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Partnerize has developed an an industry-wide standard to measure AI search performance and compensate publishers accordingly.

A new IAB Tech Lab group is working on ground rules for the very unruly $200 billion programmatic ad market. Godspeed!

In the rush to scale globally, US brands are often content with “accidental attention.” But attention isn’t a lottery; it’s a strategy that requires a deep familiarity with context in real time.

AI isn’t just a productivity tool, says Debra Aho Williamson, founder of Sonata Insights. It’s a brand-new media environment that’s reshaping how people decide what to buy and challenging marketers to completely rethink the funnel.

AI search is cautiously testing competitor-targeted ads; publishers’ prediction widgets risk backlash despite engagement gains; and Trump library donations from media companies face transparency questions.

Agentic commerce company Envive builds on-site agents for brands like footwear company Clove, painting a clearer picture of what their customers are looking for.

If you want to see a privacy lawyer who works in ad tech roll their eyes and heave a deep sigh, then speak aloud this acronym: “CIPA.”

A proposed standard under discussion at W3C aims to redefine how ad effectiveness is measured across the web. This proposal would centralize measurement of ad effectiveness under the control of Google, Apple and Meta.

OpenAI’s push into advertising exposes a familiar economic tension. Plus: Social mixers teach people how to protect their data from Big Tech.

With RFPs in flux, diverse-owned media companies are finding ways to use their data to improve reach. Plus: Why we’re in retail media’s “potty-training” phase.

Platforms using talent to corroborate sales pitches is nothing new – the TV upfronts have always included publishers peacocking their talent to impress buyers. But YouTube arguably juggles an additional obligation to act in accordance with its self-imposed competitive differentiator: authenticity.

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

OpenAI has its own tracking pixel; Amazon sellers are boycotting the platform; and DirecTV hops on the CAPI bandwagon.

Paramount might have outlasted and outbid Netflix in the competition to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, but Netflix is not overly fussed about the loss.

Paramount is merging the ad tech stacks behind Paramount+ and Pluto TV, releasing a new performance product, offering more control over ad placements and introducing dynamic ad insertion in live sports.

One acquisition often begets another. Take Viant, which announced its plan to acquire TVision for $40 million on Wednesday.

The IAB’s Connected Commerce event in New York City this week felt to me like the retail media industry’s first sit-down explanation to a child who is now a “big kid” and must act accordingly.

Multicultural publishers are under pressure to grow and scale their audience to remain competitive in an increasingly selective marketplace. To adapt, some publishers are turning to tools like AdGrid’s Audience Accelerator to activate first-party audiences across channels. 

Reward Apps faces data broker allegations; Apple bolsters its advertising business; Comments are all the rage in social media marketing.

Meta is simplifying its CAPI setup and teaching its pixel new tricks, including adding an AI-powered feature that automatically pulls in data from an advertiser’s website.

The Dynamic Traffic Engine, an open-source tool, is geared toward optimizing bid requests and reducing programmatic waste.

TelevisaUnivision is the latest TV publisher to join the self-serve trend that’s rising in popularity across connected TV advertising. Its streaming inventory is now available to buy through fullthrottle.ai’s self-serve platform. The collaboration includes an ad bidder designed to improve both targeting and measurement.

Law firm Keller Postman is leading mass arbitration suits against Google, seeking advertiser damages for alleged monopoly overpricing. The total available pot is a quarter-trillion dollars.

Surprise! Platforms ignore users opting out of ad tracking; the marketing machine claims credit for Geese’s popularity; and Meta’s MAGA-friendly moderation makes an unforced error.

Kim Rosenblum, CMO of investment app Betterment, unpacks her “anti‑marketing” playbook, which involves telling customers not to engage and shifting away from chasing cheap CAC to prioritizing lifetime value.

Opal launched Gem, a new AI solution, to help large brands unify the layers of media and tech within their organizations.

Live sports is one of programmatic’s biggest opportunities, even if the buying process is still kind of a mess. But efforts are being made.

For years, programmatic advertising has operated on the assumption that most buyers didn’t really want to know how the system works. That’s changing. More advertisers are asking harder questions about where their media dollars actually go, and those questions are increasingly come from mid-market agencies that would historically rely on DSPs to manage the complexity of supply for them.

In-store audio ads grow, but attribution and headphones raise doubts; Hidden fees persist as drip pricing draws scrutiny; World Cup ad costs surge.

Mula’s AI native content feed helps On3 keep its engagement and RPS consistent amid traffic drop-offs to publisher sites and the growing scarcity of online attention.