Agencies

Most competitive intelligence is backward-looking. Earnings calls tell us what happened last quarter. Annual reports tell us where budgets went last year. Traditional competitive intelligence tools often focus on creative libraries, estimated spend or campaign archives.

Amazon has third parties selling some of its ad inventory; Scope3 selling Adloox to Peer39 suggests sustainability is out; and “fabric” is the new AI-related buzzword for ad tech.

The FAST channel ecosystem is providing advertisers with a sandbox (no, not that sandbox) to test new CTV formats, targeting tools and programmatic buying methods.

Olyzon raises $10 million for TV AI; Transparency now matters more than neutrality; OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads to SMBs.

Recorded live in Las Vegas at Prog AI, the AdExchanger team tackles a tricky question: As AI floods the feed with chaotic, addictive content and people engage with it, what does “premium” even mean anymore?

AI can’t handle complex media plans; Retail media lands under the CMO; Airbnb flirts with ads, cautiously.

If creators want brand dollars, they have to play by the rules of data-driven marketing and measurement, says Ryan Detert, CEO and co-founder of Publicis-owned influencer marketing platform Influential.

Carol Reed discusses what it means to be a chief innovation officer and how to keep up with new AI developments without losing the human touch.

Hundreds of exasperated and unexpected ad industry phone calls were made on Sunday, as agencies and ad tech vendors discussed the fallout of Publicis Groupe’s $2.2 billion acquisition of LiveRamp over the weekend.

InMobi acquires Apple ad startup MobileAction; the hallucination problem is real; and microdrama are being nonconsensually “nudified” with AI tools.

Programmatic enemies make better friends in the AI era; social video projected to outgrow CTV this year; and apps are integrating into chatbots, but where are the users?

WPP is shifting to a pay-for-performance revenue model. But there are many barriers to clear before PFP becomes the industry standard.

Domenic Venuto, indie agency Horizon Media’s chief product and data officer, sat down with AdExchanger during POSSIBLE at the Fontainebleau in Miami to unpack the role of AI in today’s media and advertising landscape.

Agency picks can quietly determine a brand’s tech stack; Ad spend is shifting away from the open web; The CW is betting on partnerships, not its own platform.

Omnicom is rebuilding its media machine around Acxiom and agentic AI in a bid to push more spend to publishers and sidestep the “messy middle.”

Last week, the SSP Kargo announced a closed beta of its AI unified buying platform, Project Kera. The independent ad agency, Wpromote, is an early tester. Plus, the agency reveals a deeper look into its overall AI strategy.

DSPlease Brand marketers and agency buyers are skeptical of DSPs’ transparency claims. After Publicis announced last month that it’s no longer recommending The Trade Desk to its clients, other DSPs saw an opportunity to strike. Since then, other DSPs (Viant being “the most aggressive,” according to one media buyer) have been reaching out to TTD […]

Swivel and Olyzon’s new partnership brings buy-side and sell-side agents together as early examples of an agentic marketplace.

Yahoo is not like other companies promoting AI buzz; Elite “clippers” turn longform content into short, shareable clips; The Army prepares to reset ad business.

Meet Clamor, a new social listening product that pulls cultural insights from online conversations in real time. Clamor helped Manscaped freshen up its marketing, including for this year’s Super Bowl.

The FBI wants your data; Agency-owned AI platforms may not be long for this world; and how much data is too much, anyway? 

Principal-based buying is on the rise, and it’s causing conflict between agencies and ad tech partners. Plus: What are sell-side agents, and how could they help publishers?

Ad agency holding companies are among the most adaptable businesses out there. In recent years holdcos like Publicis, WPP and Omnicom-IPG have stretched our notions of what an agency business even is exactly.

Publicis recommends some clients ditch The Trade Desk; ChatGPT reconsiders its “unlimited” enterprise subscription; and how NYC’s Washington Square Park became an influencer hub.

Content creation and media buying are often treated as siloes, especially in agencies. But for social-first shop LV8 (pronounced like the word “elevate”), these two disciplines are inseparable.

AI agents are moving fast, but MadConnect says ad tech’s slow, messy plumbing still needs an overhaul before agentic marketing can really work.

The divergence between the DSPs reveals shifting buy-side priorities. Advertisers have grown wary of how The Trade Desk earns margin, where its algorithm steers inventory and how these strategies compete with buyer goals.

The strategic value of commerce data continues to rise, as Infillion snaps up Catalina. Then, a court filing reveals where agencies spend clients’ money.

During Thursday’s earnings call, CEO Cindy Rose announced a new plan to reposition WPP as a single company, rather than an agency holdco.

What’s the deal with viral apps?; Dentsu and WPP are off of OpenPath; and AI coding has its downsides.