Intuitive Change
2026 has been an eventful year for Intuit’s media business on multiple fronts.
In April, the company announced plans to shut down SMB MediaLabs, its ad network for small and local businesses. The idea behind SMB MediaLabs, which launched in 2023, was to retarget QuickBooks customers around the web.
Then, just last month, there was a creative agency shakeup, with Intuit switching to Mother New York from FCB. And now Intuit is conducting a review of its US media investments, Ad Age reports. The incumbent is Omnicom Initiative, Intuit’s global media agency, with Wieden+Kennedy, PMG and Dept also in the mix.
What’s a little strange is that this is all happening even as Intuit’s shares plummet.
Despite a falling market cap, Intuit has somehow managed to cement itself as a flagship media account, with US marketing spend jumping from $914 million in 2024 to $933 million last year. And to top it all off, Intuit has run a Super Bowl spot every year for the past 13 years.
For a company whose stock is down nearly two-thirds, its marketing budget is remarkably untroubled.
The New Expansion Pack
Can’t stop, won’t stop.
That seems to be OpenAI’s mantra regarding its ChatGPT ads pilot, which is continuing its expansion across Europe just weeks after launching in the UK.
Despite initial hesitation, the AI company has made it clear that it’s all in on ads, with a newly launched custom audience feature and plans to introduce new formats.
OpenAI’s careers page has a role open for a regional manager for ads solutions “to lead and scale OpenAI’s advertising business across Europe,” plus additional ad exec roles open in Paris, Munich, Dublin and Singapore.
The growth has been rapid. During a fireside chat in Cannes, Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski said Criteo doubled the number of clients participating in the OpenAI ad pilot in the span of one month.
Still, OpenAI isn’t trying to rush things. “When we roll out a new country, like Japan,” David Dugan, OpenAI’s global head of ads noted during the fireside, “we start with rolling it up to 10% of the available audience.”
If user return rates and queries per day aren’t negatively affected, OpenAI will bump the exposure to 50% and then 90%. “We want to go fast,” said Dugan, while still “staying consistent with user needs.”
Harper & Gamble
After the Supreme Court lifted federal restrictions in 2018 and gave states the authority to legalize sports betting, it didn’t take long for gambling and professional sports to become deeply intertwined.
Now, gambling apps are working with active professional sports stars to market themselves, particularly to high-spending users. But “high-spending users” can also be a euphemism for “problem gamblers.”
In 2024, Philadelphia Phillies megastar Bryce Harper recorded a personalized video for a FanDuel VIP who is now suing the company for contributing to his gambling addiction, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
The user wagered $18.5 million on FanDuel since 2020, incurring $1.5 million in losses. Rather than being cut off, he was bumped up to FanDuel’s VIP tier, including getting a personal manager who provided access to sporting events and exclusive parties. The Harper video was another perk. Meanwhile, by 2025, the plaintiff had taken out multiple mortgages and spiraled to the point that his therapist called the police for a wellness check.
Harper’s video is a notable element in the case because the MLB is (was) famously averse to all gambling associations. But the league began allowing players to promote sportsbooks in 2022, as long as they don’t explicitly encourage gambling.
Not that MLB players haven’t gotten themselves involved in illegal sports app gambling schemes all the same.
But Wait! There’s More!
Madison Square Garden’s hacked database includes millions of customer emails and phone numbers pulled from its Salesforce system, in addition to risk assessments for celebrity Knicks fans and labels for LGBTQ celebs. [Wired]
As much as 41% of long-form written content on LinkedIn was generated by AI, a new report suggests. [404 Media]
The New York Times and other publishers suing OpenAI have accused the company of withholding evidence and lying in court. [NYT]
Google will now disclose when ads are “created or edited” with AI. [TechCrunch]
You’re Hired!
Airbnb hires former OpenAI exec Michael Tabtabai as VP of creative. [Ad Age]
Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here.
