Serves You Right
The ad industry has found a new audience to bombard with ads: AI bots.
Time recently began serving ads to bots in an attempt to monetize its growing bot traffic. The ads are formatted as FAQ-style brand content and labeled as sponsored.
Influencing agents may eventually become even more important than influencing humans, according to Jonah Goodhart, CEO and co-founder of AI contextual advertising startup Mobian. “With a human, you influence one person,” he tells Digiday. “When you influence ChatGPT, you’re influencing potentially all of ChatGPT.” (For the record, Mobian still helps its clients target both humans and agents.)
Time claims to be the first publisher targeting agents with ads, but it’s not a wholly original idea.
Blankspace, for example, an AI company founded in late 2025, integrates with content delivery networks like Cloudflare and Akamai to serve ads to AI agents at the precise moment a user asks a question.
It’s not unlike programmatic. Say someone searches for hotel recommendations in a certain city. While retrieving that information, the agent might be served an ad for a specific hotel, as determined by a live auction. If the agent is persuaded, that hotel will surface in the so-called “organic” result the user sees.
But one has to wonder what “organic” and “objective” even mean when you can influence AI agents with advertising.
Privacy, Please
Cracking down on corporate malfeasance hasn’t seemed like much of a priority for the federal government lately, particularly where health is concerned.
But when the bad behavior involves a company that sells GLP-1s, hair growth pills and testosterone treatments – as opposed to, say, lettuce – apparently that’s cause for concern.
The Federal Trade Commission is suing Hims & Hers for allegedly sharing sensitive health data with third-party ad platforms, including Meta and Snap, without consent, as well as making it “extremely difficult” for consumers to cancel their subscriptions.
Hims & Hers quickly responded with a letter on its company website, in which it claims that its privacy policy “makes clear” how patient information is used. Which, to be fair, is technically true.
“For example,” the policy states, “if you view a webpage about balding or erectile dysfunction treatments, we may provide that information to an advertising partner who will then deliver advertisements to you on different websites based on your viewing activity.”
Yikes.
Not that this is the first time a health care company denied any wrongdoing while getting slapped with an FTC fine related to sharing data with ad platforms. Remember GoodRx and BetterHelp in 2023?
Brands Get Slopportunistic
Brands can’t get enough of influencers. Unfortunately, that sometimes also includes “slopfluencers.”
In a new lawsuit, a supplement company called Humann, is accusing Rosabella, another wellness brand, of using AI-generated videos on social media, namely TikTok, to sell health supplements with “wild promises” and unsubstantiated claims about what the products can do, 404 Media reports.
These videos feature AI-generated people, including fake doctors, and clickbait-y text that sounds like it belongs in the chumbox, such as “The Ugandan Secret to HIDE BELLY until 120!” and “Nigerian SECRET to CLEAN LIVER!” (Yes, seriously.)
At first glance, it seems like a classic tale of deceptive advertising, which is illegal. But there’s another wrinkle: TikTok is leaning into AI-generated video, making it easier for creators and brands to pump out clicky content – including misleading ads.
Meanwhile, the creators behind Rosabella’s alleged AI-content scheme were also posting how-to videos on YouTube touting AI as a shortcut to viral campaigns and easy money.
After 404 Media reached out for comment, several of these videos were removed from YouTube.
But Wait! There’s More!
Recently filed court documents show how much it costs brands to advertise with MrBeast. Spoiler: It’s not cheap. [Business Insider]
Adidas shares dropped by 17% after the company announced its Q2 earnings, capping a quarter marked by high marketing spend related to the World Cup. [Adweek]
The IAB Tech Lab is updating its Agentic Advertising Management Protocols with integrated privacy diligence and enhanced pricing guardrails. [release]
AMC Global Media said streaming ad revenue rose 6% in the second quarter, offset by an 11% drop in US ad sales. [Variety]
