Christmas Creep www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/...

Havas is both investor and customer in Vurvey Labs’ new $8.5M Series A. Vurvey’s video-based AI “people model” powers synthetic audiences that reflect real emotions, behaviors and needs — especially in sensitive healthcare contexts. Is this the future of insight generation? #AdTech #AI #Havas

New signals suggest #Omnicom may have moved a meaningful slice of its Q3 programmatic investment from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP. 🔄 If accurate, it could be a key inflection point in the platform power struggle. How do you see this reshaping the #DSP landscape? #AdTech #AmazonAds #TheTradeDesk

Q3 TV & CTV earnings are sending a clear signal: • Linear is eroding fast • AVOD is small but growing hard • Sports is becoming the key differentiator in streaming strategies Victoria McNally, maps out how Disney, WBD, Paramount Skydance and others are repositioning for 2025.

This week on The Big Story 🎧: Why earnings calls are the real investigative gold mine of ad tech. James Hercher + Allison Schiff break down the grind, the surprises and the insights — from Google antitrust threads to TTD’s OpenPath/Kokai shifts. #AdTech #TheBigStory #Earnings #Google #TTD

Disney vs. YouTube TV 🥊: 20+ channels dark, negotiations dragging, and Q4 coming in flat. Iger says a resolution is close; the CFO isn’t convinced. Disney’s also accelerating its streaming consolidation and doubling down on ESPN’s role. #Streaming #CTV #Disney #ESPN #AdTech #Media

AI-TA? www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/...

“Containerization” and “multi-agent” — the next wave of ad tech innovation. The IAB Tech Lab’s Agentic RTB Framework could make programmatic faster, safer, and more collaborative. Do you see agentic frameworks transforming the ad tech ecosystem? #AdTech #Programmatic

Podcasting isn’t trying to be TV. Acast CEO Greg Glenday tells Anthony Vargas, Senior Editor at AdExchanger, why audio’s future is independence, smarter tech + better budget access. Full interview: bit.ly/4qx54wn

Programmatic linear TV just got real. Comcast’s linear inventory is now biddable via FreeWheel, marking a major step toward unified TV ad buying. #AdTech #Programmatic #CTV

📊 Webinar alert: “Causal Attribution Clinic: How to use causal multipliers and triangulation to drive growth for your brand” – Thurs 10/23 @ 11 am ET. Save your spot: bit.ly/4hDWhVv

Privacy Sandbox: more whimper than bang. CMA steps back, Google retires most APIs—PAAPI, Topics, Attribution and more. Only a few tools like CHIPS + FedCM remain. Is this the end of Google’s privacy ambitions—or just the beginning of a new chapter? Thoughts? #AdTech #Privacy #OpenWeb #Google

Race To The Bottom www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/...

There’s a new pattern emerging: ad tech veterans stepping out of corporate roles and into AI entrepreneurship. 👉 Give it a read — and tell us: Is AI opening doors — or rewriting the entire playbook?

Brand safety is stuck: too much good content blocked, and bad placements still happen. Fox + Mobian are betting on AI to rethink suitability — not just avoidance. 🧠 Could smarter AI signals finally bridge the gap between publisher value and advertiser risk?

The Trade Desk is moving deeper into sell-side tech with a Prebid fork centered on its Transaction ID. Publishers see extra work, blurred motives and echoes of past ad tech “partnerships.” We unpack the tension and context on The Big Story—because we’ve seen this movie before.

Big CTV takeaways from Programmatic IO NY: Netflix & Disney are innovating fast, but Digitas warns of growing fragmentation. Programmatic is a pipe, not a strategy — smart coverage by Victoria McNally, Associate Editor, AdExchanger. 🔗 utm.guru/ujdPw

⚖️ DOJ vs. Google: remedies phase begins. • DOJ wants AdX + parts of DFP divested • Google offers limited rule changes • The open internet hangs in the balance Details from James Hercher, Senior Editor @adexchanger.

CIMM Summit got futuristic this week. By 2030, attendees predicted: • 75%+ of TV/video ads programmatic • 5,000+ monthly impressions per HH • Synthetic audiences in big campaign planning Read the full recap by Victoria McNally, Associate Editor, AdExchanger. #AdTech #CTV #Programmatic

Best Buy Ads is evolving fast—new partnerships (YouTube, NFL, Meta), in-store ad takeovers & a growing 3P marketplace. Great dive by James Hercher, Senior Editor, AdExchanger. Will Best Buy’s data-driven playbook reshape the retail media landscape? #RetailMedia #AdTech #Advertising #Innovation

Programmatic is transforming CTV—unlocking new targeting & performance opportunities. But SPO, measurement & transparency challenges remain. At #ProgIO NY, Nicolle Pangis, Jamie Power, and Liane Nadeau will share how to streamline the path forward. 👉 Register now: bit.ly/4e9WRs7

Grading Your Own Homework www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/...

A pivot from therapy to tech: Ours Privacy grew out of a couples counseling startup and now powers privacy-first marketing for healthcare. #AdTech #Privacy #Healthcare

Comscore’s new AI Data Partner Network turns ID-based data into ID-free segments, aiming to scale privacy-safe targeting, reports Joanna Gerber, Associate Editor, AdExchanger. Could AI make ID-less targeting as effective as cookie-based? 🤔 #AdTech #Privacy #Programmatic

🍪 Cookies are over. So what’s next? ID5 CEO Mathieu Roche joins AdExchanger Talks🎙️ to talk privacy, identity, and why static solutions don’t scale. What’s your take — is it time to move on from cookies? Listen now🎧 #AdTech #Programmatic #DigitalIdentity #Privacy

AdExchanger + The Women in Programmatic Network are partnering at Programmatic I/O NY (Sept 29–30)! TWIPN will host a roundtable, judge our awards + lead a women’s networking meetup. Read the full announcement: bit.ly/3UOkyxi

DOJ’s remedy phase vs. Google starts Sept. 22. Witnesses: publishers, SSPs, ad servers + The Trade Desk. 🎧 Listen to this week’s Big Story. Which remedy do you think would have the most impact? #AdTech #GoogleAntitrust

TTD’s Q2 report rattled Wall Street — and dragged DV, Magnite, PubMatic & Viant down with it 📉. James Hercher on why investor fears about Amazon make TTD’s troubles everyone’s. . . #AdExchanger #AdTech #Programmatic #WalledGardens

📉 Search traffic is shaky. 🤖 AI chatbots + 📊 algorithm changes are forcing publishers to rethink everything. HouseFresh’s Gisele Navarro shares how she survived a 91% drop and rebuilt with 🎥 YouTube + 💌 Patreon. 🎧 Listen to this week's episode of AdExchanger Talks now.

Microsoft’s retiring Xandr—but it’s not done with ad tech. 🎧 Paul Longo joins AdExchanger Talks to explain how Microsoft is leaning into AI and what the shift to an agentic internet could mean for buyers. Will AI reshape the role of the media buyer or just help them do more? #AdTech #AI

🚨 Big ad tech shakeup: Shell is shutting down Volta Media and ripping out its EV charging ad network. 2,000+ stations. 200 layoffs. A $2B vision—gone. What went wrong? #AdTech #DOOH #RetailMedia #AdExchanger #Programmatic

What if paying more for ads actually got you better results? 🤯 Zillow tried it—testing containerized RTB with Index + Chalice—and James Hercher has the breakdown. Would you go quality over CPM? 🧐 #AdTech #Programmatic #MediaStrategy #RTB #AdExchanger

#Google’s Q2: Big gains in Search, Cloud & YouTube. But publishers? Another hit to Google Network revenue. James Hercher unpacks the AI-driven shift in search — and why monetization remains an open question for everyone but Google. Can AI search scale without a real value prop for publishers?

IPG’s Q2: less revenue, fewer employees, more AI. Victoria McNally breaks down the holdco’s restructuring, ASC platform, and merger prep with Omnicom. Smart strategy or short-term fix? What’s your take? #AdExchanger #IPG #AdTech #Mergers #Advertising

Maple Leaf Foods ran a massive ad blitz — and then vanished in 48 hours. Joanna Gerber digs into the bold, patriotic “Look for the Leaf” campaign and why brands are lining up to join the next wave. Would you try a media flood like this? #Marketing #OOH #BuyCanadian #AdExchanger

Netflix just dropped Q2 results: 📈 $11B+ revenue 📺 Ad Suite live in 12 countries 🎯 Programmatic buying on the rise Victoria McNally digs into what this means for the platform’s growing ad business. Is Netflix finally ready to scale its ad ambitions? #AdTech #Netflix #CTV #StreamingAds #Media

Traffic Jam www.adexchanger.com/comic-strip/...

From Criteo to Seedtag: Brian Gleason says contextual + AI is an even bigger opportunity than retail media. Anthony Vargas breaks it down in this deep-dive on emotion, attention, and the future of ad tech. #AdTech #Seedtag #Contextual #RetailMedia #AI #CTV

Healthline just got fined $1.55M under CCPA—for ad pixels on articles like “Newly Diagnosed with HIV.” First time a publisher’s been hit. Privacy strings failed. URLs were treated like personal health data. 🎧 Listen to this week's episode of the Big Story now.

Prime Day grew to 4 days but signs point to a plateau. 📉 James Hercher, AdExchanger Senior Editor, breaks down what this means & how brands use smart pricing moves to outwit Amazon’s algorithm. What’s your view—prime opportunity or past peak? 🤔 #PrimeDay #RetailTech #Ecommerce #AdTech

TripleLift just laid off nearly 20% of staff—the third time it’s done so in five years. Allison Schiff examines the post-CEO-hire timing, the Vista Equity connection, and how this fits a familiar PE playbook. Are we witnessing strategy or survival mode in action? #AdTech #Layoffs #PrivateEquity

LLMs don’t train themselves. Joanna Gerber at AdExchanger reports on the IAB Tech Lab’s new push to give publishers control over AI content scraping—and a share of the value they help create. Can publishers finally reclaim their seat at the AI table? #AdTech #AI #PublisherRevenue #IAB #AdExchanger

AI modeling. First-party data. Amazon DSP. Hearst’s AURA is showing publishers a path forward—boosting addressability by up to 200%. Do you see this model scaling beyond premium pubs? #AdTech #PublisherData #AI #Programmatic #AdExchanger

🚨 Final hours! Today’s the early deadline for the AdExchanger Awards—and you can save $150. $100 off today + $50 off with code FIREWORKS. Got a campaign or platform that crushed it this year? Let’s celebrate it. Enter here → bit.ly/4kk9Rga #AdTech #MarketingAwards #Innovation #DigitalMedia

🎧 New pod episode from AdExchanger’s Inside the Stack TripleLift CMO Meredith Brace on: • Creative that drives performance • Using Prime Day as a testing lab • Holiday strategies worth adopting Listen: bit.ly/4kDkOtA What’s your biggest learning from Prime Day this year? #RetailMedia #AdTech

🌿📊🗳️ Cannabis, finance, politics — the industries where ad compliance isn’t optional. Fyllo is doubling down on regulated markets, and Joanna Gerber breaks down the strategy shift. 🧠 What’s your take on the future of ad rules and restrictions? #AdTech #Compliance #ProgrammaticAds #Fyllo

🔥 Digital media’s boldest work deserves more than a pat on the back. Enter the AdExchanger Awards by 7/11 💸 Save $100 🎆 Use FIREWORKS for another $50 off 🏁 $150 off — and a chance to take the spotlight. Submit now: bit.ly/4kk9Rga #AdExchangerAwards #Programmatic #AdTech

Meta rejected a HerMD ad for showing a woman’s back. Meanwhile, an ED pill ad with a banana in a man’s lap? Approved. HerMD’s Komel Caruso explains why these double standards matter — and what needs to change in women’s health advertising. #AdTech #WomensHealth

Microsoft’s shedding ad tech like it’s going out of style 🧹 Google wants publishers back — while its AI eats their traffic 🍽️ Meta’s testing AI chatbots for creators, fans… and maybe lonely users 🤖 Is ad tech streamlining — or just reshuffling the same power dynamics? #AdTech #AI #DSP

Agentic AI is hot — but brands still want a say. Creative Hub by Making Science offers a middle ground: AI that helps rework ads 🔁 — but only with human sign-off 🖋️ Would you use AI if it meant faster work and an earlier sign-off time? #AdTech #AgenticAI #CreativeOps #MarketingTools