What’s The (Sem)Rush?; AI’s Insights Are Out Of Sight
Adobe acquires SEO tech business Semrush; brands want to know what AI search engines think of them; and the LGBTQ community is an under-targeted audience.
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Daily News Roundup
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AI Search Tools Face Monetization Crunch; And So Does Kids Content
There’s no magic bullet for AI search optimization; how kids’ media monetizes outside of YouTube; and hey, whatever happened to the TikTok ban?
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Havas Says Let’s ‘Have Us’ WPP; GDPR You Kidding Me
Havas makes a play for WPP; The European Commission is getting simplified; and retail chains are monetizing their Muzak.
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Winning In The Privacy Biz; Monopoly Money
OneTrust wants to get bought; Europe wants Google to tweak its ad tech; and the DHS is spending more on ads than ever.
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Isn’t It Gross; API, A Pain In …
Omnicom revamps its revenue reporting; Amazon will now charge for access to its Selling Partner API; and brands seek sponsorship deals with all sorts of social creators.
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A Kick In The Back Over Kickbacks; The New Jolta Media
A former exec sues WPP over an alleged retaliatory firing; Jolt acquires Volta Media from Shell; and AI defamation litigation is on the rise.
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Braving The Elements; How Will The Agents Be Paid?
Lesser-known browser Brave comes out of the woodwork; agentic chatbots require new ad practices; and private equity can endanger both brands and publishers.
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The Daily (Mail’s) Dose Of Medicine; No Time To Wait On Pause Ads
The Daily Mail deals with AI overviews; pause ads are the new hotness; and YouTube fights back against ad blockers.
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Hold On, Holdcos; Rags To Riches
Dentsu is for sale; Associated Press is scraping its own archives; and AI is infiltrating newsrooms.
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The Meta Fraud Tithe; AI Is Out-Negotiating SaaS
Meta is profiting from fraudulent ads; LLMs are taking advantage of SaaS pricing policies; and agencies aren’t going under… yet.
Must Read
2025: The Year Google Lost In Court And Won Anyway
From afar, it looks like Google had a rough year in antitrust court. But zoom in a bit and it becomes clear that the past year went about as well as Google could have hoped for.
Why 2025 Marked The End Of The Data Clean Room Era
A few years ago, “data clean rooms” were all the ad tech trades could talk about. Fast-forward to 2026, and maybe advertisers don’t need to know what a data clean room is after all.
The AI Search Reckoning Is Dismantling Open Web Traffic – And Publishers May Never Recover
Publishers have been losing 20%, 30% and in some cases even as much as 90% of their traffic and revenue over the past year due to the rise of zero-click AI search.
No Waiting for May – CES Is Where The TV Upfront Season Starts
If any single event can be considered the jumping-off point for TV upfronts, it’s the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), which kicks off this week in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Comic: This Is Our Year
It’s been 15 years since this comic first ran in January 2011, and there’s something both quaint and timeless about it. Here’s to more (and more) transparency in 2026, and happy New Year!
From AI To SPO: The Top 10 AdExchanger Guest Columns Of 2025
The generative AI trend generated endless hot takes this year, but the ad industry also had plenty to say about growing competition between DSPs and SSPs. Here are AdExchanger’s top 10 most popular guest columns of 2025 and why they resonated.