Daily News Roundup

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

Meta changes up its strategy for tackling improper AI advertising; ICE is proving bad for business; and agencies are worried about their jobs.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence; AI scraped around and now they’re finding out; expect better ad growth for 2025.

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.

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.

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

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.

TikTok isn’t quite such a success for luxury beauty brands anymore; expect even more tariff uncertainty; and LLMs have a hard time with “the taxonomy problem.”

Sports sponsorships can play well for small brands; Perplexity was first to AI search ads, but advertisers waited for Google; and GroupM officially rebrands to WPP Media.

Magnite’s SpringServe deal illustrates why SSPs need a video ad server; Google grapples with AI search’s impact on publisher traffic; and Anthropic’s AI assistant is a law enforcement snitch.

CTV ad platform MNTN has gone public; last week, the FTC dismissed a lawsuit brought against PepsiCo; the new US budget bill might ban state regulation of AI.

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

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.

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

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.

OpenAI will almost certainly launch an ads business; live sports broadcasts are opening up to programmatic; brands and publishers are not happy about Google’s AI overviews.

Walmart is loving its ad business more every day; AI agents are coming to destroy everything; YouTube is trying to win over brands.

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.

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 […]

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.

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

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

At NewFronts, marketers weigh new budget priorities under the Trump tariffs; The New York Times isn’t letting tariffs temper its 2025 outlook; and video podcasting is taking over CTV.

WPP’s GroupM is getting a new name; there’s no such thing as a TikTok ban at NewFronts; and Meta’s ad growth prospects might be plateauing.

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

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.