Off Ramp
Publicis signed a deal to license LiveRamp’s RampID and Authenticated Traffic Solutions (its alternative IDs to third-party cookies) on behalf of clients.
This alone is hardly major news. After all, LiveRamp sells its cookieless identity products to all the major holdcos.
But Ad Age also reports that Publicis execs were “exploring” the idea of a LiveRamp acquisition last year. Though, obviously, what’s materialized so far is only a continued strategic relationship.
A LiveRamp sale is one of the most kicked-around bits of speculation in the ad tech industry of late. It’s an interesting hypothetical because LiveRamp’s market cap (about $1.8 billion, as of this writing) is within range for the big holdcos. Publicis dropped $4.4 billion for Epsilon in 2019; Acxiom went to IPG for $2.3 billion.
But would LiveRamp’s sales pitch as the prototypical independent ecosystem middleman – CEO Scott Howe often refers to the company as the “Switzerland of data” – be critically undermined by a holdco acquisition?
And would advertisers trust LiveRamp as a source of truth for measurement if it’s judging the performance of a Publicis-run campaign compared to another agency’s?
Can I Speak To An Agent, Please?
Last week, CTV publishers and tech vendors flocked to CES to charm advertisers with AI products designed to simplify and improve media buying.
Google expanded Gemini into Google TV for conversational AI experiences to aid in content discovery and internet search, while LG and Samsung inked partnerships with Microsoft for similar purposes. These AI-infused TV operating systems can generate more personalized recommendations and also throw off more data about viewer preferences to feed large language models, Ad Age reports. Expect more ads intertwined in these experiences, too.
On the ad tech side, programmatic platforms like Viant, Magnite and PubMatic used CES to brandish their shiny agentic offerings. Magnite introduced a seller agent for its video ad server, SpringServe, which should surface ad opportunities across newer ad placement types such as home screen tiles and pause ads. Kargo’s agent turns creative into usable ads that fit the specs required by a growing variety of streaming units.
Piece by piece, these platforms are identifying parts of the programmatic process that can be further streamlined through custom agents. Now buyers and publishers just need to take them for a test drive and report back to us (email us with your thoughts).
Buying Into AI
Tired of hearing about AI in advertising yet?
Too bad!
Ad buyers haven’t had enough. Brand and agency marketers see AI as an added reason to reclaim control over audience data and media activation workflows.
The scramble for access to reliable first-party data has been in full swing for years against the backdrop of signal loss and Google’s third-party cookie deprecation (that never happened). But AI, which requires a huge body of knowledge about a brand and its customers, is creating more urgency for buyers to secure control over their data and processes, Digiday writes.
For data-hungry buyers, the most common AI use cases include synthetic audiences and media mix modeling, which help fill in the gaps between useful campaign insights and ways to actually put those insights to use (“activation” is the jargon).
Buyers are also trying to cut through the noise and ascertain which AI products on the market are actually most helpful against their business goals. May the least confusing offerings win.
But Wait! There’s More
Spotify is trying to entice YouTubers and video podcasters with better rev-share payouts. [Bloomberg]
Disney plans to incorporate a vertical video feed within Disney+ this year, as it prioritizes more short-form viewing. [Emarketer]
Ad industry employment in the US dropped in December, capping a cruddy 2025. [Ad Age]
Meta makes nuclear power deals to fuel its data centers, making it one of the US’s largest corporate buyers of nuclear energy. [The Information]
You’re Hired!
Nvidia appoints longtime Google exec Alison Wagonfeld as its first CMO. [Adweek]
VideoAmp promotes Tony Fagan to CEO. [release]
