- How The Try Guys Turned Their Love For Liquid I.V. Into A Brand DealWhen a creator already loves the product they're marketing, it's easy to work it into their content in ways that feel natural. That's exactly what the Try Guys did. The post How The Try Guys ... read more
- Paying The Past To Buy The Future; Will Microsoft Finally Do In-Game Ad Insertion?Perplexity and other LLMs are mounting massive social influencer marketing campaigns. Also: Xbox is not giving up on its advertising ambitions. The post Paying The Past To Buy The Future; Will Microsoft Finally Do In-Game ... read more
- Why WPP isn’t the biggest casualty in the PepsiCo-Coca-Cola-Publicis shuffleWPP is set to win Coca-Cola’s global media, data and tech business. For CEO Cindy Rose, the timing couldn’t be better. A year into trying to fix the holdco, a win of this size, from ... read more
- Inside the complex anatomy of agency AI billsThe makeup of an agency’s AI bill is getting more complicated. Agency execs say AI costs are growing and metered model usage is becoming a trend, forcing execs to take a closer look at AI ... read more
- Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit, Sept. ‘26 ‘Google Zero’ editionThis week’s Media Briefing recaps what publishers said about search traffic declines, opaque AI licensing contracts and monetizing AI visibility during closed-door town hall sessions at the Digiday Publishing Summit, held in Miami this week. ... read more
- Nearly all luxury resale transactions on TikTok Shop US now come from livestreamsThis story was first published by Digiday sibling ModernRetail Livestreaming is proving to be big business for TikTok Shop’s burgeoning resale economy. Year-to-date, 94% of revenue on TikTok Shop from luxury resale in the U.S. ... read more
- Should brands swerve, or steer as F1’s U.S. viewership slows?Between the disruption of its racing calendar caused by the war in the Persian Gulf, and the difficulty of tempting viewers into watching Grands Prix on Apple TV in its debut season with the streamer, ... read more
- FCC Seeks Comments On Its Political Ad Pricing GuidanceThe Federal Communication (FCC) is seeking comments on its guidance on discounts for political ads, TVTechnology reports. The guidance issued in March seemed to expand the types of organizations that are eligible for the “lowest unit charge” ... read more
- R/GA Debuts AI Tool To Uphold Brand GuidelinesR/GA is launching an AI tool called the BRDNA Sequencer that can help marketers maintain their brand integrity, Fast Company writes. The new offering trains itself on a company’s brand guidelines and puts them into a format ... read more
- Macro Acquires Allblk, Marking Entry Into Direct StreamingMacro, a multi-platform entertainment company, has entered the direct-to-consumer streaming field, acquiring Allblk, a streaming platform serving Black audiences, from AMC Global Media, Variety reports. “At a time of significant disruption and consolidation across the ... read more
- FTC Clarifies Its Rules For Auto Pricing In AdsAuto dealers are finally getting the clarification they have been seeking from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on vehicle price advertising, RVBusiness reports. The FAQ document specifies that dealers must provide the total price the buyer will pay, including the ... read more
- Microsoft AI Chief Warns Humanlike Claude Is RiskyThe Microsoft CEO warned of the risks of training AI models like Anthropic's Claude to be human-like and consider their own state of consciousness or welfare. ... read more
- The Court Just Unsealed Judge Brinkema’s Remedies Decision In The Google Ad Tech Antitrust Case. Here’s Your TL;DRJason Mraz once sang about having the remedy. A federal judge has now handed one (actually, several) to Google – and, well, “it all amounts to nothing in the end.” Or at least, that’s the ... read more
- Meta Reportedly Readies Camera-Less Smart GlassesMeta reportedly plans to launch "Luna" - a new camera-less smart glasses model, following its potential unveiling at the company's Connect developer conference from Sept. 23- 24. ... read more
- Why advertisers should stop treating verification like a receiptThe advertising industry has spent years treating verification as a relatively narrow exercise, asking only, “Was the impression viewable? Was there invalid traffic? Was the content safe?” Those questions are no longer enough. Over the ... read more
- Adobe’s Ryan Fleisch Wants Marketers to Escape the Data Silo FactoryMarketers spent years building first-party data systems to escape their dependence on third-party cookies. Then many discovered that the solution came with its own collection of clean rooms, technology integrations and fresh silos. Apparently, data ... read more
- Electronic Arts’ Alex Dao, LiveRamp’s Frederick Stanichev and DoorDash’s Katie Daleo Turn Marketing Into MomentsCANNES, Lions — Consumers increasingly divide their time among video games, delivery apps, live events and the occasional attempt to experience reality without checking a phone. That fragmentation is pushing marketers to look beyond conventional ... read more
- Brands Must Take Holistic Approach to AI: Flywheel’s Amie OwenCANNES, France – Artificial intelligence may be capable of planning vacations, organizing inboxes and softening emails written in a moment of righteous irritation. Transforming a sprawling marketing organization is another matter. Companies must prepare for ... read more
- Basis’ Mike Olson and PHD’s Emily Costello Want Agentic AI to Work, Not Just Look BusyCANNES, France — Artificial intelligence may be able to create a media plan, generate thousands of ads and summarize a meeting before anyone has found the conference room. That does not mean it always should. ... read more
- AI Can Scale Marketing, but Human Taste Still Sets It ApartCANNES, France — Artificial intelligence may be able to write an advertisement, analyze an audience and rescue an executive from the inconvenience of forming an original sentence. That does not mean it should run the ... read more
- Google Agentic Updates Support Shorter AI Commerce TimelinesAt its retail event Wednesday, Google rolled out a series of agentic commerce updates designed to help merchants capture shoppers who increasingly use AI to research and buy products. ... read more
- Threads Centers Podcasting With New Creator ToolsThreads is building on its Super Bowl 2026 NFL Media Center launch by introducing new podcasting tools designed to incentivize more creators to share their shows and generate on-app conversations among their fans. ... read more
- Threads Rolls Out Creator Tools For Podcast DiscoveryThreads is building on its Super Bowl 2026 NFL Media Center launch by introducing new podcasting tools designed to incentivize more creators to share their shows and generate on-app conversations among their fans. ... read more
- Box Office Surges – What About Movie Theater Tickets?From Jan. 1-Aug. 16 this year, 568.4 million tickets were sold in U.S. movie theaters - a 30% decline vs. the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. ... read more
- Emmys Probably Won't Win One, Viewing Sinks 9%NBC's Monday 'Emmys' broadcast was down 9% to 6.7 million Nielsen-measured viewers vs. a year ago. In 2025, the 'Emmys' aired on a Sunday with 7.4 million viewers, its strongest performance since 2021. ... read more
- Lions Expands Global Model, Adds Regional EventsIn North America it is debuting a new event next month called Insight to Impact that will take place in Denver, moving to Nashville in 2027. It will combine sessions about market research, content marketing ... read more
- Hyundai, Amazon Release Details Of Shopping Engagement StrategyHyundai is the first auto manufacturer to build a closed-loop measurement system powered by Amazon that connects digital shopping engagement in a privacy-compliant way to verified dealership sales. This week the companies plan to make ... read more
- Google Unveils Experimental Chrome Ad-Detection ToolsThe tools, built into the existing Chrome User Experience Report framework, are geared toward helping paid-for media teams that buy and help advertisers to evaluate audience ad-load experiences. ... read more
- Horizon Is Bringing Roku’s TV Data ‘In House.’ Here’s What That Means for AdvertisersHorizon Media announced a direct integration with Roku to pipe its TV data into blu., the agency’s homegrown data and intelligence platform. The duo asserts that this is more than just another data integration. It’s ... read more
- Pod Bidding Explained.bh__table, .bh__table_header, .bh__table_cell { border: 1px solid #C0C0C0; } .bh__table_cell { padding: 5px; background-color: #FFFFFF; } .bh__table_cell p { color: #2D2D2D; font-family: 'Helvetica',Arial,sans-serif !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; } .bh__table_header { padding: 5px; background-color:#F1F1F1; } .bh__table_header p ... read more
- Tech Lab Opens Public Comment To Streamline ProgrammaticThe ad-tech sector's leading standards organization introduced new baseline protocols and shared rules to foster higher transparency, consistency, and efficiency across programmatic advertising. ... read more
- Closing The Gap Between The Brief And The BuyThe advertising market needs a more cohesive path from the campaign brief to the live buy. Answering a mobile RFP can take three to five days and require four teams across research, audience building, supply ... read more
- Poignant Michael J. Fox Speech Was Emmys' High PointBrave Michael J. Fox brought class and courage to the Emmy Awards Monday night on NBC. ... read more
- Information Quality Is What Wins In The AI EraBlocking bots might feel like the only leverage publishers have left. But keeping them out by default is a bit like unplugging the phone when your customers are trying to reach you, says Tim Frank, ... read more
- Creator Sports Network Is On A Mission To Help Brands Reach Younger ViewersCreator Sports Network is trying to monetize the ad industry’s two biggest buzzwords: creators and sports. Creator Sports Network, which launched in 2023, helps influencers livestream sports events on their social media pages. The platform ... read more
- Americans Value Press Freedom, Are Against License CancellationsRoughly 75% of Americans feel press freedom is extremely or very important for society’s well-being, according to a new study by the Pew Research Center, the Associated Press reports. But 50% support government restrictions on ... read more
- Sports Betting Finally Goes Too Far; AI Splits The Digital News Market In TwoA Risky Bet Irony is officially dead. The five largest US professional sports leagues are asking the government to crack down on sports bettors who harass players, team personnel and their families, ESPN reports. The ... read more
- How Reuters’ dynamic paywall is boosting subscriptions and ads“It’s basically like magic. Overnight, the dollars start to flow.” That’s how Phil Andraos, gm for digital at Reuters, described the dynamic paywall Reuters launched earlier this year, speaking onstage at the Digiday Publishing Summit ... read more
- IAB Creator Upfront: Why a half-built infrastructure is holding back CFO buy-in The Interactive Advertising Bureau’s (IAB) first Creatorfronts in New York City yesterday offered a rare, concentrated look at what’s still stopping big brands from unlocking bigger creator budgets. Until the creator economy’s plumbing is sorted ... read more
- ‘It’s hard to be a $7 billion company’: The investment banker’s diagnosis for ad tech’s public woesPublic ad tech is disappearing and an investment banker just explained why. According to Josh Wepman, managing director of technology investment banking at Houlihan Lokey, it isn’t a performance problem. It’s a size one. Most ... read more
- Perplexity is betting big on creatorsSocial networks poured money into TV advertising even though their whole existence was anathema to it. AI platforms are doing the same with creators now, chasing them hard despite being viewed by many as an ... read more
- Future of TV Briefing: Every major streaming subscription price increase since 2019This week’s Future of TV Briefing features charts breaking down every monthly subscription price change since 2019 across ad-free and ad-supported tiers for nine major streaming services. Price check NFL’s next rights deals, YouTube’s ... read more
- 'The New York Times' Names Michael Hirschorn Media ColumnistThe New York Times has hired Michael Hirschorn as media columnist as the column returns in the face of numerous problems facing the industry, including a White House that is hostile to media, the Times reports. Earlier media ... read more
- NFL Expands Prediction Market Ad Ban To In-Stadium SignageThe NFL has extended its ban on prediction-market advertising during games to in-stadium signage, club sponsorships and player endorsements, describing its policy for the first time on the record, Gambling Insider reports. In addition, the NFL has ... read more
- Google Is Not As Safe A Place To Advertise As TV: VABAlthough Google blocked or removed more than 8 billion ads and shut down about 25 million advertiser accounts in 2025, the search giant attracts many scam artists and is arguably not as safe an environment ... read more
- Sydney Sweeney Criticized For Another Racy AdNovig "is a company with not much market share, and so polarizing people is a reasonable strategy," says Joshua Lewis, a marketing professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. ... read more
- Video Podcasts Open New Doors for Advertisers: Omnicom Media’s Maureen BosettiCANNES, France – Podcasts were once the place where two people could talk into microphones for three hours and confidently assume nobody needed to see what they were wearing. That era is ending. Podcasts are ... read more
- Playing It Safe May be a Brand’s Riskiest Move: Amazon’s Lauren AndersonCANNES, France — Advertisers searching for the next great use of artificial intelligence might want to put down the efficiency spreadsheet for a moment. For Lauren Anderson, U.S. head of Amazon Ads Brand Innovation Lab, ... read more
- Dick’s, CVS and Fluent Find Commerce Media’s Next Growth SpurtsCANNES, France – Commerce media has reached the awkward stage of its development when simply showing up with shopper data no longer counts as a personality. During a panel at the Cannes Lions International Festival ... read more
- Retail Media’s Expansion Beyond the Aisle is Forcing Marketers to Rethink the Entire FunnelA year ago, retail media meant building e-commerce platforms and optimizing sponsored product listings. Today, the category has sprawled into connected TV, offsite partnerships, and even live sports apps – anywhere a retailer’s first-party data ... read more
- Hearst Battles App User Over Video Privacy LawCounsel for a man who downloaded Hearst's WMUR app this week urged an appellate panel to revive a lawsuit claiming that Hearst violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by sharing identifiable information about his video ... read more
- Pinterest, Nvidia Partner To Boost AI Shopping, Search OfferingsPinterest has announced a partnership with GPU-manufacturer Nvidia, which will power a new layer of AI in an effort to expand the social discovery platform's automated shopping offerings. ... read more
- Pinterest, Nvidia To Boost AI Shopping, SearchPinterest has announced a partnership with GPU-manufacturer Nvidia, which will power a new layer of AI in an effort to expand the social discovery platform's automated shopping offerings. ... read more
- Meta Launches Creator Marketing Hub, Live Video AdsMeta is investing further in creator marketing and live streaming. As part of IAB's newfound global creator week, the tech giant announced the launch of its Creator Marketing Hub, as well as the rollout of ... read more
- Watchdogs, Experts: Algorithmic Recommendations Protected By First Amendment"The First Amendment protects judgments about both what to say and how to say it, including whether individual messages fit together in a specific compilation," the dean of UC Berkeley Law and other professors argue ... read more
- A Loss Of AgencyThere is no greater loss of agency than extinction, but any loss of agency can feel like the end of the world. Particularly things like privacy, surveillance pricing, and inflation ... read more
- WPP: Agentic Creates Language, Data Challenges For BrandsData accuracy as it relates to agentic commerce has become a hidden crisis for brands as retail heads into the holiday season. ... read more
- WPP: Agentic Creates Brand Language, Data ChallengesData accuracy as it relates to agentic commerce has become a hidden crisis for brands as retailers head into the holiday season. ... read more
- Samsung Says Folding Up Is Hard To DoIn a new campaign, "Couples Therapy" star Dr. Orna helps people learn to say, "It's not you. It's your iPhone." ... read more
- Prime Video Scores 5-Streamer BundleThe package consists of Prime Video and niche streaming platforms - AMC+, BritBox, MGM+, PBS Masterpiece and Starz - for $29.99 a month, offering a savings of nearly 39% vs. subscribing to each service individually. ... read more
- Reddit's ChatGPT Citation Crash Isn't AI-Maggedon For HumanityThe decline doesn't justify abandoning Reddit or rebuilding a marketing program around whichever domain enjoyed a strong Tuesday. ... read more
- Tinuiti Unveils Ad Fatigue Tool For Meta PlatformsThe new tool's introduction comes as more ads are created with AI technology making quality and variety of creative a bigger factor in campaign success, according to the agency. ... read more
- The Possibility GapThe gap -- the distance between what can be imagined and what current systems can deliver -- is the contradiction at the heart of Terry Young's new book, "Possibility Sciences," which is excerpted here. ... read more
- The PossibilianTerry Young showed us what was possible by organizing the elements of culture in a scientific way. Now he wants to do the same for the science of possibility itself. ... read more
- Google debuts ‘ad detection tool,’ letting marketers better assess ad experiences in ChromeIn an era when website visits are tanking, primarily due to AI-overviews, evaluating the value of website visits, and the associated price of ad inventory is in flux. And it’s within this context that ... read more
- Chrome Has A New Way To Measure Ad Overload On The WebAd-cluttered websites are bad for users. Who among hasn’t waited with mounting frustration for a banner-stuffed article to load or an ad-chocked webpage to struggle into view? But “we know it when we see it” ... read more
- Chewy Estimates $50M In Annual Cost Savings From AIDespite the call for a slowdown of AI development from Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and other tech CEOs, retailers like Chewy are preparing for an agentic future. ... read more
- Campaign Highlights Screenshots As A Skill To Fight Social Media Child Sex HarassmentThe campaign is anchored by an installation in Helsinki that illustrates the scale of online harassment targeted at children. ... read more
- U.S. Ad Composite Moves To +10.3% On Winterberry UpgradeWinterberry's nearly three-point revision is the third comparable forecaster upgrade for 2026 ad spending in the past week, following Madison and Wall and the IAB. ... read more
- Roblox Eyes Expanded Placements For 'Rewarded' Video AdsAt its Developers Conference this weekend, Roblox teased an expansion of its rewarded video ad format tools that allow creators to place a wider variety of monetizable placements that players can watch for in-game perks. ... read more
- Still Old School? TV Ad Measures, Digital Clicks, What Comes NextAds with the most clicks perform the worst in ROAS, according to video creator ad platform Billo, vs. ads with the least clicks. What does this mean for traditional TV advertising? ... read more
- '60 Minutes' Comes Back Unchanged In Weiss EraExpectations that "60 Minutes" would be unrecognizable in its season premiere were not met as the old warhorse news show returned for its 59th season. ... read more
- If Marketers Want To Make The Most Of AI, They Need To Provide Brand ContextGood marketing tools need to be accessible across teams and account for a company's unique strategy. Marketing orchestration platform Auxia thinks its tools fit the bill. The post If Marketers Want To Make The Most ... read more
- The Meta Settlement Defined Which Online Experiences Are “Appropriate” For Teens. Here’s What Advertisers Need To KnowMeta’s recent settlement with almost every US state – in which the company will pay between $17 billion and $18 billion over the next 10 years to settle claims its platforms are harmful to kids ... read more
- Google’s New AI Licensing Model Is A Black Box; Streamlining The Lobbying ProcessGoogle tests out a “pay per value" AI licensing scheme; Netflix, Amazon and YouTube join forces; and Apple may soon launch integrations with third-party LLMs. The post Google’s New AI Licensing Model Is A Black ... read more
- Ad Tech Briefing: AI is reinforcing Big Tech’s grip on advertising growthGoogle, Meta and Amazon already capture 56% of U.S. advertising revenue, with the continued migration toward automated campaign tools threatening to concentrate an even greater share of growth among the largest platforms. The advertising market ... read more
- As more surfaces become ad inventory, the economics get complicatedSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Ads have broken containment. They’re no longer confined to TV commercial breaks, billboards and magazine pages. Brands are increasingly integrating ads in between pictures of friends on social media, in ... read more
- Electronic Arts is bundling its games to make a bigger pitch to advertisersThe holiday season is the proving ground for media owners. It pays well and punishes hard. Electronic Arts is selling ads through this stretch for the first time as a real business unit rather than ... read more
- Kroger’s ad business sees most profit growth since 2021This story was first published by Digiday sibling Modern Retail Retail media is becoming increasingly critical to one of the nation’s largest grocery chains. Profit for the Kroger Precision Marketing advertising business grew 24% in ... read more
- In Graphic Detail: Inside the scramble to measure a brand’s AI visibility
- Marketers are using AI search concerns to argue for higher media budgetsWhat connects running shoes, home insurance and luxury cars? Customers take their time picking the right one. They research, they compare, and they consider. Increasingly, they do all those things using generative AI tools; 61% ... read more
- EU To Introduce Sweeping Bill To Shield Children From Online DangersThe European Union on Thursday will propose a ban that will prevent young people under 15 not only from social media, but from video-sharing platforms, AI chatbots and online games, Reuters reports. The measure, the ... read more
- Local Now Adds 111 Gray Media Stations To Its Program RosterByron Allen’s Local Now has added Gray Media’s 111 local stations to its lineup, The Wrap reports. Local Now offers localized news, sports, weather and other content customized by the user’s device geolocation, and is ... read more
- California Still Ranked As First In Film And TV ProductionCalifornia accounts for 42% of film and TV production, despite losses in recent years, according to a study by XR Extreme Reach, Deadline reports. New York, the second state, has only 14% of the U.S. ... read more
- Gen Z, Gen Alpha Are A Growing Part of Podcast AudienceYounger listeners are on track to supplant millennials as the largest generational audience for podcasts, Audacy reports in a study titled “The New Rules of Podcast Advertising,” according to Radio Online. The study found that 64% ... read more
- Target Names New CMOContinuing to build its comeback strategy, the retailer hires Mark Weinstein, Hilton's CMO, to fill the vacant role. ... read more
- Maryland Seeks To Reinstate Digital Ad TaxMaryland late last week appealed an agency ruling that struck down a 2021 law imposing taxes on digital ad sales. ... read more
- NetChoice Sues To Strike Down Illinois Taxes On Targeted Ads, Social PlatformsThe tech industry group NetChoice says the new tax laws are unconstitutional and violate the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act. ... read more
- NetChoice Sues To Strike Illinois Tax On Targeted Ads, Social PlatformsThe tech industry group NetChoice says the new tax laws are unconstitutional and violate the 1998 Internet Tax Freedom Act. ... read more
- Stagwell Names Rutgersson Assembly CEOThe Dentsu veteran succeeds Rick Acampora, who is developing a new corporate trade and barter company at Stagwell called Tradewell Solutions. ... read more
- DoorDash Exec: Brands Should Unify Media and Promo Budgets to Unlock True IncrementalityCANNES, France – The age-old wall between advertising and promotions is crumbling. For decades, consumer packaged goods companies kept their media budgets in one silo and their trade and shopper marketing dollars in another, each ... read more
- Americans Want Less Screen Time, Right After This Next VideoPeople may resent the hours lost to feeds, alerts and messages, but they continue reaching for the glowing rectangle with the devotion once reserved for family, faith and the television remote. ... read more
- MMM Must Plug Directly Into Bidding Systems to Stay Competitive, Mutinex CEO SaysCANNES, France – Within six to 12 months, brands that fail to connect incrementality data directly into their programmatic bidding systems will find themselves at a structural disadvantage, according to the chief executive of a ... read more
- AI Enables Creative ‘Magic,’ but Humans Still Make the Call, Says Digitas ChiefCANNES, France — The pressure on creative teams to automate everything is real, but the smarter play is using AI to eliminate the predictable so humans can chase the unexpected. That’s the view from one ... read more
- Teads’ Stephanie Himoff: Brands Shouldn’t Have to Choose Between Quality and Reach in CTVCANNES, France — Premium CTV formats command attention that pre-roll inventory simply cannot match. The challenge has always been whether that quality comes at the cost of scale. Teads argues the tradeoff is a false ... read more
- AI: Danger Or Opportunity? Gen Z Vs. Gen X+ Intergenerational DebateAre generations experiencing this technology differently, or are we forcing a simple story onto a far more complicated reality? ... read more
- Microsoft Releases AI Code Of Conduct DraftIn the next decade, superintelligent AI systems will surpass human performance in most tasks. "Containing, controlling, and aligning such a powerful force is one of the greatest challenges humanity has ever faced," according to the ... read more
- Streamers Add Ad Minutes: Do Viewers Mind?Top streamers have added 18% more ad minutes on average for the top 9 premium platforms in August vs. January 2026. Growing interest in ad-supported streaming tiers has not gone unnoticed: ... read more
- This Is What Sports Media Looks Like When Athletes Have the Right TechnologyIt seems like every athlete has a podcast or docuseries these days. From Travis Kelce and the Mannings to LeBron James and Cam Newton, athletes have gone from being the subject of sports media to ... read more
- Omnicom CFO: We'll Have New Biz 'Tailwind' Despite PepsiCo LossThe firm is doing a detailed analysis of what went wrong with one of its largest clients, said company CFO Phil Angelastro. ... read more