The Wall Street Journal

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

Some accuse The Trade Desk of becoming a walled garden; short form video clips are the only way to go viral; and a new startup touts “micro-dramas.”

The New York Times and News Corp are case studies in how news publishers are evolving to be less reliant on ad revenue. Both publishers have also increasingly looked to new revenue streams for sustained growth.

Current ad pricing often doesn’t correlate to a site’s attention score, which means there’s an arbitrage opportunity for buyers and resellers.

News Corp’s chief exec blasted “the blatant biases of ad agencies and ad associations,” which are “boycotting certain media properties” due to “personal political prejudices.”

Even brand safety companies think news blocking has gone too far. DV is exploring ways to help advertisers support legitimate news and just hired its first-ever head of news.

It’s time for advertisers to get more nuanced with their approach to brand safety, says Mia Libby, The Wall Street Journal’s SVP of enterprise. It’s okay to be cautious, but excluding all news from programmatic media plans isn’t the answer.

The challenges facing digital advertising feel bigger than ever. But when you’re in Cannes, you can’t help but focus on the positives. Here are the six biggest ad industry trends and positive takeaways from this year’s show.

The company’s total revenue was down 1% YOY due to a decline in ad revenue across its News Media and Dow Jones publishing groups.

Appealing to advertisers’ better angels is never going to bring ads back to the news. But appealing to their bottom lines might.