generative AI

A generic label tells consumers that AI was used to build an ad, but leaves them to guess where reality ends and fiction begins.

The biggest obstacle to AI transformation may not be disorganized data but the messy workflows around it, says Rebecca Sykes, a partner at The Brandtech Group, where she leads the emerging tech practice.

Agencies are pitching AI directly to CEOS; Xandr under fire for sharing sexual orientation data sourced from Grindr; and Publicis says brands don’t need to sweat big holdcos working for their competitors.

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

Per-token price for frontier models may go up or down, but the cost to solve complex problems is going to increase, writes Zefr’s Jon Morra.

Google’s Spirit Airlines data stockpile is feeding AI; ChatGPT’s advertiser switcheroo; and X’s rage-baiting isn’t the engagement signal advertisers are looking for.

Cuisinart’s marketing team has been eager to take advantage of generative AI-based creative.

Chalice AI’s COO and co-founder, Ali Manning, explains how the AI startup – don’t call it a custom algorithm company – is helping brands like Bayer use advertiser-specific bidding models to drive real outcomes as opposed to poor proxies.

Freewheel will begin reporting show-level data; Xbox will let users stream games for free if they watch ads; and Meta and Google can develop AI ads without even a prompt.

Kraft Heinz’s deal with Disney represents a food marketing trend; how buying location data is a legal loophole for the government; analysts rain on OpenAI’s ad parade.

The SAIL initiative compensates publishers when AI scrapes their content and guarantees the outputs adhere to the same cultural standards they apply to their own coverage.

Advertising in AI-native destinations and experiences is already starting to look less like a series of experiments and more like an emerging market.

Instead of relying on rigid audience segments, modern systems can interpret a real-world moment in real time, combining layers of information to better predict what someone might actually care about right now.

What does it take to sell “media quality” in 2026, when AI is making the content and placing the ads? That’s what new IAS CEO Lidiane Jones has to figure out.

Criteo has two potential buyers; publishers consider blocking Google’s joint AI-scraping/search-indexing bot; and Microsoft’s billion-player gaming goal might make sense for mobile.

Finance, legal and billing functions require auditability. Your team will still need to normalize, validate and reconcile data from scratch.

In a world being agentically orchestrated at scale, human judgment is the indispensable guardrail preventing us from optimizing right over the cliff.

CloudX, which makes AI infrastructure for app publishers, is expanding from monetization to agentic buying for user acquisition.

We must reject the fantasy of infinite creative variations tailored to individuals – not just because it is technically impossible but because it fundamentally misunderstands how advertising works for the vast majority of brands.

Bending Spoons bets on the old web; more publishers start blocking bot scrapers by default; and Apple introduces app bundles.

How does Spotify translate quirky Wrapped labels, like “divorced dad hipster,” into ad audiences? And is AI-generated content safe for brands? Spotify’s Global Head of Ad Product Katie English weighs in.

AdExchanger Senior Editors Alyssa Boyle and Anthony Vargas share their takeaways from three days chatting about agentic AI at POSSIBLE.

We can’t simply trust AI to make up for bland creative with sheer volume. The real performance shift happens when we use AI to push creativity further.

We now have plenty of evidence that AI can be an incredibly useful tool. But proof is also piling up that it erodes our creativity.

Medvi caught in AI deepfake scandal; Delta SkyMiles members get 24-hour free NYT access. Source Golf launches a YouTube network.

The industry has spent years debating third-party cookies, but AI has settled the debate. First-party data isn’t just preferred; it’s structurally necessary. And the capital is already moving.

Sonia Chung, Boathouse’s new CSO, wants to help the agency (and the industry at large) take full advantage of its data.

Machines can now flag anomalies, surface trends and spin insights in seconds. Yet, even with its speed, AI still can’t decode the “why” behind the “what.”

Yahoo is not like other companies promoting AI buzz; Elite “clippers” turn longform content into short, shareable clips; The Army prepares to reset ad business.

Should businesses start advertising on AI media platforms? Yes. But it depends on how consumers in your category are already using AI and how quickly your organization can respond.