Daily News Roundup

Google’s changing up Max; CTV buyers are “addicted to siloing;” and Bluesky’s AI investments may be moot.

Paramount+, unlike Netflix, announces a subscription-free option; Havas announces plans to go AI-first; and Faire’s Promoted Listings platform targets wholesalers, rather than individual customers.

Sports are where the money is; Reddit’s rethinking its AI licensing strategy; and data targeting has its darker sides.

Kraft Heinz’s deal with Disney represents a food marketing trend; how buying location data is a legal loophole for the government; analysts rain on OpenAI’s ad parade.

The purported best ways to counter ad fraud; CPG brands struggle in the face of GLP-1s; and the open web might be meeting its end.

Everything is an ad network, including sports arenas; Apple Ads is getting an upgrade; and Patreon blocks bots from its free content.

Google has to hand over some of its AI features to competitors; when LLMs will (or won’t) be critical; and publishers are productizing GEO offerings.

Private equity is hungry for challenger ecommerce marketplace players. Plus: Brands and creators aren’t thrilled with TikTok Shop’s AI-generated shoppable videos.

Megaphone becoming part of Spotify’s Ad Server impacts campaign setups; IAB finds 43% of buyers have little confidence in CTV ad supply quality; and Netflix’s ad-filled MLB Home Run Derby broadcast gets panned.

Meta’s AI creative products still need work; the role of humans in agentic media buying; and how Vizio TV owners can opt out of sharing data with Walmart.

Netflix considers live TV channels; Ofcom tells social media to cool it with the scam ads; and Meta gets weirdly nonconsensual with its AI images.

Intuit shakes up its media business; the OpenAI ads pilot continues to expand; and the MLB seems to have changed its tune on gambling.

Everybody wants a bite of next year’s FIFA World Cup; Warner Bros. Discovery ventures into the Amazon; and ChatGPT has its favorite influencers just like we do.

Criteo has two potential buyers; publishers consider blocking Google’s joint AI-scraping/search-indexing bot; and Microsoft’s billion-player gaming goal might make sense for mobile.

Creator marketing is taking over the B2B space; Reddit develops AI tools to fight spam; and Comcast-owned Sky will acquire ITV’s Media & Entertainment unit.

Paramount consolidates its ad tech and product teams; Meta execs are still figuring out the role of AI; and FIFA and World Cup sponsors lean on influencers.

OpenAI’s hiring priorities hint at the nascent ad platform’s future direction. Plus: Cloudflare unveils tools to categorize crawlers.

Retail media ramps up CTV partnerships to extend ecommerce audiences off-site; LaLiga’s piracy crackdown hits legit sites in Spain; and OpenAI mulls third-party ad measurement.

Comcast separates NBCUniversal and Sky from its broadband and wireless business; Omnicom is all in on M&A; and startup Whatnot bets on livestreamed shopping.

Apple abandoned its ad network; Did Cannes Lions abandon its creators?; and CMOs decide how much to abandon creative budgets.

Since Publicis Groupe is acquiring LiveRamp, many brands will likely find themselves in the market for a new independent vendor for audience and identity data. Plus: FIFA’s controversial ad-filled hydration breaks twice per every World Cup game.

The Tech Revolution Will Be Televised  Every business considers itself a tech company these days. Remember Allbirds sneakers pivoting to AI? In the entertainment industry, the line between tech and media is growing especially murky. Legacy entertainment studios own streaming platforms, and tech companies produce their own films and shows.  Unfortunately, a showdown between Hollywood […]

Amazon’s Alexa gets voice-activated shopping assistant ads; AI-affiliated Super PACs are the big spenders this midterms; and P&G throws cold water on the agency “one-stop shop” model.

Everyone’s investing in AppsFlyer; NBCU launches Rock Studios, a creative studio for brand integrations; and Meta wants to hop on the TV bandwagon.

There’s a new type of DSP with a shiny new acronym; AI search optimization is a tricky game; and M&Ms struggle to switch to natural coloring.

Where will OpenAI put its ads?; YouTube may or may not be considered TV; and Uber and Lyft deals really are too good to be true.

Some DOJ staffers wanted to challenge the Paramount/WBD merger on antitrust grounds; ad tech M&A is poised to pick up; and social media marketers want to normalize controversial clipping.

A new browser extension called Kickbacks serves ads during wait times while Claude Code processes a prompt. Plus: Video game publisher EA is launching a dedicated ad platform, EA Advertising.

TVision won a jury trial regarding its use of digital signatures to recognize audio content, which Nielsen alleged was infringement. Plus: Consumer wearable hardware businesses often grow quickly but lack staying power. 

Viant creates a direct pipeline between its DSP and media companies; Google and TTD won’t renew their TAG accreditations; and OpenAI may lower the cost of tokens.