Imagine you’re shopping for laundry detergent. You click to buy your preferred brand, but when your order is fulfilled, the product is out of stock. What do you do? Recent DoorDash data shows that shoppers ... read more

Ad blocking doesn’t just prevent publishers from earning revenue; it also creates blind spots in their audience analytics that can affect everything from monetization strategy to editorial coverage. Gamers are very likely to use ad ... read more

Last week, the news became official: DoorDash acquired Instacart for $17 billion.  Earlier in the week, when the deal was still a well-sourced rumor, Needham, an investment bank, put out a note regarding the deal. ... read more

How a hacker cost Binance $6 billion; The NYT sees a slowdown in its (sizable) ad revenue growth; and opting out of smart TV tracking doesn't always work. The post North Korean Ad Fraudsters Pwn ... read more

This week’s Media Briefing looks at how The New York Times, People Inc., News Corp and Reuters are navigating tougher year-over-year revenue comparisons after reporting strong growth despite declining referral traffic and AI disruption. ... read more

The “C” word (consolidation) might soon be coming for commerce media.  At least that was how media buyers and industry analysts reacted to last week’s news about DoorDash’s plans to acquire Instacart. “We’ve seen this ... read more

The advertising world rushed to embrace generative AI. But now that agencies and advertisers have come to rely on the tech to keep up, they’re finding themselves vulnerable to its toxic byproducts. In particular, agency ... read more

ChatGPT now handles roughly a fifth of the search queries Google does. Its ads business is worth considerably less. Nobody should be surprised by that. OpenAI only started selling ads this year, the format they’re ... read more

Media and technology stocks surged following Tuesday’s Democratic election sweep, Deadline writes. Comcast and Disney both rose by 5%, Netflix and Skydance by 4%. Some tech stocks saw even stronger growth, including Amazon (7%), Microsoft ... read more

Retailers like Walmart and Amazon are facing a challenge caused by AI-driven shopping: How to allow AI agents on their sites without threatening their ad revenue and customer data, Reuters reports. Those firms are the ... read more

Streaming TV brand Roku has debuted an advertising platform that uses machine learning to help brands target consumer actions, The Desk reports. The new offering, called Roku Outcomes, moves beyond audience impressions to allow advertisers ... read more

U.S. media-buying firm The Trading Desk sees an opportunity as China makes an international brand push using digital advertising, Forbes reports. “There’s going to be a big shift” as Chinese brands break through old stereotypes and pursue more sophisticated ... read more

The advertising industry’s next big customer may not be human. It may not even have a pulse. But it could have a credit card, a shopping list and remarkably little patience for a website that ... read more

Could the ZIP code, long the default unit of local advertising, be hiding a dozen distinct neighborhoods with different worries, budgets, and buying habits? Nextdoor is betting that it does. The company asks members for ... read more

Latour will run Meta's social media and content teams within the company's communications and public affairs division, reporting to division head Tucker Bounds. ... read more

"X has not been injured by a restraint on competition; instead, it faced competition and lost," advertisers argue to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. ... read more

Criteo has weathered considerable storms in its day, including a painful moment in March 2020 when its market cap bottomed out below $500 million. But for a month now, Criteo’s market cap has hovered between ... read more

The allegations against Sony, if proven true, could establish that the company violated California's constitution, a federal judge ruled. ... read more

Dentsu teamed up with the hit anime series "Dandadan" for a social media campaign promoting Nisssin Foods' Bold Tastes of Tokyo instant noodle line. ... read more

This WTF guide, sponsored by Wurl, explores how CTV advertisers are driving positive attention and improved performance across the entire funnel by aligning creative with relevant onscreen context through scene-level targeting. CTV has changed how ... read more

ChatGPT ads have topped 200,000 placements since OpenAI's ad-platform launch, marking the first holiday season where paid search spans three distinct engine types, according to data released today by Adthena. ... read more

Reddit is testing ad placements in search with a select group of advertisers. Ad delivery in search will depend on contextual relevance to a user's search query, and other factors. ... read more

Will a Democratic Congress eventually treat AI chatbots like search engines when it comes to advertising disclosure and consumer protection? ... read more

"Capital expenditure for Versant increased by a minimal 1% year-over-year, offering a reassuring signal to market analysts." ... read more

This entire election season was a disgrace that has me wanting to swear off TV forever. ... read more

Google is allowing increased personalized gambling advertising on YouTube, Yahoo/Tech reports. This category includes permission market advertisers, but they face tougher rules. Gambling advertisers can target audience groups with specific characteristics or interests. But Google ... read more

Edible Arrangements sells 350 SKUs on its website year-round. But for Valentine’s Day and on Mother’s Day, only around 10% of them are available to buy. That might sound like a counterintuitive move for a ... read more

Walt Disney Co. is planning thousands of job cuts while asking some managers to produce 20% in annual cost savings, sources said, Bloomberg reports. The savings could come from expense and job reductions. Theme parks, TV channels and the Disney movie studio will ... read more

There is a powerful undercurrent of disaffection and outright anger from the American populace toward US sporting institutions right now. But this isn’t just about logos cluttering the playing field. Sports leagues and teams are ... read more

Running a local business is already a full-time job. Becoming an expert in every advertising platform shouldn’t become a second one. So will DoorDash’s $17 billion acquisition of Instacart make local retailers’ jobs any easier?  ... read more

All Or Nothing Schools looking to ban AI for students are realizing just how much weight Google has to throw around. It’s a story publishers and ad tech companies know well. As more K-12 schools ... read more

It’s been almost a week since DoorDash officially announced its plans to acquire Instacart — a deal valued at approximately $17 billion. DoorDash’s takeover of Instacart isn’t expected to wrap until the end of 2027 at ... read more

Entertainment-first has spent the year working its way into most conversations about marketing, including a fair few of Digiday’s. SharkNinja’s holiday campaign is the latest example. Last year’s spot had Kevin Hart moving in ... read more

In the months since Publicis Groupe announced its $2.2 billion deal to acquire LiveRamp, CMOs have been considering a crucial question: should I stay, or should I go? That deal closed this week (Monday Nov. ... read more

This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at the economics behind brands sponsoring creator-led long-form original video series. Premium programming Instagram’s creator payments, Netflix’s new ads platform exec and more Premium programming A ... read more

This story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail. These days, delivery platforms have to offer more than just delivery services to brands and retailers. DoorDash’s announced plans to acquire Instacart for $17 billion point to ... read more

01 Introduction As creator marketing becomes a fixture in many brands’ marketing strategies, creators’ roles are shifting and expanding. Brands may pay creators to produce sponsored content, gift products to them in the ... read more

Versant Media Group reported a 4.2% decline in Q3 earnings to $1.59 billion, Cord Cutter News reports. Net income fell by 41.1%. Linear distribution revenue, meaning cable and satellite distributions, fell 5.8% to $935 million. The decrease was ... read more

If AI agents end up doing more of the shopping for consumers, the loyalty programs that brands built around apps, inboxes and points balances may need rebuilding within a few years. Gartner predicts 60% of ... read more

Most marketers aren’t suffering from a data shortage. They’re drowning in reports from platforms, mix models, and agency wrap decks that arrive too late to act on and point in different directions. The confidence crisis ... read more

The recent ruling in favor of Thomson Reuters "will destabilize the current AI market and impede further AI innovation," Ross Intelligence says in its bid for a new hearing. ... read more

Previously, Marti Sivesind served at Inizio Evoke Media and earlier held senior leadership positions at WPP's CMI Media Group, Publicis Health Media, Gyro and OMD. ... read more

Section 230 protects Meta from liability over algorithms that connected a victim and sex trafficker, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals said Wednesday. ... read more

The FTC is requiring Publicis and LiveRamp to maintain fair and nondiscriminatory access to LiveRamp's standalone services, establish safeguards preventing Publicis from accessing confidential customer data, undergo independent compliance audits and more. But only for ... read more

TikTok has announced a global content partnership with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) designed to build on a notable rise in engagement surrounding WTA content in the app. ... read more

TikTok has announced a global content partnership with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) designed to build on a notable rise in engagement surrounding WTA content in the app. ... read more

People Inc. isn’t mincing words about the current state of digital publishing: It’s bad. The company has seen a “critical loss of sessions,” Barry Diller, People Inc.’s chairman and senior executive, told investors during the ... read more

Will a brand-new marketing student ever become an expert when 99% of the day-to-day work required to put a campaign together is now handled by AI? ... read more

There was no better closing argument for the midterm elections than Donald Trump standing in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool Monday gazing at his own reflection. Well, not literally, but definitely figuratively, because ... read more

The company has now surpassed political ad spend for the 2024 Presidential election year, with growth also driven by its media and entertainment vertical. ... read more

Two data infrastructure startups with agentic commerce ambitions are combining forces. On Tuesday, Chord, a six-year-old commerce tech startup, acquired Zenlytic, an AI startup with an anthropomorphized data analyst agent named “Zoë,” for $5 million. ... read more

Advertising on AI engines like ChatGPT does not yet justify free services to users, a study published to ecommerceresearch.org shows. ... read more

Only the latest in new high-tech-linked entertainment or other digital media can really move the needle for all consumers, with the near-daily media/entertainment time near the saturation point. ... read more

The move to launch flag football will come exactly a year before the 2028 Summer Olympics, where flag football will make its debut as an official Olympic sport, with men's and women's teams. ... read more

The 'TV Blog' has long used terms such as "traditional," "legacy," "linear" and "broadcast" in talking about aspects of television. ... read more

Digital Culture Group aims to stop ineffective or offensive ads before they ever go live by preemptively determining what will resonate with – or push away – an audience. The post This Ad Tech Company ... read more

The shopping mall may be losing its grip on consumers, but its ability to tempt shoppers into buying things they never intended to purchase is alive and well. Rokt Ads is helping bring that time-honored ... read more

How long will OpenAI allow third-party ad serving?; celebrities keep signing on to promote prediction markets; and why ad buyers are scrutinizing their Google search budgets. The post OpenAI May Not Be So Open For ... read more

Political creators need platforms that can deliver reach, revenue and clear rules. But no single platform reliably provides all three: YouTube offers ad revenue, Instagram can deliver huge audiences without paying creators and TikTok’s moderation ... read more

Publisher trade groups around the world are pressing Meta to change its planned terms of service, but heads of audience and social media told Digiday that their continued reliance on its platforms raises questions about ... read more

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Apple has reminded ad tech how much power the browser holds. Ad tech’s reaction: Get out of the browser. With iOS 27, Apple’s Safari browser has begun blocking domains tied ... read more

As it continues to expand in the number of channels and options, as well as the ad revenue placed into it, retail media is offering media agencies new opportunities to harness closed-loop measurement in a ... read more

It’s earnings season, typically the time of year when industry observers watch agog, as Big Tech companies post earnings far greater than the average ad tech company can begin to contemplate, but Q3 this year ... read more

For Apple's fiscal fourth quarter 2026, total iPhone revenue reached $57.58 billion (up 17%) with Services segment revenue $31.57 billion - a new record, up 9.8%. ... read more

Reddit’s stock has fallen after release of its Q3 earnings, mostly due to declining referral traffic, Marketing Dive says in an analysis. The explosive growth -- partly driven by the firm’s advertising capabilities -- is slowing down, ... read more

OpenAI has teamed up with Magnite and Pubmatic to help advertisers buy ChatGPT ad placements via ad-tech platforms, Token Post reports. Advertisers can use each platform to submit bids, upload their ads and set spending ... read more

The news media have received good news that in theory should bolster readership and ad placements: Most Americans, including both Republicans and Democrats, feel that criticism by news organizations keeps political leaders in check, according ... read more

The bottom of the funnel is getting crowded. Finding efficiencies against in-market demand is increasingly expensive, CFOs are scrutinizing every dollar regardless of channel, and measurement has matured enough to connect upper funnel exposure to ... read more

The television industry spent years promising that connected TV would combine the impact of the big screen with the accountability of digital advertising. Now that promise may be materializing, as CTV measurement evolves beyond traditional ... read more

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protected Meta from liability for terminating Shared Partnership's account, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled. ... read more

The transaction closed less than two weeks after Publicis and the FTC came to terms on a proposed consent order that will remain in effect for five years. ... read more

Siding with OpenAI, two former Republican lawmakers are urging a judge to rule that training large language models on news articles and other copyrighted material is fair use and doesn't infringe owners' copyright. ... read more

X is following YouTube's recent test of creator bonuses for vertical short-form video posts, highlighting consumers' expanding viewing habits. ... read more

Pinterest's most recent earnings report shows an increase in revenue, a significant boost in users, and an ongoing commitment to the development of the company's evolving advertising ecosystem. ... read more

Pinterest's most recent earnings report shows an increase in revenue, a significant boost in users, and continuing commitment to develop its evolving ad ecosystem. ... read more

If Republicans have a good night, someone will tell us AI-generated ads work. If Democrats have a good night, someone will tell us AI slop backfired. ... read more

If you ask the executive leadership of Affle and Perion why the two companies are merging, the answer you’ll get is “synergies.” Tal Jacobson, Perion’s CEO, is well aware that the term has become a ... read more

More brands are using throwback techniques -- made by human hands -- to stand out this holiday season ... read more

Fox advertising soared 60% to $1.7 billion for its broadcast TV networks and stations, driven by high World Cup and midterm political advertising spending. ... read more

Any investor hoping to ask about Fox’s pending Roku acquisition during its fiscal Q1 2027 earnings call on Monday was out of luck. Fox’s IR rep made that clear up front and pointed analysts to ... read more

The answer to the question has become one of the most sought-after secrets in the industry. ... read more

The acquisition enables Affle to expand globally and through new ad channels including retail screens and CTV. It will expand advertisers' reach, using Affle's AI-driven consumer intelligence to improve audience targeting, reduce digital ad fraud, ... read more

According to a survey from Stagwell's Harris Poll, 47% have used AI in a role similar to a mental health professional. ... read more

With no new major releases, returning wide-release domestic theatrical movies posted a yearly weekend low $57.5 million in box office revenue, according to IMDb Box Office Mojo. ... read more

Could content from AI-generated sources become a hit TV show or blockbuster movie? ... read more

Shopify's updated developer documentation introduces an invite-only promoted placement program, allowing shopping agent developers and search marketers to generate extra revenue. ... read more

Could content from AI-generated sources become a hit TV show or blockbuster movie? ... read more

Digital now represents four out of every five ad dollars. Maybe it's time to stop using the word "traditional" to denigrate the value of the 20% spent on some of our most enduring and best-performing ... read more

The revised share estimates from local U.S. ad tracker Borrell Associates, are based on a doubling of its estimates for local digital's ad spending growth. ... read more

"The Pitt" gets a shout-out and a takedown in "St. Denis Medical," NBC's one-camera hospital comedy starting its third season Monday night. ... read more

Disclosure: Sourin Chakrabarti works on AI labeling for advertising at Meta. The views expressed are his own and do not represent Meta. In October 2025, three clips appearing to show police detaining and pepper-spraying protesters ... read more

Mergers & Ad-quisitions Are we in for a year-ending blockbuster M&A spree? The Information jokes that CEOs ought to “get your deals in while ya still can, folks.” A convergence of factors could make for ... read more

Despite the headlong rush by virtually everyone in marketing and media to adopt AI tools and technology — from sophisticated agentic planning and measurement aids to things as ordinary as using an LLM to help ... read more

This story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail. During its fiscal third-quarter earnings call on Thursday, Amazon shed more light on how its conversational AI shopping assistant, Alexa for Shopping, is powering more ... read more

For the better part of two decades, Google search was the line item media buyers rarely had to defend. AI Overviews complicated that. Google now answers more queries on the results page itself, which changes ... read more

Last month, SiriusXM signed a multi-year deal with creators Paige DeSorbo and Hannah Berner for their Giggly Squad podcast reportedly valued at $160 million. Weeks later, the duo sold out four different nights for a ... read more

People Inc. is moving toward custom APIs to help AI agents access its content more efficiently. Rather than making AI systems shift through full webpages, People Inc., is giving them the article text and key ... read more

Fans got to vote on which of three Bay Area artists' designs will be on the wrap decorating an official fleet of Waymo autonomous vehicles. ... read more

All of the top five automakers spent more on streaming than linear, but linear provided more extensive reach for each, according to iSpot.tv. ... read more

X has opened its Lead Gen Ads to all advertisers across the globe, and has extended its in-feed form format to small businesses, PPC Land reports. The change, which took effect last Friday, also allows ... read more