports portfolio as leverage to pry open upfront dollarsStreaming companies have spent years chiseling their way into the upfront market. Few have done so as aggressively as Amazon, which is using the annual negotiation season as a beachhead for both its ad tech ... read more
- Ad Tech Briefing: Accountability in adland’s agentic era?During the inaugural annual general meeting for The Agentic Advertising Organization, dubbed The Foundry, last week, attendees debated an awkward talking point for the advertising industry’s AI ambitions. For all the enthusiasm around “agentic” systems, ... read more
- Morse Steps Down At 'Atlanta Journal-Constitution'Andrew Morse is stepping aside as head of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the publication has achieved only modest results by killing its print edition and going all-digital, Nieman Lab reports The AJC, one of two ... read more
- Byron Allen's Firm Is Buying BuzzFeed For $120MByron Allen’s Allen Family Digital is buying a 52% stake in BuzzFeed for $120 million, The New York Times reports. Allen, a comedian turned entrepreneur, will become chief executive of BuzzFeed. He replaces Jonah Peretti, who ... read more
- Court Reinstates Online Shoppers' Privacy Suit Over 'Session Replay'A federal appellate court on Monday revived privacy claims by consumers who entered their names, billing information and other data at ecommerce websites that allegedly used "session replay" tracking code. ... read more
- Court Reinstates Shopper Privacy Suit Over 'Session Replay'A federal appellate court on Monday revived privacy claims by consumers who entered their names, billing information and other data at ecommerce websites that allegedly used "session replay" tracking code. ... read more
- CMOs Find AI Helps Adapt To Lower BudgetsGartner's spending survey shows how CMOs fund AI initiatives despite budget pressure and use the tech to support strategies. CMOs attribute the ability to do more with less to AI. ... read more
- Pinterest Recommendation Engine Update Aims For Enhanced Ad RelevancePinterest is looking to boost the relevance of its ad delivery system via a real-time context. The company is working to enhance its candidate generator, which measures users' offsite conversion history to inform ad delivery, ... read more
- TikTok Launches Ad-Free Subscription Option For U.K. UsersTikTok has begun rolling out an ad-free subscription option for accounts for users 18 years and up in the U.K. ... read more
- TV Advertising Finally Learned to Count Past Gross Ratings Points: WBD’s David PorterMIAMI — In an industry that still occasionally treats gross rating points like sacred scripture, David Porter, head of advertising research, data and insights at Warner Bros. Discovery, arrived with this suggestion: maybe it’s time ... read more
- IAS’s Lisa Utzschneider: Mastercard Partnership Demonstrates ‘200x Performance’ ROI for Brand SafetyMIAMI — Brand safety and suitability verification combined with transactional data creates measurable return on investment that far exceeds traditional media quality approaches, according to beta testing with major advertisers. “We’re layering our media quality ... read more
- Is Measurement the Missing Link for Pharma Brands Embracing CTV?MIAMI — For years, pharmaceutical advertisers watched from the sidelines as other industries rushed into connected television. The hesitation was understandable: older patient populations still glued to linear TV, murky measurement capabilities, and the ever-present ... read more
- How sports marketing is shifting from media buys to moment-based activationNikolaus Beier, svp of marketing services, Sportradar Capturing and commercializing the excitement and influence of memorable sporting moments is imperative for any brand that wants to connect with sports fans. Moving as quickly as the ... read more
- Texas Sues Netflix Over 'Surveillance,' 'Addictive' Design"Netflix sold subscriptions to its programming as an escape from Big Tech surveillance," Attorney General Ken Paxton alleges in a complaint filed Monday. ... read more
- MissionOne Media Bolsters New York Executive TeamMichael Piner has joined as the agency's first executive vice president-head of investments and partnerships. Also joining is Kelly McGowan in the new role of EVP-media planning. ... read more
- NBCUniversal Peacocked Its Ad Performance Prowess On its Upfront StageNBCU kicked off the 2026 upfront week with an original take on a not-so-original trend: ad performance. NBCU touted how it's tapping into modern marketing hot topics, such as sports and AI, to drive ad performance. ... read more
- Walled Garden Targeting Solved? Truthset CEO Talks Trade Desk Collaboration"Data-Rated Audiences" gives advertisers validated audiences based on human I.D.s just like walled gardens, and aims to provide publishers with higher yields. ... read more
- Chalamet, With Bad Bunny And Messi, Take Adidas FIFA Storytelling To The StreetThe irresistible five-minute film, which also features Jude Bellingham, Trinity Rodman, Zinedine Zidane and David Beckham, is racking up millions of views. ... read more
- Heineken Retains Dentsu For $550 Million Global Media AssignmentThe brewer also consolidated its creative agency roster and awarded Publicis Groupe a global production remit. ... read more
- Havas Media Net Creates B2B Role, Taps WPP's Gower To Fill It"B2B marketing today requires a more connected approach that reflects how decisions are actually made," says Kristin Gower, who joins from global client president at WPP. ... read more
- When AI Meets ABBA, The Future Of Truth May Be Synthetic PopAI allows media companies to preserve celebrities not as people, but as emotionally optimized memories. And audiences may actually prefer this. ... read more
- Amazon Dynamically Changes TV Ads To Personalize Content"Dynamic TV creative" is the first Amazon Ads capability to automatically personalize Interactive Video Ads on Prime Video series and films based on the viewer's shopping behavior. ... read more
- WPP Elevates Jenner, Heimann To Top Growth RolesThe roles are new and designed to drive the company's "single unified growth strategy" spelled out by CEO Cindy Rose earlier this year. ... read more
- If It Breeds (Chaos), It LeadsIn a first, Truth Social has taken the No. 2 slot (just behind Fox News) among right-wing news sites, thanks in large part to Trump's chaotic messaging about the war in Iran. ... read more
- NBC Upfront: New Prime-Time Shows, 'Outcome' ToolsAs part of its upfront presentation Monday, NBCU announced it will scale up its 'Performance Insights Hub,' its full-funnel outcome data platform for brands' media schedules, on all NBC linear TV and streaming platforms in ... read more
- Measurement Quality Through AccreditationThe accreditation process is comprised of two distinct parts: a pre-audit phase; and the audit itself, with actual accreditation being granted once voted on by audit committee members and their board. ... read more
- Penske Media Seeks To Measure Dark TrafficPenske Media Corporation is working with Ad-Shield to find new ways of measuring dark traffic from its direct channels, AdExchanger reports. Typically, these visitors use virtual private networks (VPNs) and ad blockers to limit their ... read more
- Show About Illegal Squatters Takes Up Residence On A&EAlmost under the radar, basic cable seems to have upped its game with a slew of addictive docu-reality series. ... read more
- ABC Claims FCC Has Violated Its First Amendment RightsABC has accused the Federal Communications Commission of violating its free speech rights, claiming the agency has had a “chilling effect” on free speech in its efforts to punish political content it opposed, The New York ... read more
- Trump Media Posts Q1 Net Loss Of $405.9MTrump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of Truth Social, reported a $405.9 million first-quarter net loss on $871,200 in revenue, CoinDesk reports. The loss, which is up from $31.7 million in the same ... read more
- Amazon’s Interactive CTV Ad Suits Now Includes Creative OptimizationAmazon Ads expects this year’s television upfronts to be an outcomes-focused affair. That may explain why the company preempted its Monday evening presentation by announcing the launch of a new ad product called Dynamic TV ... read more
- News Media Are Increasingly Focusing on CelebritiesLegacy news media are making celebrity proximity the centerpiece of their content strategy, according to an analysis by Jacobin. The result is that journalism looks more like an exercise in cozying up to the rich ... read more
- Remember The Metaverse? Now There's A Metaphorverse, Thanks To DirecTVThe week-long campaign will surgically target "upfront week" attendees across NYC via digital OOH, LED trucks and even on airplane seat-back screens. ... read more
- Marketers strain to juggle media budgets, AI and high expectations from CEOsMarketing budgets are all but flat, but chief marketing officers are being tasked with juggling investments marked for media, creative and AI on the same departmental balance sheet, according to Gartner. Advertisers currently spend 7.8% ... read more
- Is Agentic Commerce An Oasis Or Mirage?This week, I’m ruminating on the word mirage. It is a useful term for the ongoing debate over if and when agentic shopping – as in, people assigning agents the latitude and payment info to ... read more
- Penske Media Illuminates Dark Traffic To Find New RevenuePublishers are losing search traffic as consumers flock to generative AI answer engines. The trend is forcing pubs to get the most out of the traffic that still comes to their sites. But publishers are ... read more
- The Memeification Of Marketing; Yahoo’s $1.6 Billion Cash InfusionMarketers must become memelords now; Yahoo has incurred the wrath of Apollo; and AppLovin is going hybrid. The post The Memeification Of Marketing; Yahoo’s $1.6 Billion Cash Infusion appeared first on AdExchanger. ... read more
- Media Buying Briefing: Takeshi Sano is making the rounds for Dentsu — is it enough?Ending up your first six weeks as global CEO of an agency holding company that’s been struggling with a major retention of a global client is pretty solid. So it has been for Takeshi Sano, ... read more
- Inside Expedia’s year-long partnership with mega creator IShowSpeedAs creators of all sizes flood feeds and mega creators raise their prices, brands are looking for new ways to partner with major talent that’s long-term, far-reaching, and scalable. Expedia’s latest partnership with Darren Jason ... read more
- The case for and against agentic media buyingTo some, agentic media buying tools could fix some of programmatic advertising’s oldest headaches — ad-tech taxes, supply-chain murkiness, even the decline of the open web’s appeal and addressability. To others, it risks doing the ... read more
- ‘Google doesn’t care that it’s terrible’: Brand, agency execs air frustrations with The Trade Desk, Google’s Performance Max, Meta’s Advantage+Think transparency is hard to come by in programmatic advertising? Well, get a bunch of brand and agency executives in a room, and they’ll get super transparent about how opaque the digital ad market has ... read more
- Digiday+ Research: Marketers optimize GEO strategies amid the effects of zero-click searchThis is an excerpt from our Digiday+ Research report “The marketer’s guide to AI applications, agentic AI, AI search and GEO/AEO in 2026,” which explores how marketers are navigating the opportunities and challenges AI brings ... read more
- 'WKRP In Cincinnati' Is Back On The AirRadio stations in Cincinnati, northern Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio, have taken the call letters of the fictional station portrayed in the late '70s to early '80s sitcom. ... read more
- Brands Should Stop Chasing Clicks, Start Booking Memories: United’s Mary Rachelle StumpfAs Cannes Lions approaches, where every brand suddenly discovers it has a “bold new storytelling vision,” Mary Rachelle Stumpf, director of sales at Kinective Media by United Airlines, is offering a slightly inconvenient truth for ... read more
- Smartly’s Laura Desmond: Marketers Need ‘New Creative System’ for AI’s Volume ExplosionMIAMI — Artificial intelligence’s tsunami of creative production is expected to dwarf the internet’s already overwhelming content saturation. That’s going to force marketers to build entirely new management systems for thousand-fold increases in versioning and ... read more
- Your TV Ads Start on the Home Screen, Whether You Like It or Not: Teads CEO David KostmanMIAMI — At the Possible conference, where every conversation eventually becomes about “attention” and someone is definitely trying to reinvent television before lunch, David Kostman, CEO of Teads, offered a simple reminder: your ad campaign ... read more
- Why Time Is the Most Democratic Asset – and Brands Should Treat It That WayMIAMI — The digital economy has spent two decades pulling consumer attention away from the physical world. Should brands with brick-and-mortar presence refocus on the time people actually spend inside their stores? “If you think ... read more
- Target's 2-Tier Creator Program: One For Superfans, One For ProsThe retailer hopes to turn social discovery into revenue, as it fights flat traffic and a middle-market squeeze. ... read more
- Instagram Ends End-To-End Encrypted DMs GloballyInstagram users will no longer be able to send and receive end-to-end encrypted messages in the platform's chat feature, as Meta announces a notable change in its approach to user privacy. ... read more
- Instagram Ends End-To-End DM EncryptionInstagram users will no longer be able to send and receive end-to-end encrypted messages in the platform's chat feature, as Meta announces a notable change in its approach to user privacy. ... read more
- Anthropic Takes On Local Search, Challenges GoogleClaude uses Google Maps and Places API to answer local queries, and in a post this week spotted by Near Media co-founder Greg Sterling, advertisers learn how Anthropic's chatbot has a formula to rank hotel ... read more
- OpAd Media Acquires Creative Shop Broad AgencyCombined the two shops form a fully integrated ad agency with offices in New York, Philadelphia and Albany, NY. ... read more
- Judge Won't Immediately Pause Google Antitrust OrderA federal judge rejected Google's request to immediately stay an order requiring it to share data about users' searches with "qualified" competitors and to provide syndicated search results and ads to those competitors. ... read more
- Perplexity Presses Appeals Court To Scrap Amazon BanAmazon can't prove Perplexity violates a 40-year-old anti-hacking law by allegedly accessing users' accounts with their consent, the artificial intelligence company argues. ... read more
- Made For Bill DugganMore than anyone I've known, Bill Duggan was made-for-advertising. I mean that in the good way. The question is whether advertising can make another Bill Duggan. ... read more
- Will Advertisers Pay A Tax For Using AI?As AI begins to disrupt the economy, some believe states or the federal government can generate additional funds through a tax on AI computing. ... read more
- Amazon Brings Content-To-Commerce Technology Into Publisher ServicesShopsense through Amazon Publisher Services can simplify where publishers review, test and activate ad-tech services, making commerce-enabled media more accessible through a new distribution channel. ... read more
- PubMatic’s Agentic AI Is Going Beyond Direct DealsThe days of agentic ad tech being only for direct ad buys are coming to an end. PubMatic has run more than 30 fully autonomous, end-to-end agentic campaigns through the SSP’s AgenticOS platform, CEO Rajeev ... read more
- AMC Reports Uptick In Streaming Revenue But Slight Decline In SubscribersAMC Global Media, formerly AMC Networks, posted Q1 streaming sales of $174 million, an 11% increase YoY, Variety reports. However, paid subscriptions fell by 1% YoY to 10.1 million. U.S. ad sales declined by 5% to $113 ... read more
- ‘There’s a big shift’: Amazon is turning the upfront into a pitch for its ad tech, not just primetimeThe upfront is no longer just a shop window for content Amazon owns, it’s now one for its ad tech too. That’s a shift from how this period usually works. The tech pitch used to ... read more
- New York Media's 50 Most Powerful PeopleNew York remains an unrivaled media stronghold, The Hollywood Reporter writes in presenting its roster of “The 50 Most Power People in New York Media.” The city is populated by “more stars than ever before.” ... read more
- Cinema Pros Call On European Union To Maintain Support Of Film IndustryMore than 4,700 cinema professionals have signed an open letter calling on the European Union to “future proof” its MEDIA program, which has supported thousands of films during its 35 years, Deadline reports. They are concerned ... read more
- Identity Without OversightIf a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound? And if a UID2 doesn't work -- does anyone notice? Inside a UID2 mix-up that has a publisher questioning the value of alt ... read more
- Brendan Kinney Named CEO Of Vermont Journalism TrustBrendan Kinney, a veteran of more than 15 years in leadership roles in Vermont public media, has been named as chief executive officer of the Vermont Journalism Trust, publisher of VTDigger, a nonprofit news organization, ... read more
- Matthew Perry Estate Auction Reveals Star's Private LifeAn auction of 130 of Perry's personal belongings was announced earlier this week by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions. ... read more
- $38 Billion In Love, Guilt And Last-Minute Clicks: Mother's Day Spending Bounces BackSpending on Mom rebounds but let's not call it a glow-up just yet. ... read more
- Movie Theaters Try Another Way To Thrive – And SurviveAMC Theatres is trying to find another way - using its big video screens and theaters when it is not using them for movies. How about live concert-like content performances? ... read more
- $38B In Love, Guilt, Last-Minute Clicks: Mother's Day Spend Bounces BackSpending on Mom rebounds but let's not call it a glow-up just yet. ... read more
- Roku Delivers Upfront Dinners With A Side Of Full-FunnelRoku hosted several client dinners with all of the major holding companies as well as independent agencies in April, each with about 70 people per dinner. It's the second year Roku chose intimate client dinners ... read more
- InMobi Goes All In On iOS; Automation, But With HandholdingInMobi Apple Seeds On Thursday, India-based mobile ad tech giant InMobi announced its acquisition of Apple advertising startup MobileAction. The terms were not disclosed. One rationale behind the deal – and InMobi’s desire to sharpen ... read more
- Future of Marketing Briefing: Memes used to be a joke. Now they’re a strategyLast month, a U.S. Special Forces soldier was indicted for insider trading — not on stocks, but on a prediction market. He had detailed knowledge of a military operation. He bet on it. The platform ... read more
- WTF is a unified ad platform?Ad tech’s shift from an industry littered with point solutions to one built around integrated stacks has been underway for a while. It was only a matter of time before the acronyms followed. Unified advertising ... read more
- Trade Desk Underwhelms Quarterly Results, Guidance: Stock Drops 15%Trade Desk execs gave Q2 guidance for an 8% revenue gain YoY to around $750 million. The company credits rising ad spend for its platform to brands' interest in the "open internet" placement of digital ... read more
- The Trade Desk Has A Grand Vision, But Needs A New Breed Of CMO To Make It A RealityThe Trade Desk made $689 million in Q1 2026, up 12% from the period last year, while its net income and profit margin dipped slightly to $40 million and 6%, respectively, according to its quarterly ... read more
- The Trade Desk’s $689M revenue beat is blunted by the departure of CSO Jacobson to OpenAIThe Trade Desk’s Q1 revenues of $689 million may suggest holding-company spats are a mere bump in the road, but confirming the exit of CSO Samantha Jacobson hours before its market disclosure shows complications can ... read more
- Meta Reportedly Developing Agentic Assistant For Social Media UsersMeta is reportedly developing a personalized AI assistant designed to complete tasks for its 3.5 billion users across its various social-media platforms. ... read more
- Snap Loses Users, Readies AR GlassesSnap's Dynamic Product Ads revenue grew more than 30% year-over-year, doubling adoption among small and medium-sized businesses. ... read more
- The AI Media Arena: Journalism Is The Biggest Source For Query AnswersJournalism is the largest single information source among earned media, Muck Rack reports. ... read more
- Lerma/ Launches Sports Sponsorship ROI EvaluatorThe new benchmarking tool ranks professional sports teams on metrics including media efficiency, fan affinity and team trajectory. ... read more
- AI Should Be Solving Our Customers' Problems — Not OursSo many business practices are not focused on customer results. As Intuit founder Scott Cook said "Fall in love with your customers' problems, not your products." ... read more
- Google AI Now Powers And Automates Bids, BudgetsGoogle Search, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns will soon have AI-powered bidding and budgeting to help advertisers meet and manage campaign goals. ... read more
- Amazon, LinkedIn Team Up For B2B TV Ads Ahead Of UpfrontLinkedIn brings its first-party audience data to Amazon Ads' streaming TV inventory through Microsoft Monetize, building on an existing partnership that foreshadows Amazon's upfront presentation next week. ... read more
- Amazon, LinkedIn Team For B2B Inventory Ahead Of UpfrontLinkedIn brings its first-party audience data to Amazon Ads' streaming TV inventory through Microsoft Monetize, building on an existing partnership that foreshadows Amazon's upfront presentation next week. ... read more