Technology

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?

According to Google, DV360 now reaches 98% of CTV households in the US and represents 5 billion hours of ad-supported watch time per month – roughly 40% more than The Trade Desk and 90% more than Amazon’s DSP.

While some Privacy Sandbox testers lamented their seemingly wasted effort, they remain committed to post-cookie targeting and measurement – even if Google eventually abandons the Sandbox entirely.

Despite a 3% uptick in Q1 revenue to $451 million, Criteo’s stock fell by roughly 15% on Friday after news of a pullback by a major retail media client and tepid guidance.

Does programmatic feel like it’s gotten more confusing? It’s not just you. Plus, Fubo’s ad revenue dropped during Q1 and Bing might not be as big a punchline as we all thought.

The DOJ is proposing that Google should give rival ad exchanges and ad servers real-time access to bidding data from AdX – and Google agrees.

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

AdExchanger spoke to a number of programmatic leaders who testified in the DOJ’s Google antitrust trial last September.

LinkedIn launches a creator rev share program; AdSense comes to third-party AI chatbots; and the verdict in Apple v. Epic Games cracks down on Apple’s App Store fees.

Roku acquired subscription streaming service Frndly TV for $185M and reported Q1 revenue over $1 billion. But its Q2 outlook missed expectations due to tariffs dinging manufacturing revenue.

PayPal embraces off-site media but says no to data sales; Google pivoted on cookies again, but what about the Google Ad ID?; and gen AI bots are blowing up publisher server costs.

A long-awaited development: Advertisers will soon be able to see around three of the most important transparency blockers in PMax.

Transparency has become the currency of credibility in advertising. Larger holding companies and black box AI platforms must recognize that their opaque practices are no longer sustainable.

Agentic AI aims to take the work out of campaign targeting; marketers are increasingly using retail media data in non-retail channels; and Puma drives sales by re-embracing its branding.

FreeWheel thinks the best way to simplify streaming video is by fostering more direct connections between buyers and sellers.

Erez Levin, a former Googler and current outspoken consultant, on why the digital ad industry should transact on media quality signals like attention instead of optimizing to outcomes and other flawed attribution models.

AI is being embedded in tools, tagged in decks and tossed into internal sprints. But for agencies, publishers, brands and platforms, there’s still no shared definition of success.

The programmatic “sustainability” and “waste” conversation has shifted. Plus, the 2010s called – they want Facebook back.

It’s knives out for The Trade Desk’s take rate as competitors slash the demand side’s margin and pile on the incumbent during a moment of rare vulnerability.

Google isn’t a regulator. From an attorney’s point of view, its decrees don’t carry the force of law, and that’s what lawyers are concerned with: the law.

Alphabet had another stellar earnings report. But neither its leadership nor investors ever mentioned the two landmark ongoing antitrust suits. Chrome’s reversal on third-party cookies also never came up.