Technology

TV dealmaking has shifted to “always-on” models; “activation” is a classic bit of ad jargon; ChatGPT is sending more traffic to publisher.

Microsoft’s AI assistant, Copilot, is a product of trial and error. Past mistakes paved the way for today’s iteration which has led to performance improvements and increased customer trust.

PubMatic’s new AI curation features are helping it forge closer relationships with ad agencies like GroupM that are ramping up their use of AI.

Amazon Prime Video rolls out new audience and contextual targeting; streamers wring more revenue from subscription-weary consumers; and AI is an app, so it must obey Google and Apple.

Google and Amazon compete for people’s time and wallets, and for advertisers’ budgets. And on Wednesday, they both kicked off their marketing industry conferences and announced a round of big ad tech news.

We’re seeing the worst possible outcomes with the CPM-based buying approach. And Google’s recent decision to hang on to cookies indefinitely risks perpetuating the worst parts of the digital ad business.

Perplexity is thirsty for revenue streams; Marketecture’s media biz grows; and Duolingo goes dark on social after its AI pivot.

The era of fragmented, adversarial ad tech is winding down. A new paradigm is emerging defined by AI-first, end-to-end platforms and collaboration among buyers and sellers.

Google’s DV360 adding attention as optimization signal could finally help wean buyers and platforms off bidding on ad inventory based on viewability.

AirBNB considers introducing ads (just not right now); antitrust enforcement is about more than shrinking Big Tech; and broadcasters want to get the ball rolling on sports again.

Now that all the dust and confetti has settled after the upfronts, negotiations between marketers, agencies, networks and streamers are only just getting started.

Amid the glitz of TV upfront presentations, advertising executives take the stage to talk about things like new audience targeting capabilities or to ballyhoo new ad measurement partnerships. How, though, are we supposed to focus on brand lift statistics when we can all hear Lady Gaga belting a vocal warmup offstage?

Equativ is now blocking made-for-advertising content from all exchange activity, marking a larger trend of pushing to eliminate MFA sites.

Political advertisers, by necessity, have built precise, privacy-conscious targeting strategies that work without relying exclusively on third-party data like cookies.

The CFPB backtracks on plans to bar data brokers from selling financial data; Jamie Lee Curtis takes on Mark Zuckerberg over fake AI ads; and Gas Station TV drives traffic to Applebee’s.

On Wednesday, Microsoft announced that it will shut down Microsoft Invest by March next year, to be replaced by a chatbot-style ad-buying product powered by Copilot.

Marketing On Autopilot Companies that build AI-powered marketing software have been framing the technology as a friendly helper. Nothing to fear here, just an eager “copilot” ready to serve. The AI “copilot” that first comes to mind for most people is Microsoft’s generative AI chatbot of the same name. GitHub, meanwhile, which is owned by […]

The Trade Desk released OpenSincera on Tuesday, a free API integration that posts ad impression data on publishers and tech vendors.

Ever since 2020, TV upfront rates have declined; inconsistent metrics mean inaccurate results; plus, Roblox is touting its strong hold on its viewers’ (er, gamers’) attention.

Contextually relevant pause ads were just one of three new formats that Amazon unveiled in advance of its upfronts presentation on Monday.

Jerry Dischler leaves Google; a bunch of marketing execs join AI companies; agency holdcos don’t know which way is up.

Instead of simply watching ads on the big screen, consumers are now being encouraged to interact with those ads – a shift in marketing that was particularly apparent at the 2025 NewFronts presentations in New York City this week.

If you felt a strange gust around 5 p.m. ET on Thursday, it was probably just the cumulative sighs of relief across Wall Street as The Trade Desk shook off its Q4 blues with a better-than-expected first quarter earnings report.

Shopify is growing its advertising and data business; the privacy train is slowing down; Roku is striking deals to make its data more accessible.

Does a connected TV DSP need lower take rates? Inside the battle among DSP’s to take on The Trade Desk’s dominant market position. Plus: an on-the-ground report from the TV Newfronts.

When it comes to third-party cookies on Chrome, Google’s plan to reverse course is neither here nor there, says Magnite CEO Michael Barrett. “Forget Privacy Sandbox,” Barrett said. “That thing was dead upon arrival.”

AppLovin has Axon, and now Unity has Vector AI, which was made generally available to all Unity advertisers and developers on Wednesday.

DDM reported 1% Q1 revenue growth, citing traffic downturns Google’s AI search results and soft advertising demand due to tariff-induced uncertainty.

Just before bringing the Jonas Brothers up on stage to celebrate their upcoming content partnership, Samsung made a curious announcement to attendees at their NewFronts presentation in New York City on Tuesday.

Why did Walmart buy Vizio? What happens when a CTV campaign turns on the S&P500+? Is Google losing its search engine edge?