first-party data

AudienceMix, a new curation startup, aims to make it more cost effective to mix and match different audience segments using only the data brands need to execute their campaigns.

Every conversation about addressability eventually lands on the same word: fragmentation. But the real symptom of that fragmentation isn’t just operational complexity; it’s also declining match rates. That single number explains why marketers are struggling to make their data work.

As the digital advertising industry enters a new phase of maturity, so does its relationship with data. Going into 2026, marketers’ long-standing obsession with scale is giving way to something more grounded: a push for smarter, actionable, owned data.

Traffic-starved publishers are hopeful that their long-undervalued audience data will fuel advertising’s automated future – if only they can finally wrest control of the industry narrative away from ad tech middlemen.

A new integration between Amazon and Clinch allows advertisers to access Amazon custom audiences via a third-party platform.

On Tuesday, game engine Unity, which has a growing advertising business, announced the appointment of Chris Feo as its new SVP of programmatic.

In June, Marriott launched a new media network designed to connect its customers to relevant brands throughout the travel journey.

Publishers like News Corp are walking a fine line—suing AI companies for scraping their work while cutting multimillion‑dollar licensing deals with others.

Hearst has seen improvements in addressability between 30% and 200% since introducing AURA, its AI-powered ad targeting solution, last year.

Curated deals were once seen as a smart way to bring structure to programmatic chaos. Today, they’ve become table stakes.