Ad Agency Holding Companies

Is TTD forcing agencies to adopt the new Kokai interface despite claims they can still use the interface of their choice? Here’s what we were able to find out.

AI Overviews are even dinging Google Search ads’ traffic; WPP downgrades its earnings forecast; and Google’s AI competitors launch their own web browsers.

Critics say the FTC’s deal with OMG/IPG prohibits agency practices that don’t exist. And it distracts from legitimate concerns about brand safety news blocking and principal media.

Despite publicly hyping AI, advertisers remain privately skeptical; AI aims to replace agencies, but tech complexity makes them more valuable partners; and Americans aren’t paying for news.

As the newly appointed president of Horizon Media Holdings, Bob Lord is dubious that megamergers between holding companies are actually good for the client. “Bigger is not always better,” Lord says.

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

Trap More Flies With Honey Honey, a free browser extension that automatically finds and applies discount codes, is being accused of defrauding its users and the online content creators who championed it. That’s according to a YouTube tech investigator who goes by MegaLag. He alleges that the PayPal-owned Honey effectively steals the credit for online […]

Publishers expect the agencies will eliminate tech redundancies as they consolidate, which could compel pubs to shed redundant tech themselves. The merger could also entrench principal-based buying, which may not be a bad thing.

Publicis outperforms its agency holding company rivals because of three primary factors: technology strategy, leadership and deal-making.

Google Fails To Deliver In 2014, Google’s then-CEO Eric Schmidt raised eyebrows when he referred to Amazon as Google’s primary search opponent, rather than Yahoo or Bing.  Fast-forward eight years, and Amazon is now its obvious challenger, and Google has utterly failed to address its own ecommerce vulnerabilities, according to a LinkedIn post by Faisal […]