The Big Story features a roundtable discussion with the AdExchanger editorial team on the week’s top news stories. New and previously published episodes are available on this page and on your preferred podcast app.
Temu pulled back on its US ad spend this week, as tariffs loom. Plus, in France, the ATT prompt was deemed anticompetitive and, as a result, will likely need to be changed.
The Trump tariff situation is in constant flux, creating uncertainty that spells doom for any potential growth in US ad spending this year. Plus, how retail media and other emerging channels could be threatened by tariff turmoil.
What’s old is new. Time is a flat circle. Trends are cyclical. Choose your idiom, because this week’s episode grapples with two topics that are back in style (so to speak): bot traffic and the tantalizing dream of scaling programmatic in-game advertising.
The IAB Tech Lab is proposing that ad auctions move to a Trusted Server from the browser. Why its prototype attracted controversy. Plus, should data privacy be viewed as a badge of honor, or a baseline standard?
Alphonso shareholders won their lawsuit against LG Ads, clearing the way for an IPO. Then, as TikTok counts down the days until its stay of execution expires, Oracle might buy a minority stake.
Tariffs are taking effect in the US, and advertisers are shook. Our special guest, Madison and Wall’s Brian Wieser, weighs in on the “blindingly obvious” consequences of implementing tariffs, including supply-chain disruptions that lead to a pullback in ad spend. You can’t promote what you can’t produce. Plus: the rationale behind Publicis’ acquisition of Lotame.
Programmatic algorithms optimize for performance, which can leave digital media companies floundering. Inside programmatic’s pursuit of “premium.” Plus: an ad tech acquisition forged on matchmaking buy-side and sell-side IDs.
In her last week at AdExchanger, Senior Editor Alyssa Boyle reflects on three years of change, and stasis, in the CTV space. Then, how Ozempic is changing the marketing world.
When The Trade Desk, the ad tech darling of Wall Street, missed its earnings forecast for the first time, ad tech insiders paid attention. Plus: Reddit, fueled by Google Search, sputters after an algorithmic adjustment.
When an ad shows up next to illegal content, there is often not a single point of failure. Adalytics Krzysztof Franaszek walks us through why he found ads showing up next to the worst kind of criminal content — and the simple and complex solutions to this problem.
The Google Chrome team is getting closer to deciding on its cookie consent mechanism. And Paramount resolves its four-month standoff with Nielsen, as the mechanics behind currency change forever.
CTV transparency remains a flashpoint between advertisers who want it and broadcasters who won’t provide it. Our special guest, Jounce Media’s Chris Kane, weighs in. Plus, we examine a persistent issue in ad tech: the chronic mislabeling of instream video.
TikTok was granted a 75-day stay of execution this week. We discuss what’s next for the social media platform, why it was classified as a threat to national security and how advertisers are responding.
M&A started off with a bang in 2025. T-Mobile bought Vistar Media, and The Trade Desk bought Sincera. With a special guest from LUMA Partners, Conor McKenna, we explore the rationale for these ad tech acquisitions.
Recorded from the showroom floor at CES, the AdExchanger editorial team talks about the intersection of consumer electronics and advertising with our guest, Dave Meeker, head of AI innovation at Monks.
The odds of RFK Jr. implementing a ban on TV drug ads are slim, says our guest this week, BranchLab’s Josh Walsh. Still, pharma advertisers could face other regulatory changes over the next four years. Plus: We break down Forrester’s picks for the top 10 SSPs.
Jessica Alter, co-founder of the nonprofit Tech for Campaigns, believes political campaigns should model their digital ad strategy on that of seed-stage startups. She joins the podcast this week to talk through this year’s unexpected election results.
Trump won the 2024 election. To recap why Trump won, and how paid media played a role (and didn’t) in his victory, we bring on guest Jordan Lieberman, CEO of Power Interactive. The programmatic buying company handled more than 1,000 digital campaigns across the political spectrum this election cycle.
To explain Forrester’s latest creative ad tech wave, we bring on the report’s author, Senior Analyst Nikhil Lai. Then, the untold story of how Prebid.org became an independent industry organization.
We discuss the rise of curation in programmatic buying and the current backlash. Is curation an ad network with new window dressing? And will it save or undermine the open web?
From the Amazon Ads Unboxed conference, AdExchanger reports on the ad tech products it’s building. Plus, why brand safety and news publishers remain at odds with each other, and what each side is doing about it.
As The Trade Desk grows more powerful, it’s attracting more attention – and frustration – from independent ad tech. Plus: an update on Google Chrome’s user choice mechanism.
It’s a wrap on the US v. Google antitrust case, at least for now. Then, behind the IP infringement claim on the OpenRTB spec that ruffled feathers at the IAB Tech Lab.
Hear what the ad tech industry is saying about Google’s antitrust trial. Then, a rundown on how the election is playing out for political advertisers and news publishers.
After eight days of the antitrust trial, who’s in the lead: the DOJ or Google? Details on the most gripping testimony so far with guest Arielle Garcia, director of intelligence for Check My Ads.
Index Exchange CEO Andrew Casale, fresh off the witness stand for US v. Google, and AdExchanger’s courtroom reporter, Allison Schiff, join us to analyze the ad tech trial of the century.
PODCAST: The Big Story