Data + Privacy

The number-one job of a marketer is to invest budget wisely to drive sales. That inherently requires accurately measuring the performance of that spending.  Yet most advertisers still rely on flawed measurement methods that systematically overstate performance and misallocate resources. The measurement crisis Even the smallest Fortune 500 companies generate roughly $10 billion in revenue, […]

Will Google need to spin off its ad exchange and ad server? Court is in session in Virgina, with the DOJ and Google advocating for completely different remedies to Google’s sell-side ad tech monopoly.

The two dominant emotions surrounding AI in marketing today are hype and anxiety. But we’re entering a new era – one built not only on automation but also on orchestration and intelligence.  Agentic AI doesn’t just streamline; it connects and accelerates. And that’s exactly what marketing has been missing. Still fighting for a seat at […]

Conventional wisdom often suggests performance agencies should stick to what they know best: client service and execution, using existing marketing tools. It’s a compelling argument that promises simplicity, focus and lower CapEx.  But this thinking ignores a fundamental reality facing today’s agencies: The market isn’t just oversaturated with options; it’s increasingly commoditized.  Every agency has […]

The Trade Desk recently classified SSPs as resellers and doubled down on a strategy that has been in place for years: establishing direct connections to supply sources. The stated goal is to deduplicate bid requests in pursuit of perfect supply-path optimization, all under TTD’s roof. This strategy shines a spotlight on SSPs, which are now […]

Advertising using AI-doctored images could spark legal issues if the images are misleading. Plus: the commerce reckoning.

For a long time, marketers have gotten away with flying blind. Campaigns have been run on a patchwork of incomplete inputs across various platforms, missing key fields and rarely aligned goals. Brands didn’t question performance. As long as the top line and bottom line were fine, who cares how clean the data was? The consequence? […]

From a $637 million PE acquisition of healthcare of a DSP to acquisitions of freshly minted startups, there’s been a flurry of ad tech deals this month. And they have one thing in common: AI.

U.S. consumers are warming up to generative AI and are increasingly leaning on AI-powered tools to enhance the online shopping experience. Despite the uptick in adoption, however, 85% of shoppers still have concerns about privacy, AI hallucinations and overuse of AI.

Google is running a search monopoly, but the remedies are light. How will this decision affect advertisers and competitors? Plus, Google Ad Manager is acting like a standalone SSP, a move that appears connected to the looming remedies phase of Google’s second antitrust case.