Sunday scoop: The Trade Desk CRO Anders Mortensen is out after just 7 months. The shakeup arrives amid a wider executive exodus that's included CFO Alexander Kayyal, CMO Ian Colley, and chief strategy officer Samantha Jacobson. More in my story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

One of the best parts of this job is that we generally get to say things pretty candidly. This @adweek.bsky.social Cannes hot takes session will be no exception. Join us next week to dish: adweek.com/webin…

NEW from me: I catalogued 10+ new open standards laying the groundwork for the future of autonomous, agent-led advertising and commerce. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/a-guid...

The Trade Desk's Jeff Green blew past every other adtech CEO in 2025 with a $27.4M pay package, up 306% in a single year. Among the execs at publicly traded adtech firms, the overall spread tightened sharply YoY. More in my analysis for @adweek.bsky.social here: www.adweek.com/media/the-tr...

NEW: TikTok will open its platform to third-party AI agents for autonomous campaign creation and management while expanding AI tools across creative, performance ads, search, and creator partnerships. $43.5B in ad revenue is projected for 2026. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/tiktok...

NEW: #$TTD posted its slowest growth since the pandemic and gave weak Q2 guidance, sending shares down 15%. It's battling pressure from Amazon, agency tensions, and exec turnover as it pushes deeper into AI. Negotiations with Publicis are "ongoing" after the holdco advised clients to avoid TTD.

NEW from me: AppLovin is reshuffling its leadership ranks. CEO Adam Foroughi has stepped down as board chair, replaced by Craig Billings, while two other execs are leaving the C-suite. Plus, another board member will not stand for reelection. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/applov...

SCOOP: 3 execs are out at The Trade Desk: CMO Ian Colley, comms vp Melinda Zurich, and Ventura TV OS lead Matthew Henick. The shakeup arrives in the midst of an auditing drama that has strained relations between TTD and Publicis and Omnicom. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

New: Google DV360 got a Gemini makeover for automated media planning and execution. Plus, the DSP is deepening YouTube integrations and strengthening cross-channel measurement in CTV, with new retail data and SKU-level attribution tools. More here @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/programmatic...

SCOOP: X is offering lapsed advertisers a 50% bonus on spend, up to $200K, per a leaked deck obtained by @adweek.bsky.social. The pitch leans on Grok-powered brand safety and lofty ad performance claims, even as X's ad revenues remain at half pre-Musk levels. More: www.adweek.com/media/x-dang...

EXCLUSIVE: In a live debate Tues moderated by Neil deGrasse Tyson, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt argued that emergent properties of AI models limit preemptive safety measures; researchers onstage—including a former FTC CTO—pushed back. Story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

Totally normal and cool

I see her everywhere

Breaking: X will suspend creators from its revenue-sharing program for failing to disclose when war videos are AI-generated. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/x-war-...

X is pitching advertisers on Grok for brand safety just weeks after the chatbot flooded the platform with nonconsensual deepfakes of real users. I have the leaked pitch deck exclusively for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

SCOOP: Ad verification firm IAS is part of the FTC's probe into media credibility orgs over alleged advertiser boycotts of conservative outlets, according to a lawsuit against the FTC from another group under investigation. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

Please, my magic bean, it is very sick

Scoop: Scope3, the adtech emissions quantifier-turned agentic media startup, cut portions of its sales and engineering teams last week in its second wave of layoffs in the last five months. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/programmatic...

Excellent story from @kendrabarnett.bsky.social about the guy who's really steering X's business (edited by @tekendra-parmar.bsky.social) www.adweek.com/media/x-year...

BREAKING: A jury in a federal court Thursday found TV measurement firm EDO liable for breaching its contract with iSpot—awarding $18.3M in damages while rejecting iSpot’s trade-secret claims. EDO says it will appeal. More details in my story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/edo-fo...

NEW from @kendrabarnett.bsky.social — X is restricting the image generation capabilities of Grok after its deepfake scandal. A spokesperson told ADWEEK that X premium subscribers will still be able to produce and edit explicit images and deepfakes www.adweek.com/media/x-grok...

EXCLUSIVE for @adweek.bsky.social: After Grok flooded X with sexualized deepfakes real people—including children—xAI has introduced new limits to the chatbot's ability to produce images, the company told me exclusively. www.adweek.com/media/x-grok...

SCOOP: WPP Media has won Norwegian Cruise Line’s $102M U.S. media account from Publicis. The victory adds to recent wins from Jaguar Land Rover, Reckitt and the U.K. government—key momentum as WPP attempts a high-stakes turnaround. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/agencies/exc...

Scoop: On Tuesday, adtech giant The Trade Desk axed swaths of its sales and client services teams. The company confirmed that just ~1% of global headcount was impacted. Leadership is expected to address employees in an all-hands meeting today. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/the-tr...

@kendrabarnett.bsky.social and @audreygkemp.bsky.social at @adweek.bsky.social have done some great reporting this week.

SCOOP: Inside Omnicom Media’s first town hall post-IPG takeover: new structure, bullish tone, and CEO Florian Adamski frustrated with recent headlines. @adweek.bsky.social was able to access the (mistakenly) unencrypted livestream while it was briefly open. Full story: www.adweek.com/agencies/the...

Oops! Omnicom Media's first all-hands meeting post-merger was livestreamed on a public Vimeo feed. ADWEEK found the public link. @kendrabarnett.bsky.social reports what happened. www.adweek.com/agencies/the...

SCOOP: Some media buyers on The Trade Desk say they're being "forcibly migrated" to Kokai, and, for the first time, locked out of creating new campaigns in Solimar—while bugs and UI hiccups pile up in Kokai. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/trade-...

SCOOP: Amazon is pushing ad agencies to try its DSP by offering head-to-head tests against rivals—covering all costs in some cases in an effort to prove performance. Tensions with @thetradedesk.bsky.social are heating up. See the leaked pitch deck @adweek.bsky.social 👇 www.adweek.com/programmatic...

On Monday @adweek.bsky.social was granted exclusive access to @anamarketers.bsky.social's closed-door CMO summit, where select brand execs mapped marketing’s AI-driven future and established around 20 industry-wide growth proposals for 2026. Here's what happened: www.adweek.com/brand-market...

👀 important update from @kendrabarnett.bsky.social at @adweek.bsky.social: #Meta will no longer subject itself to annual #BrandSafety audits from the Media Rating Council ( #MRC ). Read more 👉 www.adweek.com/media/meta-w...

SCOOP: Meta has lost its MRC brand safety accreditation for Facebook & Instagram feeds just months after earning it, after opting out of annual audits, @adweek.bsky.social has learned. The company says it will opt for 3rd party audits instead. www.adweek.com/media/meta-w...

NEW: TTD execs Tues shared new deets about OpenAds, its publisher product debuted this month in the wake of Prebid's Transaction ID shakeup in Aug. After some pushback, CEO Jeff Green admitted OpenAds marks TTD's encroachment into the sell side. For @adweek.bsky.social www.adweek.com/programmatic...

Scoop: Mobile adtech company Verve laid off parts of its staff in late Aug and early Sept, @adweek.bsky.social has learned. Cuts primarily affected the marketplace team. The reorg came ahead of the announcement of Verve's €16.2M acquisition of Captify this month. www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

NEW for @adweek.bsky.social: BI accuses Google of rigging ad auctions & suppressing publisher revenues in new federal lawsuit. Latest in a wave of antitrust cases against the tech giant, many of which have been levied by publishers & publisher-adjacent tech firms. www.adweek.com/media/busine...

NEW: A federal lawsuit accuses indie agency Horizon Media of race & gender discrimination, retaliation & a hostile workplace. Plaintiffs say leaders marginalized Black execs, restricted resources & undermined DEI efforts. Horizon denies it. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/agencies/hor...

SCOOP: Scope3 laid off some of its sales team last week—part of what the firm describes as a "strategic shift" toward agentic ad solutions. One affected staffer said some other employees quit after the reorg was announced. Details in my story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/scope3...

SCOOP for ADWEEK: Top agencies mistakenly bought ads through Publicis' Epsilon SSP via opaque reselling—sending money & valuable data to a rival. Some are now blocking the platform over concerns that Publicis—the only holdco with an SSP—could gain a competitive edge. www.adweek.com/media/public...

NEW INVESTIGATION from @kendrabarnett.bsky.social: Because of the murky nature of digital ads, major advertising companies have been unknowingly sending their data to a direct competitor. www.adweek.com/media/public...

NEW: Shareholders of the The Trade Desk will vote Sept 16 on whether to change the voting structure of the company, potentially imperiling CEO Jeff Green’s control, according to an SEC filing. The board recommends keeping Green in power. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/programmatic...

EXCLUSIVE: Google has been testing ways to mitigate invalid traffic using Gemini-powered AI tools over the last year and a half, the company told @adweek.bsky.social. Google claims to have stemmed "deceptive or disruptive" mobile ads by 40% during a 14-month period. www.adweek.com/media/google...

NEW: Instagram on Wednesday announced a slate of product updates, including a reposting feature, a 'Friends' tab, and a messages-embedded live map akin to Snapchat's Snap Map. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/instag...

BREAKING: OpenX is suing Google, alleging the company's anti-competitive practices forced the firm to shutter its ad server and stifled competition. The filing follows an April ruling that found Google operates an illegal monopoly in adtech. For @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/adtech...

Exclusive for @adweek.bsky.social: X is incentivizing advertisers with lower CPMs to publish what X's head of Americas Monique Pintarelli calls "beautiful" ads. Ads will receive 'aesthetic scores'—those with low scores will pay more and be algorithmically suppressed. www.adweek.com/social-marke...

NEW for @adweek.bsky.social: Musk may not be seeking a CEO-type to fill Linda Yaccarino's shoes. That's because X's business model is transforming from an ad-supported social platform to what's likely to be a subscription-based AI utility in xAI. www.adweek.com/media/xs-fut...

BREAKING: Linda Yaccarino is stepping down as CEO of Elon Musk's X after two years in the role. Story for @adweek.bsky.social www.adweek.com/media/linda-...

EXCLUSIVE: Google has pulled some 350 apps from its Play Store after learning about an extensive fraud scheme that served out-of-context mobile ads to juice impressions. Story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/programmatic...

Tuesday scoop for you: X will begin testing AI-generated Community Notes today. Via an open API, users can build their own AI note writers for fact-checking. AI-generated notes will still be subject to feedback from human users. Story for @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/media/exclus...

The @adweek.bsky.social team is live-blogging its way through Cannes, dropping juicy sound bites from industry bigwigs, touring the coolest activations, documenting key announcements, & getting the goss at the most exclusive parties. Check in for regular updates! www.adweek.com/brand-market...

Scoop: Recently shuttered agency Madwell said in an email that it doubts it can pay back vendors it still owes—who are collectively due many thousands. Five people with outstanding invoices expressed disappointment & anger in conversation with @adweek.bsky.social: www.adweek.com/agencies/mad...