Epic Games

Could Epic’s rough patch mean ads in Fortnite?; TV’s shot to end the reign of direct insertion orders; and publishers learn how to game AI search summaries.

LinkedIn launches a creator rev share program; AdSense comes to third-party AI chatbots; and the verdict in Apple v. Epic Games cracks down on Apple’s App Store fees.

While advertisers’ interest in gaming may be growing, their spending commitments seem stuck on pause, judging by Tuesday’s IAB PlayFronts event.

Paramount is the latest entertainment studio headed for a showdown with Nielsen. Plus, Forbes seems to have been rebuked by Google Search.

Google is testing a new badge for shopping-related searches on some mobile devices. Plus, should brands have political opinions?

Ally’s newest Fortnite game, “Tee Time Speedrun,” launched last week to promote its sponsorship of the USGA and LGPA. The game ties into Ally’s goal of reaching gender parity in its sports sponsorships.

In today’s newsletter: Google tries to buy its way out of a jury trial in the DOJ’s antitrust case against its ads business; Walmart sees some of its best margins on ad sales; and TikTok tests 60-minute videos.

In today’s newsletter: Google AdSense publishers are in crisis; Apple is fighting antitrust suits in the UK and the US; and Sherwood Media has a post-SEO strategy.

SuperAwesome CEO Kate O’Loughlin discusses how contextual targeting makes it less risky for brands to market to kids and teens, and whether advertiser priorities for reaching young consumers are shifting after years of metaverse hype.

The vast majority of advertisers who buy ads in video games (91%) no longer consider gaming to be an experimental media channel. But ad spend in games still lags behind audience engagement.

In today’s newsletter: Under DMA’s gatekeeper rules, Apple reinstates Epic Games’ developer account one day after it suspended it; brands are building first-party-data-based walled gardens to weather cookie deprecation; and Kevel raises $23 million.

The question isn’t whether Google will fall, but whether its time is near. And, if so, what will finally bring it down?

In today’s newsletter: Users’ rare anime collections disappear as Sony consolidates Funimation and Crunchyroll; Instagram and Threads stop promoting political content; and why Fortnite is winning the metaverse.

In today’s newsletter: Buyers are relatively blasé about made-for-advertising sites; Meta is riding high, having fully adapted to ATT, while Google’s search dominance is under threat; and Publicis Groupe reports strong growth.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Pining For AI Google laid off nearly 1,000 employees last week – but the hits keep coming. It’s also scrapping hundreds of jobs in its ad sales division, Business Insider reports. The headcount reduction is a byproduct of restructuring its ad sales team, […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Sandboxers In The Ring The Trade Desk is saying farewell to the Chrome Privacy Sandbox, and it’s firing parting shots on the way out. In its view, the APIs in the Privacy Sandbox will devalue open internet advertising, while Google’s ad tech business […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. A Win Is A Win? Blue-chip accounts are coveted on Madison Ave, but it’s impossible to tell which clients are really the key wins for the agencies involved.  Winning the McDonald’s or Coca-Cola account comes with cachet and solid earned media, but the […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Location, Location, Location The FTC’s consumer privacy case against Kochava is back on the docket. Last year, the consumer watchdog accused the mobile app analytics platform of selling users’ geolocation data in an open market. However, the presiding judge threw out the FTC’s […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Google Bites Back Google isn’t done refuting Adalytics’ accusations that YouTube targets ads to kids watching YouTube. On Thursday, it released an analysis of Adalytics’ report, highlighting how advertising works on YouTube’s made-for-kids (MFK) content to prove it is not, in fact, serving […]

With 43% of Roblox’s users under 13 and about 70% 18 and under, Roblox must pay attention to legislation and policy around advertising to children. But it would be a total head-scratcher for Roblox to pivot its ad business to focus on over-18 audiences.

In 2022, top players in digital advertising finally started taking gaming seriously, and the groundwork was laid for programmatic in-game advertising to grow thanks to a long overdue update to the IAB’s and MRC’s in-game ad standards. The scene is also set for in-game advertising to expand into console gaming, and we might even see the debut of the first sell-side platform dedicated to gaming.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. AMPed Up And AMPed Out Last year, Google changed its search algorithm to take its thumb off the scale for AMP pages.  Accelerated Mobile Pages are a plague on web publishers. Although they promise somewhat better site-loading times, historically, all they really do […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. The “Go” In Google There are two important privacy issues at the top of EU regulator agendas right now: a GDPR case against IAB Europe and Schrems II cases targeting Google Analytics.  On the one hand, IAB Europe supporters seem heartened, counterintuitively, after […]

The $3.1 billion deal on AdExchanger’s radar this week? TransUnion’s acquisition of Neustar. The deal brings together an identity resolution company with a credit reporting agency. But why is identity being tied together through these two companies? And should this raise privacy red flags? To answer those questions, we bring on former Neustar executive Steven […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Grace (Period) Under Fire Everyone knows that fingerprinting on iOS 14 is about as kosher as a strip of bacon on a piece of gefilte fish … right? Although Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework explicitly prohibits the use of fingerprinting, some of the largest mobile measurement […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Bouncing Back The virtual Upfronts have concluded; the celebrities have bounced; the guest DJs are spinning on Brooklyn rooftops. And the time has come for advertisers to commit. The broadcast industry wants to know whether flashy presentations by Disney, NBCUniversal, ViacomCBS, WarnerMedia and others […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Tim Talks Move over Epic, it’s Tim’s turn. The Apple CEO had his say in federal court on Friday as part of a lawsuit Epic filed after its hugely popular game Fortnite was removed from the App Store last year for flouting Apple’s requirement […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Swan Song? Telcos rushed headlong into the ad tech business, but will they survive it? Verizon washed its hands of ad tech with the sale of Verizon Media to Apollo; And Xandr is in limbo following AT&T’s mega-spinoff of WarnerMedia. But three’s a trend. […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Tim’s Turn Apple CEO Tim Cook will soon testify in the company’s lawsuit with Epic Games. Epic sued after its hugely popular game Fortnite was kicked out of the App Store last year for flouting Apple’s 30% cut of in-game revenues. Epic claimed that […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Playing It Safe Who needs the razzle dazzle? There’s nothing sexier than safety and incremental reach, and Twitter touted both during its NewFronts presentation on Wednesday. “The TV-like quality of the content is clear,” said JP Maheu, Twitter’s VP of US client services. To […]