Artificial Intelligence

OpenAI wants to be social media now; retail marketers need to appease the bots; and yes, even Peloton is pivoting to AI.

Swish, a startup that partners with retailers to provide product full-size CPG samples to people doing their grocery shopping online, announces $2.3 million in seed funding.

Private equity firm Novacap acquires IAS; many large online retailers are seeing an uptick in referral traffic from ChatGPT; and the IAB downgraded its US ad spend projection for the rest of the year.

Marketing has long struggled to prove itself as a growth engine. What if agentic AI isn’t the threat many fear but the breakthrough marketing always needed?

Long-time ad tech exec Jeffrey Hirsch takes the reins of QuantumPath, a media-buying platform that uses AI to help with planning and campaign creation.

Trevor Carr, newly appointed Head of CSA, North America at Havas, discusses data and tech consulting and AI trends.

Advertising using AI-doctored images could spark legal issues if the images are misleading. Plus: the commerce reckoning.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem …  Click here to see what inspired this week’s comic!

The old approach to media and measurement is no longer sustainable. AI is now embedded across every step of the media value chain, and AI is only as good as the data it’s fed.

Meta’s sparse settlement payout ends the Cambridge Analytica scandal with a whimper; Google brings dynamic host-read ads to YouTube; and HUMAN uncovers IVT hiding in mobile app downloads.

As the newly appointed CMO of Genesis Motor America, it’s Amy Marentic’s job to raise awareness for the luxury auto brand, which is fighting for market share against more well-known incumbents in the US market. To do it, she’s analyzing the data and working on a growth strategy to reach a largely untapped demo: women. Plus: Marentic’s unique origin story, from astronaut hopeful to chief marketer.

Another day, another Google lawsuit; AI can’t be held accountable for its crimes; and the US and China have (maybe) reached a TikTok deal.

Morgan Stanley downgrades The Trade Desk; Warner Bros. Discovery and Nielsen announce a new deal; and brands aren’t sold on virtual influencers.

Meta is rolling out Reels trending ads, value rules beyond just conversions, upgrades to Threads and pixel-free landing page optimization.

Incubeta announced its acquisition of RocketSource, a consultancy that helps advertisers understand what drives customer behavior using data science and predictive analytics.

Comscore’s new AI-based initiative allows data providers to convert ID-based datasets into ID-free audience segments, helping advertisers target audiences with improved accuracy and privacy.

We spoke to a score of ad tech leaders to uncover seven competencies essential for the success of the next generation of ad tech leadership.

Google’s search antitrust trial ends with a whimper; the pitfalls of agency-owned SSPs; Perplexity axes its ads business; and brands are still building big-ticket metaverse experiences.

Pause ads are going programmatic, as connected TV ad buying becomes more automated. Plus: how publishers are proposing to be compensated by AI companies – and the odds that they’ll receive what they are asking for.

TTD turns its back on SSPs; scientists are finding a home on Bluesky; and a hacker used Anthropic’s Claude to plan a cybercriminal operation.

Straddling the line between content creator and content-conscious mother offers a fresh perspective on the importance of media literacy and advertisers’ role in the online ecosystem. 

In an era marked by generative AI, algorithmic optimization and an obsession with outcomes, cloud infrastructure has become a competitive differentiator.

Former Meta employee files a complaint regarding the company’s illegal business practices; virtual AI salespeople are hosting 24/7 livestreams; and Google SPN advertisers will now receive a list of URLs where their ads appeared.

IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur didn’t mince his words when declaring unauthorized generative AI scraping of publisher content “theft, full stop.”

Bluefish helps advertisers track and optimize how they show up in an LLM’s search results. Its latest funding will expand its team and product suite.

Web publishers are seeing revenue and traffic evaporate thanks to AI searches; LG Ads is finally preparing to go public; and women’s dating safety app Tea has some shady marketing practices.

Wondercraft’s new tool generates and revises audio content via natural language prompting, without the need for advanced technical skills.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Walmart Connect’s deal with The Trade Desk isn’t so exclusive anymore; Amazon is competing with everyone except publishers; and Meta’s chatbots don’t exactly inspire confidence in the company’s ability to deliver effective AI tools.

Human-made content will remain the most important source of information for consumers online. And our appreciation for human expression will only grow as we experience derivative outputs created by AI models.