Technology

YouTube finds new ways to crack down in ad-blockers; the Better Business Bureau takes swipes at AI marketing; and Gen Z only trusts digital-native brands.

Google released a proposal for a Chrome feature called script blocking as part of a broader effort to mitigate API misuse for broader reidentification. In short: It’s a crackdown on fingerprinting in Incognito mode.

Going For The Cinematic Effect; Do The Youngs Shop Google?; X Marks The Spot

In the early hours of Monday morning, Roku and Amazon jointly announced a partnership that will reportedly result in the “largest authenticated TV footprint” in the US.

Dentsu and Criteo announced a strategic partnership to consolidate their respective retail audience data within Dentsu Connect, the agency holding company’s data and identity product.

If there’s one safe prediction heading into Cannes this year, it’s that AI will be everywhere: in panels, on yachts and splashed across every DOOH ad within a 10-kilometer radius of the Croisette. But behind the noise, something real is happening. We are witnessing a strategic shift. AI is evolving from a shiny object into a performance engine that helps marketers uncover hidden audiences and iterate faster while delivering relevance at scale.

Life360, a popular family safety and tracking app, announced its first location-based ad targeting solution, called Place Ads, and a foot-traffic analytics product named Uplift that measures store visitation.

Retroactive reinforcement won’t be enough to ensure a fairer and more innovative ad market going forward. The advertising industry needs proactive antitrust enforcement.

AI-generated mystery pages are appearing on brand sites; Amazon Prime Video doubles its ad load; and bipartisan efforts to protect kids online get a new partisan focus under the Trump admin.

On Wednesday, DoorDash announced its acquisition of Symbiosys, a retail search ad startup that launched two years ago. The deal price is $175 million.

Marketing Cloud Next is designed to automate manual tasks and bring enhanced personalization to customers’ communications with brands through the use of agentic AI.

AGI is Meta’s latest pipe dream; the Nerds Gummy Clusters blueprint for ROAS; and how the gen AI vibe shift could pave the way for “vibe targeting.”

The Trade Desk is adding a new retail tool to its data marketplace toolkit – or a new element to its periodic table, if you will.

Expect to see more AI-generated ads on the Amazon website going forward. On Tuesday, Amazon announced the US release of its AI-powered video generator tool after nine months of beta testing. It also rolled out an updated version of the image generator first announced in 2023.

Mark Read is exiting WPP at the end of the year; the CEO of DeepMind is important, we swear; Google’s major SEO swings have changed the game.

Sigma, MiQ’s new AI-powered ad platform, gives advertisers better analytics and attempts to unify the fragmented data landscape.

AppLovin’s CEO has reluctantly embraced the spotlight; Democrats are still failing on digital ads; your daily TikTok habit might actually be a good thing.

Advertisers love new ad formats, especially on connected TV. Just look at how many platforms announced their own during the IAB NewFronts and TV upfronts last month. But it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.

For The Trade Desk, about 90% of campaigns using structured deal IDs via private marketplaces don’t scale at all. Fixing this frustrating deal ID failure rate was the impetus for a new product called Deal Desk.

IAB Tech Lab to highlight the industry’s favorite CTV ad formats; how agentic AI could transform ad agency practices; and the Trump tariffs trigger an uptick in false “Made in America” claims.

Can the IAB Tech Lab’s Trusted Server initiative really help restore publishers’ ownership of monetization and wrestle back control from Big Tech and walled gardens?

Google’s pivot on IP addresses shows it fears competition; the FTC investigates media watchdogs for advising brands not to spend on X; and Mondelez accuses Aldi of copying its snacks.

Classify is entering a crowded space of AI-powered contextual curation offerings. But the company is already teasing some high-profile integrations thanks to its network of well-connected advisors.

Angelina Eng, a 30-year industry veteran who serves as the IAB’s vice president of measurement, addressability and data center, has been swimming in the ocean of digital advertising from the very beginning.

Programmatic promised clarity: automation, efficiency and measurable outcomes. What we got instead is complexity dressed up as optimization: a stack of acronyms performing trust theater.

Amazon will consolidate its legacy ad APIs into one offering; retail media powers to mobile economy; advertisers aren’t feeling Pride Month this year.

Michael Komasinski, Criteo’s newly-minted CEO, shares his vision for the company – and swears that Criteo doesn’t regret its huge investment in testing the Chrome Privacy Sandbox.

As AI agents begin to mediate everything from search to purchase, marketers are being forced to confront the reality that they must treat machines as customers.

YouTube is winning the CTV race by not just focusing on TV; ads threaten the gen AI user experience; and sports still brings brands incremental reach.

Amazon is integrating into Prebid. What does this mean for publishers? Plus, are Amazon and Google diverging in their product focus?