- Judge Sides Against Meta In 'Voiceprint' BattleSiding against Meta Platforms, a federal judge this week rejected the company's request to throw out a lawsuit accusing it of violating Illinois biometric privacy law by allegedly collecting "voiceprints" from Messenger users. ... read more
- Google And TikTok Battle 'Vigilante' Parents Over 'Choking Challenge' VideosGoogle and TikTok are urging a federal appellate court to reject a request by parents to revive a lawsuit alleging that the platforms failed to remove dangerous material, including videos that depict people strangling themselves. ... read more
- iHeartMedia Expands Ad Partnership With AmazonBuying platforms often do not include audio as a major part of their ad inventory. A recent partnership could change this, with separate data that makes the case stronger by showing how audio increases a ... read more
- Cannes Reflections: Time To Disrupt The Questions Being AskedCANNES -- Despite all the talk about AI, creators, data, performance and community here, I heard many of the same questions - and platitudes - I was hearing 30 years ago. ... read more
- Netflix Monthly Subscriber Churn Still Best At 2%In terms of 'sign ups of new or returning subscribers,' the top two highest-performing services of the last 12-month period have been Paramount+ and Peacock -- averaging 2.5 million and 2.4 million respectively. ... read more
- Netflix Monthly Subscriber Churn Still Lowest At 2%In terms of 'sign ups of new or returning subscribers,' the top two highest-performing services of the last 12-month period have been Paramount+ and Peacock -- averaging 2.5 million and 2.4 million respectively. ... read more
- Daryl Lee Stepping Down From Chairman's Role At McCannThe move completes the planned leadership transition to Tyler Turnbull, who succeeded Lee as CEO of McCann when Omnicom completed its acquisition of Interpublic late last year. ... read more
- Hyundai Applies AI To Curated Videos To Drive PerformanceA movement within the ad industry is bringing ad buying into supply-side platforms, lowering costs per impression and increasing ad visibility by using a brand's data to create bidding instructions based on predictions and value ... read more
- Meta To Use LLMs For Majority Of Content, Ad Review: ReportMeta is reportedly accelerating its shift toward an AI-powered content moderation and ad-review strategy, rerouting more of its human review requests to large language models by the end of the year. ... read more
- Good, Fast, Slop: Which Two Do You Want?Turns out, Russia's social design agency wants all three. Read how they're already solving for the "two-audience problem" here. ... read more
- 2026 Cannes Lions: Authenticity In The Age of AIAuthenticity. Outcomes. Workflow….and containerization? After a week sweating on the Croisette, the AdExchanger team offers you a sweat-free synopsis of the 2026 Cannes Lions. The post 2026 Cannes Lions: Authenticity In The Age of AI ... read more
- Takeaways On The Future Of AgenciesCANNES -- I spoke with agency, marketer and tech leaders here to find out what the next version of the business will look like. Here's my take. ... read more
- Carat Wins Cannes Lions Media Network HonorsThe Media Network of the Year award is won by the network whose agencies accrue the most points for shortlisted and awarded entries in the Media Lions. ... read more
- Fun-Loving Ex-Prez Plays Along With LarryNow long out of office, President Obama is still the nation's Comedian In Chief as he takes up a starring role in Larry David's new HBO series "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness." ... read more
- Asia Dominates Young Lions Media, South Korea Takes GoldAsia took bronze, silver and gold in the Young Lions media award this morning, including South Korea's Cheil's gold for "The Note: I'm Here." ... read more
- How AI Can Enhance Content Without Generating ItAs much as consumers complain about AI-generated content, advertising experts say AI still has an important place in video creation and production, including for ads. But using AI in content without turning off consumers is ... read more
- The LiveRamp Exit Ramp; Hydration Break Hate Has FIFA SweatingSince Publicis Groupe is acquiring LiveRamp, many brands will likely find themselves in the market for a new independent vendor for audience and identity data. Plus: FIFA’s controversial ad-filled hydration breaks twice per every World ... read more
- Cannes Briefing: Creativity is moving beyond the agency modelBose CMO Jim Mollica hasn’t used a creative agency in four or five years, he told Digiday. One CPG CMO, overheard at a dinner this week, said they no longer believe in agencies of record. ... read more
- Inside the infrastructure behind Unilever’s creator forceSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Creators are no longer a media channel or transaction. It’s an entirely new marketing mode — at least that’s what the infrastructure behind Unilever’s creator strategy indicates. Call it a transformation. ... read more
- Amazon expands media footprint with iHeart sales deal and new TV outcome tool Amazon is pushing deeper into the middle of TV and audio ad deals, rolling out a new measurement tool for streamers while tapping iHeartMedia’s 1,000-plus sellers to put its streaming inventory on more media plans. ... read more
- Nike versus Adidas: who’s winning the World Cup’s brand head to head?For competing apparel brands Nike and Adidas, the World Cup is a golden opportunity, but one that finds the rivals in very different positions. An apparent recovery last October, when revenues increased 1% amid a ... read more
- Future of Marketing Briefing: CMOs are still haunted by hard questions about value of ad creativeBrand marketers underwrite the ad industry’s creative endeavors. But many still aren’t sure they can justify the output of their creative agencies to C-suite colleagues. According to a survey of senior marketers conducted by measurement ... read more
- Google Looks To Reportedly Broaden Publisher Licensing DealsBroader permissions would give Google more options to use publishers' content, including the ability to train its AI models. ... read more
- Google Eyes Broader Publisher LicensingBroader permissions would give Google more options to use publishers' content, including the ability to train its AI models. ... read more
- 'New York Times' Alters Complaint Against OpenAI And MicrosoftThe New York Times has amended the copyright lawsuit it filed in 2023 against OpenAI and Microsoft, the Times reports. The new Times filing accuses Microsoft of encouraging OpenAI to train its AI system with articles from the Times and providing services ... read more
- FCC Chair Carr Says Disney Has Spread 'Misinformation'FCC Chairman Brendan Carr has accused Disney of running a “campaign of misinformation” about two investigations the FCC is conducting into it, The Guardian reports. Ads run by owner ABC drew 51,000 comments about the probe into ... read more
- Gross Cost Seen As An Outdated Agency Payment MetricGross cost has long the standard financial metric for traditional media, but its past usefulness is no reason to retain it, TVNewsCheck writes. The reason is that gross cost, based on a 15% agency commission ... read more
- Canva Unveils Canva Grow 2.0, Further Expands Into AI AdsCanva has debuted Canva Grow 2.0, which allows users to create ad campaigns and publish them to TikTok, LinkedIn and Meta without leaving the Canva app, The Verge reports. The firm is also expanding further ... read more
- NetChoice Presses Court To Block Minnesota Warning Label Law"The Act compels covered websites to speak the state's message on the highly controversial topic of 'potential negative mental health impacts' of social media on users, which is the subject of intense scholarly and social ... read more
- Tech Group: Texas App Restrictions Are 'Full-Scale Assault' On First AmendmentThe Texas App Store Accountability Act is a "full-scale, first-of-its-kind assault on the First Amendment," the Computer & Communications Industry Association said in papers filed late Wednesday with the Supreme Court. ... read more
- How Tovala Banks On Subscriptions And Incrementality – But Not Ads – To Profit From Its OvenSmart TVs, refrigerators and other home appliances may pester you with marketing and perhaps even check your presence in the room using a front-facing camera. But at least the hardware is cheap! That’s the promise. ... read more
- ANA, Lions Launch 'CMO AI Hub'Developed by Infosys, the hub is a proprietary destination for CMOs to share, organize and access peer-to-peer marketing insights. ... read more
- Second Life's 'Second Life,' You'll ReLove ItForget singularity. The future is circularity - or recommerce - fashion marketer Stella McCartney and eBay's Jamie Iannone told Cannes attendees this morning. ... read more
- Google Admin Enhances Agency ProtectionsGoogle rolled out additions to its agency administration features in Merchant Center for Agencies, which initially launched in March to streamline workflows. ... read more
- What the Industry Is Getting Wrong About AI, with John Dick, CivicScience | Cannes 2026Everyone at Cannes is talking about AI — but CivicScience CEO and founder John Dick says the industry is missing its most important stakeholder: the consumer. Drawing on survey data, Dick argues AI may be ... read more
- The Media Plan Is Now A Citation PlanThree lines should appear on every 2026 media plan that don't appear today. The first: citation share by engine, the new share of voice. ... read more
- Fashion Designer, Beatles Scion, Stella McCartney's Next Act May Be Reality TV Producer"This is a reality TV show waiting to happen," fashion marketer and eBay booster Stella McCartney quipped, elevator-pitching the "weirdest things" sold on eBay. ... read more
- Agentic Transactions, Relationship-Centered TV Ad Industry Not Mutually ExclusiveAutomated, agentic transactions actually give more importance to the human relationship parts of ad buying and selling. ... read more
- School Spend Rises, But Tracking ROI For AI Citations Is MissingAI and agentic search capabilities are bringing parents more ways to purchase back-to-school products. But for retailers and brands, tracking ROAS or ROI may not always add up. ... read more
- Heineken, LePub Translate Soccer For U.S. FansDigital out-of-hone work is located in select World Cup host cities. ... read more
- Rich Silverstein's AI-Imagined Broadway Musical"13 Days The Musical" may or may not make it to Broadway, but it got a preview in Cannes today. The audience was blown away. ... read more
- Disney's Unusual Anti-FCC TV Campaign: Where Does This Go?The campaign targets the FCC and its efforts to go after ABC because of its programming, urging viewers to scan a code that links to the agency's public comment page. ... read more
- KitKat Wins PR Grand Prix For Turning A Crisis Into A Cultural MomentThe thieves and half a million stolen KitKat bars remain at large, but the jury praised the work for "rewriting the rules" of crisis communications. ... read more
- Bad Streaming Ads Hurt Brands More Than Platforms, Omnicom Warns CMOsCANNES, FRANCE — When viewers suffer through a poorly targeted or repetitive ad on a streaming service, they don’t blame Netflix or Disney. They blame the advertiser. That is driving a wave of creative personalization ... read more
- America's Great Streaming Shuffle Continues, And Cable Somehow Refuses To DieMillions of people connect their TVs to the internet, but cable and satellite TV remain the service used most often overall. ... read more
- Nielsen: YouTube Gains, Fox-Roku Would Be ThirdDisney slipped around half a share point to 10.3% and NBCU/Versant Media remained the same with a combined 8.2% share. Fox, with its proposed Roku acquisition, would have a 9.9% share - for third place ... read more
- Larry David's New Show Gets D+ As Critics Weigh InSome of the thumbs-down reviews for David's new show, titled "Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness," are savage. ... read more
- Top FAST Shows Still Smoking: 'Gunsmoke,' New And Old Titles"Gunsmoke" was the series with the most-streamed minutes on FAST platforms from Oct. 2025-April 2026, at 22.5 billion minutes on Pluto TV, according to Peer39, a digital media data company. ... read more
- Global Ad Industry Hits $1.4 Trillion as Platforms Beyond Big Three Drive GrowthCANNES — The advertising industry has ballooned into a $1.4 trillion behemoth, powered by a broader coalition of global platforms that have proven surprisingly resilient against economic headwinds. While Google, Meta, and Amazon continue to ... read more
- Large Language Models Are Overkill For Some Marketing Tasks. Enter The Small Language ModelIt’s no secret that large language models (LLMs) have gotten exorbitantly expensive. Companies are starting to limit their employees’ AI usage to save money; OpenAI has even discussed lowering the cost of tokens to retain ... read more
- Why Measurement Is The Key To Solving Digital Audio’s Scalability ChallengeAudio advertising has a scale problem. While Spotify, Pandora and iHeartMedia dominate industry attention, roughly half of the ad-supported audio market sits outside those platforms. Hundreds of streaming audio publishers, podcast creators and niche content ... read more
- Things Are About To Get Hollyweird; Facts And PhantasmsThe Tech Revolution Will Be Televised Every business considers itself a tech company these days. Remember Allbirds sneakers pivoting to AI? In the entertainment industry, the line between tech and media is growing especially murky. ... read more
- Cannes Briefing: Creators didn’t come to Cannes for parties this year. They came for briefs.MediaLink has spent years owning the art of wining and dining CMOs at Cannes. This year, it turned that same playbook on creators. UTA, its owner, hosted an invite-only dinner for more than 70 creators ... read more
- The hunt for a post-LiveRamp successor is already underwayEarlier this week — on Tuesday evening to be precise — several ad execs from both advertisers and agencies gathered at the Il Teatro restaurant in Cannes, France, to talk about what should happen now ... read more
- At Cannes, Omnicom Media and NBCU say they’re crafting dynamic contextual ads for contentThe last of a series of partnerships and collaborations Omnicom Media rolled out during Cannes Lions 2026 has the media agency network co-developing a dynamic contextual content solution with NBCUniversal that aims to boost creative ... read more
- Google’s World Cup brand counterattack highlights shifting search behaviorGoogle’s World Cup brand campaign isn’t just another marketing bet on live sports’ biggest carnival. It’s also a tell. The tech giant is currently running a brand campaign throughout the tournament featuring Spain’s Lamine Yamal, ... read more
- With AI ad tools expanding, Meta courts agencies while reshaping their roleSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify A shift is underway across the ad industry. Platforms are rolling out more automated marketing tools, lowering the barrier to entry for advertisers to manage campaigns directly. Agencies, long since ... read more
- Media Briefing: Inside publishers’ real Cannes agenda – AI money vs agentic hypeThis week’s Media Briefing looks at the real conversations publishers are having in Cannes – how much of the AI and agentic media buzz will turn into actual money, and what it all means for ... read more
- Amazon Launches Alexa Agentic Ad FeatureAmazon has launched a program called Alexa+ Agentic Ads that it says will allow customers to make purchases without leaving the ad, Ad Exchanger reports from Cannes. The ads have a visual feature that appears on Amazon Echo Show device ... read more
- Libsyn Says Campaign Boosted Gen Z Purchase Intent For Food ChainPodcast host Libsyn claims that a campaign for a quick-service restaurant chain boosted awareness, purchase intent and brand favorability among Gen Z consumers, Inside Radio reports. The chain was not identified, but the company says ... read more
- TikTok, Strava Tap Creators For Euro Fitness Outreach ProgramTikTok and fitness-tracking app Strava are launching a pan-European "Local Movement Fund" in which both companies will fund local clubs and fitness communities and tap creator-ambassadors specializing in exercise content. ... read more
- Meta Tests Stand-Alone AI Companion App For Facebook CreatorsMeta has begun testing a stand-alone AI-powered companion app designed to be a "homebase" for Facebook creators looking to build their audiences on the tech giant's flagship platform. ... read more
- Meta Tests Stand-Alone AI Companion For Facebook CreatorsMeta has begun testing a stand-alone AI-powered companion app designed to be a "homebase" for Facebook creators looking to build their audiences on the tech giant's flagship platform. ... read more
- Planned Parenthood Hit With Privacy Suit Over Analytics Tools"Americans expect privacy when it comes to their reproductive health information," four individuals who visited Planned Parenthood's website allege in a class-action complaint. ... read more
- The Weather Channel Is First In Trust: SurveyThe Weather Channel remains the most trusted news source even as overall trust in media declines, YouGov reports. The 2026 Trust in Media survey by YouGov found that Americans are 50% more likely to call The Weather Channel trustworthy than untrustworthy. PBS ... read more
- Elizabeth Murdoch Invests In Piers Morgan's Planned Media NetworkElisabeth Murdoch, a member of the Murdoch media family, is one of a group of strategic investors backing Piers Morgan’s effort to turn Piers Morgan Uncensored, a YouTube talk show, into a global media network, Inc. reports. ... read more
- Elisabeth Murdoch Invests In Piers Morgan's Planned Media NetworkElisabeth Murdoch, a member of the Murdoch media family, is one of a group of strategic investors backing Piers Morgan’s effort to turn Piers Morgan Uncensored, a YouTube talk show, into a global media network, Inc. reports. ... read more
- Uber Eats' 'Build Your Own Super Bowl' Wins Lions Media Grand PrixThe main idea: One week before this year's Super Bowl, fans were invited to create in-app Super Bowl commercials. Record-breaking sales ensued. ... read more
- Dentsu, CreatorIQ Announce PartnershipDentsu's proprietary audience strategy platform, Dentsu.Audiences, will be integrated with CreatorIQ's influencer marketing software platform. ... read more
- Google Tests New Labels In Search AdsGoogle continually tests new ways to improve the Search Ads experience. This week it began running a small experiment by adding what it calls a label for "Strongest match" or "Strong match" to certain Search ... read more
- NY Court Signals Approval Of Law Requiring Platforms To Accept 'Hate Speech' ReportsA majority of judges on New York's highest court signaled this week that they would uphold a law requiring social platforms to accept complaints about offensive speech -- including speech protected by the First Amendment. ... read more
- NY Court Eyes Approval Of Law Requiring 'Hate Speech' ReportsA majority of judges on New York's highest court signaled this week that they would uphold a law requiring social platforms to accept complaints about offensive speech -- including speech protected by the First Amendment. ... read more
- If You Have One Extra Dollar, Spend It on Creative, Says Kantar Americas CEOCANNES. FRANCE — The marketing world loves to debate where the next dollar should go. Better data? Smarter media buying? More sophisticated measurement? For one industry leader, the answer is simple: invest in creative. Up ... read more
- Microsoft Is Trying To Fix Its Water Problem For Cloud, AI BoomThe massive volume of water required to keep data centers running has become an environmental and regulatory challenge as use of AI and cloud services for advertising and business accelerates. ... read more
- Sports Illustrated Heads to Hulu as Minute Media’s Rich Routman Seeks Expanded PlaybookCANNES, FRANCE – Plenty of media companies arrive at Cannes Lions talking about efficiency, scale and optimization. Rich Routman, president of Minute Media, showed up talking about Sports Illustrated covers, swimsuit models, World Cup soccer ... read more
- Advertisers Are Buying Screens, Not ShowsWith its Roku acquisition, Fox bought the most valuable piece of living room real estate: the OS that decides what you see when you turn on the TV. ... read more
- Fox World Cup Viewing Up 116%, Ads SoarFox is averaging 5.7 million average viewers so far, with Telemundo, Peacock, and Telemundo digital platforms at 5.3 million. The most-viewed match so far (U.S.-Australia) on Friday had 20.7 U.S. viewers overall. ... read more
- The ROAS Of Bryson DeChambeau"The thing I have to harp on to a bunch of CMOs all the time is the staying power that they have with content creators on YouTube," the elite pro golfer and content creator told ... read more
- Cannes Vs. Cannes: Turns Out The Ad Festival Is Actually Cooler"It feels like people are much more crazy here," actor Alan Cummings said about the vibe at the ad festival vs. the film festival. "Everyone's like, 'Dude!'" ... read more
- AI Natives Are DifferentOver the immediate term, AI-native firms will get more out of AI and do more with AI, as big brands watch and learn. Big brands can afford to be behind at the get-go. ... read more
- Stagwell's Penn Killed It In Cannes This Morning, CinematicallyThe Stagwell chairman-CEO wrapped his conversation with American Eagle's Craig Brommers by playing a clip from Apple TV's dystopian "Murderbot." ... read more
- High-Spending Consumers Hide Behind Ad BlockersHow much more are consumers who use ad blockers worth? A lot more. These highly valuable consumers defy industry assumptions, according to new data. ... read more
- In Case You Haven't Seen It, Here's The Slide Getting Traction At Cannes"What it's basically telling us is that brand is actually going to be more important in an AI era, not less," WARC's Aditya Kishore said this morning, teeing the slide up. ... read more
- Anchorman Dokoupil Asserts All Is Well At CBS NewsAnchorman Tony Dokoupil this week flew to the defense of the new leadership regime at CBS News led by internet firebrand Bari Weiss. ... read more
- Everybody Has Eight Screens, Yet TV Still Runs The ShowBeyond traditional viewing, consumers use TVs for YouTube videos, gaming, social media viewing, fitness programs, education, shopping and even virtual fireplaces. ... read more
- Shopify Wades Deeper Into Advertising, But Not Ad TechShopify is slowly but surely making its way into the ads business. An earlier step in that journey was the hiring Samir Pradhan as VP of product for merchant marketing in November 2025. There is ... read more
- Walmart buys ‘the Google Ads of streaming’ Vibe in a deal tipped at a $1 billion-plus valuationRelated Insights Business of TV Meta eyes CTV expansion to fuel its next wave of ad growth Read More Walmart has agreed to acquire Vibe.co, an outfit specializing in ... read more
- Cannes-terview: Why Audio Ad Spend Still Lags, According To Spotify’s CPOA lot of the conversations folks have in Cannes are the same ones they’re having at home, the only difference being that both parties are wearing sunglasses and linen shorts. One of those recurring threads ... read more
- Advertisers Say They Need More Data From NetflixNetflix has boasted of its improved ad targeting and measurement capabilities as it competes for legacy TV network ad dollars. But behind the scenes, ad buyers and buy-side ad tech execs exhort Netflix for more ... read more
- iHeartMedia Plans New Layoffs As Part Of Strategy ChangesRadio firm iHeartMedia is about to implement a new round of layoffs, Barrett Media reports. An internal memo shows that the company is changing its strategy to a “faster is better approach,” and that existing positions will ... read more
- The Funnel Is Dead. Build A Trust Loop Or Lose Your Audience To AIPremium media owners have one commercial asset that generative AI cannot reproduce at scale: the trust audiences place in their brands. Every other historical advantage publishers once had with audiences – voice, expertise, production quality ... read more
- Mastercard Cut Ad Spend Without Harm, Former CMO SaysRaja Rajamannar, former chief marketing and communications officer of MasterCard, cut the firm’s ad budget before his departure in January of this year — apparently without hurting the brand, Business Insider reports. "We have taken ... read more
- Appeals Court Upholds Social Media Hateful Content LawNew York State’s Court of Appeals has upheld a state law requiring social media firms to have “mechanisms for reporting hateful content,” saying it does not violate free speech rights, Courthouse News Service reports. The purpose of the law ... read more
- Ad-mazon Does It Again; AI-Funded PACs Dominate Midterm Ad SpendDespite the heat and the humidity, AdExchanger’s Cannes coverage continues, featuring all the hottest news and gossip straight from the Croisette. Check out our latest Cannes coverage from editors Sarah Sluis, Allison Schiff and Lynne ... read more
- Cannes Briefing: The AI search crisis everyone’s talking about at Cannes is actually about brand coherenceFor two decades, Cannes Lions has been the advertising industry’s high church of the campaign — the ad, the stunt and the killer creative idea. This year, the conversations actually happening in the villas and ... read more
- Agencies look to AI agents for edge, but must fend off brands looking to in-house with the same techWith half the industry’s dealmakers and powerbrokers gathered in the south of France this week, agencies have been falling over themselves to boast AI agent-related tests, case studies and partnerships. They’re not just competing with ... read more
- Spotify rebuilds ad business around automation, AI to secure bigger media budgetsSubscribe: Apple Podcasts • Spotify Spotify has spent the last year overhauling its ads business to try and persuade advertisers that it’s more than just an audio buy. Last year, its ad business was “moving ... read more
- Omnicom Media and Paramount+ partner on dynamic fixed ad units in the streamer’s premieresYou sit down to watch the premiere of Landman or Tulsa King on Paramount+, and enjoy the show but feel aggravated at seeing the same sponsor spots through several episodes. According to research from Omnicom ... read more
- U.K. Could Require Social Platforms To Boost Trusted MediaBritain may force social media companies to prioritize trusted news sources as it pushes to tighten regulation of the sector, Reuters reports. The culture department is considering a change that would require platforms like Facebook, ... read more
- Zillow's New Splash Puts A Deadline On 'Someday'The company's latest campaign acknowledges that the dream of a new address is within reach. ... read more