▸ Week 44

• - UK Ad Spend to Rise in Golden Quarter as LHF Comes into Effect
• - Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe
• - How Forbes is Using ChatGPT Referral Data to Create Audience Cohorts
• - Criteo and the Programmatic Plug-In Problem
• - The Sun Is Building an AI Agent for Its Programmatic Business
• - The Financial Times’ AI Paywall Drove Conversions Up 290%
• - IAB Europe’s Response to the Digital Fairness Act Consultation
  
  
  

UK Ad Spend to Rise in Golden Quarter as LHF Comes into Effect.

UK ad spend is forecast to hit £12 billion in Q4 2025, up 7.3 percent year-on-year, despite new restrictions on unhealthy food and drink advertising. Growth will mainly come from cinema and out-of-home channels, while TV spend continues to decline due to shrinking linear budgets, offset by a strong 17.2 percent rise in VOD.

Online formats will dominate the Golden Quarter, capturing 83% of all spend, driven by search, retail media, and digital video. Overall, the AA/WARC report projects total 2025 ad spend at £46 billion — up 8.2 percent — signalling a stable yet cautious market amid economic uncertainty. 

Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe, October 2025 edition.

Publishers at the Digiday Publishing Summit Europe expressed deep frustration and resignation over collapsing Google referral traffic, worsened by AI summarisation tools that replace clicks with snippets. Many said traffic losses since Google’s recent updates appear permanent, with some publishers reporting drops from 65% to 25% of total traffic.

Executives warned that smaller publishers face existential risk as “zero-click” search and AI tools erode the open web, while subscription models remain unviable for most. The consensus was that diversification is now essential, though many admitted they lack the resources or skills to adapt fast enough to survive. 

How Forbes is using ChatGPT referral data to create audience cohorts.

Forbes has seen a 40% drop in search referral traffic this year, but AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude are offering new value through data insights rather than volume. Using tools like Semrush and Similarweb, Forbes analyses prompts leading to AI-driven referrals to build audience cohorts and understand which content, mainly lists, wealth, entrepreneurship, and investing, resonates most.

This insight has guided site updates, including personalised recommendations that boosted clickthrough rates by up to 300%. However, challenges remain as publishers must ensure AI tools accurately cite their reporting, with experts calling for new web standards to help signal verified content to AI systems. 

Criteo And The Programmatic Plug-In Problem.

Investors are increasingly anxious that AI agents could render the open web — and by extension, retail media vendors like Criteo — obsolete, as consumers shift product discovery and transactions into AI-driven environments. Criteo executives argue that affiliate-style models could underpin future AI commerce, allowing integrations between retailers, publishers, and AI platforms, though major players like OpenAI and Perplexity currently reject such monetisation.

Despite uncertainty, Criteo is positioning itself through partnerships with Google Search Ads 360 and Meta, expanding retail media into search and social channels. The company’s leadership insists AI agents won’t fully cannibalise commerce, but investors remain sceptical about how Criteo and similar firms will stay relevant in an “agentic” future.

News Corp-owned U.K. tabloid The Sun is building an AI agent for its programmatic business.

The Sun is developing its own AI agent to enable direct programmatic communication with buy-side AI systems as agentic media trading gains traction across ad tech and agency groups. EVP Dominic Carter said the move is driven by emerging standards like the Ad Context Protocol and growing adoption by firms such as Scope3 and WPP.

While other publishers are also experimenting with in-house AI models, The Sun has already streamlined its ad tech stack by cutting 86% of vendors and partnering directly with Ozone and The Trade Desk. Alongside this, the publisher is using AI to personalise its new subscription business and shift focus from page views to engagement, amid declining referral traffic from Google and AI-driven search summaries.

The Financial Times’ AI paywall drove conversions up 290%. Now it’s learning who stays.

The Financial Times is evolving its AI paywall from focusing solely on conversions to predicting which subscribers will stay long-term, using insights from loyal readers to refine acquisition. Since launching in January, the AI system has boosted conversion rates by 290% and lifetime value by up to 10%, though only among the 30 - 40% of users who consent to data tracking.

The AI tailors offers dynamically, from low-cost trials to premium tiers, based on behavioural data like reading frequency and content type, tightening access over time to drive more paid subscriptions. Next, the FT aims to merge its AI and dynamic paywalls responsibly, scaling what it’s learned while ensuring compliance and refining strategies across audiences and regions. 

IAB Europe Submits Response to the European Commission’s Public Consultation on the Digital Fairness Act.

IAB Europe’s response to the European Commission’s Digital Fairness Act consultation urges the EU to focus on enforcing and harmonising existing regulations rather than introducing new advertising rules. It emphasises clearer guidance, reduced duplication, support for self-regulation, and protection of compliant personalised advertising as vital to maintaining value for consumers and the EU economy.

▸ Week 43

• - Prebid.org clarifies Transaction ID updates
• - AWS introduces RTB Fabric cloud service for ad tech
• - Prebid Mobile: What’s new in SDK 3.0 and coming in 4.0
• - Publishers move toward agent-led ad operations
• - Google’s AdX starts offering post-auction discounts to agencies
• - Goodbye Privacy Sandbox – Google ends cookie alternative project
• - AI search reshapes how publishers are discovered
• - UK publishers see steady growth through revenue diversification
  
  
  

Prebid.org Clarifies Transaction ID Updates in Prebid.js.

Prebid.org clarified recent confusion around Transaction IDs (TIDs) in Prebid.js, originally introduced as an opt-in feature in version 8 (June 2023) due to legal and privacy considerations. Earlier in 2025, TIDs became contentious when some DSPs started requiring them for spend, prompting the Prebid Publisher Committee to make TIDs SSP-specific rather than global in version 10.9.

As most publishers haven’t upgraded yet, only about 1% of Prebid traffic currently uses the new logic, while the rest still rely on the global format. To increase flexibility, an upcoming update will let publishers choose between global or SSP-specific TIDs, reinforcing Prebid.org’s commitment to transparency and publisher control.

AWS Launches A Cloud Infrastructure Service For Ad Tech.

AWS has launched RTB Fabric, a new cloud service designed specifically for ad tech companies to reduce latency, simplify integrations, and cut data transfer costs by up to 80%. The service enables “single-digit millisecond” data transfers and faster partner connections, helping platforms like TripleLift lower engineering overhead and achieve faster auction performance.

Early adopters have reported 15 - 20% lower latency and up to 30% increases in ad spend and win rates after migrating workflows to RTB Fabric. While AWS recently faced a major outage, the company says RTB Fabric operates independently and aims to support future AI-driven programmatic innovations by freeing up infrastructure budgets for AI investments. 

Maximize Mobile Revenue with Prebid SDK 3.0 — and See What’s Next in 4.0.

Prebid’s webinar on 8th October highlighted the growing adoption of Prebid Mobile, now integrated into over 2,000 apps, and reviewed the progress made with SDK 3.0, including improved rendering, plugin support, and better iOS attribution capabilities.

WetterOnline’s case study showed that upgrading to SDK 3.0 and maintaining updates can drive measurable gains, with their team seeing up to a 10% CPM uplift. Key best practices include ensuring OMID compliance, verifying bidder vendor IDs, and properly implementing ATT signals for privacy compliance.

Looking ahead, SDK 4.0 will focus on easier integration, creative standardisation, and turning Prebid Mobile into a modular, developer-friendly platform that enhances transparency and flexibility for publishers.

Media Briefing: Step by step, publishers are building toward an agent-led ad business.

Publishers are moving beyond AI demos and now deploying agentic systems for real tasks like RFP interpretation, campaign planning, and pacing, with the long-term goal of enabling direct buyer–seller transactions without middlemen. The promise is higher transparency, fewer fees, and faster deals, but there’s still no transactional volume yet. Most publishers are still testing and training their agents.

Early adopters, including Permutive clients, are already using agents to streamline workflows and prepare for AI-driven media trading, supported by emerging standards like the Ad Context Protocol. Still, execs warn that first-generation agents will make rookie mistakes and that large-scale adoption will only happen if publishers build stronger ad products that can outperform platforms like Google and Meta.

Google’s AdX unit has begun striking deals with media agencies.

Google’s Ad Exchange has started offering post-auction discount programs to media agencies for the first time, marking a major shift from its historically closed approach. The initiative, launched in early 2025, provides tiered discounts based on spending thresholds (up to $100 million) and invites agencies to give feedback on new AdX features.

While the discounts are smaller than those from rival SSPs, they represent Google’s effort to rebuild relationships and transparency with buyers amid ongoing antitrust scrutiny in the U.S. Agencies welcome the change but remain cautious, viewing it as Google’s attempt to regain trust and competitiveness in a tightening programmatic landscape. 

Ad Tech Briefing: Farewell to Google’s Privacy Sandbox, we barely knew ye.

Google has officially shut down its Privacy Sandbox project, ending a five-year attempt to replace third-party cookies with browser-based privacy APIs after repeated delays, rewrites, and waning industry trust. Regulatory scrutiny, technical complexity, and a lack of market alignment ultimately doomed the initiative, leaving behind only partial APIs and a cautionary tale about the challenges of balancing privacy, performance, and competition in digital advertising.

In Graphic Detail: How AI search is changing publisher visibility.

Generative AI platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google’s AI Mode are growing rapidly, but the AI-driven referrals they send to publishers still make up less than 1% of total traffic and don’t offset the steep decline in Google search visits. Some publishers are maintaining visibility in AI results, but most referrals lack conversion value, serving mainly as top-of-funnel exposure.

According to Semrush, improving AI visibility still follows standard SEO principles, though licensing deals with AI platforms are becoming the main way to guarantee placement and attribution. Meanwhile, AI tools are increasingly citing user-generated sources like Reddit and YouTube, diverting attention and traffic away from traditional publishers. 

Revenue Diversification Pays Off as UK Publishers See Continued Revenue Growth.

UK digital publishers saw a 3.4% YoY revenue increase in Q2, driven by strong growth in audio (+72.9%), video (+11.6%), subscriptions (+11.3%), and sponsorships (+15.1%), even as display advertising fell 7.4% and recruitment collapsed 90.5%. The findings highlight a clear shift toward diversified revenue models, with publishers prioritising new product development, cost reduction, and acquisitions to sustain growth amid declining ad performance.

▸ Week 42

• - AI royalties for small and midsize publishers: collective licensing’s next big play
• - Marketers Increase Budgets Cautiously: IPA Bellwether Q3 2025
• - Google offers search fix as EU line looms
• - Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews
• - Media Briefing: Why some publishers are flipping their position on whether to block AI bots
• - The Trade Desk’s Auction Evolutions Bring High Drama To The Prebid Summit
• - Taboola expands performance platform with major publisher partnerships
• - Inside PubDesk, The Trade Desk’s New Dashboard That Shows What Buyers Actually Care About
• - Slow digital growth sees Reach revenue fall in third quarter
  
  
  

AI royalties for small and midsize publishers: collective licensing’s next big play.

Enterprise large language models (LLMs) using retrieval augmented generation (RAG) are creating new royalty opportunities for small and midsize publishers by licensing quality content for AI training and use. Dow Jones’ Factiva has led the way, onboarding around 5,000 publishers to its AI-licensed content marketplace and ensuring transparent, usage-based payments through its API.

The focus is currently on B2B licensing for enterprise clients, but Factiva aims to expand into negotiating collective deals with consumer-facing LLMs in the future. Similar initiatives from organisations like the UK’s Publishers’ Licensing Services (PLS) and the US Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) are establishing frameworks that let smaller publishers earn recurring revenue when their content is used by private or specialised LLMs.

Marketers Increase Budgets Cautiously: IPA Bellwether Q3 2025.

UK marketing budgets rose for a second consecutive quarter in Q3 2025, though growth slowed to a modest +3.6% amid “market and economic uncertainty” and “cashflow preservation efforts.” Events and direct marketing led the increases, while main media and sales promotions saw declines, reflecting brands’ continued focus on measurable, short-term ROI.

“It’s great to see that budgets for events are up,” said Fiona Salmon of Mantis, noting brands’ renewed focus on face-to-face engagement, while RAPP’s Gabby Ludzker praised marketers for “not succumbing to the political and economic doom.” AI remained a central theme: Onetag’s Emma Lacey warned that “humans must remain central” in applying AI responsibly, while PubMatic’s Emma Newman called AI’s democratisation “a defining force” that will reward early adopters.

Adform’s Phil Acton emphasised that “channels don’t work in isolation,” urging marketers to integrate AI-based identity tools for flexible, cross-channel engagement. Meanwhile, Digital Envoy’s Vinod Kashyap highlighted the urgent need for “reliable and trustworthy methods of targeting and measurement” in video and CTV advertising.

LoopMe’s Stephen Upstone observed that marketers increasingly seek “more controlled ecosystems” like in-app environments, while Launch’s Jaye Cowle warned that neglecting market research could trap brands “in marketing assumptions.” Finally, OpenX’s Joseph Worswick noted that “a broader momentum is building across the industry,” driven by AI-powered efficiencies and smarter, more strategic marketing investment. 

Google offers search fix as EU line looms.

Google has submitted new concessions to EU regulators to avoid an antitrust fine under the Digital Markets Act, promising major changes to how its search results display rival services. The updated proposal follows criticism that Google’s earlier plan still favoured its own products like Shopping and Flights, with the company now pledging to give third-party search providers equal visibility through dedicated result boxes.

Italian news publishers demand investigation into Google’s AI Overviews.

Italian news publishers, led by FIEG, have filed a complaint to Agcom arguing that Google’s AI Overviews feature is a “traffic killer” that violates the EU’s Digital Services Act by reducing publisher visibility, ad revenue, and media diversity. Coordinated with similar efforts across Europe, the move seeks an EU investigation as studies show AI Overviews can cut clickthroughs by up to 80%, while favouring Google-owned content like YouTube.

Media Briefing: Why some publishers are flipping their position on whether to block AI bots.

Publishers are rethinking their once firm stance on blocking all AI bots, as many now see potential value in allowing certain AI crawlers like ChatGPT and Perplexity to access their content for visibility, attribution, and future monetisation. Executives told Digiday that blocking all bots may be “self-defeating,” with some now differentiating between training bots and AI search bots that can drive referral traffic.

Tools from Cloudflare, Tollbit, and DataDome are helping publishers track and assess bot activity more precisely, while discussions have shifted from “always block” to nuanced, case-by-case strategies. Meanwhile, the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority has begun scrutinising Google’s AI search features, after the Professional Publishers’ Association warned that AI Overviews boost visibility but reduce traffic - a “crocodile phenomenon” where impressions rise while clicks fall.

The Trade Desk’s Auction Evolutions Bring High Drama To The Prebid Summit.

At the Prebid Summit in New York, The Trade Desk (TTD) detailed its new OpenAds and PubDesk products, positioning them as tools to promote transparency and fairness in auctions while reigniting tensions with the Prebid community. OpenAds, TTD’s forked version of Prebid, will require Transaction ID (TID) sharing, unlike Prebid’s opt-in model, and includes features like Auction Audit and Auction Code Attestation to let publishers verify fair bidding and detect bidstream tampering.

CEO Jeff Green defended TTD’s move, arguing that “the auction itself isn’t inherently a sell-side thing” and that OpenAds aims to “not perpetuate the legacy that Google started” of manipulating auctions. However, many publishers and SSPs remain sceptical, viewing TTD’s actions as an attempt to control more of the supply chain despite its claims of buy-side neutrality, prompting heated exchanges between TTD and Prebid leadership about who truly represents transparency in ad tech.

Taboola expands performance platform with major publisher partnerships.

Taboola has expanded its Realize performance advertising platform to include display inventory through new partnerships with major publishers like TIME, Gannett, and Slate, allowing advertisers to reach audiences beyond native formats. Powered by its AI-driven performance engine, the move supports Taboola’s broader strategy to diversify ad placements, strengthen publisher relationships, and deliver sustained growth after reporting $1.82 billion in revenue and 12% year-over-year growth.

Inside PubDesk, The Trade Desk’s New Dashboard That Shows What Buyers Actually Care About.

The Trade Desk’s new PubDesk dashboard aims to give publishers deeper insight into how buyers value their inventory, bid pricing, and supply path efficiency — not to “go to the sell side,” said Mike O’Sullivan, its GM of product. Available to publishers using OpenPath, PubDesk visualises spend, take rates, and bid duplication across SSPs, helping them identify inefficiencies and understand how much of each advertiser dollar reaches them.

It also benchmarks publisher performance against market trends, easing anxiety over fluctuations caused by seasonality or wider market shifts. While the tool offers recommendations to improve media quality and monetisation, O’Sullivan said it’s optional — “we’re focused on clean, efficient supply paths,” not controlling publishers’ operations.

Slow digital growth sees Reach revenue fall in third quarter.

Reach’s digital revenue rose 2% in 2025 despite falling Google referrals and a 1% drop in page views caused by AI Overviews and algorithm changes, while overall revenue declined 2.5% due to a 3.9% fall in print. The publisher is restructuring its newsroom, launching video initiatives and its first digital subscriptions to offset print losses and maintain profitability amid continued volatility in referral traffic.

▸ Week 41

• - Advertisers return to news media
• -  Advertisers push auction-transparency standards
• - CleanTap shows how easy CTV spoofing is
• - Concurrent Streams API, explained
• - Publishers & tech move to weekly AI talks
• - Index Exchange launches sell-side data marketplace
• - Google remedies: complex realities
• - The Trade Desk’s new wrapper under scrutiny
  
  
  

Why advertisers are quietly returning to news-driven media channels. 

Brand safety is effectively about brand suitability, and the threshold is shifting quickly in a highly politicised climate. DoubleVerify reports that advertising on news sites drives nearly 10% more engagement than on non-news sites; DV also launched its News Accelerator and more flexible, AI-assisted keyword tools.

In a year without a presidential election, with better tools and rising cost pressures, advertisers don’t want to leave reach on the table, with some allocating 10–30% of budgets to news publishers (up from ~8–15% last year). Many are re-entering previously avoided environments — including Fox News, CNN, and Reddit — often with a “bipartisan” approach that balances buys across audiences.

Advertisers Push Big Tech to Adopt Standards for Transparency in Ad Sales. 

Major advertisers and trade bodies have proposed MRC transparency standards for digital ad auctions, where about 80% of sales occur in closed-loop systems run by Big Tech. Platforms that adopt would disclose the auction type, how winners are chosen, and what drives pricing (fees, discounts, floors), and announce material changes; adopters could seek new MRC accreditation.

The move arrives amid regulatory scrutiny and court orders pushing Google to disclose more; Meta and Amazon joined the working group, while Google declined.  Advertisers hope clearer rules give leverage beyond budget threats and may reconsider spending with platforms that don’t comply. Sceptics note the standards are voluntary—MRC can’t compel adoption—so transparency without mandates could give false confidence while platforms still set their own rules.

CleanTap Says It Easily Fooled Programmatic Tech With Spoofed CTV Devices.

CleanTap says it spoofed CTV devices (Raspberry Pi + dummy HDMI) and, over 10 days, its fake traffic was accepted into live auctions and actually bought, with ads from 54 brands appearing on the device. Although third-party verification flagged the impressions as invalid, platforms still delivered and transacted them; it’s unclear whether advertisers were charged.

The test used blatantly suspicious signals—data-centre IPs in Ashburn, VA and even a user-agent string stating “I’m a bot”—highlighting gaps in pre-bid screening and over-reliance on UA/IP checks. CleanTap argues systems should “assume counterfeit until verified” and build upstream verification into the pipes rather than defaulting to inclusion. For buyers, the piece urges more direct/curated supply paths, more challenging questions for partners about IVT filtering and make-goods, and default always-on protections from platforms.

Future of TV Briefing: WTF is IAB Tech Lab’s Concurrent Streams API?

IAB Tech Lab’s Concurrent Streams API lets streaming services report real-time live-event viewership to the programmatic stack (DSPs, SSPs, ad servers). It’s designed to help the supply chain react to sudden audience spikes (QPS limits, daily caps) and understand how much inventory is genuinely for sale.

Responses can be broken out by region and by ad-insertion mode (client-side vs. server-side), with Server-Guided Ad Insertion counted under SSAI. The media company can control access to the data, and the counts represent audience available for programmatic sales rather than an independent “truth.” This is phase one of the Live Event Ad Playbook; a Forecasting API is planned next, with details still to come.

From walls to frameworks: Publishers and tech giants push weekly talks on AI content use.

The IAB Tech Lab LLM working group is moving to weekly meetings to accelerate standards for how AI uses — and pays for — publisher content; Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Meta participated, while OpenAI and Perplexity did not.  The core tension remains “block vs. license”: some publishers want to deny RAG access to force deals, others fear being shut out of negotiations.

Near-term work centers on an API framework (access tiers, controls, measurement) and stronger content taxonomies so AI/search can cite correctly when access is allowed.  Infrastructure players like Cloudflare and Fastly are becoming gatekeepers, with bulk robots updates and Really Simple Licensing to encode machine-readable terms. The conversation is global (Germany, UK), and publishers are calling for a neutral, industry-wide standard — not vendor-led — including robust AI-crawler identification and management.

Index Exchange Launches A Data Marketplace For Sell-Side Curation.

Index Exchange launched its Data Vendor Ecosystem, a marketplace that brings third-party datasets to the sell side and complements Index Marketplaces.  Curators (agencies, publishers, intermediaries) can select segments from partners such as Experian, Audigent, DoubleVerify, IRIS.TV, Peer39 and Proximic and activate them into deal IDs across any DSP without bespoke integrations.

The pitch is SSP proximity to publisher data: SSP-led curation and “sell-side decisioning” are positioned as more attractive than DSP data markets. Index says it charges no separate data/curation fees for this marketplace — only its usual media rev share — to improve fee transparency and potentially lower all-in costs. The focus is on scale and speed with “off-the-shelf” data products, signalling that sell-side curation is becoming a core element of programmatic plans.

Ad Tech Briefing: A Google breakup sounds ideal, but the realities are much more complicated.

The DOJ’s blueprint is unusually aggressive: real-time AdX access via Prebid, open-sourcing DFP’s auction logic, a 10-year post-divestiture ban on operating an exchange, escrowing revenues, and independent sharing of DFP data.

Google counters that such oversight would freeze innovation and disproportionately harm publishers, pointing to Judge Mehta’s reluctance to impose structural remedies in the search case. Publishers see potential for more competition but worry remedies will land too late as AI overviews, walled gardens and zero-click models reshape demand.

Per Digiday’s sources, the most likely outcome is a hybrid fix—partial carve-outs plus strong data-access mandates, guardrails and independent oversight—rather than a full breakup. Delays and appeals could blunt the impact, and if the market keeps shifting, even robust remedies may end up more symbolic than transformative.

Can Publishers Trust The Trade Desk’s New Wrapper?

Prebid.org scrapped universal TIDs (v10.9), igniting a buyer–seller fight over deduplication versus publisher control. The Trade Desk responded with OpenAds, a forked Prebid wrapper that retains universal TIDs, plus PubDesk to show publishers buyer signals and “the truth of what we spent.” TTD pitches a “high-integrity” auction and says it will keep buying through existing wrappers.

For publishers, this could mean more transparency, but it’s also a price-discovery move that may compress CPMs, and yet another wrapper adds operational complexity and potential latency. TTD says it won’t do yield management (it isn’t an SSP) and plans to open-source parts of OpenAds/PubDesk—but the real impact won't be clear until controlled testing.

▸ Week 40

• - Inside The Economist’s plan to grow revenues in a post-search, AI-driven future.
• - Trade Desk outlines buyer-side innovations reshaping the open internet.
• - Perplexity launches a revenue-share model with major publishers.
• - Key takeaways from IAB Tech Lab’s Signal Shift West Coast event.
• - AI competition intensifies as platforms race from standards to marketplaces.
  
• - Former FTC commissioner warns against targeting teens online.
• - Mastercard enters the ad business with commerce-driven data solutions.
• - AppsFlyer and Roku team up to improve CTV campaign measurement.
• - High-attention media proves more profitable for advertisers.
  

   

Inside The Economist’s plan to grow revenues in a post-search, AI-driven future.

The Economist is shaping a post-search strategy to protect itself from AI disintermediation by doubling down on video, audio and direct reader relationships, while refusing to license content to AI firms. Its new long-form video series, Insider, gives subscribers access to senior editors and debates, offering content that’s harder for AI to replicate and opening new ad opportunities.

At the same time, the publisher is investing in its in-house AI Lab to build interactive, subscriber-focused products, including a proprietary chatbot that draws on its archives. The brand is also working to convert its 70 million social followers and millions of registered free users into paying subscribers, using registration walls and niche Substack newsletters as experimental funnels.

With 1.25 million subscribers and £368.5 million in annual revenue, The Economist remains relatively insulated from traffic loss, but sees growing advertising as key to its future. Its goal is to remain differentiated, relevant to younger audiences, and resilient in an AI-driven information economy. 

The open internet 2025, part 2: Buyer innovations to change the ad market for good.

The Trade Desk argues that a healthy digital advertising market depends on transparent price discovery, and recent advances in AI have accelerated their ability to clean up inefficiencies in the supply chain. Their OpenPath initiative has reallocated spend away from resellers who rely on duplication and obfuscation, improving transparency and competition but also sparking resistance from some SSPs and publishers.

The recent modification of Transaction ID (TID) by certain resellers, which breaks with OpenRTB standards, is viewed as an attempt to obscure supply paths and disadvantage premium publishers. In response, The Trade Desk is launching OpenAds, a transparent auction system paired with OpenPath, along with PubDesk to give publishers clearer demand insights, reinforcing their commitment to fair auctions and resisting reseller practices that undermine efficiency.

Perplexity launches AI subscription revenue-share scheme for publishers.

Perplexity has launched Comet Plus, a $5 subscription within its AI-powered Comet browser, giving users access to paywalled content from publishers including CNN, Condé Nast, Fortune, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, Le Monde and Le Figaro. The service allows AI assistants to perform tasks on partner sites and generate answers informed by their journalism, while 80% of subscription revenue is shared with publishers based on visits, citations and agent actions.

Perplexity framed the programme as a fair model for AI-era content use, contrasting with ongoing lawsuits from News Corp, Yomiuri Shimbun, Encyclopedia Britannica and Merriam-Webster accusing it of unauthorised content use. Condé Nast and others emphasised that the scheme ensures quality journalism is properly valued in AI-driven environments, while also allowing publishers to maintain direct relationships with their audiences. 

What you missed at Signal Shift West Coast.

IAB Tech Lab’s Signal Shift West Coast 2025 focused on privacy, addressability, and solutions for a post-cookie world, with deep dives into Trusted Server, Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), and evolving regulations. Trusted Server was presented as a publisher-controlled, open-source ad router that improves performance, transparency, and monetisation while reducing third-party browser calls.

Presentations also highlighted AI-powered ID-less targeting, which demonstrated stronger performance than cookie-based methods, and raised urgent concerns about upcoming children’s privacy regulations that will likely standardise digital consent at age 18. The event underscored that privacy and addressability can coexist through innovation, collaboration, and standards, with Tech Lab positioning itself as a guide for the industry’s transition. 

Media Briefing: From standards to marketplaces: the AI ‘land grab’ is on.

The AI licensing and content monetisation space is rapidly becoming crowded, with trade groups, tech giants, CDNs, and startups all pitching marketplaces and standards to publishers. Executives say they’re flooded with proposals — more than a dozen so far — reflecting both the hype and real potential to turn LLMs’ reliance on quality content into sustainable publisher revenue.

Microsoft’s pilot AI marketplace is drawing the most attention, while Cloudflare, Fastly, Perplexity, and startups like Prorata.ai and Tollbit are also vying for relevance. Publishers welcome the momentum but remain cautious, stressing the need for clear standards, minimal middlemen, and genuine financial commitment from major LLM players before the model can truly deliver. 

Advertisers Probably Shouldn’t Target Teens At All, Cautions Former FTC Commissioner.

Former FTC Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya warned advertisers at Programmatic IO that targeting children and teens online, especially through AI chatbots, poses serious ethical and regulatory risks. He criticised social media and generative AI platforms for exploiting young users’ attention without adequate safety measures, highlighting cases where chatbots encouraged suicidal behaviour or posed as therapists.

Bedoya urged advertisers to avoid funding engagement-driven platforms that prioritise keeping minors online, drawing parallels to the harms of social media. Beyond youth concerns, he also questioned invasive data practices for adults and argued that the industry’s reliance on consent-based targeted advertising is fundamentally flawed.

Powering smarter and more personal advertising with Mastercard Commerce Media.

Mastercard has launched Mastercard Commerce Media, a global digital media network that leverages its permissioned transaction data, trusted reputation and wide consumer reach to deliver personalised, measurable advertising. With 25,000 advertisers and access to 500 million enrolled consumers, the platform uses insights from over 160 billion annual transactions to drive up to 22x return on ad spend across categories like retail, travel and dining.

Strategic partnerships with Citi, WPP, American Airlines and Microsoft strengthen its scale and integration, including plans to embed the network into AI-driven commerce experiences. Unlike traditional retail media, Mastercard Commerce Media offers end-to-end attribution across in-store and online purchases, providing advertisers, publishers and consumers with transparency, personalisation and stronger engagement. 

AppsFlyer and Roku’s New SRN Integration Will Shed Light On CTV Campaign Impact.

Roku and AppsFlyer have launched a new self-reporting network (SRN) integration to help mobile marketers better measure the impact of CTV ads across Roku’s platforms. The upgrade expands beyond app install campaigns to include Roku Ads Manager inventory, offering advertisers access to improved probabilistic signals from Roku’s 90 million-household graph.

AppsFlyer’s two-way SRN can now both send and receive conversion data, enabling more accurate targeting, multitouch attribution and performance insights for verticals from gaming to ecommerce. Early tester Mistplay said the integration makes proving ROI far easier, allowing marketers to justify larger CTV budgets and experiment with creative campaigns with greater confidence.

High-attention media delivers greater profits for advertisers.

A new study by Newsworks, Lumen and Peter Field shows that high-attention media like news brands and TV deliver stronger business outcomes, including a 17% uplift in brand effects and 12% higher market share growth. Digital news brand ads gained 40% more attention than non-news sites, translating into significant brand awareness, consideration and action intent increases.

▸ Week 39

• - Publishers seek alternatives to offset Google search losses
• - Programmatic tools inspire IAB Tech Lab’s new AI initiative
• - IAS to be acquired by Novacap for $1.9B
• - Microsoft to launch AI content marketplace for publishers
• - The Trade Desk & Acxiom expand UID2 collaboration
• - Publishers weigh what Google’s ad tech breakup could deliver
• - Curation evolves from static deals to real-time precision

Media Briefing: Publishers turn to other platforms to offset losses from Google search. 

Publishers are scrambling to offset traffic losses from Google search after AI Overviews, with Reddit seen as the most promising alternative thanks to its organic reach and community-driven engagement, though it’s hard to scale. Pinterest remains useful for discovery and niche traffic, but it has a history of underwhelming results from its new features, and referrals are steadily declining.

Facebook has unexpectedly resurfaced as a strong traffic driver, but execs stressed its unreliability and lack of true audience ownership. Email delivers high-value traffic, yet publishers doubt it can sustain long-term growth, pushing them to invest more in product and engineering. 

How Programmatic Tools Provide Inspiration for IAB Tech Lab’s New AI Initiative. 

The IAB Tech Lab’s new AI Content Monetisation Protocols (CoMP) Working Group aims to help publishers protect and monetise their content in the age of AI by creating standards for blocking bots and enabling licensing frameworks. Its first priority is to give publishers stronger tools to restrict unauthorised scraping, going beyond robots.txt to firewalls and bot classification systems.

The second step is to establish a marketplace where publishers can license content to AI firms, borrowing concepts from programmatic trading but reversing the buyer–seller dynamic. However, AI companies have largely refused to engage so far, raising concerns that ignoring this initiative could trigger a “doom cycle” where less publisher content weakens both advertising and AI model outputs.

IAS to be Acquired by Novacap for $1.9 Billion to Further Support Its Strategic Goals.

Integral Ad Science (IAS) will be acquired by private equity firm Novacap in an all-cash deal valuing the company at $1.9 billion, or $10.30 per share — a 22% premium to its prior closing price. Once completed by the end of 2025, IAS will become a private company, continuing under its current brand while leveraging Novacap’s support to accelerate AI-driven growth.

Microsoft to Launch Marketplace for Publishers to Sell Content to AI Companies.

Microsoft is launching a Publisher Content Marketplace (PCM) that will let select publishers license their content for training Microsoft’s Copilot AI, with plans to expand access and refine pricing and policies over time. The move comes amid growing legal battles over AI’s use of creative works, with content marketplaces and licensing deals emerging as potential solutions to balance innovation with fair compensation for creators.

Media Briefing: Publishers turn to other platforms to offset losses from Google search. 

Acxiom and The Trade Desk have expanded their partnership with True Intelligence, a product that links TTD’s UID2 identity framework and Kokai AI platform to Acxiom’s consumer data, creating a live feedback loop between ad impressions and real-world sales. Unlike walled garden solutions, it lets advertisers measure incrementality across the open internet and CTV with transparency, access to log files, and integration with their own first-party data.

Remedies vs reality: Publishers weigh what Google’s ad tech break up could really deliver.

Publishers see potential AdX divestiture and escrow settlements as long-overdue remedies, but fear they may come too late, as AI Overviews and shifting traffic patterns are already gutting referral revenue. While many welcome payouts or divestiture as compensation for years of monopolistic practices, they remain wary of disruption from forced ad server changes and sceptical that any remedy can undo a decade of lost value.

Some argue Google must maintain GAM even if AdX is split off, to avoid leaving publishers stranded during transition. Ultimately, the debate reflects both hope for financial relief and deep cynicism that structural fixes may only buy time against AI-driven upheaval.

The Evolution of Curation: From Static Deals to Real-Time Precision.

Sell-side curation has transformed programmatic advertising by replacing static Deal ID setups with real-time, AI-powered packaging of inventory, enabling faster decisioning, stronger outcomes, and greater efficiency for buyers and DSPs. By leveraging advanced infrastructure, metadata, and adaptive signals, it eliminates “burn and learn” inefficiencies, improves ROI, and positions curation as a central driver of precision in the open internet.

▸ Week 38

• - The Rundown: Recapping Digiday’s four onstage interviews during DMexco 2025
• - Why The Hill credits growing engagement for its social traffic bump
• - How Encryption Keys Could Resolve The TID Furor
• - IAB Europe: First Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report
• - Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit, Google search edition
• - Magnite Files Lawsuit Against Google
• - A Protocol Buffers standard for OpenRTB
  
  
  

The Rundown: Recapping Digiday’s four onstage interviews during DMexco 2025.

At DMEXCO in Cologne, Digiday hosted fireside interviews covering themes like commerce evolution, programmatic curation, the rise of transaction data, and AI’s role in creativity and engagement. Criteo’s CEO Michael Komasinski stressed adopting an agency mindset, AI’s impact on product search, and the need for better measurement standards to unlock e-commerce growth.

Magnite’s Julie Selman highlighted programmatic curation as a way to package premium inventory, improve transparency, and use AI for efficiency and sustainability. PayPal’s Mark Grether announced a partnership with Google to leverage transaction data for targeted ads, while Snap’s Valentia Culatti showcased AI and AR tools driving authentic Gen Z engagement.

Why The Hill credits growing engagement for its social traffic bump.

The Hill’s social traffic rose 20% year-over-year from September 2024 to September 2025, driven by stronger engagement and a renewed focus on political coverage. The publication has leaned into direct interaction with readers on platforms like Reddit, refuting misinformation and encouraging staff to post from personal accounts.

Reporter-creators like Cate Martel have helped boost reach, with The Hill now surpassing 2 million YouTube followers and 200,000 on TikTok. Rather than chasing clicks, The Hill is positioning social media as a tool for brand recognition, credibility, and loyalty in preparation for a “zero-click” future shaped by AI summaries. 

How Encryption Keys Could Resolve The TID Furor.

Prebid’s recent update to transaction IDs (TIDs) has sparked backlash, with publishers and buyers clashing over transparency versus data exposure. Raptive has proposed encrypted TIDs (eTIDs), which would only be accessible to trusted DSPs with an encryption key, giving publishers more control over sensitive auction data.

The plan requires IAB Tech Lab to add a new OpenRTB field and would involve reciprocal data sharing, with DSPs providing bid insights in exchange for decryption keys. While concerns exist about complexity, Raptive argues de-encryption can be done in batches and believes this compromise balances publisher protection with buyer needs for transparency. 
 

IAB Europe Releases First Impact of AI on Digital Advertising Report Revealing Widespread Adoption, Rising Investment, and Urgent Calls for Governance.

IAB Europe has released its first Pan-European Impact Report on AI in digital advertising, showing that 85% of companies already use AI, mainly for targeting and content generation. Most firms plan to maintain or increase investment, though publishers report fewer direct revenue gains compared to ad tech companies and agencies.

Key challenges include inconsistent governance, lack of expertise, and privacy concerns, despite widespread adoption and reported KPI improvements. The report highlights the need for clear frameworks, training, and responsible deployment, with IAB Europe’s AI Working Group set to develop practical guidance and collaborative solutions.

Media Briefing: Overheard at the Digiday Publishing Summit, September 2025 Google search edition.

At the Digiday Publishing Summit in Miami, media executives voiced continued frustration over steep declines in Google referral traffic, worsened by the rollout of AI Overviews in search. Publishers described the drop as sudden and dramatic, with little clarity or support from Google representatives.

Many see Google prioritising competition with OpenAI and Perplexity over maintaining strong publisher relationships, further eroding trust. Despite the gloom, some publishers reported traffic recovery in niche and high-intent areas, suggesting opportunities remain for authoritative content even as search dynamics shift.
 

Magnite Files Lawsuit Against Google.

Magnite has filed a lawsuit against Google, seeking damages after a U.S. District Court ruling in April 2025 found Google had willfully engaged in anticompetitive practices to maintain monopoly power in the ad server and exchange markets. 

The complaint argues Google’s conduct stifled competition and harmed publishers, advertisers, and independent players like Magnite, which says it looks forward to a more competitive and innovative open-web ecosystem.

A Protocol Buffers standard for OpenRTB.

OpenRTB, which previously relied on JSON for human-readable programmatic ad transactions, is introducing Protocol Buffers as a new standard to improve speed, efficiency, and integration. JSON required each company to maintain its own parsing and validation code, while Protocol Buffers streamline this process, cutting message size by about 50% and reducing read/write times by nearly half.

The new standard also formalises extensions, prevents schema collisions, and allows companies to share custom implementations more easily. While JSON remains valid and human-readable, Protocol Buffers provide type safety, lower maintenance costs, and better performance at the massive scale of programmatic advertising.

▸ Week 37

• - Media Briefing: The Trade Desk bends under rising competition
• - Criteo and Google announce onsite retail media integration
• - Ad-supported SVOD’s UK reach has tripled, says IPA
• - Reddit launches new tools for publishers
• - Ad Tech Briefing: Google, the ‘Teflon monopolist,’ faces more challenges
• - IAB one-pager on incrementality in commerce media
• - Prebid.js impacted in major NPM supply chain attack
• - Shaping the future of attribution technology
  
  

Media Briefing: Rising competition is making The Trade Desk bend a little, say OpenPath publishers.

The Trade Desk has shifted its approach with publishers, making OpenPath deals more flexible and financially appealing after initial resistance. Facing revenue slowdowns, stock declines, and rising competition from Amazon and Google, TTD is now prioritising closer collaboration to secure premium inventory.

Publishers report better terms, smoother dealmaking, and higher CPMs, with some seeing increases from $1.14 to $1.46 and incremental revenue without cannibalising SSP demand. This evolution signals a strategic recalibration: instead of dictating terms, TTD is courting publishers directly to maintain its position in an increasingly competitive DSP market. 

Criteo and Google Announce Onsite Retail Media Integration.

Criteo has become Google’s first onsite retail media partner, integrating with Google Search Ads 360 to connect its 200+ global retailers with brand demand, initially through a limited beta in the Americas. The partnership aims to expand globally, offering advertisers unified measurement, greater transparency, and incremental impact while helping retailers grow their media programs and attract new budgets in the rapidly expanding $204B retail media market.

Ad-Supported SVOD’s UK Reach Has Tripled Since Last Year Says IPA.

Ad-supported SVOD usage in the UK has surged, with 30% of adults now engaging weekly—triple last year’s figure—driven largely by Amazon Prime Video’s ad rollout and Netflix’s ad-tier strategy. This growth is helping offset the decline in traditional commercial TV reach, though fragmentation means advertisers must plan more carefully across BVOD, SVOD, and online video.

Smartphones have overtaken TV sets as the primary device for consuming ad-supported media, with mobile now accounting for 40% of viewing time and 50% among 16–34 year-olds. Meanwhile, the 55+ demographic shows strong growth in ad-supported viewing, representing both the biggest missed opportunity and a major untapped market for advertisers, given their substantial consumer spending power. 

Reddit launches tools for publisher to track and share stories.

Reddit has expanded its Reddit Pro suite with free tools that let publishers track article performance, sync RSS feeds, and use AI suggestions to share stories in relevant communities. The platform, already tested with outlets like The Atlantic and NBC News, is also improving the reader experience and shifting subreddit metrics to highlight recent activity over total membership.

Ad Tech Briefing: Google, the ‘Teflon monopolist,’ braces for even more challenges.

September 2025 has brought Google intense legal scrutiny, with mixed outcomes in its U.S. and European antitrust battles. In the U.S., Judge Amit Mehta stopped short of forcing a breakup, instead imposing narrower behavioral remedies such as limits on exclusivity and greater transparency in ad auctions.

Meanwhile, the European Commission fined Google €2.95 billion for self-preferencing in ad tech, ordering structural changes that could lead to divestiture if Google’s proposals fall short. Critics argue the measures lack real bite, though some experts note that even modest conduct remedies, as seen in Microsoft’s past case, can reshape markets over time. 

IAB Europe & the IAB Release New One-Pager on Incrementality in Commerce Media.

IAB Europe and IAB have released a one-pager explaining incrementality in commerce media, a key metric for proving whether ad spend drives genuine demand and business growth as the sector surpasses $150 billion in the US and Europe. The guide defines incrementality, clarifies outcomes, dispels misconceptions, and aims to help marketers justify budgets with clearer, outcome-based measurement standards.

Prebid.js Impacted in Major NPM Supply Chain Attack: What Ad Tech Needs to Know.

A major npm supply chain attack compromised over 20 popular packages, including Prebid.js, exposing billions of weekly downloads and putting users with crypto wallets at risk. Publishers, SSPs, and DSPs relying on Prebid.js are urged to audit dependencies, pin package versions, monitor runtime activity, and train teams to guard against future threats.

Shaping the Future of Attribution Technology.

As third-party cookies disappear, advertisers need new ways to measure performance, leading browsers and the W3C to test experimental attribution APIs. IAB’s Private Advertising Task Force has outlined key use cases—flexible reporting, custom attribution models, fraud detection, and novel features like app-to-web tracking—to guide the development of these standards and ensure they meet industry needs.

▸ Week 36

• - DOJ Ruling Keeps Google AI Tied to Search
• - Comscore Launches AI-Based ID-Free Audiences
• - Google Prepares Ad Manager Spinoff
• - Publisher Town Hall: Budgets Stable, Traffic Down
• - Prebid Alters Transaction ID Rules
• - EU Delays Google Ad Tech Case
• - WSJ Shares SEO Tactics for AI Search

Media Briefing: DOJ’s Google search trial remedies fall flat for publishers.

The Department of Justice’s remedies against Google landed with disappointment for publishers and ad execs, who had hoped for stricter measures separating search from AI products like AI Overviews. Instead, the ruling largely preserves the status quo, leaving Google’s 90% search dominance intact and offering publishers little relief as referral traffic declines.

Critics argue the decision fails to address core issues, forcing publishers to keep negotiating licensing deals with AI firms while remaining dependent on Google’s crawler. Still, some see the monopoly designation as a foundation for future regulation, with upcoming antitrust trials and a new Technical Committee possibly opening doors for stronger publisher protections. 

Comscore Debuts A Way To Turn Consumer Profile Data Into ID-Free Audiences.

Comscore has launched its Data Partner Network, an AI-powered system that converts ID-based data into ID-free audience segments for targeting without identifiers. Data from providers like TransUnion and Polk is modelled through Comscore’s Proximic platform, which uses contextual and behavioural patterns from opt-in panels to create predictive audiences.

Early adoption has been strong, with more than 250 AnalyticsIQ clients already using these segments, citing improved performance and scalability. Partners like MiQ highlight the system’s ability to refresh contextual targeting at scale, particularly in CTV, making it easier to reach relevant audiences that traditional ID-based or static segments often miss.

Is Google Prepping GAM for a Spinoff?

Google Ad Manager is being positioned to act more independently, with new buy-side tools and discounts aimed at attracting agencies directly, even at the expense of Google’s own DSP, DV360. These moves come as Google faces antitrust pressure, fuelling speculation that the company may be restructuring GAM to make a potential spinoff of its sell-side ad tech business easier.

Overheard during the Digiday publisher town hall.

At Digiday’s Aug. 22 virtual town hall, publishing execs focused on stabilising revenue, navigating DSP/SSP dynamics, and figuring out AI’s role in their businesses. Traffic losses remain severe. Some publishers are down 50% - pushing a shift toward extracting more revenue per user through onboarding fixes, ad logic optimisation, and higher-value native products.

While direct sales stay strong, the open auction is increasingly unstable, with execs wary of adding middlemen and cautious about DSPs trying to bypass SSPs, often to publishers’ detriment. Amazon’s growing DSP presence has introduced more competition, nudging The Trade Desk to be more flexible.

AI is mostly being applied to workflow efficiencies, but publishers distrust off-the-shelf tools that collapse under real-world complexity. Overall, the sentiment was pragmatic: revenue stability depends on squeezing yield, choosing partners carefully, and cautiously experimenting with AI while traffic challenges persist. 

Ad Tech Briefing: One last row before back to school.

The Transaction ID (TID) debate has become one of the hottest issues in programmatic advertising, exposing deep tensions between buyers and sellers. Prebid’s recent change to make TID non-unique across exchanges undermined its purpose of detecting duplicate bid requests, sparking outcry over governance and buy-side influence in open-source standards.

While DSPs argue TID reduces waste and rewards quality publishers, publishers fear it exposes duplication, erodes deal-based monetisation, and hands even more leverage to dominant DSPs. Voices like Paul Bannister of Raptive warn that TID could strip away publishers’ last vestiges of data control, while industry leaders like the IAB Tech Lab’s Anthony Katsur criticise Prebid for violating OpenRTB consistency.

Online debates, from LinkedIn posts to podcasts, show the divide: buyers see efficiency, publishers see exploitation. Ultimately, TID has become a proxy for a larger power struggle, and whether the industry can agree on a standard that balances transparency with publisher autonomy remains unresolved.

EU Stalls on Google Ad Tech Case Amid US Trade Pressure.

The EU was expected to issue a modest fine against Google after a four-year antitrust probe but abruptly pulled back, reportedly under pressure from the US and concerns over jeopardising a new trade deal. European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is said to have intervened, fearing the timing of a fine could provoke Trump, who has threatened tariffs and export restrictions against countries imposing digital regulations.

While EU officials like Teresa Ribera argue the bloc must resist US pressure, today’s hesitation suggests internal divisions and raises doubts about the EU’s willingness to enforce its tech laws boldly. Meanwhile, in the US, the DOJ continues its own antitrust case against Google, even as Silicon Valley’s efforts to align with Trump appear to be softening his stance on regulating American tech giants.

How The Wall Street Journal is strategizing for ‘Google zero’.

At a Digiday virtual event, WSJ’s Ed Hyatt stressed that publishers must prepare for “Google zero,” where AI-driven search keeps users inside Google, by focusing on long-term SEO fundamentals. He argued that traditional practices like Core Web Vitals, structured content, and fast load speeds still matter, both for ranking in search and surfacing in AI engines.

Hyatt urged publishers to analyse log files and crawler data to understand how AI platforms interact with their sites, while moving away from “commodity content” that AI can easily answer. Ultimately, WSJ is prioritising high-intent, valuable traffic from Google Search over lower-value referrals, using it as a pathway to subscriptions and deeper reader engagement.

▸ Week 35

• - Reactions to Prebid’s Changes in TIDs
• - Media Briefing: Here are the hurdles to Perplexity’s pitch as the publisher-friendly LLM
• - The Trade Desk’s redefinition of supply paths ripples across ad tech
• - Agentic Ad Tech Explained
• - Ad Tech Briefing: $26.8 billion still wasted in programmatic despite MFA crackdown
• - ‘Google Zero’ is killing the media
• - Magnite Is Making Pause Ads Available To Buy Programmatically
• - What’s Next for Connected TV Advertising
  
  

Reactions to Prebid’s Changes in TIDs.

Prebid has rolled out a major change to how transaction IDs (TIDs) work, shifting from a single ID per ad unit across exchanges to unique IDs for each bidder. This move has alarmed buyers, who relied on consistent TIDs to deduplicate auctions and optimise supply paths, with Marketecture’s Ari Paparo warning it effectively ends cross-exchange tracking.

On the sell-side, leaders like Raptive’s Paul Bannister argue the old system gave DSPs too much insight into publisher pricing and allowed them to bypass premium paths to inventory. Prebid says the update is driven by privacy and contractual concerns, building on its 2023 decision to default TIDs to “false,” though critics like Sincera’s Mike O’Sullivan note it increases the risk of wasted spend from duplicate auctions.

The situation escalated when the IAB Tech Lab declared Prebid’s approach a violation of the OpenRTB specification, warning it undermines interoperability and calling for a collaborative fix. The clash underscores the deep tension in programmatic between buyer transparency, publisher protection, and adherence to industry standards.

Media Briefing: Here are the hurdles to Perplexity’s pitch as the publisher-friendly LLM.

Perplexity is positioning itself as a publisher-friendly AI company by introducing a usage-based revenue share model tied to its Comet Plus browser, where publishers earn based on human visits and bot crawls. While the idea appeals to some publishing execs, Perplexity has been slow to engage with partners, leaving questions about transparency, payout amounts, and whether enough users will adopt Comet to make the model worthwhile.

Legal troubles add pressure, with lawsuits from News Corp., Nikkei, and Asahi Shimbun accusing Perplexity of scraping content without permission. Despite the uncertainty, some publishers see potential in partnering early, betting that Perplexity’s approach could evolve into a meaningful compensation path as AI reshapes content distribution. 

The Trade Desk’s redefinition of supply paths ripples across ad tech.

The Trade Desk has reclassified SSPs as “resellers,” a move that shifts ad spend toward its own supply routes like OpenPath and SP500 while penalising traditional SSP paths. Through Kokai, its AI-powered platform, The Trade Desk frames this as cleaner, more efficient supply for buyers, but critics argue it reduces publisher payouts, in some cases by up to 50%, and erodes SSP leverage.

Publishers directly connected to OpenPath are benefiting, while others feel pressured to integrate or risk losing spend. What many see is less a crackdown on inefficiency and more The Trade Desk consolidating control, echoing fears of Google-like dominance in programmatic advertising. 

Agentic Ad Tech Explained.

Agentic AI refers to systems that can act independently toward goals, combining generative AI’s ability to create outputs with proactive decision-making to perform complex tasks across ad platforms. Through standards like Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP), agents can plug into multiple systems, troubleshoot issues, optimise deals, and even collaborate across SSPs and DSPs without requiring custom integrations for each platform.

Companies like FreeWheel, PubMatic, Swivel, Dstillery, Newton Research, and Gigi are already experimenting with agentic AI to automate repetitive ad ops work, scale campaign optimisation, and unlock insights at speeds no human could match. While this promises huge productivity gains, it also raises fears of job loss, especially for entry-level roles, as AI agents can perform many of the manual tasks humans once handled.

Proponents argue that humans remain critical for oversight, creativity, and communication, with AI serving as a “supercharger” rather than a replacement, at least for now. The bigger challenge lies in how quickly the industry can adapt workflows, standards, and mindsets to harness agentic AI, or risk being left behind in the next wave of ad tech transformation. 

Ad Tech Briefing: $26.8 billion still wasted in programmatic despite MFA crackdown.

The ANA’s Q2 2025 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark shows that despite progress in supply-path consolidation, inefficiencies still drain an estimated $26.8 billion annually from global programmatic media. The TrueCPM Index slipped from 37.8% to 36.5%, signalling persistent gaps between cost and quality, even as CTV spend surged and private marketplace deals rose to nearly 88% of spend.

Encouragingly, MFA exposure dropped to a median of 0.8%, down from 15% two years ago, though some advertisers still overspend on low-quality sites. Overall, the report highlights that while consolidation and curation are improving, transparency gaps and data access limitations remain major hurdles to efficiency.

‘Google Zero’ is killing the media.

Google’s AI summaries are reshaping how people consume news, giving users neatly packaged takeaways without needing to click through to original sources. Since the launch of AI Overviews in 2024, publishers have reported steep traffic declines — with click-through rates halved and site visits via Google searches dropping by as much as 16%.

This threatens advertising and subscription revenue, raising fears that journalism itself could be undermined if content is consumed only in summary form. While licensing deals, like those already struck between OpenAI and some publishers, may offer a partial solution, the wider struggle remains: AI platforms are devouring journalism’s output while eroding the economic model that sustains it. 

Magnite is making pause ads available to buy programmatically.

Magnite has launched programmatic pause ads across partners like DirecTV, Dish Media and Fubo, available via its ClearLine product and DSPs such as Yahoo and MNTN. The format, which shows ads when viewers pause content, is gaining traction thanks to its relative ease of standardisation under VAST and strong adoption by early movers like DirecTV.

Usage data shows frequent pausing behaviour, often tied to second-screen activity, making pause ads especially attractive for interactive or shoppable campaigns. Agencies and brands see them as a fresh opportunity, with expectations that demand will expand to smaller advertisers as programmatic adoption scales. 

What’s Next for Connected TV Advertising.

The IAB Tech Lab’s CTV Ad Ops Workshop highlighted key challenges and opportunities in connected TV advertising, stressing the urgent need for clearer standards. Participants agreed that consistent execution of advanced ad formats, such as overlays and shoppable ads, is essential but hampered by low adoption of existing standards like VAST 4 and SIMID.

Other priorities included specialised solutions for live-event advertising, a universal conversion API to improve feedback loops, and universal creative IDs with watermarking to enhance tracking and prevent fraud. The workshop also flagged issues around fragmented inventory ownership and inconsistent metadata, reinforcing that cross-industry collaboration is critical to unlock CTV’s full programmatic potential. 

▸ Week 34

• - AI Grounding Deals Overtake Training Agreements in Value for Publishers
• - More UK Publishers Adopt the ‘Consent or Pay’ Advertising Model
• - Meta Gives Fresh Signals on AI Licensing, but Actions Still Pending
• - Kargo and Ad Council Push Pause Ads as a New CTV Format
• - IAB Tech Lab Steps Up the Fight Against AI Scraping
• - Tackling Signal Loss: Letting Audiences Choose Which Ads to Watch
  

WTF is AI ‘grounding’ licensing, and why do publishers say it matters over training deals?

AI licensing is shifting away from one-time training deals toward recurring, usage-based agreements centred on “grounding” or retrieval augmented generation (RAG). Unlike training, which relied on lump sums for archives used to teach models, grounding pays publishers when live content is fetched and surfaced in AI outputs.

Payment models now range from pay per usage, query, or crawl to ad revenue sharing, with the IAB Tech Lab working on standardised frameworks. This shift benefits publishers by providing recurring revenue, visibility, and attribution rather than fixed sums that quickly lose value. As training data becomes less relevant, grounding ensures real-time relevance and ties licensing to how LLMs actually process and cite content. Although the market is still evolving and negotiations vary, grounding deals are proving to be the more sustainable and scalable path forward. 

More UK news publishers are adopting ‘consent or pay’ advertising model.

Sixteen of the UK’s 50 largest news sites now use a “consent or pay” model, giving users the choice to accept cookies, pay to block personalised ads, or in some cases pay for a fully ad-free experience. The model emerged after the ICO required publishers to make “reject all cookies” as prominent as “accept all,” later clarifying that consent or pay was acceptable if pricing was reasonable and choice genuine.

Publishers report much higher consent rates under this system — often over 95% — since most users accept cookies rather than pay, while the small number who choose to pay helps offset lost ad revenue. Pricing varies by publisher, from £1.99 at Reach’s Mirror and Express to £5 at The Guardian, with models continuing to evolve as publishers balance advertising income, subscriptions, and user privacy expectations. 

Media Briefing: Publishers catch new vibes from Meta on AI licensing.

Meta is signalling a potential shift toward AI licensing, though so far it remains more talk than action. At an IAB Tech Lab workshop in July, publishers noted new leadership at Meta stressing that quality content is essential for AI, hinting at greater willingness to work with publishers.

Still, Meta has few concrete deals in place, faces widespread blocking of its AI crawler, and is seen as lagging behind rivals like Google, OpenAI, and Amazon who have already struck major licensing agreements. For now, publishers view Meta as still in the exploratory phase, while the industry pushes ahead with frameworks like the IAB’s AI Content Monetization Protocols to ensure AI models pay for the content they use. 

How Kargo And The Ad Council Are Trying To Make Pause Ads Happen.

The Ad Council is testing CTV “pause ads” in its “Tear the Paper Ceiling” campaign. Unlike overlays or squeeze-backs, pause ads only appear when viewers press pause, which makes them less frequent but more likely to capture attention.

While many publishers and marketers see pause ads as scalable and impactful, technical challenges around measurement, programmatic trading, and varying pause behaviours have slowed adoption. For now, the Ad Council benefits from lower competition in this format, while Kargo uses the campaign as a testbed to develop scalable, cross-platform solutions for future commercial clients.

The IAB Tech Lab Isn’t Pulling Any Punches In The Fight Against AI Scraping.

The IAB Tech Lab has launched the AI Content Monetisation Protocols (CoMP) Working Group to ensure publishers are compensated when AI models scrape their content. The framework will focus on blocking unwanted crawlers, enabling content discovery through LLMs, and building APIs to let publishers control access and get paid per user query rather than per crawl.

While Google and Meta have engaged with the initiative, OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity have so far refused to participate. Alongside this, the Tech Lab and IAB plan to intensify lobbying at both federal and state levels for stronger copyright enforcement, urging publishers to pressure politicians and pursue legal action against violators.

How Can Advertisers and Publishers Handle Signal Loss? Try Asking the Audience.

Signal loss from third-party cookie restrictions remains a major challenge, but German ad tech firm Welect offers a workaround by letting users choose which ad they want to watch. This self-selection creates a “real-time intent” signal, ensuring ads reach people who are genuinely interested, even when traditional targeting data isn’t available.

The format also helps publishers better monetise low-value or unmonetised traffic, while giving advertisers access to audiences competitors often ignore, such as Safari users. Although adoption requires advertisers to rethink standard targeting and measurement practices, those willing to adapt can gain a significant competitive edge.

▸ Week 33

• - Google AI Overviews linked to 25% drop in publisher referral traffic
• - Amazon’s off-site ad push emerges as publishers’ post-cookie playbook
• - Ad tech CEOs signal shift away from open web amid AI-induced traffic fears
• - Investors sour on programmatic after The Trade Desk’s Amazon comments
• - AI startup Perplexity makes $34.5B bid for Google’s Chrome browser
• - “An Offer You Can’t Opt Out Of” raises privacy and compliance concerns
• - IAB Tech Lab opens public comment on Mapping Content 2.1 to Ad Product 2.0
  

Google AI Overviews linked to 25% drop in publisher referral traffic, new data shows. 

Fresh data from Digital Content Next (DCN) confirms that Google’s AI Overviews is driving notable declines in publishers’ search traffic, despite Google’s reassurances. Across 19 member companies, organic Google Search referrals fell between 1% and 25% in May–June 2025, with a median YoY drop of 10%. Non-news sites saw the steepest, most consistent declines. 

DCN attributes the losses to AI Overviews and is calling for the ability to block Google’s AI crawler without disappearing from search results. In the U.S., a pending DOJ remedies order could mandate separating AI and search crawlers; EU publishers are pushing for similar action. Experts advise keeping core SEO strategies intact but stress that brand strength is becoming critical in AI-driven interfaces, where top-ranking citations no longer guarantee user trust or clicks.

Media Briefing: Amazon’s off-site ad push is becoming publishers’ post-cookie playbook.

Amazon is expanding its advertising business through an unexpected partner: publishers. Leveraging its shopper data, clean rooms, and publisher collaborations, Amazon is opening up streaming and open web inventory to advertisers. By combining its first-party data with publishers’ audience signals, it enables targeted, privacy-safe campaigns across cookieless environments.

Hearst Magazines integrates Amazon shopper signals with its Aura targeting platform, while People Inc. uses Amazon’s Publisher Cloud to enhance contextual targeting. This approach gives advertisers access to broader premium inventory via Amazon’s DSP — often at lower costs than competitors — and strengthens Amazon’s position as a major open web ad platform.

Ad Tech CEOs Signal Shift Away from Open Web Amid AI-Induced Traffic Fears.

Ad tech executives are increasingly concerned about the impact of AI search and chatbots on publisher traffic, with some warning of a potential “Google zero” future where search engines deliver minimal traffic. Magnite and PubMatic said premium publishers are less reliant on search referrals and highlighted their diversification into CTV and mobile.

Others, including DoubleVerify, Nexxen, and Perion, are shifting focus toward channels like social and retail media. Executives also see new monetisation opportunities in AI search and chatbot platforms, which could become “new publishers” and sources of demand.

Investors Sour On Programmatic After The Trade Desk Fumbles A Question About Amazon.

The Trade Desk’s Q2 earnings and CEO Jeff Green’s comments downplaying Amazon as a competitor spooked investors, triggering a sell-off across the public programmatic sector. Despite strong results, companies like DoubleVerify, Magnite, PubMatic, and Viant saw share prices drop over 10% as markets reacted to TTD’s perceived vulnerability. 

Investors were unconvinced by Green’s assertion that Amazon isn’t a direct rival and had expected a stronger defence of TTD’s position. Since many programmatic firms have used TTD as a positive benchmark in investor discussions, its downturn directly hit their valuations. The takeaway from Wall Street: the real competitive battle remains with the walled gardens.

AI startup Perplexity makes bold $34.5 billion bid for Google's Chrome browser.

Perplexity AI has made a $34.5 billion all-cash offer for Google’s Chrome browser, despite Google not putting it up for sale. The bid comes amid the U.S. Justice Department’s antitrust case against Google Search, where a potential remedy could include forcing a Chrome divestiture.

Valued at around $14 billion, Perplexity says it would keep Chromium open source, invest $3 billion over two years, and maintain Chrome’s default search engine. Analysts see a sale as unlikely, with legal challenges potentially lasting years. As browsers regain prominence in the AI search race, Chrome is viewed as strategically vital for both Google and AI rivals.

An Offer You Can’t Opt Out Of.

California’s CCPA law gives consumers the right to opt out of their personal data being used for advertising and to request its deletion. According to The Markup and Wired, at least 35 of nearly 500 registered data brokers hid their deletion request pages from search engines by using code to block indexing. In some cases, the pages didn’t exist at all. While technically legal, regulators warn that creating unnecessary barriers could violate the CCPA.

IAB Tech Lab Announces Mapping Content 2.1 to Ad Product 2.0 Now Open for Public Comment.  

IAB Tech Lab has released new implementation guidance and bi-directional mappings linking Content Taxonomy 2.1 with Ad Product Taxonomy 2.0. The goal is to prevent the misuse of content-based labels for describing ad products, which can cause enforcement and interoperability issues. The update offers a clearer way to label what’s being advertised and includes both forward and reverse mappings to help platforms align. The public comment period is open until September 10, 2025.

▸ Week 32

• - IAB Europe publishes a Q&A to help understand the digital advertising supply chain
• - Magnite Considers Legal Action Against Google
• - The AI negotiator becomes a new power player for publishers
• - Amazon and Google’s ad tech rivalry intensifies
• - WTF is Model Context Protocol and why should publishers care?
• - OpenX sues Google over alleged ad auction rigging
• - IAB Tech Lab separates curation hype from reality

IAB Europe Publishes Q&A on the Digital Advertising Supply Chain. 

IAB Europe has released a new Q&A to clarify how the digital advertising supply chain works and why collaboration between diverse players is essential for a transparent, competitive, and fraud-resistant ecosystem. The document outlines the roles of advertisers, publishers, intermediaries, and platforms — and how standards like ads.txt, sellers.json, and the SupplyChain Object contribute to greater transparency.

It also explains how the Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF) supports GDPR and ePrivacy compliance, and how IAB Europe is improving enforcement through compliance programmes. The Q&A includes concrete recommendations to help strengthen the industry and raise the bar across the board. You'll be able to read the Q&A document here.

Magnite hints at potential future legal action against Google.

Magnite posted over $173 million in Q2 revenue (up 6% YoY), but all eyes were on CEO Michael Barrett’s remarks regarding the ongoing antitrust case against Google. He noted that behavioural remedies could benefit Magnite if the court mandates changes to how Google’s ad stack operates.

The company’s chief legal officer confirmed they are considering all options, including legal action. Earlier in the week, SSP rival OpenX filed its own antitrust lawsuit, alleging Google’s long-standing self-preferencing behaviour. These developments may reshape the competitive balance across the sell-side ecosystem.

Media Briefing: Publishers’ new power player: the AI negotiator. 

In the age of generative AI, publishers are appointing AI negotiators to handle partnerships, licensing, and legal risks with platforms like Google, Amazon, and Meta. These new roles are crucial for protecting content, shaping licensing terms, and ensuring publishers aren’t giving away their data too cheaply.

Candidates are being recruited from both tech companies and internal teams, reflecting the urgency to act. The negotiators' mission goes beyond deal-making — they’re redefining what fair collaboration means in an AI-driven content economy.

Ad Tech Briefing: Lines are being drawn in Amazon and Google’s evolving rivalry. 

U.S. tariffs and the rise of AI are reshaping the global economic landscape. While it might seem that Big Tech would benefit, recent earnings reports show companies like Google, Meta, and Amazon are shifting their focus—potentially disrupting the advertising ecosystem.

Google is prioritising AI over ad tech, Meta reports strong ad growth alongside its AI narrative, and Amazon is rapidly expanding its ad business, even as analysts question its generative AI progress in AWS.  Notably, Amazon has reportedly cut its Google Shopping ad spend, sparking speculation of a brewing rivalry. As both tech giants are among the top advertisers globally, any conflict between them could have widespread consequences for the advertising industry.

WTF is Model Context Protocol (MCP) and why should publishers care?

AI experts believe the "agentic web" is coming – where AI agents perform tasks and make decisions on behalf of users. This could mean publishers will need to adapt their websites so that AI systems can access and interpret content.

Model Context Protocol (MCP), developed by Anthropic, is an open-source framework that helps AI systems interact with structured external data – like an AI-focused version of robots.txt. It gives publishers more control over what AI can access, enabling them to potentially monetise queries and control which parts of their site are included.

Use cases are still evolving. For example, publishers could offer premium content through MCP and charge AI agents per query. It could also allow users to access their subscriptions (e.g., The Atlantic or NYT) via AI tools like ChatGPT. However, MCP is not the only standard. Microsoft and Google have released their own protocols, and it’s unclear which will dominate. For now, many publishers are only beginning to explore the implications of the agentic web and what it might mean for discoverability and monetisation.

Adtech Firm OpenX Accuses Google of 'Rigging' Ad Auctions in New Antitrust Lawsuit.

Adtech firm OpenX has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Google, accusing it of manipulating digital ad auctions and self-preferencing its own tools to the detriment of rivals.

The lawsuit claims Google restricted access to its ad tools and prevented publishers from setting price floors that would allow fair competition. OpenX CEO John Gentry argues Google’s dominance made the auctions unfair and directly harmed OpenX’s business, forcing it to shut down its ad server in 2019. The case follows a recent federal ruling that found Google guilty of monopolising ad server and exchange markets. OpenX seeks both damages and an injunction to stop further anti-competitive practices.

Separating the Truth from the Hype in Curation. 

Curation in programmatic advertising has evolved from a passing trend into a fundamental shift in how value is created for both publishers and advertisers. True curation relies on three core elements: unique data, strong connections between inventory and buyers, and continuous optimisation. Without all three, even Private Marketplaces (PMPs) can fall short of being truly curated.

When done right, curation can increase bid density, improve win rates, and significantly boost ad revenue. Publishers working with solutions from companies like OpenX, Pubmatic, or Magnite have reported substantial gains in eCPMs, revenue, and auction outcomes. Advertisers also benefit from curated deals, enjoying reduced data costs, lower CPCs, and stronger campaign performance across display and video formats.

Despite this growth, much of the industry still lacks clarity on what real curation means. That’s why IAB Tech Lab’s Curation Framework Working Group is creating standards to bring more transparency to curated deals, including who curated them and what data is involved. As these efforts progress, curation could become an even more powerful lever for results — but only if the industry learns to recognise and invest in the real thing.

▸ Week 31

• - UK publishers report up to 80% drop in Google visibility since 2019
• - AI Overviews reduce publisher clickthrough rates by 50%
• - Publishers unite to push back against AI scraping
• - UK streaming TV ad revenues forecasted for double-digit growth
• - Alphabet’s Q2 signals shrinking focus on ad tech
• - Meta halts political ads in the EU; UK ad spend up 8% in Q1
• - Publishers outline expectations for Google’s AI licensing deals
• - Supply Chain API+ introduces new seller feature

Major UK publishers have seen Google search visibility ‘drop by up to 80%’ since 2019.

The visibility of major UK news publishers in Google search has dropped sharply since 2019, with some titles such as the Mirror losing up to 80% of their visibility, according to Enders Analysis. The report linked the decline to Google’s rollout of AI Overviews and its new AI Mode, which answer user queries directly and push publisher links further down the page.

Sistrix data showed that tabloids like the Mirror and Sun are the hardest hit, while The Telegraph, Guardian, and Financial Times have been more resilient. Although the immediate commercial impact is thought to be modest, the report warned that discoverability is at risk, especially for publishers reliant on high search volumes for advertising and subscriptions.

The likelihood of AI Overviews being triggered by publisher-related keywords has risen significantly since March, with tabloids most affected due to their reliance on long-tail entertainment and celebrity queries. Enders also noted that competition from AI platforms such as ChatGPT and Perplexity may further reduce reliance on traditional search engines, adding to the challenges faced by publishers.

AI Overviews cutting publisher clickthrough rates by 50%, new report finds.

A study by Authoritas found that UK publishers lose nearly half their clickthrough rate when Google’s AI Overviews appear in search results, with a 47.5% drop on desktop and 37.7% on mobile. The research, submitted to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, concluded that AI Overviews currently appear in about 12% of news-related searches, but are far more prevalent for categories like health and horoscopes, and become more common as stories age.

It also noted Google favours its own properties such as YouTube within AI Overviews, raising concerns over self-preferencing.  While Google disputes the findings, critics warn the problem could worsen with the rollout of AI Mode, which uses generative AI to answer most queries and risks accelerating zero-click searches that bypass publishers entirely. 

The coalition of the willing (and unable): publishers rally to wall off AI’s free ride.

Over 80 media executives met in New York under the IAB Tech Lab to address AI companies scraping publisher content without consent or payment, with OpenAI, Anthropic and Perplexity notably absent. The group is developing the LLM Content Ingest API, a framework to give publishers control over access, enforce attribution, and establish compensation models such as pay-per-crawl or revenue sharing.

While enforcement remains difficult due to AI companies bypassing technical blocks, the goal is to build leverage and make ignoring publisher rules unprofitable. The effort reflects both urgency and fragility, as publishers must maintain unity to prevent fragmented deals, but it offers a rare sense of hope that the industry can set collective standards for control, consent, credit and compensation.

UK Streaming TV Ad Revenues Set for Double-Digit Growth This Year.

UK ad spend grew 8 percent year-on-year in Q1 2025 to £10.6 billion, outperforming forecasts despite inflation, high interest rates and tariff concerns. Advertisers pulled budgets forward in response to Donald Trump’s tariff policies, boosting search (+12.3%), online display (+10.1%) and social media (+14.7%).

Cinema saw the strongest growth (+19.2%) thanks to major film releases, while linear TV, national newsbrands and magazines declined, though streaming services like Netflix and Disney+ supported VOD growth (+5.4%). Full-year ad spend is expected to rise 6.8 percent in 2025 to £45.4 billion, with VOD, search, cinema and online display driving gains, and forecasts suggest further growth into 2026 supported by clarity on new UK regulations and advertising’s role in sustaining 1.7 million jobs. 

Ad Tech Briefing: Alphabet’s Q2 hints at ad tech’s declining profile in Google’s future.

Alphabet reported a 14% year-on-year revenue increase to $96.4 billion, driven mainly by Google Services, which includes Search ($54.2 billion), YouTube ($9.8 billion) and subscriptions ($11.2 billion). However, Google Network advertising revenue declined 1% to $7.4 billion, continuing its gradual slide as advertisers shift spending toward owned-and-operated platforms with stronger AI-driven formats and targeting.

Wall Street’s focus during the earnings call was less on ad tech and more on Alphabet’s cloud business, which grew 32% to $13.6 billion, reflecting investor interest in AI infrastructure. Overall, Google Network is increasingly viewed as a legacy segment overshadowed by higher-growth areas, raising questions about how strongly the company will defend its ad tech operations amid ongoing antitrust pressures. 

Meta Suspends Political Ads in EU; UK Advertising Up 8% in Q1.

Meta will suspend all political, electoral and social issue ads across the EU from October, citing “unworkable requirements” in the bloc’s new political transparency law. While paid political ads will be blocked on Facebook and Instagram, parties, candidates and individuals will still be able to share political content organically.

UK ad spend grew 8% year-on-year to £10.6bn in Q1 2025, driven by strong gains in search and retail media, according to AA/WARC. Full-year spend is forecast to rise 6.8% to £45.4bn, with growth led by VOD, search, online display and cinema despite a sluggish economy.

A wish list with limits: What publishers want to see from Google’s AI licensing deals.

Google has begun exploratory talks with around 20 publishers about AI licensing, a shift driven partly by Amazon’s recent deal with The New York Times and growing unease about how content is used to train AI. Publishers’ demands centre on three priorities: meaningful revenue, greater transparency over how their content is used, and more control in shaping the terms of these partnerships.

Many want hybrid licensing models that combine upfront fees with ongoing revenue tied to usage, alongside APIs for real-time updates, attribution, corrections and opt-outs. They also stress that without visibility into how AI products like Google’s Overviews impact traffic and referrals, any financial agreement will fall short.

Legal challenges, such as the New York Times’ lawsuit against OpenAI, and new regulations are expected to influence the structure of future deals. Ultimately, publishers are seeking long-term stability, predictable terms and involvement in product development, fearing that otherwise they risk ceding even more control to tech platforms in an already volatile market. 

Supply Chain API+ Adds New Feature for Sellers.

IAB Tech Lab has introduced a new Supply Chain Validation feature within its Supply Chain APIs, enabling sellers to see every instance where their domain appears in ads.txt and app-ads.txt files. This helps sellers identify unauthorised listings, audit their sellers.json coverage, and resolve multi-domain issues, with the feature now available exclusively to Supply Chain API+ subscribers.

▸ Week 30

• - DoubleVerify: Shifting trends in media quality and ad performance
• - Reach to focus on subscriptions while keeping most news free
• - Publishers create new AI roles as strategies evolve
• - CTV buyers raise concerns over sell-side opacity and ad tech fees
• - IAB Europe shares positions on GDPR and ePrivacy simplification
• - Publishers race the clock before potential “Google Zero” moment
• - Google reportedly pursuing AI licensing deals with news publishers
  

DoubleVerify’s 9th Global Insights Report Reveals Shifting Media Quality and Performance Trends.

DoubleVerify’s 2025 Global Insights: EMEA Report highlights improvements in media quality, including a 24% drop in brand suitability violations and a 33% decline in fraud across the region, with the UK leading these positive trends. Despite progress, EMEA still has higher brand suitability violation rates than the global average, particularly in mobile web display ads.

Viewability and attention metrics show gains, especially in desktop and in-app video ads, though UK performance lags slightly in attention compared to the rest of EMEA. Marketers are shifting focus toward commerce media, news, CTV, and high-performing formats like social feeds and reels to drive performance in an increasingly fragmented media landscape—link to full report.

Reach to put ‘serious focus’ on subscriptions but expects to keep most news free.

Reach reported a 3.4% year-on-year revenue decline to £256m in H1 2025, with print revenue falling and digital growing modestly, while adjusted operating profit rose slightly to £44.8m.

Under new CEO Piers North, the company plans to diversify revenue through digital subscriptions, e-commerce, and video, while maintaining a largely ad-funded model and reducing operating costs by 4–5% amid ongoing restructuring.

Media Briefing: New AI-focused roles signal an evolution of AI strategy at news publishers.

News publishers are moving beyond AI experimentation by creating executive roles and dedicated teams to manage AI strategy, signalling its growing importance as core infrastructure rather than a side project. Outlets like Forbes, The Washington Post, and Reuters have appointed AI-focused leaders to oversee cross-functional integration, product development, and revenue opportunities.

This shift reflects a maturing approach that views AI as both a strategic asset and a means to reshape content production, distribution, and monetisation. However, the rise of AI also brings tension between innovation and cost-cutting, as some publishers reduce staff while investing in automation. 

Future of TV Briefing: CTV ad buyers say ‘the math isn’t mathing’ with sell-side shadiness, ad tech fees.

Advertisers are increasingly frustrated with high CTV ad costs, citing inflated CPMs and opaque pricing from both streaming platforms and ad tech intermediaries. Executives at Digiday’s CTV Advertising Strategies event highlighted issues like programmatic fees reaching up to 50%, inconsistent inventory labelling, and poor delivery on guaranteed deals, likening current practices to those of traditional TV but with greater complexity.

Agencies face challenges navigating multiple DSPs, hidden fees, and unclear inventory definitions, which make it harder to justify costs to clients and maintain campaign transparency. Despite the promise of programmatic tools, many feel they are paying a premium for inefficiencies and a lack of visibility, with little accountability across the ad supply chain.

IAB Europe Shares Positions on GDPR and ePrivacy Simplification.

IAB Europe has submitted input to the European Commission on the GDPR Implementation Dialogue and the Review of the ePrivacy Directive, advocating for a risk-based, harmonised approach that balances data protection with innovation.

Their recommendations call for clearer rules, reduced administrative burdens, and updates to outdated consent requirements to better align with today’s digital advertising landscape.

Publishers race against Google Zero doomsday clock.

Publishers are rapidly shifting their strategies in response to declining Google and social media referral traffic, a phenomenon dubbed "Google Zero," which threatens one of their most reliable revenue streams. In response, companies like Wired, The Verge, and Business Insider are launching new subscription products, personalised newsletters, events, and direct-to-reader platforms to build stronger audience relationships.

Many are also experimenting with video apps, membership programmes, and AI-driven tools while pulling back from SEO-dependent content. Despite licensing deals with AI companies and new monetisation tools like micropayments, publishers see these as short-term fixes and are focused on owning their audience connections to reduce reliance on external platforms. 

Google is reportedly pursuing AI licensing deals with news publishers.

Google is reportedly negotiating AI licensing deals with around 20 national news outlets in a pilot project similar to OpenAI’s strategy, as AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews increasingly reduce traffic to publishers’ websites. While some media companies are pursuing legal action against AI firms for copyright infringement, others are opting to license their content in exchange for compensation, though the value of these deals varies widely.

Google already has agreements with The Associated Press and Reddit, and its AI-generated summaries have sparked criticism for diverting users away from original content. As legal and ethical debates continue, these licensing efforts suggest tech companies are recognising the need to formally partner with publishers for high-quality training data.

▸ Week 29

• - IAB Tech Lab finalises ID-Less Solutions guidance
• - Digiday research highlights Gen Z audience trends for publishers
• - PAIR 1.1 protocol and new Prebid module released
• - IAB Tech Lab proposes plan to address LLM scraping concerns
• - Google Discover adds AI summaries, raising publisher traffic concerns
• - IAB Europe publishes new Retail Media Report
• - Ad industry urges EU to recognise existing digital rules before new legislation

ID-Less Solutions Guidance Finalised.

IAB Tech Lab has released the final version of its ID-Less Solutions Guidance, which complements the original ID Solutions Guidance by offering clear criteria for evaluating ID-Less advertising solutions. The document defines key concepts, outlines challenges of operating without identifiers, and presents solutions across use cases like targeting, attribution, and anti-fraud.

It highlights important technologies such as Shared Storage, Topics API, and Privacy-Preserving Attribution API, while incorporating updates based on public feedback. Authored by experts and developed with support from the Addressability & PETs Working Group, the guidance reflects collaborative efforts to advance privacy-focused advertising.

Digiday+ Research: Publishers identify the top trends among Gen Z readers. 

Digiday’s latest research shows that Gen Z still makes up a small share of publisher audiences, with 71% of publishers reporting that this group accounts for no more than a quarter of their readership.

While Gen Z expects on-demand, mobile-friendly news and often discovers breaking stories through social media, publishers are still adapting to reach and monetise this elusive audience, especially through platforms like TikTok and podcasts.

PAIR 1.1 Protocol & New Prebid Module Released.

IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.1 of the Open PAIR protocol, introducing clearer definitions and technical improvements to support broader industry adoption. A major change is the standardisation of how Publisher Identifier values are encoded: Data Clean Rooms must now Base64 encode these values before sharing, reducing workload for publishers and improving audience match rates by lowering latency.

The update also includes a new Prebid module, Open PAIR, which supports multiple Data Clean Rooms and simplifies integration through standardised values and flexible configuration. These updates are designed to encourage adoption by publishers, DSPs, and Data Clean Rooms, enabling more efficient, privacy-focused audience targeting.

IAB Tech Lab pitches plan to help publishers gain control of LLM scraping.

The IAB Tech Lab is forming a task force with publishers and edge compute companies like Cloudflare to develop a technical framework, called the LLM Content Ingest API, aimed at giving publishers control over and compensation for LLM crawling. The first workshop will take place in New York on July 23, with plans to finalise and launch the framework by autumn.

The proposed system includes contract-based content access, tiered content grouping, and payment models such as cost-per-query, with built-in logging and tokenisation to track content use and ensure accurate attribution and compensation. A major hurdle remains securing cooperation from AI companies, which many publishers doubt will voluntarily participate.

However, the IAB hopes cost efficiencies and legal pressure from ongoing lawsuits will incentivise AI platforms to engage. For the framework to be enforceable, publishers must unite with edge platforms to block unauthorised crawlers and prevent the system from being undermined by even one non-compliant participant. 

Google Discover adds AI summaries, threatening publishers with further traffic declines. 

Google has begun rolling out AI-generated news summaries in its Discover feed on the search app for iOS and Android in the U.S., replacing traditional headlines with summaries that cite multiple publishers. While aimed at helping users decide what to read, the feature has raised concerns among publishers already struggling with falling traffic from Google and other AI-driven tools.

Data shows that the rise of AI Overviews has led to a sharp increase in zero-click searches, with global search traffic down 15% year-over-year and news-related clicks dropping significantly. Although Google has introduced revenue features like Offerwall, many publishers fear these efforts come too late to offset the impact of declining referral traffic.
 

IAB Europe Releases Latest Attitudes to Retail Media Report Revealing Key Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities.

IAB Europe’s 2025 Attitudes to Retail Media Report reveals that Retail Media in Europe has evolved from an emerging trend to a strategic priority, with growing investment in omnichannel and performance-driven approaches. The report, based on responses from over 180 industry professionals, highlights deeper, more diverse retailer partnerships and continued dominance of on-site media, alongside rising off-site and emerging channel investments like CTV and audio.

Key challenges include network fragmentation and lack of standardisation, while transparency, performance, and measurement remain top priorities for buyers, with ROAS as the leading metric. IAB Europe emphasises the need for shared standards and ongoing upskilling, supported by initiatives such as its Retail Media Certification Programme and updated capability mapping.
 

Advertising Industry Calls on the European Commission: Recognise Existing Digital Rules Ahead of the Digital Fairness Act.

IAB Europe and a coalition of advertising industry bodies have urged the European Commission to recognise that existing EU legislation already addresses the consumer protection concerns targeted by the proposed Digital Fairness Act (DFA). In a joint letter, they warned that adding new rules could create confusion, increase compliance burdens, and undermine legal clarity across the digital advertising ecosystem.

The signatories stressed that areas such as personalised advertising, consent, and influencer marketing are already regulated under laws like the GDPR, DSA, and UCPD. They called on the Commission to focus on enforcing current laws, assess the impact of recent regulations, and only consider new rules where genuine gaps are identified. 

▸ Week 28

• The Weekly Wrap is on summer break — we’ll be back updating the page in August. Have a wonderful summer!

▸ Week 27

• - Urgent bid lodged to stop Google AI Overviews ‘stealing journalism’ in the UK.
• - Publishers celebrate Cloudflare’s default block on AI bot crawlers.
• - Google fined $314.6M for secretly collecting Android user data.
• - When did ad tech get so obsessed with outcomes, anyway?
• - Biggest misconceptions about AI content scraping.
• - Prebid 10.0.0 released with major cleanup and stricter requirements.

Urgent bid lodged with UK regulator to stop Google AI Overviews ‘stealing journalism’. 

Foxglove, the Independent Publishers Alliance, and the Movement for an Open Web have filed a complaint with the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), calling for immediate action against Google’s AI Overviews feature.

The complaint argues that Google’s AI-generated answers use content from news publishers without compensation, significantly reducing traffic and revenue for their sites. For example, Mail Online reported that click-through rates dropped by over 50% when AI Overviews appeared in search results. The complainants are demanding that publishers be given the ability to block their content from being used in AI responses without losing visibility in regular search results, and that they receive fair compensation for their content.

Media Briefing: ‘Cloudflare is locking the door’: Publishers celebrate victory against AI bot crawlers.

Publishers around the world have been celebrating this week as Cloudflare launched a new tool that lets them block all AI crawlers with a single click. Dotdash Meredith and many other media companies described it as a significant step toward a healthier internet economy. Until now, publishers have been mainly powerless against large-scale, free data scraping by AI models.

Cloudflare’s solution not only blocks unauthorised content scraping but also introduces a pay-per-crawler model, allowing publishers to decide who gets access, and at what price. This could reduce server costs, limit IVT (invalid traffic) flags, and lower the risk of programmatic ad sales being cut off due to bot traffic. For the first time, publishers have an accurate infrastructure-level tool to counteract AI crawlers.

Legal Developments: Google Fined $314.6M.

California jury has ordered Google to pay over $314.6 million (around €290 million) in damages for secretly collecting Android users’ data without their consent. The class-action case, representing roughly 14 million users, was initially filed in 2019. It found that Android devices continued sending data to Google in the background even when inactive, described as a “mandatory burden” that primarily benefited Google’s targeted advertising. Google plans to appeal the verdict. Meanwhile, a similar federal lawsuit covering the other U.S. states is set to go to trial in April 2026.

When Did Ad Tech Get So Obsessed With Outcomes, Anyway? 

Advertising has long been obsessed with measurable outcomes, but the term has become increasingly vague. Outcomes typically refer to sales and conversions, although they may also include brand awareness or clicks, provided the impact can be proven. Meta and Google drove marketing to be ever more performance-focused, which ultimately hurt overall effectiveness. Now, many brands are trying to get back to basics — to true business results — even though that’s harder and costlier, especially in TV and CTV.

Here are the biggest misconceptions about AI content scraping.

According to a new report from TollBit, AI bots that scrape real-time information (RAG = Retrieval Augmented Generation) are now hitting publisher sites more often than traditional bots used to train large language models. In Q1 2025, RAG scrapes grew by 49%, while training bot activity increased by just 18%.

Unlike training bots, which do one-time crawls to build general knowledge, RAG bots continuously index sites to power up-to-date responses in AI chats and search engines — and they’re increasingly bypassing robots.txt (13% of RAG scrapes ignored it last quarter). This increases costs for publishers and diminishes their ability to drive traffic back to their sites.

Monetising this wave is also tricky: most AI companies don’t pay for RAG usage, even though it relies on publisher content. But TollBit and the IAB are working on pay-per-crawl models to help publishers capture value from this growing activity

Prebid 10.0.0 Release. 

Prebid.js 10.0 is now available, introducing a significant set of changes: dozens of old modules have been removed, many modules have been renamed, legacy practices such as sendTargetingKeys and pbadslot have been deprecated, and TypeScript support is finally here. Building now requires a Node 20+ environment.

There’s also tighter control over custom targeting values (by default, these are no longer set for non-winning bids) and more safeguards around cookie usage via the TCF module. The API has changed too — for example, getBidResponses now returns data as an array.
If you’re using Prebid.js, ensure that you check your setup, as many adapters have been either replaced or completely removed.

▸ Week 26

• - Google launches Offerwall to help publishers monetise beyond ads
• - Q1 2025 sees strongest digital publisher revenue growth since the pandemic
• - UK’s CMA moves to regulate Google Search under new “strategic market status”
• - Social platforms prioritise creators over publishers, cutting referral traffic
• - UK adults now spend more time on mobile than on TV, but TV still wins on mood
• - Cannes Lions 2025 showcases tech-powered creativity and AI-driven collaboration
• - Independent and ethnic media in Australia face uncertainty after Google cuts funding
  

Offerwall gives publishers more options to monetise and audiences more control over how they access content.

Google has launched Offerwall in Ad Manager, giving publishers new ways to monetise content by letting audiences choose how to access it—through options like watching ads, taking surveys, or making micro-payments. Tested with over 1,000 publishers, the tool is now widely available and includes AI-powered features to optimise when it's shown, offering particular value to smaller publishers with limited monetisation resources.

Q1 2025 Saw Largest Increase in Digital Publisher Revenues Since Pandemic, AOP and Deloitte Reveal.

The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index shows a 9.27% YoY growth in Q1 2025, reaching £166.94 million, with all categories except display advertising and classifieds seeing gains. Subscriptions have overtaken display advertising as the largest revenue stream for premium publishers, rising 21.8% YoY to account for 34% of total revenues.

Video, digital audio, sponsorships, and off-platform revenues also grew, while classifieds saw sharp declines but now make up only 3.6% of total revenue. A record 69% of publishers reported revenue growth, reflecting a successful shift towards sustainable, reader-driven business models. 

The Rundown: What CMA’s crackdown on Google really means for publishers.

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is taking steps to rein in Google’s dominance in search, proposing legally binding rules under a new Digital Markets Competition Regime. This includes designating Google as having “strategic market status,” allowing the CMA to impose requirements around search practices and publisher content usage, including in AI Overviews.

The CMA aims to ensure fair search result rankings and greater transparency for publishers, but Google’s AI products like Gemini are excluded for now, raising concerns among publisher groups. Legal experts suggest Google may comply with some transparency measures, like disclosing algorithm parameters, but will resist major changes, especially around AI Overviews due to their business importance.

Although the CMA’s efforts signal progress, any tangible benefits for publishers are unlikely before 2026 due to slow regulatory processes and political considerations around AI-driven growth. Ultimately, this initiative may result in limited wins for transparency, but faces challenges in forcing meaningful change in how Google handles publisher content. 

Media Briefing: As social platforms favor creators, publishers are left out of the referral loop.

News executives from organisations like the BBC, The New York Times, and Reuters are confronting the challenge of younger audiences shifting to social platforms and influencers for news, with little referral traffic returning to publisher sites. Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram have overtaken traditional media and websites as the primary news sources, especially among under-35s, prompting publishers to adapt their content strategies.

However, this shift raises concerns as publishers struggle to compete with personality-driven creators and must now rethink success metrics beyond clicks, focusing on sentiment, engagement, and brand presence. The “Trump bump” that once benefited publishers has largely shifted to influencers and podcasters, who are now shaping public discourse.

In response, publishers are experimenting with short-form videos and more visible journalists, but still face uncertainty about how AI and algorithmic changes will reshape news discovery. Ultimately, the industry is bracing for a long-term transformation, with leaders acknowledging they’re navigating an unpredictable and rapidly evolving media environment. 

Mobile Time Overtakes TV in the UK, but TV Provides a Mood Boost.

For the first time, British adults are spending more time on their phones (3 hours and 21 minutes daily) than watching TV (3 hours and 16 minutes), driven by increased mobile usage rather than a significant drop in TV viewing. Younger people (aged 14–25) spend far more time on phones than on TV, while older age groups still prefer television.

Despite the shift, overall screen time has only modestly increased, with phones replacing time spent on other devices, not TV. The IPA warns advertisers to consider emotional engagement, as TV viewers are more likely to feel relaxed, whereas mobile viewers are more likely to feel sad, suggesting that not all screen time is equal in advertising impact.

Cannes Lions 2025: A New Era Of Tech-Enabled Creativity And Collaboration.

At Cannes Lions 2025, technology—especially AI—took centre stage, marking a new era where creativity is deeply intertwined with tech, data, and evolving consumer behaviours. AI is now embraced as a co-pilot in the creative process, aiding in real-time relevance and personalised engagement, while the fragmentation of media has made traditional measurement models obsolete, prompting the rise of more customised, outcome-based metrics.

News advertising is experiencing a revival, privacy and compliance are reshaping data strategies, and meaningful collaboration across platforms and partners is now essential to success. The creator economy also dominated discussions, with marketers urged to integrate creators into core strategies, reflecting a shift in how brand storytelling is conceived and executed.

Independent and ethnic media in Australia face uncertainty after Google cuts funding deal.

Google has ended a key funding deal with over 20 independent and multicultural Australian publishers, including The Greek Herald, two years earlier than agreed, citing the need to streamline support through a centralised model. The original agreement, negotiated by the Minderoo Foundation via the Public Interest Publishers Alliance (PIPA), was set to run until 2027 and formed the basis of many publishers’ long-term financial planning.

Publishers now face significant uncertainty, with leaders like Dimitra Skalkos calling the decision a setback for media equity and urging the Federal Government to intervene. As both Meta and Google pull back from funding commitments, concerns are growing about the future viability of smaller outlets and the lack of progress on promised government reforms to protect public interest journalism.

▸ Week 25

• - 2025 media trends: AI, social video, fragmentation, influencer
• - 4 takeaways from IAB Tech Lab Summit 2025
• - CMA gives Privacy Sandbox a lifeline as many call it dead
• - DOJ faces growing calls to coordinate Google antitrust remedies
• - Publishers refine Reddit strategies to drive referral traffic
• - Sky, ITV, and Channel 4 to launch joint self-serve ad marketplace
• - Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp

News trends for 2025: AI chatbots, social video boom, platform fragmentation and rise of news influencer. 

According to the 2025 Reuters Digital News Report, social media has overtaken TV as the top news source in the US, especially among younger audiences. AI chatbots like ChatGPT are now used by 15% of under-25s for news, marking a notable shift in consumption habits. At the same time, news influencers on TikTok, YouTube and podcasts are gaining ground, challenging traditional publishers.

Despite this fragmentation, trusted news brands still play a key role—especially when verifying questionable information. Publishers, however, face growing pressure to adapt to personality-driven formats and AI-powered discovery.

4 Takeaways from IAB Tech Lab Summit 2025: Through the Looking Glass. 

At this year’s IAB Tech Lab Summit in New York, the message was clear: digital advertising is at an inflection point. CEO Anthony Katsur highlighted three major forces reshaping the industry—regulation, platform disruption, and AI. Two major initiatives were introduced: the Containerization framework and the LLM Content Ingest API, aimed at modernizing the infrastructure of the open internet.

Curation and transparency emerged as essential themes, with ongoing efforts to create standards that deliver trustworthy, high-performing media. AI, while everywhere, was framed as a tool that only works when paired with clean data and operational discipline. CTV was recognized as a full-funnel channel, with new formats and live event frameworks paving the way for scalable programmatic buying. Privacy and identity, meanwhile, demand action—not just talk.

Ad Tech Briefing: The CMA tosses Google’s Privacy Sandbox a lifeline, as many declare it DOA. 

The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on whether to release Google from the Privacy Sandbox commitments set in 2022, citing reduced competitive concerns after Google dropped its third-party cookie deprecation prompt in Chrome. Critics argue the move benefits Google by easing regulatory pressure while maintaining its market power.

While Google claims the reversal aims to reduce user confusion, many see it as a strategic retreat. The consultation is open until July 4, with broader antitrust remedies looming in the U.S., where trials around Chrome and ad tech may extend into 2027.

The DOJ faces growing calls to coordinate Google antitrust remedy efforts.

Movement for an Open Web is urging the U.S. Department of Justice to coordinate remedies in its separate antitrust cases against Google’s search and ad tech businesses. Currently handled by separate expert groups, the remedies risk overlooking how tightly connected Google’s businesses are.

Proposed DOJ actions include selling Chrome, breaking off DFP and AdX, and opening real-time data access. Google opposes the breakup and suggests lighter reforms. A ruling in the search case is expected in August, with the ad tech remedies phase set for late September.

Publishers refine Reddit strategies to tap into targeted referral traffic. 

Reddit is becoming a more valuable traffic source for publishers like Newsweek, The Atlantic, and Reach, prompting them to refine their strategies. Newsweek, for example, has grown from 200k monthly Reddit referrals to over 2–4 million. Success on Reddit requires tailored, hands-on community engagement rather than mass posting.

While Reddit doesn’t yet offer monetization tools for publishers, it’s seen as a key channel to build audience relationships—especially with niche communities not found on other platforms.

Sky, ITV, and Channel 4 Set to Launch Joint Self-Serve Advertising Marketplace. 

UK broadcasters ITV, Sky, and Channel 4 are teaming up to launch a joint self-serve advertising platform aimed at small and medium-sized businesses. The tool, powered by Comcast’s Universal Ads and FreeWheel, will allow advertisers to buy addressable inventory across all three broadcasters with unified buying, measurement, and reporting.

The goal is to make TV advertising more accessible and user-friendly — similar to social media ad platforms. The platform is expected to go live in 2026 and reflects a growing trend of TV networks collaborating to attract new advertisers and simplify ad buying.

Meta is finally bringing ads to WhatsApp.

Meta is rolling out ads on WhatsApp, marking a major shift for the previously ad-free messaging app. Businesses can now run status ads within the "Updates" tab, encouraging users to message them directly. Additionally, Meta will monetize WhatsApp Channels through search ads and subscriptions.

The move aligns with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of making WhatsApp a key business pillar. With over 3 billion monthly users, WhatsApp will now support direct in-app advertising, expanding beyond the click-to-message ads already used on Facebook and Instagram.

Channel admins will also be able to promote their content in search and offer paid subscriptions for exclusive updates. While ads will be limited to the Updates tab to avoid disrupting personal chats, Meta plans to eventually take a 10% cut of subscription revenue.

▸ Week 24

• - Tariffs slow the ad market growth and increase concentration
• - The current state of privacy in ad tech
• - Trusted Server and Prebid Server: Better together?
• - WPP cuts ad spend forecast due to tariff uncertainty
• - Is anyone still paying attention to the Privacy Sandbox?
  

Lower Spend, Slower Growth and Higher Concentration: How Tariffs Are Impacting the Global Ad Market.

Global ad spend is projected to reach $1.16 trillion in 2025, but WARC has cut its forecast due to trade tensions, especially US tariffs, which are dampening advertiser confidence and shifting budgets. Automotive and retail sectors are pulling back significantly, with automotive ad spend down 4% and retail down 6.1%, while digital channels like social and retail media continue to grow rapidly.

Major platforms such as Google, Meta, and Amazon are absorbing more spend, with retail media now surpassing linear TV in global ad share. Regionally, the US, Canada, and China are all seeing slowed growth due to tariff-related disruptions, though the UK remains relatively strong due to its digital-first ad market.

The State of Privacy in Ad Tech. 

As of mid-2025, the ad tech industry remains caught between tightening privacy regulations and inconsistent compliance, with major platforms like Meta, Google, TikTok, and LinkedIn facing significant fines and legal scrutiny. Despite the end of Chrome’s cookie deprecation plan, advertisers are still grappling with evolving privacy expectations and shifting toward more privacy-conscious solutions.

Sarah Robertson (Chief Product Officer, Experian Marketing Services): AI and advanced technologies are reshaping privacy expectations in ad tech, making transparency and accurate real-world data essential. The industry must prioritise privacy-first strategies to build trust and ensure performance.

Maria Cadbury (CRO, Wult): Regulators like the ICO are cracking down on non-compliance, with real legal risks for advertisers using non-compliant publishers. Wult sees high levels of risky inventory and urges proactive compliance, especially in prebid environments, citing Criteo’s €40m fine as a warning.

Nick Stringer (Global Tech & Regulatory Specialist): While data-driven advertising funds the internet, privacy remains non-negotiable. Brands must advocate for ethical data use to overcome regulatory barriers and foster authentic consumer relationships.

Trusted Server vs. Prebid Server: Better Together! 

The Trusted Server and Prebid Server serve different but complementary roles in a privacy-first ad tech stack.

Trusted Server is a publisher-controlled edge middleware that collects and packages client-side signals, manages data securely, and orchestrates ad delivery without running auctions.

Prebid Server, by contrast, is a server-side auction engine that collects bids from demand partners and selects the winning creative based on impression-level data.

When used together, Trusted Server handles signal collection and rendering, while Prebid Server manages auctions—giving publishers greater control, flexibility, and compliance in a post-cookie environment. 

WPP Media cuts 2025 ad spend predictions in response to tariff uncertainty

WPP Media has downgraded its global ad spend growth forecast for 2025 from 7.7% to 6%, citing client caution driven largely by uncertainty around Trump’s trade policies rather than actual economic impacts. The U.S. and U.K. markets both saw minor downgrades, with additional pressure from local policy changes like the U.K.'s fast-food ad restrictions.

However, independent agencies report steadier spending among medium-sized brands, particularly in DTC and financial services, which are leaning into current demand. Meanwhile, retail media and creator-driven platforms like Instagram and YouTube are overtaking traditional media in global ad revenue, signalling a continued shift toward digital-first advertising strategies.

No Shade, But Does Anyone Still Care About The Privacy Sandbox? 

Google’s reversal on third-party cookie deprecation has left the ad tech industry frustrated, after years of investment and anticipation around the Privacy Sandbox. Despite the setback, some companies continue to use Sandbox APIs, though adoption remains stagnant at around 29.9% of sites.

Research shows that using the Sandbox results in nearly the same revenue drop as removing cookies entirely, with only 4.2% of lost revenue recovered on average, though European publishers fare slightly better, recovering about 22%.

The Protected Audience API also causes latency issues, further complicating monetisation efforts, yet remains potentially valuable in high opt-out regions, such as Europe.

▸ Week 23

• - Nearly half of publishers report an increase in referral traffic from social
• - Brian Wieser: U.S. ad market is up, but a cliff may be ahead
• - Agency-SSP partnerships blur traditional programmatic roles
• - IAB Tech Lab proposes LLM Content Ingest API to address AI’s impact on the web and brands
• - New initiative pushes standardisation of containerisation in OpenRTB
• - IAB Europe publishes DSA Transparency Implementation Guidelines v1.1
  

Digiday+ Research: Nearly half of publishers report an increase in referral traffic from social.

Publishers are increasingly benefiting from social media, with nearly half reporting a rise in referral traffic over the past year, according to a Digiday+ Research survey. Meta’s platforms (Facebook and Instagram) and TikTok have been the biggest contributors to this growth, followed by LinkedIn, X, Reddit, and Bluesky.

Despite TikTok driving recent increases, Meta still dominates in terms of overall social referral traffic, with Facebook alone accounting for 40%. LinkedIn ranks higher than TikTok in total share, suggesting publishers may have already optimised their presence there, while TikTok remains a platform of ongoing experimentation. 

Signs of Rising Ad Spend in the US market. 

Ad spending in the U.S. is defying expectations, with growth projected at 6% for the second quarter and full year, up from a previous forecast of 3.6%, driven largely by digital channels and sectors like commerce, retail, and social media. While national TV is stagnating and the open web struggles, CTV is gaining ground, and political ad spend appears to be levelling off.

Despite these strong figures, the broader economy shows signs of fragility, with recent GDP growth fuelled by short-term import boosts rather than lasting consumer demand. Experts warn that the current ad market momentum may not be sustainable, as economic pressures like tariffs, weak productivity growth, and policy uncertainty loom large.

Agency-SSP partnerships are growing more common – and blurring programmatic’s old dividing lines. 

Media agencies are increasingly partnering directly with SSPs to reduce reliance on DSPs and improve media quality, transparency, and cost-efficiency. Pressured by tighter client budgets and rising tech fees, agencies are consolidating their SSP relationships, often funnelling most of their spend through a select few partners like PubMatic, Magnite, OpenX, and Xandr.

These partnerships offer access to premium inventory, potential discounts, and greater visibility into ad placements, helping agencies avoid low-quality or MFA sites. SSPs benefit from these deals too, gaining a larger share of programmatic spending and deeper collaboration opportunities, including co-developing tools.

While DSPs are still necessary for transaction execution, the old lines between supply and demand are blurring as agencies take a more active role in the supply path. This trend mirrors broader shifts in the ecosystem, where both SSPs and DSPs seek to expand influence across the programmatic value chain. 

IAB Tech Lab Addresses AI’s Impact on web economics and brand reputation; Proposes Large Language Model (LLM) Content Ingest API Initiative.

The rise of genAI and LLMs is reducing publisher traffic and revenue while threatening fair representation of brand content, prompting calls for compensation and control over how content is used by AI.

In response, the IAB Tech Lab has introduced the LLM Content Ingest API Initiative—a technical framework aimed at enabling fair value exchange, empowering publishers and brands to manage AI access, and ensuring accurate representation in AI-generated outputs.

New Initiative Calls on Industry to Standardise Containerization Technology in Open RTB for Efficient and Scalable Ad Tech Deployment.

IAB Tech Lab has launched the Containerization Project to address scalability, efficiency, and performance issues in the current programmatic advertising infrastructure, especially during high-demand events.

The initiative aims to standardise container technology for Open RTB, enabling more flexible and sustainable real-time bidding systems, and is inviting industry stakeholders to help shape its development.

IAB Europe Releases DSA Transparency Implementation Guidelines 1.1.

IAB Europe, IAB Tech Lab, EDAA, and industry stakeholders have released updated DSA Transparency Implementation Guidelines to support compliance with Article 26 of the Digital Services Act, in conjunction with the OpenRTB DSA Transparency Extension. Article 26 requires online platforms to provide users with clear information about the ads they see, and the DSA Transparency Extension helps facilitate this by enabling data flow through the ad supply chain.

Version 1.1 includes updates such as a DCO use case, guidance to prevent duplicate transparency displays, and VAST icon support for video ads. The DSA Ads Transparency Taskforce continues to work with regulators and the industry to refine the framework and promote its adoption.

▸ Week 22

• - Publishers cautious despite Q2 ad spend rebound.
• - Google’s AI Mode changes search traffic patterns, and winners and losers emerge.
• - IAB Europe launches Retail Media Certification Programme for retailers and tech vendors.
• - UK and EU announce new AI collaboration framework to boost innovation.
• - Google’s Discover traffic rises while search click-throughs decline post-update.
• - ANA benchmark reveals $21.6B in missed value, MFA share drops, SSP consolidation stalls.
  

Media Briefing: Ad spend rebounds in Q2, but publishers brace for a murky second half.

Digital ad spend reached $90.7B from January to April 2025, up 6% YoY, with digital capturing 64% of total spend. Publishers report strong Q2 performance: direct and programmatic revenues are up across companies like Slate, Apartment Therapy, and Axios.

However, advertiser caution is growing due to political uncertainty and potential tariffs. Many brands are delaying campaign decisions to the last minute, compressing timelines and complicating planning for H2. Categories like retail, finance, tech, and beauty are spending more, while auto, music, and travel remain soft.

Publishers are responding with faster production cycles, efficient workflows, and diversified revenue strategies. As one exec put it: “We’re pacing to have our biggest Q2 ever — but we’re planning for the rest of the year with agility and backup plans.”

The winners and losers of Google’s AI Mode.

Google’s AI Mode is transforming the search experience, sparking concerns among publishers that AI-generated summaries may replace traditional blue links and reduce referral traffic. Daily Mail reported a 44% drop in CTR since the rollout of AI Overviews.

Winners include Google itself, advertisers, and publishers with strong direct audience relationships or diversified revenue (e.g. subscriptions, newsletters, apps). Retail media networks may also benefit, as AI Mode is well-suited for commerce-related queries.

On the losing end are news publishers, review sites, and recipe blogs, whose content may be summarised without clear attribution or links. SEO consultancies also face disruption as Google’s ranking shifts from keyword/link-based to context and trust signals.

Publishers can’t opt out of AI Mode without disappearing from search results entirely. Meanwhile, traditional metrics like CTR are becoming harder to track, and visibility is emerging as the new currency in this evolving ecosystem.

IAB Europe Officially Launches Retail Media Certification Programme for Retailers and Expands Beta Test to Ad Tech Participants.

IAB Europe has officially launched its Retail Media Certification Programme for retailers, setting a new standard for transparency, consistency, and accountability in retail media measurement across Europe. Nectar360 and Albert Heijn are set to become the first certified retailers after completing independent audits.

Alongside this, IAB Europe is expanding the initiative by launching a beta phase for ad tech companies supporting the retail media ecosystem. The certification, developed in consultation with industry experts, includes alignment with global standards and auditing by recognised bodies like AAM, ABC UK, and CESP.

The programme aims to remove complexity, build advertiser confidence, and support growth in retail media investment. A full rollout for ad tech participants is expected in 2026.

Fresh UK-EU collaboration on AI to unlock new avenues for innovation and research.

The UK has launched a new AI collaboration programme with the EU, aiming to link British research institutions with Europe’s top supercomputers. Public organisations can now apply to host the UK’s “AI Factory Antenna,” a hub connecting UK talent to high-performance compute infrastructure across Europe.

The initiative is part of the UK government’s Plan for Change and seeks to accelerate breakthroughs in healthcare, clean energy, and AI model development. Backed by up to €5M in joint UK–EU funding, the programme is also tied to broader plans for AI Growth Zones and a national Compute Strategy.

Search slips, Discover delivers: Publishers navigate latest Google update.

Google’s March core update led to minor dips in Search traffic for some publishers, but Discover has picked up some of the slack. Chartbeat data shows a 9% drop in Search pageviews and a 6% rise in Discover traffic from January to April 2025.

AI Overviews and Reddit’s rising visibility in search results are causing concern, but Discover—now expanding to desktop—offers some relief. CTR in Discover is significantly higher than in Search (8% vs. ~2%), though traffic remains volatile and unpredictable.

While some publishers report stable or even rising Google referrals, many are still adjusting to the shifting dynamics of AI-driven results. Discover may help offset losses, but it's no guaranteed long-term strategy.

Programmatic Transparency Benchmark: Q1 2025 Benchmark Findings. 

ANA’s Q1 2025 Programmatic Transparency Benchmark shows progress in spend efficiency, with 41% of programmatic budgets reaching quality impressions (non-IVT, measurable, viewable) — up from 36% in 2023.

However, the newly introduced TrueCPM Index reveals a 37.8% optimisation gap, representing $21.6B in unrealised media value globally. MFA spend dropped sharply from 15% to 0.4%, but SSP consolidation continues to lag, with the median number of partners rising from 14 to 19. CTV's share grew to 30% of programmatic spend, with modest improvements in measurability and viewability. The report urges marketers to streamline supply paths and tighten domain lists to unlock further efficiency.

▸ Week 21

• - Google’s AI Mode expands – publishers fear fewer clicks
• - Generative AI fuels a new wave of ad fraud
• - Google pushes back as DOJ trial enters remedy phase
• - ChatGPT referral traffic to publishers nearly doubles
• - GroupM and PubMatic blur the SSP–DSP line
• - Amazon upgrades APS tools for publishers
  
• - Digital ad spend in Europe grew 16% in 2024

Media Briefing: Less clicks, more problems: What Google’s AI Mode means for publishers.

Google has begun rolling out its AI Mode in search, which uses generative AI to answer queries directly on results pages, raising serious concerns among publishers about further declines in referral traffic. The feature, powered by the Gemini 2.5 model, integrates ads and attributes content with less visible links, reducing the likelihood users will click through to publisher sites.

Publishers report early traffic drops and worry that AI Mode, like AI Overviews before it, will accelerate the trend of "zero-click" searches, especially affecting content-heavy sites like news and recipes. With no access to click-through data and limited time to prepare, publishers are unsure how to respond and increasingly consider diversifying traffic sources beyond Google.

‘We’re seeing an immense uplift in the scale’: How generative AI is fueling the next wave of ad tech fraud.

Generative AI is accelerating ad tech fraud by enabling content farms to plagiarise publishers’ ads.txt files and mimic reputable websites, siphoning ad revenue through spoofed domains. DoubleVerify has identified over 100 such "AI slop sites," which mass-produce low-quality, scraped content and deceive ad platforms into treating them as legitimate publishers.

While the core fraud tactics aren't new, AI dramatically increases the scale and speed of execution, exacerbating long-standing issues in programmatic advertising. Industry experts argue that the real solution lies not in new tech fixes, but in enforcing stricter standards, building direct publisher relationships, and holding ad tech vendors accountable. 

The Rundown: How Google is sizing up to the DOJ in its ad tech antitrust trial. 

Google is pushing back against the U.S. Department of Justice's proposed remedies following a court ruling that found it illegally monopolised parts of the ad tech market, specifically its publisher ad server and ad exchange. While the DOJ seeks a structural breakup—including the divestiture of DFP and AdX—Google counters with behavioural remedies such as better interoperability, data portability, and auction logic changes.

Google argues that the DOJ’s remedies are excessive, technically unfeasible, and would hinder innovation, especially given the role of AI in modern ad tech. The next phase of the legal process includes factual discovery starting June 3, with the trial scheduled for September 22, 2025.

ChatGPT referral traffic to publishers’ sites has nearly doubled this year.

ChatGPT is sending significantly more traffic to news and media sites, with 83% of its outbound referrals in April 2025 going to these publishers—up from 64% in January. Total visits to 250 news sites nearly doubled from January to April, reaching 243.8 million, though some outlets like CNN’s Spanish edition and HuffPost saw notable declines.

This increase follows the rollout of ChatGPT’s real-time search feature, which links to sources and was made widely available in February. Despite the growth, publishing execs say the traffic is still minimal compared to platforms like Google, and unlikely to compensate for losses due to declining search referrals.

How GroupM Is Collaborating With PubMatic As The SSP Gets Closer To The Buy Side.

PubMatic is evolving beyond its SSP roots by expanding its Activate self-serve tool and introducing AI-driven features that directly support media buyers, blurring the lines between SSPs and DSPs. This strategic shift aims to simplify deal-making and improve access to premium inventory, driven by advertiser demand for quality and efficiency amid growing concerns about the open web.

PubMatic’s AI tools help automate curation and optimisation, powered by its owned data infrastructure and billions of daily ad impressions, while maintaining compatibility with DSPs. As agencies like GroupM adopt federated AI models and seek closer ties with key partners, PubMatic's move towards end-to-end programmatic solutions positions it as a central player in the ongoing industry consolidation.

Amazon Publisher Services Unveils Suite of Innovations at Annual Summit 2025.

At its annual summit, Amazon Publisher Services (APS) announced a wide range of innovations, including major updates to Amazon Publisher Cloud (APC), Signal IQ, and the introduction of new ad formats. APC now offers outcome-based campaign planning and expanded support for all online video formats, helping publishers optimise Streaming TV and display deals via Amazon DSP.

APS also launched enhanced Demand Channel Reporting and general availability of Signal IQ, which helps publishers assess the value of bidstream signals and IDs, with some seeing a 29% revenue increase. Additionally, APS introduced a Prebid adapter that allows publishers to integrate APS with existing Prebid setups and over 60 demand partners, reducing latency and simplifying third-party connections, while new tools like Native ads and Canvas enable no-code, high-engagement ad experiences.

IAB Europe AdEx Benchmark 2024 Report.

The 19th edition of the AdEx Benchmark Report provides a comprehensive overview of advertising expenditure across 30 European markets, including Portugal for the first time. The European digital advertising market grew by 16% in 2024, reaching a record €118.9 billion, with strong performance in channels such as social media (+23.9%), video (+24.5%), and retail media (+22.2%).

Programmatic and digital audio also saw solid gains, while digital advertising now accounts for 67.2% of total ad spend across the region. The UK led in revenue with nearly €42 billion, while emerging markets like Ukraine and Serbia posted impressive growth, reflecting increasing advertiser confidence.  Report download link.

▸ Week 20

• - Microsoft shuts down its DSP to focus on AI and ad tech simplification
• - Industry voices call for rebranding the 'open web' to reflect today's ecosystem
• - Tariff uncertainty affects consumer behavior and disrupts advertiser planning
• - Publishers face declining search traffic as AI shifts discovery habits
• - Belgian court limits IAB Europe’s role in RTB, confirms TC Strings are personal data
• - Disney, Netflix, and others pitch new ad formats and AI tools at Upfronts
• - IAB opens public comment on attention measurement guidelines to drive standardisation
  

Ad Tech Briefing: Microsoft’s DSP closure signals ad tech consolidation, as well as the AI arms race.

Microsoft is shutting down its demand-side platform, Xandr Invest, by February 2026, as part of a broader strategic pivot toward AI-driven and privacy-centric advertising. The company believes traditional DSPs can no longer support personalised, conversational ad experiences and is instead focusing on its unified Microsoft Advertising Platform.

This move reflects wider industry consolidation, with Microsoft doubling down on curated, sell-side tools while distancing itself from legacy ad tech infrastructure. As DSPs and SSPs increasingly overlap in function, the closure underscores a shifting programmatic landscape where curation, AI, and value transparency drive competition. 

Why It Might Be Time To Rebrand The Open Web.

The open web is facing existential challenges, with declining traffic and ad revenue, increasing dominance by walled gardens, and confusion over how to define quality in advertising. At LUMA’s Digital Media Summit, industry leaders debated the future of the open web, highlighting a lack of shared standards and the oversupply of low-quality ad inventory.

Generative AI threatens to further disrupt the landscape by making content production cheap and abundant, potentially shifting focus from supply to demand. Despite the chaos, some argue the open web remains a major opportunity—perhaps under a new name like “open ecosystem”—if the industry can overcome fragmentation and collaborate more effectively.

Digiday+ Research Briefing: A look at how tariffs could impact consumer and advertiser spending.

Tariffs are creating widespread uncertainty, impacting consumers, retailers, and advertisers alike, with the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index reaching its highest level since the pandemic. A Wharton study shows that nearly all U.S. households will experience a drop in gross income due to tariffs, prompting reduced consumer spending.

The effects are rippling through supply chains and altering the timing and strategy of key shopping events, as brands reconsider promotions around Prime Day and Black Friday. Advertisers are also bracing for potential declines in ad spend, with projections for 2025 varying significantly based on how the tariffs unfold.

Media Briefing: Reliant on search, haunted by AI: publishers at a crossroads.

Publishers are facing a significant decline in search referral traffic due to the rise of AI-driven features like Google’s AI Overviews, which are increasingly replacing traditional search results with zero-click answers. Studies show a drastic drop in click-through rates when AI Overviews are present, and major publishers are reporting notable losses, prompting a shift away from reliance on Google traffic.

As AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity grow, many in the industry acknowledge that these engines are unlikely to link back to publishers, creating further challenges for content visibility and monetisation. Amid short-term commercial pressures, publishers now face an “innovator’s dilemma,” needing to maintain current traffic while simultaneously reinventing their strategies for a future with fewer platform-driven referrals. 

The Legality Of RTB In Europe Has Been Settled, And Nobody’s A Winner.

A Belgian appeals court has ruled that IAB Europe is a joint data controller for its Transparency & Consent Framework (TCF), affirming that TC Strings are personal data and upholding a €250,000 fine. However, the court adopted a narrower definition of data controllership than previously set by the Belgian DPA, easing concerns that IAB Europe would be liable for all processing by ad tech vendors.

The ruling confirms that the TCF is legal, and publishers or vendors using the current version (updated in 2023) need not make changes beyond including IAB Europe in consent notices. While some critics claim the TCF is now risky, IAB Europe maintains the market impact is minimal and manageable.

Upfronts and NewFronts in Review: Disney, Netflix, YouTube, NBCUniversal, and More.

The 2024 Upfronts and NewFronts showcased major media companies pitching new content, ad tech, and innovation to advertisers, with a strong focus on sports, AI, and streaming. NBCUniversal spotlighted live sports and interactive features for Peacock, while FOX launched its new streaming and ad platforms, FOX One and OneFOX.

Warner Bros. Discovery introduced NEO and DemoDirect to streamline ad buying, and announced the return of the HBO Max brand. Amazon leaned into sports and unveiled AI-powered and shoppable ad formats, along with a clean room solution for publishers.

Netflix highlighted the growth of its ad-supported tier and introduced new measurement tools and generative AI creative features. Meta, Condé Nast, and The New York Times used the NewFronts to push creator-led video, contextual targeting, and product placement opportunities, signalling a shift toward immersive, platform-native ad experiences. 

Attention Measurement Guidelines: Now Open for Public Comment.

The IAB and Media Rating Council (MRC) have released draft Attention Measurement Guidelines for public comment, developed through the Attention Task Force with input from over 200 industry experts. The Guidelines aim to establish a consistent framework for measuring attention across data signals, visual/audio tracking, physiological methods, and panel-based approaches.

They are intended to enhance transparency, consistency, and comparability in attention metrics and will underpin future MRC accreditation audits. Stakeholders are invited to review and comment on the draft by 12 July 2025, ahead of the final version’s expected release later in the year. Download the draft here.

▸ Week 19

• - BuzzFeed, News Corp and NYT push back on tariff concerns in earnings calls
• - Publishers see subscription revenue growth and aim to expand it further
• - Walled gardens win as marketers seek easier, streamlined solutions
• - Economic uncertainty and brand safety concerns cloud NewFronts pitches
• - AI adoption in publishing becomes real — and measurable
• - DOJ outlines proposed remedies for Google’s ad tech monopoly
• - Chrome Privacy Sandbox testers see promise despite challenges
• - Marketers question Google’s long-term dominance amid platform shifts

Buzzfeed, News Corp and New York Times push back on tariff fears in earnings calls. 

Publishing executives expressed cautious optimism during Q1 2025 earnings calls, reassuring investors that their businesses remain stable despite economic uncertainty and potential impacts from President Trump’s tariff policy. While companies like BuzzFeed, Dotdash Meredith, and Gannett reported mostly flat digital ad revenues, The New York Times stood out with a 12% year-over-year increase.

Many publishers are leaning more on programmatic advertising, seen as more resilient during downturns, although some, like Dotdash Meredith, noted softening in programmatic pricing. Overall, publishers remain vigilant, acknowledging that it's too early to predict the full effects of tariffs on ad spending, with next quarter likely offering clearer insight. 

Digiday+ Research: Publishers’ subscription revenue is up this year, and they’ll focus on growing it even further.

With growing uncertainty, publishers are increasingly looking to diversify their revenue streams, with subscriptions becoming a key area of focus. According to Digiday+ Research, 70% of publishers in Q1 2025 reported earning at least some revenue from subscriptions, up from 56% in Q1 2024.

The share of publishers generating a large or very large portion of their revenue from subscriptions also jumped significantly, from 7% in 2024 to 24% in 2025. This marks a reversal of a previous downward trend, indicating renewed confidence in subscriptions as a revenue source.

Publishers are also planning to invest more in subscriptions, with 85% saying they'll focus on building this part of their business in the next six months, up from 59% last year. Additionally, 43% plan to put a large or very large focus on subscriptions, up from 30% in 2024, suggesting a strong strategic shift.

Walled Gardens Are Winning Because Brand Marketers Want More Easy Buttons.

Marketers often feel disconnected from the complex world of programmatic advertising, as seen at the Possible conference, where many brand professionals showed limited knowledge of DSPs, SSPs, or core programmatic concepts. Despite increasing adoption, programmatic remains opaque and overly technical for many, with simplicity emerging as the key priority for advertisers.

Major platforms like Google and Amazon are capitalising on this demand by offering AI-powered, one-click solutions that promise ease and efficiency, often rooted in their robust first-party data. As a result, even large brands are gravitating toward vendors that offer streamlined processes and trusted ecosystems, rather than navigating the fragmented programmatic supply chain.

Media Briefing: Economic uncertainty and brand safety jitters shadow publishers’ pitch at NewFronts.

At this year’s IAB NewFronts, news publishers pushed for greater ad investment by shifting their messaging away from idealistic appeals and toward practical value and audience outcomes. Publishers like The Guardian, Yahoo, and The New York Times highlighted non-hard news content and brand-safe targeting tools to attract hesitant advertisers.

Despite these efforts, investment in news media remains low, with some agencies allocating less than 4% of their budgets to news, down from over 20% before 2016. Advertisers’ continued reliance on keyword blocking and risk aversion poses a major challenge, though initiatives like Stagwell’s “Future of News” aim to reset perceptions and promote news content as viable and effective ad inventory. 

From hype to reality: AI in publishing — by the numbers. 

AI tools like Google’s AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity are significantly disrupting publishers’ traffic and control over their content, with AI-driven referrals drastically lower than traditional search. Despite measures like robots.txt, scraping by AI bots has intensified, often bypassing protections and disproportionately affecting independent publishers.

Lawsuits from outlets like The New York Times and Ziff Davis reveal the vast scale of unauthorised AI training on publisher content, while Google reportedly continues using scraped content for AI features even when publishers opt out. Though some publishers with AI deals are seeing small gains in traffic, the increases are modest, and independent publishers appear to be the most vulnerable to traffic loss.

The Rundown: What Google and the DOJ are proposing for ad tech antitrust remedies.

The U.S. Department of Justice wants to break up Google’s ad tech dominance through a three-phase structural remedy, including forced divestiture of AdX and DFP, open-sourcing auction logic, and placing revenues in escrow until the process is complete. Google is offering less drastic concessions like real-time data access and ending certain pricing rules, but critics argue these behavioural fixes don’t go far enough.

The court is weighing whether true competition can be restored without removing Google’s core ad infrastructure, and the idea of a breakup is now seen as increasingly plausible. The remedies trial begins in September 2025, with a detailed timeline for filings, expert reports, and responses leading up to the court’s decision. 

Most Chrome Privacy Sandbox Testers See A Silver Lining In Their Investment. 

Many ad tech companies and publishers invested heavily in testing Google’s Privacy Sandbox, only to find themselves questioning the value after Google delayed cookie deprecation and withheld a new consent mechanism. While some, like Adform, expressed disappointment over wasted resources, others such as NextRoll and Criteo saw the work as beneficial for modernising infrastructure and building industry relationships.

Despite limited commercial returns, the testing helped drive broader interest in cookieless targeting and first-party data strategies. Publishers like Mediavine and Raptive noted that while some Sandbox tools showed potential, real progress depends on whether Google’s ad platforms generate sufficient demand to make the ecosystem viable.

What if Google isn’t forever? Marketers grapple with a platform in flux.

Marketers are re-evaluating their reliance on Google following antitrust rulings and ongoing frustrations around its dominance in search and advertising. While many are quietly exploring alternative ad tech partners and pushing for more transparency and flexibility, they remain cautious, with most spend and strategy still anchored in Google’s ecosystem.

The shift is more about preparing for possible change than making radical moves, as clients seek greater "strategic sovereignty" without abandoning Google’s scale and performance. For now, the mood is one of cautious optimism and growing friction, not rebellion, but a readiness to adapt if the ground shifts further.

▸ Week 18

• - Google adds transparency tools to PMax amid advertiser pressure
• - Generative AI moves from hype to utility at Possible conference
• - Publishers declare Privacy Sandbox effectively dead after reversal
• - Curation fees mirror old SSP cuts, not a new ad tech tax
• - Chrome sale? OpenAI, Yahoo and others eye browser if Google forced to divest
• - SSPs and DSPs edge toward convergence, but full unification unlikely
  

Ad Tech Briefing: Google’s Pmax updates suggest it might finally listen. 

Google’s Performance Max campaigns have faced growing criticism from advertisers who see them as opaque and difficult to optimise. Many describe PMax as a “black box” that lacks clarity on which channels, keywords, or creatives drive conversions, especially worrying for retailers who struggle to separate branded from non-branded traffic.

In response, Google has introduced long-requested updates, including channel-level performance reporting, full search term insights, and more detailed asset-level metrics. Advertisers can now better understand how their campaigns perform across YouTube, Search, Gmail, Display, and Maps. These updates also include diagnostics to highlight issues and suggest fixes, such as improving landing page relevance.

While this marks progress toward transparency, many in the industry remain sceptical about whether it will be enough to rebuild trust or satisfy regulators. Still, it’s one of the clearest signs yet that Google might finally be listening.

At Possible, generative AI shifts from shiny object to useful tool, but with a long way to go.

At the Possible conference, the tone around generative AI shifted from hype to practical application. Marketers are now more focused on how AI can improve efficiency, content quality, and campaign performance, not just future potential. Discussions highlighted AI’s value in streamlining operations, enhancing personalisation, and tackling fraud, but also exposed the need for more transparency and realistic expectations.

While many companies are experimenting with AI, especially in creative and segmentation, most are still in the early stages.  The takeaway: AI is becoming useful, but the industry is still far from fully ready.

It’s dead’: Publisher confessions on the future of Google’s Privacy Sandbox.

Many publishers now consider the Privacy Sandbox effectively dead, following Google’s decision not to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome. Several publishers stopped testing the Sandbox months ago without clear incentives or strong advertiser participation, especially after a Criteo report warned of potential 60% drops in CPMs.

While some of the technology may still find use elsewhere, the current version of Sandbox lacked adequate targeting capabilities and performance.  Several publishers expressed relief at not having to prepare for a future that could have significantly hurt revenue. Uncertainty around the future ownership of Chrome also adds to doubts about the Sandbox’s long-term viability. 

Publishers: Don’t Fear Curation Fees, They’re Just The Same Old Ad Tech Tax. 

As sell-side curation becomes more common, publishers are concerned that SSPs may be taking a bigger cut, but most curation fees appear similar to standard SSP take rates.  According to Jounce Media, nearly 75% of bidding opportunities now involve curated deals, with only 19% coming from open auctions.

While half of curated deals carry no extra fees, the other half include margin-based or fixed CPM costs that can vary widely.  Transparency remains a key issue, especially in multi-publisher deals where publishers struggle to understand performance or budget flows. In the end, the revenue publishers receive hasn’t changed much — it’s just flowing through different middlemen.

The Rundown: The potential browser buyers if Google’s forced to sell Chrome.

As part of the DOJ’s proposed remedies in the Google search antitrust case, a forced divestiture of Chrome is now on the table — and several major players have expressed interest. OpenAI, Perplexity, Yahoo, and DuckDuckGo each gave testimony outlining their motivations for acquiring the browser, ranging from AI integration to regaining search market share.

OpenAI and Perplexity both see Chrome as a crucial distribution channel for AI-powered search, while Yahoo views it as a key to scaling its comeback in search and media. DuckDuckGo, despite interest, admitted it likely couldn’t afford Chrome’s estimated $50B price tag or maintain its infrastructure. Regardless of the buyer, a sale would have major implications for the future of search, advertising, and browser-level competition.

The Evolution of SSPs & DSPs: Are We Headed for a Converged Future? 

The long-standing divide between SSPs and DSPs may be narrowing as both sides explore convergence to reduce complexity, lower costs, and improve transparency. Some argue unified platforms could streamline ad buying and benefit advertisers, but others warn it might obscure fees and hurt publishers' margins.

Companies like The Trade Desk and Magnite present different visions of the future, while industry voices suggest the likely outcome is partial convergence, where major players integrate more functions but SSPs and DSPs remain distinct. For now, advertisers may benefit most, while publishers stay cautious.

▸ Week 17

• - Publishers reassess first-party data plans as cookie deprecation stalls
• - New dashboard shows how buyers rate publishers’ data practices
• - Publishers react to Google's cookie U-turn with mixed feelings
• - Google’s ad tech found to be a monopoly — what now for publishers?
• - Apple and Meta breached DMA, says European Commission
• - Google updates roadmap for Privacy Sandbox and Chrome protections

Digiday+ Research: Publishers were ready to depend more on first-party data. So, now what?

Google’s decision to keep third-party cookies in Chrome has left publishers with mixed emotions—frustration over wasted resources but also appreciation for the push to strengthen first-party data strategies. Publishers were prepared for a shift towards first-party data, with surveys showing its growing role in driving ad revenue.

By Q1 2025, 71% of publishers said first-party data was most significant for positive ad outcomes, a figure expected to rise to 85% for 2026. Meanwhile, reliance on third-party data has been steadily declining, with only 7% anticipating it will be key in 2026.

Publishers had plans to significantly increase the share of ad impressions served by first-party data, though many still reported low current usage levels. Despite these preparations, over half of publishers admit they can only somewhat effectively address audiences across all browsers, highlighting ongoing challenges with addressability in a cookie-restricted environment. 

Publishers Now Have A Window Into How Buyers Score Their Data Practices. 

Publishers often face being unknowingly placed on blocklists due to media quality, brand safety, or data privacy issues, which can impact their ad revenue and visibility in programmatic campaigns. To address this, the Brand Safety Institute (BSI) launched a free dashboard allowing publishers to view evaluations from participating vendors, recently expanding to include data privacy scores from Compliant and media risk metrics from Jounce Media.

These tools aim to promote transparency and help publishers demonstrate ethical data practices, but there’s concern that such assessments could unintentionally harm legitimate publishers by limiting their monetisation opportunities. While initiatives like curated PMPs based on quality scores benefit buyers, publishers remain under pressure due to declining traffic and revenue, leading some to risky data monetisation practices out of necessity.

Media Briefing: Publishers are frustrated — and quietly grateful — after Google’s cookie u-turn. 

Publishers are frustrated by Google’s reversal on third-party cookie deprecation after years of costly preparations, but many acknowledge it pushed them to strengthen first-party data strategies and build more resilient businesses. While the Privacy Sandbox was widely seen as inadequate, publishers plan to continue developing cookieless solutions at their own pace, balancing immediate revenue from cookie-based ads with long-term privacy-safe alternatives.

The U-turn is viewed by some as a response to regulatory pressures, with doubts about Google’s commitment to supporting the open internet amid increasing scrutiny. Despite the setback, publishers believe the shift away from third-party cookies will continue due to global privacy regulations and evolving industry standards. 

Publishers remain unsure of what comes next, even as Google’s ad tech is ruled a monopoly.

Publishers felt vindicated after a U.S. judge ruled that Google illegally monopolised ad tech, but uncertainty about the future has tempered celebrations. The potential forced divestiture of Google’s ad server and exchange could take years and may not deliver meaningful change without strict oversight.

Publishers fear that even if Google spins off parts of its ad business, it could still retain dominance through exclusive partnerships and opaque algorithms. There’s concern that Google might shift focus to its own platforms and AI, leaving publishers with fewer monetisation options.

Despite frustration and fatigue, some publishers see this ruling as a rare opportunity to open up the market and reduce Google’s control. However, real optimism depends on how remedies are enforced to prevent history from repeating itself. 

Commission finds Apple and Meta in breach of the Digital Markets Act.

The European Commission has fined Apple €500 million and Meta €200 million for breaching the Digital Markets Act (DMA), marking the first non-compliance decisions under the regulation. Apple was found to have restricted app developers from informing users about alternative offers outside the App Store, while Meta’s "Consent or Pay" model failed to give users a proper choice regarding personal data use.

Both companies must comply with the rulings within 60 days or face additional penalties, as the Commission continues monitoring their adherence to DMA rules. These decisions aim to enforce fair competition, protect consumer rights, and reduce the dominance of major tech platforms in the EU market. 

Next steps for Privacy Sandbox and tracking protections in Chrome.

Google has decided to maintain its current approach to third-party cookies in Chrome, citing evolving privacy technologies, AI advancements, and regulatory changes, while continuing to enhance privacy protections like IP Protection and Incognito mode. The company will work with the industry to redefine the role of Privacy Sandbox APIs and share an updated roadmap, aiming to balance privacy with a sustainable, ad-supported internet.

▸ Week 16

• - The Weekly Wrap is taking a break this week – we’ll be back next week!
  

▸ Week 15

• - Publishers are becoming slightly less reliant on ad revenue in 2025
• - Tariff fears grow as publishers brace for ad budget cuts and print cost spikes
• - AI revenue models raise hopes and doubts for publishers
• - CTV fraud remains a serious concern with calls for stricter oversight
• - EU consumers support ad-funded web but want better privacy experiences
  
• - Creative Ad ID Framework adoption is key for cross-platform measurement
• - The Trade Desk’s OpenPath drives higher yield for Freestar publishers

Digiday+ Research’s 2025 ad snapshot: Are publishers becoming less dependent on ad revenue?

Publishers are becoming slightly less dependent on advertising revenue, with fewer reporting that the majority of their income comes from ads compared to last year. In Q1 2025, 45% of publishers said over 60% of their revenue would come from advertising, down from 51% in Q1 2024, while more publishers now fall into the mid-range of ad dependency (21–60%).

This shift is expected to continue into 2026, with only 38% anticipating high ad dependency, and 56% expecting moderate reliance. Despite these changes, ad revenue remains central to publishers’ business models, with 86% citing total ad revenue as their key success metric, followed by CPM/eCPM at 69%.

Nearly half also prioritise ad pricing and yield, while over a third consider campaign performance and renewal rates important. To boost ad revenue, 69% of publishers say producing high-quality content is the most effective strategy, alongside ad optimisation, data analytics, audience segmentation, and native advertising.

Publishers watch warily as tariffs loom over ad budgets and print costs.

Publishers are cautiously monitoring the impact of Trump’s tariffs, concerned about rising production costs and reduced ad budgets, but have not yet adjusted forecasts significantly. Many expect the tariffs to dampen ad revenues, particularly in sectors like luxury and fashion, while prompting a shift towards more direct ad deals.

Smaller local newspapers are especially vulnerable, facing potential closures due to higher costs of Canadian newsprint, with some already shutting down, contributing to the rise of “news deserts” in the U.S. Industry leaders and trade associations are urging government reconsideration of these tariffs, warning of long-term harm to journalism and the financial stability of publishers of all sizes.

Media Briefing: The pros and cons of different AI revenue models for publishers.

Over the past year, publishers have explored various AI revenue models including content licensing, ad revenue sharing, and pay-per-use structures, amid growing tensions with AI companies over content use. Major deals with companies like OpenAI and Google offer publishers millions in licensing fees and attribution, but concerns remain about transparency, long-term value, and inconsistent deal execution.

Ad revenue-sharing models from AI search engines like Perplexity and ProRata allow publishers to earn when their content appears in AI-generated results, offering flexibility and accessibility, especially for smaller publishers — though actual earnings are still unclear and minimal. Tollbit’s pay-per-use model introduces a toll-like system for AI scrapers, offering publishers more control over content access and potential savings on bot-related costs, though monetisation is still largely hypothetical.

While these models offer promise, they’re still in early stages, and many publishers are sceptical about how much revenue they will realistically generate. The industry is pressing for more transparency and better terms as it tries to shape a sustainable role for journalism in the AI-driven digital ecosystem. 

CTV Still Has A Fraud Problem. 

Fraud remains a major issue in the online advertising ecosystem, especially in CTV, where up to 30% of inventory sold may be fraudulent. Despite this, many in the ad tech industry avoid addressing the problem due to misaligned incentives and fear of disrupting the status quo.

Experts argue that responsibility lies with programmatic intermediaries, who should implement strict Know Your Customer (KYC) rules, regular audits, and penalties to ensure inventory quality and transparency. While self-regulation has been limited, new legislation—like a proposed Vermont bill—may be necessary to enforce accountability and protect advertisers and publishers.

New IAB Europe Study Highlights Consumer Attitudes Towards Personalised Advertising, Privacy, and the Value of Free Online Services. 

A new IAB Europe study conducted by Kantar shows that while European consumers value data privacy, they also recognise the importance of ad-supported digital services, which provide an estimated €212 worth of free tools monthly. Most consumers find a “pay or consent” model reasonable when they understand the value exchange, especially as personalised advertising helps fund free access.

Although GDPR has increased awareness of privacy rights, the study reveals ongoing frustrations with exercising those rights and a disconnect between consumer preferences and their actual ad experiences. 

IAB Europe calls for policy measures to protect access to free services, improve consumer education on digital advertising, and promote practical, privacy-conscious consent mechanisms. The full report is available here.

Who’s got the (Creative) Ad ID? 

The rapid growth of the CTV advertising ecosystem has led to challenges in measurement, reconciliation, and cross-platform reporting, largely due to inconsistent use of standardised creative identifiers. The Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF) addresses this by assigning a unique ID to each creative, streamlining processes and enabling accurate reporting across platforms and publishers.

While 100% of linear TV ads use IDs, only around 10% of CTV transactions do, resulting in fragmented data and difficulty tracking performance across campaigns. Adopting ACIF simplifies cross-platform and cross-publisher reporting, reducing operational burden and improving insights into ad effectiveness.

To realise these benefits, all stakeholders—including advertisers, agencies, registries, platforms, and publishers—must update their processes and embrace Creative ID validation and automation. With industry-wide adoption, ACIF can unlock greater efficiency and ROI, and if implemented now, could become the standard for streaming ads by the 2026 upfronts. 

The Trade Desk’s OpenPath Is One Of Freestar’s Top Demand Sources. 

The digital ad industry is shifting from low-cost volume to high-quality inventory, with Freestar's integration of The Trade Desk’s OpenPath exemplifying this trend. Since implementing OpenPath, Freestar has seen doubled ad spend from TTD, a threefold increase in inventory fill rates, and a 27% rise in programmatic revenue, thanks to cleaner supply paths and closer collaboration with buyers.

Direct DSP connections like OpenPath reduce reliance on SSPs, improving transparency, reducing fees, and enabling more effective yield optimisation and audience targeting. While DSPs and SSPs now compete more directly, they continue to collaborate, creating a more competitive ecosystem that ultimately benefits publishers.

▸ Week 14

• - Google’s Curation Push Raises Antitrust Questions
• - Subscriptions and Events Gain Importance for Publishers
• - Spotify Launches Its Own Ad Exchange
• - IAB Europe Introduces Sustainability Toolkit LEAF
• - UK Publishers Prioritise Data Strategy and Header Bidding
• - WARC Cuts 2025 Global Ad Spend Forecast by $20bn
• - Apple Fined €150M in France over Privacy Tool
• - Labour’s Policy Shift Reshapes UK Ad Tech and AI Strategy
  

Ad Tech Briefing: Is Google’s curation tool a play for second-mover advantage or an antitrust swerve?

Digiday explored whether breaking up Google would meaningfully address current ad tech market challenges, suggesting that such regulatory actions might be outdated for today’s complex ecosystem. A key trend discussed is the rise of ad curation — tools that shift decision-making closer to the sell side, potentially empowering publishers and enhancing transparency.

Google has entered the curation space, partnering with Scope3 and positioning its platform as DSP-agnostic, possibly to maintain influence amid looming antitrust actions. Some insiders believe this move could future-proof Google’s dominance, even if forced to divest parts of its ad tech stack. 

Digiday+ Research: Subscriptions and events gain steam among publishers’ most significant sources of revenue. 

Direct-sold ads remain the top revenue source for publishers in Q1 2025, with 100% of respondents reporting at least some income from them, up from 98% in 2024. Branded content rose to the second spot, while video advertising fell to third, and programmatic ads held steady in fourth place.

Affiliate commerce jumped from seventh to fifth, while subscriptions dropped out of the top five, despite 70% of publishers still earning from them. However, both subscriptions and events have grown significantly as sources of large revenue, now ranking fourth and fifth in that category.

Branded content and programmatic ads also became more significant contributors to publishers’ major revenue streams this year. Overall, the revenue gap between the top five sources has narrowed, suggesting that publishers are diversifying their income more than in previous years.

Spotify’s New Ad Exchange Is Open For Business.

Spotify has officially launched its programmatic ad exchange (SAX) after six months of pilot testing with The Trade Desk, expanding access to buyers through platforms like DV360 and Magnite, with more DSPs on the way. The company is also integrating major ID solutions like Unified ID 2.0, RampID, and Google PAIR to support addressable advertising across audio, video, and display.

Alongside SAX, Spotify rolled out new features in its self-serve Ad Manager, including custom audiences, performance goals like app installs, and AI-generated audio ads for US and Canadian advertisers. Spotify aims to position itself as a full-funnel, performance-driven platform with robust ad tech capabilities, leveraging its logged-in audience and expanding ad tools to support both large and small advertisers. 

IAB Europe Launches LEAF: Smart Solutions for Sustainable Digital Advertising.

IAB Europe has launched LEAF, a centralised suite of tools aimed at helping digital advertising stakeholders reduce their environmental impact. Developed by IAB Europe’s Sustainability Standards Committee, LEAF provides transparent emissions tracking, sustainability best practices, and tools like OpenGHG and CreativeLi to support measurable climate action.

The platform is designed to address industry concerns around data reliability and accessibility, offering practical solutions to help advertisers, agencies, and publishers integrate sustainability into their strategies. LEAF is free for IAB Europe members, with discounted access for National IAB members, reflecting a broader push toward inclusive, industry-wide environmental responsibility. 

WARC Downgrades Ad Spend Outlook by $20bn.

WARC’s latest forecast shows a $20bn downgrade in global ad spend, yet digital advertising remains strong, fuelled by major players like Alphabet, Amazon, and Meta, with search, social, and retail media continuing to grow. While regulatory pressure from the EU, UK, and US poses risks, advertisers are increasingly using generative AI to drive engagement, and digital ad spend is still projected to rise significantly through 2025.

Apple hit with $162 million French antitrust fine over privacy tool.

Apple has been fined €150 million by French antitrust authorities for abusing its dominant position through its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) tool, which restricts third-party tracking on iPhones and iPads. The regulator found that while ATT’s aim of protecting user privacy is valid, its implementation disproportionately impacted smaller publishers and advertisers by making it harder and costlier to reach audiences.

Apple expressed disappointment but noted no changes to ATT were mandated, though the company must now ensure compliance as investigations continue in other EU countries. French officials dismissed concerns over potential U.S. retaliation, emphasising that both Europe and the U.S. are committed to enforcing antitrust laws strictly and apolitically.

Labour’s Impact on UK Ad Tech: What has changed so far?

Since Labour’s election victory, the UK ad tech ecosystem has seen early moves in data protection, creative industry investment, and AI development, though many policies remain in progress. The government introduced the Data Use and Access Bill to modernise privacy laws and committed substantial funding to the creative and AI sectors, aiming to boost productivity and global competitiveness.

However, Labour’s proposal to allow AI training exceptions under copyright law has sparked strong backlash from publishers and creatives. Meanwhile, new tech regulations have been enforced under the Online Safety Act, and tensions with US big tech may grow as the UK negotiates digital tax reforms in response to potential tariffs from President Trump. 

▸ Week 13

• - Digiday questions whether breaking up Google would change the ad ecosystem
• - IAB Tech Lab’s Trusted Server Framework sparks debate over publisher data control
• - Signal Shift 2025 highlights key privacy trends and calls for innovation
• - UK’s ICO prioritises online tracking enforcement in 2025
• - Forbes, BI, and The Guardian focus on platform strategy and revenue diversification
• - Publishers embrace curation more strategically as open market revenues decline

Ad Tech Briefing: The futility of a Google breakup?

As the ad tech world awaits the long-delayed ruling in the DOJ’s antitrust case against Google, uncertainty and speculation continue to cloud the industry’s outlook for 2025. Many suspect backroom settlement talks may be behind the delay, especially with remedies like divesting Chrome or Google’s sell-side stack still under consideration.

Yet observers argue that structural changes alone won’t fix the imbalance — meaningful behavioural remedies, such as true support for header bidding, are also needed. Meanwhile, Google is already adapting by investing in curation and AI-driven platforms, prompting concerns that the case may be addressing yesterday’s problems in a rapidly evolving ecosystem.

IAB Tech Lab’s Trusted Server Framework sparks debate… here are the arguments

Last week, IAB Tech Lab introduced its Trusted Server Framework, aiming to give publishers more control by shifting critical ad functions from browsers to their own infrastructure. While supporters see it as a step toward independence from Big Tech, critics argue it adds complexity and risks, such as increased SSP control, data misuse, or even fingerprinting.

The prototype unveiled at the Signal Shift event sparked strong reactions, especially as many questioned whether such a system is necessary when Prebid already exists. IAB Tech Lab stands by the framework, emphasising publisher empowerment and inviting further debate via its new task force.

What the Signal Shift? 6 Takeaways from the first IAB Tech Lab Event of 2025

IAB Tech Lab kicked off 2025 with its Signal Shift event, bringing the industry together to tackle the evolving challenges of privacy and addressability. Here are six key takeaways from the event:

1. Publishers are taking back control - The Trusted Server initiative gives publishers more ownership of their data and monetisation, shifting key ad tech functions away from browsers and reducing exposure to ad blocking and data leakage.

2. Privacy in practice means thinking like a consumer - Companies should ask themselves whether they’d be comfortable with their own data practices as consumers. Sound privacy strategy is not just compliance—it’s good business.

3. Curation isn’t one-size-fits-all - Effective curation requires more than a label. It needs unique data, strong inventory connections, and real optimisation. When done right, curation can benefit publishers, agencies, and brands alike.

4. Advertisers are prioritising measurement - Before targeting, advertisers want reliable attribution. Privacy-enhanced measurement tools and APIs are critical, and cross-functional collaboration is essential to get them right.

5. AI and privacy can work hand in hand - AI-based solutions, like predictive bidding or synthetic data, can power personalisation without traditional IDs. It’s a key strategy for adapting to a privacy-first world.

6. Regulators demand meaningful choice - The UK’s ICO emphasised that consumers must have real control and clarity over their data. PETs, anonymisation, and consent frameworks will be central to compliant and sustainable advertising.

The event made it clear: 2025 is a turning point for the industry. Whether it’s empowering publishers, rethinking measurement, or embracing new technologies, the shift toward a privacy-first future is well underway.

The UK’s Data Protection Authority Has Its Eye On Ad Tech This Year

The UK’s data protection authority, the ICO, has made 2025 a pivotal year for addressing online tracking. Alongside children’s privacy and AI guidance, tracking is one of its top three strategic priorities. The ICO urges advertisers, publishers, and ad tech companies to take meaningful consent seriously, as consumers want personalisation but also control and choice over how their data is used.

One potential solution is Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs), and the IAB Tech Lab is launching a new Privacy Lab this summer to enable hands-on industry testing. Still, the ICO warns that PETs are not a silver bullet — they can support compliance, but the real work lies in building privacy by design.

Publisher strategies: What Forbes, Business Insider, The Guardian and others are focusing on in 2025

In 2025, publishers are taking a more focused approach to revenue, moving beyond trend-chasing to build sustainable strategies. Subscription models remain strong, with many publishers reporting growth, while affiliate commerce and newsletters are increasingly important for both monetisation and audience engagement.

Events remain a valuable but resource-intensive channel, with mixed investment levels depending on scale and goals. Data and AI are playing a growing role in ad optimisation, though publishers are also facing challenges as AI-driven platforms like Google impact traffic. The big picture: diversified revenue, deeper audience relationships, and smarter use of data are shaping the next phase of growth.

How publishers are now approaching curation with a calculated embrace

Publishers are approaching curation more pragmatically than before. While scepticism toward middlemen, unclear margins, and opaque structures hasn’t disappeared, declining open market revenues mean curation can no longer be ignored. Recent results show that when done right, curation can drive revenue gains, boost eCPMs, and improve performance — even if a portion of the value is lost to intermediary fees.

Publishers are now demanding transparency from curation partners, working to better understand how their inventory is packaged and priced. Curation is increasingly seen as a complement to direct sales, not a replacement, offering smarter targeting, stronger collaboration, and more balanced monetisation. Although concerns remain, more publishers are starting to see curation not as a necessary evil but as a strategic opportunity. 

▸ Week 12

• - Open auction CPMs drop sharply as publishers report continued revenue losses
• - AI-driven margin reallocation raises doubts about real change in ad tech
• - Some publishers see digital ad and subscription rebound, others still struggling
• - IAB Tech Lab unveils Trusted Server to give publishers more control
• - Ad spend expected to stagnate through 2030, warns Madison and Wall
  

Publishers count their losses as the open auction bleeds ad dollars.

Programmatic ad auctions are facing a deepening downturn in 2025, with publishers reporting significant declines in CPMs—some as steep as 30–35%—and little sign of recovery in the open market. While some publishers are cautiously optimistic due to isolated improvements, most remain wary, as the broader market continues to struggle, particularly with video ads.

The shift toward private marketplaces and direct deals has accelerated, leaving open auctions with a shrinking share of programmatic spend, compounded by ongoing challenges like privacy regulations, cookie deprecation, and supply-path inefficiencies. Despite the grim outlook, some publishers are mitigating risk by focusing on direct sales and addressing inefficiencies within the programmatic supply chain. 

Ad Tech Briefing: The AI-powered reallocation of margin is just more of the same.

The media industry is undergoing major changes driven by AI-powered media optimisation, improved brand safety tactics, and shifting control between buy- and sell-side platforms. Scope3’s launch of AI-driven brand safety tools highlights the sell-side gaining influence, potentially relegating DSPs to transactional roles and fueling concerns about consolidation and complex “frankenstacks."

While these technologies offer new opportunities, many publishers remain cautious, feeling that redistributed profit margins often benefit ad tech intermediaries more than them. Meanwhile, industry leaders are pushing back against Big Tech browsers, with initiatives like the IAB Tech Lab’s Trusted Server framework aiming to restore balance and empower publishers.

Media Briefing: Some publishers see a rebound: digital ads and subscriptions climb after a tough 2023 – but not everyone.

2024 marked a turnaround for many publishers, with companies like The New York Times, Gannett, and Dow Jones reporting increases in digital advertising and subscription revenues compared to 2023. Growth in direct-sold and programmatic ads, particularly in areas like sports and elections, contributed to the gains, although some publishers like BuzzFeed and Gannett faced overall revenue declines due to restructurings and asset sales.

Digital subscriptions were a bright spot, with The New York Times, Dow Jones, and Gannett all seeing growth from higher prices, bundling, and increased subscriber numbers. Despite improvements, challenges remain, especially for publishers heavily reliant on direct ad sales, with BuzzFeed’s declining ad revenue underscoring the uneven nature of the recovery.

A New Paradigm for Publishers with Trusted Server.

At the Signal Shift event in New York, IAB Tech Lab unveiled the Proof of Concept for Trusted Server, which shifts ad functions from the client side to publisher-controlled edge infrastructure to enhance privacy and give publishers more control. The initiative addresses challenges from privacy changes, reduced third-party signals, and rising ad-blocking by enabling server-side ad requests, Prebid Server integration, and edge cloud processing.

IAB Tech Lab is inviting industry participation to test the POC and help define the MVP, focusing on privacy, addressability, ID integrations, and server-side tagging. The roadmap includes future integrations with measurement, verification, and brand safety providers to support publishers and enrich the programmatic ecosystem. 

Advertising Growth Expected to Stagnate. 

Amid political and economic uncertainty in the U.S., Madison and Wall has lowered its 2025 non-political ad growth forecast from 4.5% to 3.6%, warning that actual outcomes could vary widely. Analyst Brian Wieser notes that rising autocratic policies and economic instability could lead to stagnation or decline, with inflation eroding any nominal growth.

Despite this uncertainty, digital advertising is expected to continue gaining share, potentially rising from 67% in 2024 to 79% by 2030, as marketers prioritise efficiency and outcomes over content-driven strategies. Wieser advises marketers to prepare for negative scenarios, as the likelihood of extreme downside risks remains significant, with little evidence of a strong upside. 

▸ Week 11

• - Google AI Overviews impact remains unclear, raising concerns for publishers.
• - More publishers move to 'consent or pay' models for tracking and subscriptions.
• - Scope3’s AI-powered reset faces skepticism from publishers.
• - Publishers embrace curation and Direct-To-DSP deals for sustainable growth.
• - OpenRTB evolves with extended content identifiers for better ad relevance.
• - DOJ continues antitrust pressure on Google, pushing for a Chrome sale.

Publishers don’t really know how Google AI Overviews is impacting their referral traffic. 

Almost a year after Google introduced AI Overviews, publishers remain uncertain about its effects on their referral traffic, exacerbated by the recent update featuring the AI Mode and powered by Gemini 2.0 AI model. The new features allow users to interact more deeply with search results, but transparency issues persist as Google does not distinguish AI Overview traffic in analytics tools, making it challenging for publishers to gauge impact.

Media executives express concerns over the erratic nature of updates and the potential for decreased click-through rates due to AI-generated summaries reducing the need to visit original sites. Despite these challenges, Google claims that changes to AI Overviews have increased engagement and provided more opportunities for users to visit websites, though this has not alleviated publishers' concerns about future impacts on their traffic. 

Guardian, GB News and Newsquest among latest publishers to tell readers: ‘consent or pay’.

The Guardian has joined other UK news publishers like City AM and Newsquest in adopting a "consent or pay" model, requiring readers to either accept third-party cookies or pay for access. This approach, aimed at compensating for the decline in ad revenue when users reject personalised ads, involves a new subscription tier called "Guardian Ad-Lite," where users pay £5 monthly for non-personalised ads.

Despite its reader-supported model, The Guardian maintains that advertising is vital for funding journalism, prompting this move as a response to a significant percentage of users rejecting cookies. The model's necessity is underscored by the Information Commissioner’s Office mandating equal prominence for cookie acceptance and rejection options, alongside a general industry trend towards similar strategies to sustain advertising revenue amidst increasing cookie rejections. 

Media Briefing: Brian O’Kelley’s Scope3 promises an AI-powered ad tech reset — publishers aren’t buying it yet.

Brian O'Kelley, co-founder of AppNexus and a pivotal figure in the creation of the programmatic advertising ecosystem, is now setting out to reform the industry he helped shape. His new venture, Scope3, aims to streamline the ad tech process by eliminating unnecessary intermediaries, enabling direct transactions between advertisers and media owners through an AI-driven platform.

This platform, which integrates advanced AI to optimise real-time media buys and enhance brand safety measures, promises a more efficient system that could potentially disrupt the existing programmatic landscape. However, the reception from the publishing industry is mixed, with skepticism about whether Scope3 will truly revolutionise the market or simply replace old complexities with new ones. 

Publishers Are Betting On Curation And Direct-To-DSP Deals For Long-Term Growth. 

At the AdMonsters' Sell Side Summit in Fort Lauderdale, publishers discussed the importance of selecting vendor partners that offer the best yield and transparency despite the growing trend of curated PMPs and direct-to-DSP deals. Although these direct connections and curation are seen as long-term strategies, they currently represent only a small fraction of publisher revenue, with major players like The Trade Desk’s OpenPath showing early benefits for some.

Publishers are urged to be cautious with sell-side curation, critiquing the lack of exposure to open auction demand and the prioritisation of certain deals that might limit competitive bidding. The overall sentiment points towards a cautious embrace of these new methods, with a focus on transparency and direct relationships to potentially enhance long-term monetisation strategies. 

Content Is King: Adding Extended Content Identifiers to OpenRTB. 

As viewer preferences shift from linear to streaming TV—a market now worth $30B—programmatic advertising has become vital for monetisation. To improve content data granularity in programmatic bids, IAB Tech Lab submitted a proposal for Extended Content Identifiers (ECIDs) in OpenRTB 2.6 aims to provide detailed content metadata without compromising privacy, enhancing the programmatic marketplace for streaming TV.

The Rundown: The DOJ still urges forced Chrome sale in antitrust trial.

Despite high-profile attendance by executives like Sundar Pichai at President Trump's 2025 inauguration suggesting potential leniency, Google's efforts to influence the Justice Department regarding its antitrust trial proved unsuccessful. Developments revealed that despite Google's push to avoid selling Chrome and prevent default search engine agreements, the DOJ's proposed final judgment still mandates these divestitures, maintaining strict regulatory measures against Google's market practices.

▸ Week 10

• - Trade Desk’s Agency Ties Weaken
• - Women Leaders Shape Ad Tech in 2025
• - Publicis Acquires Lotame in Ad Tech Move
• - Apple News+ Becomes Key Publisher Revenue Stream
• - AI Search Poses Growing Threat to Publishers
  
• - Google Pushes Back Against Antitrust Breakup

Ties between The Trade Desk and key media agencies are weakening.

The Trade Desk (TTD) and media agencies are drifting apart as agencies take more control over programmatic ad buying and rely less on TTD, particularly in CTV where competition is growing. Concerns over rising data fees, transparency, and the dominance of alternative platforms like Amazon Ads have further weakened agency dependence on TTD.

In response, TTD is focusing on direct deals with advertisers and restructuring its teams to regain momentum, though its core relationships with agencies remain intact. While TTD continues to be a major player in the open web, shifting market dynamics raise questions about the future of its agency partnerships. 

What’s Really Powering Ad Tech in 2025? Insights from Women at the Forefront. 

AI-driven advertising is becoming a crucial focus in ad tech, with Shilpa Kolte (Microsoft Advertising) emphasising its role in enhancing user experiences and making ads more relevant and seamless. Lotus Xue (CamScanner) highlights the increasing competition in ad formats, stressing the need to balance engagement with user experience. 

Tali Bakshi (GeoEdge) warns that programmatic CTV adoption is accelerating without sufficient safeguards for ad quality and safety. Sophie Toth (Viber) points to the unpredictability of market conditions, urging advertisers to explore flexible and innovative strategies beyond traditional seasonal events.

Jenny Lee (AlgoriX) underscores the importance of direct supply partnerships in ensuring transparency and reducing costs, while she and others advocate for AI-powered optimisation, creative auditing, and verification tools to improve privacy compliance and ad quality.

Despite these advancements, areas such as CTV programmatic adoption, splash ads, and header bidding in premium video remain underutilised, requiring industry players to adopt a proactive and privacy-first approach to stay competitive.

Publicis Groupe to buy Lotame in a rare instance of agency-led ad tech consolidation. 

Publicis Groupe has acquired ad tech firm Lotame to enhance its global identity and data-management capabilities, particularly in APAC and Europe. The acquisition will strengthen Publicis’ CoreAI platform by integrating Lotame’s data assets into Epsilon’s identity spine, increasing its audience graph to nearly 4 billion unique profiles.

Publicis is also shifting towards an "Identity-as-a-Service" model, using probabilistic modeling and AI-driven insights to help brands optimise their data strategies, media bidding, and consumer targeting. Additionally, the company is focusing on privacy controls and improving transparency in AI-driven projections, while expanding its use of natural language processing to make data more accessible.

Media Briefing: Publishers see Apple News+ as a stable revenue stream amid ‘volatile’ referral traffic. 

Apple News+ is expanding with the introduction of a new food section in April’s iOS 18.4 update, featuring content from publishers like Dotdash Meredith, Condé Nast, Hearst, and The Telegraph. Publishers view this as a positive development, as Apple News+ engagement and revenue continue to grow, offering a more stable platform compared to declining referral traffic from social media and AI-driven search.

While publishers benefit from Apple News+ subscriptions, ad revenue from the free Apple News platform remains disappointing, with some reporting significantly lower earnings than expected. Despite this, Apple News+ remains a valuable syndication partner for many publishers, with audience engagement increasing steadily as other traffic sources become more volatile.

Publishers Losing the Battle Against AI Search Engines?

AI-powered search engines drive 96% less referral traffic to publishers than traditional Google search, while website scraping by AI developers has more than doubled recently, according to a TollBit report. This trend raises growing concerns about the impact on the publishing industry.

Alphabet's Google urges US government to avoid breaking up firm, source says. 

Google recently met with the U.S. government to urge a retreat from efforts to break up the company, as the Department of Justice pursues two antitrust cases related to its search and advertising dominance. With a trial on potential remedies set for April, industry experts suggest that President Trump may scale back antitrust actions initiated under the Biden administration, potentially easing pressure on Google.

▸ Week 9

• - Paramount’s Ad Tiers and SME Spend Offset Linear Declines
• - Publishers Leverage Newsletter Subscriptions for Growth
• - Magnite Reports Q4 CPM Drop, Questions Open Internet’s Health
• - Barb Expands TV Measurement to 200 YouTube Channels
• - IAB Tech Lab Enhances Data Clean Room Measurement
  

Ad Tiers and SME Spend Bolsters Paramount Against Linear Declines.

Paramount is seeing a shift towards its ad-supported tier on Paramount+, attracting more small and medium-sized advertisers, which is driving profitability in its direct-to-consumer (D2C) segment. Despite a 1 percent YoY revenue decline due to falling TV ad revenues, streaming growth helped boost D2C ad revenues by 18% and subscription revenues by 12% in 2024.

The company added 10 million Paramount+ subscribers, reaching 77.5 million, while focusing more content investment on streaming to stay competitive. As Paramount finalises its merger with Skydance, new leadership is expected to prioritise ad tech and data capabilities to capture a larger share of digital ad budgets.

Media Briefing: Publishers use standalone newsletter subscriptions to convert more readers. 

Publishers are increasingly using standalone newsletter subscriptions to attract new readers and generate additional revenue. Bloomberg has paywalled 30 of its 70 newsletters and introduced a $11.99/month tech newsletter bundle, with early data showing strong international interest and minimal cannibalisation of its full subscription.

The Financial Times offers three standalone newsletter products to cater to readers seeking lower-cost options, with Inside Politics and Unhedged gaining traction, particularly during major news events. Axios has expanded its paid membership offerings and expects to double reader revenue this year, leveraging audience feedback to refine its paywall strategy.

The Ankler has launched niche newsletters like Series Business and Like & Subscribe to cater to specific reader interests, while also raising prices for its main subscription. Across the industry, publishers see newsletters as effective tools for audience engagement, conversion, and monetisation without requiring a full digital subscription. 

‘Is The Open Internet Healthy?’ Magnite Reports CPMs Dipped In Q4.

Magnite reported 4% YoY growth in Q4 2024 but missed revenue guidance due to a sharp drop in display and online video CPMs in November and December. While CTV remained stable, major advertisers delayed spending post-election, disrupting the usual holiday ad rebound, though CPMs have since normalised.

Growing tensions between demand-side (TTD) and supply-side (Magnite) platforms highlight competition over margins, with Magnite pushing into data marketplace sales to boost publisher revenue. Despite concerns about the open internet’s health, the Amazon DSP’s growth on Magnite’s platform suggests independent SSPs still play a vital role in digital advertising. 

Barb Plans to Measure TV Viewing for 200 YouTube Channels. 

Barb, in partnership with Kantar Media, will start measuring TV viewership across 200 top YouTube channels, making it the first joint-industry committee to track specific YouTube content. The selected channels, chosen based on viewership with input from SeeViews, will be included in Barb’s daily audience reporting from Q3 2025, using Kantar’s audio-matching and URL detection technology.

This initiative aims to provide deeper demographic insights and complement existing digital measurement tools like Ipsos iris and UKOM. As broadcasters increasingly distribute content on YouTube, Barb’s data could help inform content commissioning and provide advertisers with a clearer view of cross-platform viewing habits.

Secure Matching & Measurement for Data Clean Rooms.

IAB TechLab has introduced the Attribution Data Mapping Protocol (ADMaP), a privacy-preserving standard for attribution measurement that does not rely on third-party cookies or mobile identifiers. Using advanced cryptographic techniques, ADMaP ensures that personal data is not leaked to third parties while enabling secure attribution through encrypted key matching and Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs).

Unlike proprietary browser and mobile attribution systems, ADMaP supports server-side fraud detection, ID resolution services, and customisable attribution models. It serves as a counterpart to Google’s PAIR, which focuses on audience activation, while ADMaP enables secure attribution measurement with cryptographic guarantees.

IAB TechLab emphasises the need for interoperability standards to ensure compatibility across vendors, publishers, and advertisers. The Addressability & PETs Working Group and the Private Ad Systems Task Force are working to align future browser standards with advertisers' and publishers' needs.

▸ Week 8

• - Sustainability in digital advertising gains focus
• - Publishers' event videos see growth on LinkedIn
• - Alternative IDs gain traction among buyers
• - Guardian Media Group partners with OpenAI
• - GPP renamed as Global Privacy Protocol
• - Calls for stronger ad tech supply chain transparency
  

State of Readiness - Sustainability in Digital Advertising Report 2025.

The IAB Europe's Sustainability Standards Committee, established in 2022, continuously evaluates the digital advertising industry's advancements in sustainability through its annual State of Readiness survey. The 2025 report, based on feedback from 102 European digital advertising companies, highlights the ongoing prioritisation of sustainability, with 74% of businesses considering it crucial to their operations.

Significant findings include a 56% increase in companies setting Science-Based Targets, a growing focus on Greenhouse Gas emissions and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion, and improved emissions measurement practices. However, the industry still faces challenges such as a lack of standardized practices and adequate education, although financial constraints are lessening as investments in sustainability grow.

Publishers’ event videos gain traction on LinkedIn. 

LinkedIn is actively encouraging publishers to increase their video content on the platform through its pre-roll video advertising program, enticing them to repurpose clips from conferences and other events. Fortune has successfully leveraged this opportunity, signing brand deals and posting daily videos, such as interviews and event highlights, which perform well in terms of engagement and impressions.

Notably, videos featuring celebrities like Tom Brady and Halle Berry have garnered millions of views and substantial engagement. Publishers are finding this approach lucrative as it allows them to monetize existing content without additional production efforts, thereby creating a new revenue stream through LinkedIn's Wire program.

Both Fortune and Forbes are utilising their extensive video archives to meet the demand for content on LinkedIn, suggesting that this strategy is also aiding in audience growth. This method has proven effective, with publishers not only increasing their presence on LinkedIn but also potentially transforming it into a major platform for their content by 2025.

Alternative IDs Are Still Battling For Bids, But Buyers Are Starting To Pay More Attention. 

The discussion around alternative identifiers (alt IDs) in the bidstream indicates their presence is increasing, yet the actual transactional demand remains low. Matt Davies from BidSwitch highlighted during an ID5 event that although Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) are acknowledging alt IDs, they are not yet making decisions based on them.

This hesitancy is partly due to a significant portion of web traffic on Chrome still utilising cookies, reducing the urgency to switch to alt IDs. Industry professionals, like Jamie Penkethman of Equativ, criticise the market's sluggish response to embracing alt IDs, which are often viewed as a future concern rather than an immediate priority.

Despite these challenges, adoption of alt IDs is growing, with BidSwitch data showing substantial coverage in bid requests across various browsers. Experts emphasise the need for immediate action and experimentation with alt IDs, urging not to wait for cookies to vanish completely. 

Guardian Media Group Partners with OpenAI. 

The Guardian Media Group has formed a strategic partnership with OpenAI, making it one of many publishers to collaborate with the AI giant. This alliance will integrate The Guardian's journalism and archival content into ChatGPT as a news source, and the group will also adopt ChatGPT Enterprise to innovate new products and tools.

From Platform to Protocol: Renaming the GPP. 

▸ Week 7

• - Site traffic declines remain publishers’ top concern
• - FTC outlines ad tech priorities: Privacy, AI & data regulation
• - Germany’s competition watchdog challenges Apple’s ATT
• - AppLovin sells app business to focus on advertising
• - Landmark AI copyright ruling: Thomson Reuters wins case
• - Netflix expands in-house ad tech across Europe
• - Relevant Digital launches an AI assistant for ad monetisation
  

Digiday+ Research: Site traffic declines are publishers’ biggest concern this year

According to a Digiday+ Research survey, the biggest challenges for publishers in 2024 were declining traffic (45% of respondents) and economic uncertainty (25%). Other challenges included off-platform monetisation (9%). These themes will continue in 2025, with traffic declines remaining the biggest challenge (36%), although slightly less than the previous year. Economic challenges (19%) and the impact of walled gardens have risen to become the second-largest concerns.

More than half of publishers (56%) experienced a decline in traffic during 2024, with nearly a quarter (23%) reporting a significant decrease. Economic trends had a negative impact on 55% of companies last year, and 47% expect them to affect their performance negatively in 2025 as well. However, 39% believe the impact will be only partially harmful.

Rundown: FTC’s potential priorities for ad tech, data and AI.

The new chairman of the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Andrew Ferguson, may shift the agency's focus from broad regulatory reforms to targeted enforcement actions. He has already appointed key figures with backgrounds in the Trump administration, including Daniel Guarnera as head of the Bureau of Competition and Lucas Croslow as General Counsel.

Ferguson is particularly focused on actions against data brokers rather than directly targeting programmatic advertising and emphasises transparency in data collection and usage. Under his leadership, the FTC’s AI oversight will concentrate on fraud and deceptive practices, avoiding rushed regulatory actions. Efforts to strengthen children's data protection may continue, but Ferguson opposes some current complaints, such as the case related to Snap Inc.'s My AI chatbot.

Germany’s Competition Watchdog says Apple’s ATT May Breach Competition Law.

Germany’s competition authority, Bundeskartellamt, has warned Apple that its App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework may violate competition law. ATT requires apps to request user consent to use Apple’s IDFA identifier, but the regulator suspects that Apple applies stricter restrictions to competitors than to itself. This could distort competition and favour Apple’s own advertising business.

Apple can respond to the regulator’s findings, but if ATT is deemed unlawful, it could have significant implications for mobile advertising. Additionally, Bundeskartellamt criticises ATT’s approach to presenting data requests to users in a negative light, which has led to low opt-in rates. The authority also points out that Apple can combine user data across its services without being subject to ATT restrictions, giving it a competitive advantage over other app developers.

AppLovin Is Divesting Its Apps Business To Become ‘A Pure Advertising. 

AppLovin plans to sell its entire app business for $900 million by the next quarter, causing its stock price to surge by more than 28% in after-hours trading. The company has been prioritising its software platform for years and is now transitioning entirely into an advertising platform.

AppLovin's AI-powered Axon advertising platform leverages machine learning for ad targeting, and the company is expanding its focus beyond gaming ads to other categories, such as e-commerce. To support its growth, AppLovin is developing automated ad buying and management tools to attract a broader range of advertisers. The company has also reduced its workforce, laying off 120 employees in 2024 and an additional 89 at the beginning of 2025.

Thomson Reuters Wins First Major AI Copyright Case in the US.

A U.S. court has made a significant ruling in a copyright dispute against generative AI. Thomson Reuters won a lawsuit against Ross Intelligence, which was accused of copying copyrighted materials from Westlaw. Judge Stephanos Bibas rejected Ross’s fair use defense, ruling that the company had created a direct competitor to Westlaw rather than merely using the material within permissible limits.

This ruling could have broader implications for AI models that use publishers' content without permission. The decision may have significant consequences for AI products from companies like OpenAI and Google, as their previous fair use arguments could now lose relevance.

Netflix readies pan-European rollout of its in-house ad tech amid pricing competition. 

Netflix is expanding its programmatic advertising beta program across Europe at the end of February in partnership with Google and The Trade Desk. Advertisers can target ads based on location, time of day, device type, and show genre, but program-level targeting is reserved for direct buying channels.

Third-party verification is available through DoubleVerify and Integral Ad Science. While Netflix’s ad business has grown, its CPM rates remain higher than competitors like Amazon Prime. Prices vary by country in Europe, and private marketplace (PMP) deals can be up to 20% cheaper than direct insertion orders. Netflix’s success in the ad market will depend on both technological advancements and price competitiveness.

Relevant Digital Launches Relevant AI – An Intelligent Assistant to Revolutionise Ad Monetisation and Analytics.

Relevant Digital has launched Relevant AI, an AI-powered assistant designed to support ad sales and operations teams by analysing sales data, assessing technical performance, and identifying new business opportunities. Relevant AI acts like a personal assistant, providing real-time recommendations and helping teams make data-driven decisions. Fully integrated into the Relevant Yield platform, the tool helps discover new clients, identify market trends, and optimise both sales and technical performance without manual reporting. Additionally, it supports programmatic advertising, assists with Prebid configurations, and answers technical sales-related questions.

"Relevant AI does more than generate reports – it delivers actionable recommendations that help identify new clients and enhance sales efficiency in an unprecedented way," says Petri Kokkonen, CEO of Relevant Digital. Relevant AI continues to evolve with machine learning and advanced LLM models, offering even more precise analytics and sales optimisation recommendations. The tool is now available on the Relevant Yield platform and requires activation. For further details, contact Relevant Digital’s customer team.

▸ Week 6

• - Amazon Advertising Hits $17 Billion in Q4 and Keeps Growing
• - Advertising Isn't a Major Growth Driver for Top News Publishers
• - Challenges in Adopting IAB Tech Lab’s Video Ad Standard
• - Digital Bundles and Ad Targeting Help Offset NYT’s Declining Print Business
• - IAB: New US Administration Seen as Positive for Digital Media
• - Understanding OpenRTB Video Placement Attributes
  

Amazon Advertising Raked In $17 Billion During Q4, And It’s Still Speeding Up. 

Amazon Advertising is strategically positioning itself to attract upper-funnel advertising budgets, evidenced by its $17.3 billion revenue in Q4 2024, marking an 18% increase year-over-year. CEO Andy Jassy highlighted the strong growth of the ad business and the successful integration of ads into Prime Video, enhancing the company's full-funnel advertising capabilities.

The ad business is now valued at a $69 billion annual run rate, despite the typical Q4 seasonal spike, suggesting a robust year-round performance. Additionally, Amazon is investing in faster delivery services to improve customer retention and increase the frequency of purchases across various categories, including its pharmacy business. 

Advertising Isn’t A Major Growth Driver For Top News Publishers. 

The New York Times and News Corp are shifting from ad dependence to increasing subscription revenue, with subscriptions outgrowing ads in recent earnings. The Times is broadening its content to support costlier subscriptions, while News Corp enhances its focus on B2B and AI-driven partnerships.

In Q4, The New York Times saw a significant rise in digital subscription revenue, with a notable increase in the average revenue per subscriber due to the uptake of multi-product subscription bundles. Digital ad revenue for The Times also grew but at a slower rate compared to subscriptions, highlighting a broader industry trend where subscription gains outpace advertising increases.

News Corp's earnings showed a strong contrast between subscription growth, particularly through bundled services, and a decline in ad revenue, with print advertising falling significantly even as digital ads remained stable. Both publishers are adapting to changing market conditions by leveraging new technologies and audience behaviors to sustain growth and remain competitive in the evolving media landscape.

What’s The Holdup On Adoption Of The IAB Tech Lab’s Video Ad Standard? 

DSPs are delaying the widespread adoption of the IAB Tech Lab's new standard for classifying video ad inventory introduced in 2023. Although most SSPs have adopted the standard, sending the new video.plcmt signal in bid requests, many DSPs have not, creating uncertainty about the exact type of video ad inventory being purchased.

This hesitation is partly due to DSPs' preference for bidding on what has traditionally been classified as instream video, which often garners higher bids. Some DSPs, like The Trade Desk and Google’s DV360, have started using the new standard, while others like Yahoo DSP and Beeswax are still transitioning.

Basis Technologies has begun updating its buying interface to comply more fully with the new standard, awaiting more widespread adoption. The transition's slow pace is attributed to DSPs waiting for a significant volume of bids with the new signal and reluctance to reduce the available instream inventory, which could drive up prices and complicate meeting client targets within existing budgets.

Digital Bundles and Ad Targeting Are Offsetting New York Times’ Declining Print Business. 

The New York Times continues to excel in a challenging market for news publishers, showing consistent revenue growth and a robust stock performance, despite the broader industry pressures. While advertising revenue saw a modest increase of 1% year-over-year in Q4 2024, digital ad revenue grew by 9.5%, supported by advertiser-friendly content and advanced ad targeting capabilities.

The company is expanding its monetisation strategies, including exploring video formats in its cooking content and enhancing its premium canvas formats to drive higher CPMs. Despite a decline in print subscriptions, digital subscriptions rose significantly, adding 1.1 million new subscribers in 2024 and contributing to an overall revenue increase of 7% for the year. 

IAB: New US Administration Will Be ‘Very Positive’ For Digital Media.

The new US presidential administration is seen as "very positive" for the digital media and advertising industry, promising a more business-friendly regulatory approach, especially from the expected new FTC chair. Lartease Tiffith from the IAB emphasised that the previous administration hindered the industry, and he anticipates that the new leadership will foster a better environment for digital media.

A major focus for the IAB in 2025 is advocating for a federal privacy law to standardise over 20 state laws, aiming to reduce the compliance burden on businesses. Additionally, the IAB is committed to defending Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, crucial for protecting online platforms from liability for user-generated content, which has been instrumental in the growth and innovation of the internet. 

Demystifying the OpenRTB Video plcmt Attributes.

In March 2023, the OpenRTB specification introduced the plcmt field, refining the definition and transaction of video ad inventory. This crucial update, supported by the IAB Tech Lab, marks a significant advancement in modernising video advertising standards, urging adoption across the industry for greater transparency.

▸ Week 5

• - Google’s Chrome update leaves third-party cookie phase-out unclear
• - CTV, retail media & measurement drive ad tech M&A in 2025
• - IAB Tech Lab updates content standards with Content 2.0 mapping
• - Yahoo becomes first DSP to adopt IAB Tech Lab’s Data Transparency Labels
• - IAB Tech Lab proposes fix for mislabeled instream video, but adoption lags
• - IAB Tech Lab unveils 2025 roadmap with 31 new ad tech standards
• - Amazon launches AI-powered tool for TV audience optimisation
• - "Consent or Pay" model gains traction among publishers
  

Google’s latest Chrome update leaves third-party cookie phase-out as unclear as ever.

Google’s latest Chrome update adds a one-time global prompt asking users whether they allow third-party cookie tracking, but key details remain unclear. The industry fears that if users don’t fully understand their choices, most will opt out, severely impacting digital advertising.

Additionally, Google plans to let users hide their IP addresses in incognito mode, further complicating tracking. Ad tech players are frustrated with the lack of clear timelines and industry involvement, seeing this as a move that ultimately benefits Google’s own ecosystem. Many publishers now expect a decline in addressability similar to Apple’s 2021 IDFA changes.

CTV, Retail And Measurement Will Spur Ad Tech M&A This Year.

Ad tech M&A is picking up again. T-Mobile acquired Vistar Media, Rokt bought customer data platform mParticle, The Trade Desk acquired ad metadata startup Sincera, and DirecTV took a majority stake in addressable TV platform Invidi Technologies.

After a slow period, interest in acquisitions has surged, particularly in retail media, CTV, and measurement challenges. Smaller retail media networks are expected to consolidate to compete with larger players. Additionally, measurement and attribution solutions have become key focus areas for investors.

Content 1.0 to Content 2.0 Mapping Officially Released. 

IAB Tech Lab has officially released the mapping from Content Taxonomy 1.0 to 2.0, allowing the industry to move away from the outdated version first introduced in 2011. This upgrade provides more flexibility and granularity for categorizing content in advertising. The mapping, developed with AI-powered tools, simplifies the transition and is now available in the Tech Lab’s GitHub repository.

With nearly three times the categories of its predecessor, Content 2.0 enhances contextual targeting by introducing vectors that separate content topics from its format and distribution. Moving forward, publishers still using Content 1.0 are urged to upgrade to stay aligned with evolving ad tech standards, including upcoming changes in OpenRTB and support for new advertising formats.

Yahoo Is The First DSP To (Finally) Adopt The IAB Tech Lab’s Data Transparency Labels. 

Yahoo DSP is the first demand-side platform to adopt IAB Tech Lab’s Data Transparency Labels, aimed at improving transparency in programmatic advertising data. The standard was introduced in 2019 but has seen slow adoption across the industry.

The Data Transparency Labels help advertisers and data platforms understand how audience segments are built and what signals are used. This also supports better data governance and regulatory compliance. Yahoo is now working to encourage its data partners—data platforms, SSPs, and DMPs—to adopt the standard as well. According to IAB Tech Lab, Yahoo’s move could accelerate broader adoption across the programmatic ecosystem.

IAB Tech Lab Has A Fix For Mislabeled Instream Video – But Ad Tech Isn’t Ready To Change. 

Despite IAB Tech Lab’s video.plcmt standard launching in 2023, many DSPs still rely on outdated specs, forcing SSPs to support both old and new formats. This creates confusion in video ad bidding and undermines improvements like blocking autoplaying, muted ads.

Google’s DV360 has adopted video.plcmt, but Google Ad Manager (GAM) still transmits both old and new placement signals, raising concerns about inconsistent classification. The IAB Tech Lab urges platforms to phase out the old video.placement spec, but with DSPs lagging, uncertainty remains over when a full transition will happen. 

The IAB Tech Lab 2025 Roadmap. 

IAB Tech Lab has released its 2025 roadmap, introducing 31 new standards to address key challenges in digital advertising. The focus areas include CTV, privacy, AI, and measurement.

The roadmap includes enhanced programmatic support for live event streaming and standardized CTV ad formats to improve efficiency. A new Global Privacy Platform API will help companies navigate privacy regulations, while a Conversion API will offer a unified method to measure ad performance.

To improve audience targeting, IAB Tech Lab is expanding Curated Audiences, combining multiple standards into a single framework. The roadmap also introduces AI tools to help publishers manage LLM crawlers and monetize AI-driven content.

Amazon Launches New Tool for AI-Based TV Audience Building. 

Amazon has introduced Brand+, a new tool within Amazon DSP that uses AI to identify and engage high-intent users in TV and video advertising. The goal is to reduce ad waste and improve targeting efficiency.

Brand+ combines advertisers’ conversion signals with Amazon’s shopping, browsing, and streaming data to optimize audience targeting across Prime Video, Twitch, and partner networks in real time. This launch follows Amazon’s other AI-driven solutions, including Performance+ for performance campaigns and Ad Relevance for cookie-free targeting. With proprietary first-party data, Amazon gains a competitive edge, reinforcing AI’s growing role in digital advertising.

Consent or Pay: What Publishers Need to Know. 

The ICO has approved "consent or pay" models for UK publishers, allowing users to either accept personalized ads or pay for an ad-free experience. However, publishers must ensure that consent is freely given, meaning users should not be unfairly pressured into opting in. The price for the ad-free option must be reasonable, reflecting the value users place on avoiding targeted ads rather than the publisher’s revenue loss.

Additionally, the core service must remain equivalent, meaning publishers cannot bundle exclusive content into paid subscriptions or severely limit access for paying users. This decision clarifies the legal standing of the model but requires publishers to balance compliance and revenue carefully.

▸ Week 4

• - TikTok’s U.S. shutdown has little impact on publishers
• - Outcomes of Google’s ad tech antitrust trial
• - Publishers reflect on missed curation opportunities
• - Key OpenRTB updates for 2025 from IAB Tech Lab
• - Cryptographic guarantees with PAIR explained
• - Comscore’s 2025 State of Programmatic report
  

Media Briefing: TikTok’s U.S. shutdown has little impact on publishers’ traffic and video strategies.

TikTok's brief shutdown over a weekend had minimal impact on overall web traffic and social media behavior, with little change in site traffic for major publishers like CNN and The Washington Post. Despite a slight increase in viewership for YouTube Shorts, the effect was minor, with TikTok viewership returning to normal once the service resumed.

Publishers are increasingly focusing on integrating short-form video on their platforms and diversifying their audience development strategies to mitigate reliance on any single platform. For example, The Washington Post is enhancing its presence on YouTube Shorts, and the Daily Mail tested a new video content hub on its homepage during the TikTok outage.

The minimal changes in online behavior during TikTok's downtime suggest that users did not significantly shift their social media consumption. Publishers are preparing for potential future disruptions by bolstering their capabilities across various platforms, ensuring they remain resilient regardless of external changes in the social media landscape. 

Assessing the most likely outcomes of Google’s pivotal ad tech antitrust trial.

President Donald Trump was inaugurated for a second term, showcasing Big Tech CEOs like Alphabet's Sundar Pichai, hinting at potential cooperation with the administration amid DOJ legal battles. The DOJ is advocating for major antitrust measures against Google, including mandating the sale of major assets like Chrome and ad tech tools to combat monopolistic practices affecting publishers.

Despite these legal pressures, some question if divesting these assets would substantially alter Google's market dominance or address competition concerns effectively. Digiday Research reveals a split in industry opinion on the effectiveness of such divestitures, with concerns about potential disruptions to publishers' monetisation efforts.

Google's integration of ad functions into Chrome via Privacy Sandbox indicates preemptive steps to lessen potential breakup impacts, but it also intensifies antitrust issues. The industry doubts the DOJ's actions will significantly alter Google's operations or market dynamics, with continued debates over effective remedies and Google's adaptive strategies.

Publishers Fear They Missed Their Chance To Cash In On Curation. 

Deal curation initially intrigued the advertising industry, but now, publishers grew skeptical, viewing it as a rehash of old methods like DSP data marketplaces and SSP-curated private marketplaces. Despite IAB Tech Lab’s efforts to encourage publishers to curate their own audiences with SDAs specifications in 2022, it failed to take off, leaving publishers disappointed with the financial returns.

Many in the publishing sector feel that the revenue benefits from curation are primarily accruing to middlemen, not to the publishers themselves, despite having technologies to support data-driven curation. Curation is often seen as merely a marketing tactic to keep advertiser spending within the programmatic ecosystem rather than a true revenue opportunity for publishers.

Moreover, advertisers tend to trust ad tech vendors more than publishers for curating audiences, which leads to reduced direct deals and earnings for publishers. Moving forward, the industry suggests that publishers should take greater control over their first-party data or renegotiate terms to secure a fairer portion of the revenue from their content and data. 

The OpenRTB updates YOU should adopt in 2025 courtesy of IAB Tech Lab.

As of January 2024, the IAB Tech Lab has highlighted OpenRTB updates including transparency around ID provenance, a retail media extension, support for the Privacy Sandbox, and the introduction of Genre and Taxonomy 3.1 mapping. The transparency initiative involves new fields to clarify the origins of IDs in the bid stream, addressing concerns about ID Bridging and enhancing trust across the supply chain.

The retail media extension, open for public comment until January 2025, introduces a product feed object essential for trading Product Listing Ads programmatically, marking a significant step for the growth of Commerce Media Networks. Testing the Protected Audience API allows for adjustments in handling third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome, crucial for maintaining signal quality in ad targeting.

The introduction of CTV Genres and a standardised content taxonomy aims to reduce confusion and enhance brand suitability in programmatic transactions for CTV, increasing buyer confidence and spending in this sector. Each of these updates is documented on GitHub, where industry professionals can access detailed implementation guidance and contribute to ongoing discussions and refinements. 

Private User Matches with Cryptographic Guarantees with PAIR.

IAB TechLab has released the first official version of the PAIR protocol, a cryptographic system enabling privacy-focused audience activation via Data Clean Rooms (DCR). Originally developed by Google and donated to TechLab, PAIR is an open protocol accessible to DSPs, advertisers, publishers, and DCRs, now featuring simplified key management and support for dual DCR usage.

The protocol employs commutative encryption, enabling advertisers and publishers to match users without exposing personal data by encrypting data sets with shared and private keys, then exchanging and re-encrypting this data multiple times for security. Activation occurs when the advertiser shares doubly encrypted data with their DSP, allowing for targeted bids during requests without revealing raw user data.

The complexity of key management and data encryption is typically handled within each party’s clean room, though they can opt to manage this themselves. PAIR, part of TechLab’s focus on enhancing privacy and addressability, is detailed in accompanying documentation with tools available in Python and Java for integration.

2025 State of Programmatic Report.

ComScore’s “2025 State of Programmatic” report outlines significant shifts and emerging trends in programmatic advertising, focusing on the challenges and opportunities for marketers. Key insights include the growing investment in programmatic advertising, with particular emphasis on CTV at the expense of linear and traditional digital budgets.

The industry is navigating a diminishing role for third-party cookies by pivoting to privacy-sensitive strategies like contextual and first-party data. 72% of marketers plan to increase their programmatic investment in 2025, indicating its robust growth. Marketers are prioritising deduplicated measurement strategies to better understand cross-channel impacts, ensuring effective audience targeting.

The report also highlights a widespread readiness among marketers to adapt to privacy regulations, with a focus on privacy law preparedness. Overall, the programmatic landscape is rapidly evolving, driven by technological advancements and shifts in privacy regulations, necessitating continuous adaptation by marketers. 

▸ Week 3

• - TikTok’s future sparks competition for its ad dollars
• - Scammers seize Google Ads accounts for fraud
• - The Trade Desk redefines ad quality with Sincera
• - IAB Europe submits feedback on 'Consent or Pay' models
• - IPA Bellwether reports cautious optimism in UK budgets
• - Over half of publishers saw revenue growth in 2024
• - CMA investigates Google’s search services
• - T-Mobile buys Vistar Media for $600M
  

As TikTok teeters, YouTube, Meta, Snapchat and more race to claim its ad dollars with incentives, discounts.

TikTok’s uncertain future in the U.S. has prompted competitors like YouTube, Meta, and Snapchat to offer advertisers discounts and incentives to capture their ad budgets.

At the same time, platforms are vying to attract TikTok creators, who bring with them audiences and engagement. YouTube appears strong in the short-form video competition, while Pinterest, Meta, and Reddit are also leveraging ad credits to grow their share. However, TikTok’s algorithm continues to have a far-reaching impact, shaping the social media landscape that other platforms are still trying to emulate.

People Managing Google Ad Campaigns Are Getting Their Accounts Seized By Scammers. 

Criminal groups worldwide are targeting ad industry professionals with phishing scams, exploiting Google Ads logins through fraudulent sponsored links. These scams lead to account takeovers, where hackers run malicious campaigns and spread malware.

Thousands of accounts have reportedly been affected, with hackers leveraging their expertise in Google Ads to conceal their activities. Advertisers are advised to avoid using Google Search to access their accounts, as this method is a common entry point for these attacks.

‘Curation can be a vacuous term’: The Trade Desk plans to redefine ad quality outside the walled gardens with Sincera

The Trade Desk's acquisition of Sincera aims to improve ad inventory analysis by integrating deeper data insights from publishers and content owners with buy-side intelligence. This shift enhances transparency and empowers advertisers to identify high-quality inventory rather than just filtering out low-quality impressions.

Sincera's analytics also provide publishers with valuable insights into advertiser preferences, enabling better alignment with demand. While curation has sparked industry speculation, The Trade Desk dismisses it as a secondary focus, instead prioritizing its vision of a transparent and efficient supply chain.

IAB Europe Sends Feedback Paper to the EDPB after the Stakeholder Event Regarding the 'Consent or Pay' Models.

IAB Europe and several national IAB organizations have submitted a feedback paper to the EDPB regarding the guidelines for "Consent or Pay" (CorP) models. The report emphasizes the importance of a unified European approach aligned with the GDPR and EU court rulings.

CorP models are viewed as providing users with the freedom to choose between paying for a service or consenting to data processing for ad-funded access. IAB highlights that CorP models are vital for many free services, and reduced ad revenue could jeopardize their availability. The report recommends a balanced, research-based approach that considers both economic impacts and user experience.

IPA Bellwether Shows Post-Autumn Optimism but Caution Around Media Spend.

According to the IPA Bellwether report, UK marketing budgets grew at the end of 2024, although caution remained around media budgets. Video advertising budgets dropped significantly (-10.7%), while event marketing (+12.3%) and direct marketing (+5.6%) saw growth.

Broader budget increases are projected for 2025/26, particularly in direct marketing (+15.6%) and event marketing. Despite challenges such as HFSS regulations and economic uncertainty, AI is expected to enhance efficiency and personalization.

Digiday+ Research: More than half of publishers reported revenue increases in 2024.

According to the Digiday+ Research report, 58% of publishers reported revenue growth in 2024 compared to 2023. Most of the growth was moderate, at 1–10%, but 26% reported an increase of 11–25%.

While publishers considered 2024 successful for their own companies, 53% felt that the media industry as a whole did not perform well. The number of advertising products increased in over half of the companies, with the most popular additions being branded content, direct sales, and event sponsorships.

CMA to investigate Google’s search services. 

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Google’s search and search advertising services under the new digital markets competition regime.

The investigation will assess Google’s potential strategic market status (SMS) and examine issues such as barriers to competition, self-preferencing practices, and the use of consumer and publisher data. The CMA aims to ensure fair competition, support innovation, and protect consumers and businesses. The investigation must conclude by October 2025, with potential measures including data-sharing requirements and increased publisher control over content use.

T-Mobile Acquires Vistar Media, A Leading OOH SSP, For $600 Million.

T-Mobile is acquiring Vistar Media, a digital out-of-home (DOOH) ad platform, for $600 million. The deal, expected to close in the coming months pending regulatory approval, will combine T-Mobile’s first-party data with Vistar’s OOH technology to offer targeted and measurable advertising. DOOH is a growing market, projected to account for over one-third of OOH ad spend by 2027.

▸ Week 2

• - IAB introduces CTV genre guidance to improve taxonomy adoption
• - Ad tech shifts to the cloud for privacy and operational efficiency
• - Amazon Ads launches Amazon Retail Ad Service
• - Disney launches new ad tools as streaming reach grows to 157M
• - Media executives prioritise engagement and direct ad revenue for 2025
• - Bauer Media acquires Clear Channel Europe-North to expand footprint
• - CES highlights agentic AI and evolving ad experiences
• - Meta ends fact-checking in favour of community-driven moderation
• - Experian debuts third-party data marketplace for targeted campaigns
  

IAB Tech Lab Releases Programmatic CTV Genre Guidance leveraging Content Taxonomy, including Mappings for Upgrades for Public Comment. 

The IAB Tech Lab has released new guidelines to improve programmatic advertising and content classification efficiency. The goal is to transition from the outdated Content Taxonomy 1.0 to the newer versions, 2.0 and 3.1. The updates include new OpenRTB attributes (genres and gtax) that simplify genre classification and enhance ad targeting, especially in the Connected TV (CTV) environment.

The guidelines address challenges in programmatic advertising, such as mislabeling and wasted resources, while enabling compatibility between older and newer systems. This makes the transition to updated standards easier. The public comment period for the guidelines is open until January 31, 2025. 

2025 Is The Year Ad Tech Goes To The Clouds.

Ad tech is ascending not in terms of growth but by migrating to cloud-based infrastructures, which offer enhanced privacy standards that allow the use of data for targeting and attributing ads more securely. Companies are adopting cloud solutions like data clean rooms to utilise their own data alongside big players such as Amazon and Google for targeted advertising.

AWS Clean Rooms and other platforms like Snowflake and Databricks provide environments where companies can collaborate without direct competition, focusing on leveraging proprietary data for advertising needs. Snowflake, for instance, emphasises its neutral stance in the advertising sector, focusing on supporting businesses in using cloud services without the conflict of competing interests.

The shift to the cloud also revives opportunities for third-party data marketplaces, enabling the use of first and third-party data under new privacy standards. However, the transition to cloud computing in ad tech faces challenges such as system capacity limits and privacy concerns, which could slow down or complicate the implementation of these new technologies.

Amazon Ads launches Amazon Retail Ad Service at CES.

Amazon Ads has launched Amazon Retail Ad Service, designed to help retailers improve the shopping experience and expand their advertising reach. The service leverages Amazon Ads' 20 years of ad tech expertise, enabling contextually targeted ads to be displayed on retailers' websites.

Customers can easily discover products, click on ads, and complete their purchases directly on the retailer's site. The service is currently in beta and is being used by several retailers, including iHerb and Tilly’s. 

Disney Unveils New Ad Tools as Streaming Ad Reach Tops 157 Million.

Disney recently showcased its new technological advancements at the Global Tech and Data Showcase in Las Vegas, revealing a significant increase in the global reach of its streaming platforms. The introduction of 'Disney Compass,' a proprietary data platform, will provide advertisers with centralised access to audience data and integrate with third-party providers like LiveRamp and Snowflake.

Additionally, Disney is launching an AI tool for creating lookalike audiences and plans to expand its audience segmentation and targeting tools globally. A new live sports-focused advertising solution is also being rolled out, allowing biddable deals through platforms like Google's DV360 and The Trade Desk.

Disney's updated reach places it between Netflix and Amazon Prime Video in terms of global monthly users. However, comparisons are complicated by the lack of a standardised method for measuring streaming service reach, with Disney using a specific methodology based on active users and average household size.

Media Briefing: What media execs are prioritizing in 2025.

In 2025, media companies are shifting their focus towards enhancing engagement, subscriptions, reach, and direct ad revenue, according to insights from 16 publishing executives. Key business goals include growing engagement to boost both subscription and advertisement revenues, with efforts to convert casual readers into subscribers and attract premium advertisers.

Publishers are increasingly moving away from dependency on external platforms for traffic and revenue, investing instead in direct relationships with their audiences. Strategies include diversifying revenue streams through branded social programming, talent collaborations, and expanding direct-sold ads through editorial partnerships and event sponsorships.

Enhancements in technology, such as AI tools for audience engagement and personalised experiences, are being integrated to support these goals. Overall, there is a concerted effort to grow subscription bases, with publishers like Bloomberg and The Atlantic emphasising this area alongside innovations in their offerings. 

Bauer Media to acquire Clear Channel Europe-North. 

Bauer Media Group has announced its agreement to acquire Clear Channel Europe, a major player in the Out of Home media sector, with the transaction expected to finalise in 2025 pending regulatory approvals. This acquisition expands Bauer Media's footprint in Europe, enhancing its digital offerings and adding presence in 12 markets, including five new ones.

The merger will allow Bauer Media to offer more comprehensive media solutions and enhanced advertising touchpoints, aiming for more impactful European campaigns. Yvonne Bauer emphasised the acquisition's strategic significance for media and digital transformation, while Justin Cochrane expressed excitement about the growth prospects this partnership offers in Europe.

CES Briefing: Ad industry peeks at the ‘agentic’ era & confronts low-quality ad experiences. 

The era of "agentic" artificial intelligence is emerging, characterised by tools like large language models (LLMs) that perform tasks such as booking trips, a shift highlighted at this year's CES in Las Vegas. Major companies like Samsung and Google are integrating AI into their connected TV platforms, although these features are in the early stages of the agentic era.

Nvidia presented blueprints for agentic AI tools at CES, aiming to equip developers with resources to create transformative AI applications across industries. The focus at CES is on the practical utility of LLMs, suggesting a significant theme in discussions and presentations throughout the event.

Experts predict that the full adoption of AI agents, particularly in sectors like search, is still a few years away, indicating a gradual transition to this new technological phase. Despite the fascination with new AI capabilities, there is a growing emphasis on the quality of advertising experiences, with industry leaders advocating for better ad experiences rather than merely increasing quantity. 

Meta is ending its fact-checking program in favour of a 'community notes' system similar to X's.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced significant changes to the company's moderation policies, aiming to embrace free speech by ending their fact-checking program and modifying content moderation on political topics. These changes, affecting platforms like Facebook and Instagram, will introduce a community-driven system similar to X's Community Notes and increase political content in user feeds.

Zuckerberg criticised the influence of governments and legacy media on censorship, attributing recent election dynamics as a pivotal moment for prioritising free expression. The overhaul is part of a broader strategy to simplify policies, reduce moderation errors, and restore foundational principles of free speech within Meta’s platforms.

Experian Launches Its First-Ever Third-Party Data Marketplace.

Experian has launched its own third-party data marketplace at CES, marking a significant expansion beyond its initial data onboarding service introduced last year. Despite the industry's growing preference for first-party data due to privacy concerns, Experian's move comes after a notable market exit by Oracle, positioning itself as a key player in third-party data solutions.

The new marketplace will feature data from partners like Attain, Circana, Dun & Bradstreet, and Alliant, aiming to enhance TV advertising campaigns by improving audience forecasting and targeting. This venture is seen as a pivotal development for advertisers and broadcasters who require broader data scopes to reach new customers and enhance campaign strategies.

While third-party data has historically had a negative reputation, there is a renewed interest in its potential to complement first-party data, especially in creating lookalike audiences and performing accurate attribution. However, despite the marketplace's potential, there remains a stigma around third-party data, with many first-party data owners reluctant to associate their proprietary data with third-party sources. 

▸ Week 1

• - CTV Growth Continues in 2025
• - Media Investors Prepare for 2025 Consolidation
• - Publishers’ 2024 Revenue Tactics & TikTok Trends
• - Ad Measurement Trends Reshaping Online Advertising
  
  

Higher, Further, FAST-er: CTV Will Keep On Growing In 2025.  

As the new year unfolds, the growth of CTV is expected to surge, with GroupM projecting a 12.9% increase in streaming TV by 2025 and its dominance over linear TV by 2029. eMarketer forecasts that by 2026, nine streaming services will generate over $1 billion in ad revenue each, marking a significant increase from just two in 2020.

This growth is driven by the rise of FAST channels, which mimic linear TV and offer chances to repurpose content and promote series like Amazon's "The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power" on Samsung TV+. CTV's expansion has attracted new advertisers, with around 20,000 expected to launch streaming campaigns in 2025, predominantly small and midsize businesses (SMBs).

New advertisers are supported by self-serve platforms from providers like Roku and Paramount, enabling precise ad targeting akin to digital platforms. Yet, programmatic buying in CTV struggles to balance traditional TV partnerships with programmatic efficiencies, suggesting a future where upfront and programmatic buying coexist.

Get ready for consolidation in 2025, media investors say.

The advertising industry might see significant consolidation in 2025 due to potentially lower interest rates, a stable economy, and a favorable regulatory environment, according to Luma Partners. Major mergers, such as Omnicom's proposed takeover of Interpublic Group to form the world's largest advertising firm, and Mediaocean's planned acquisition of Innovid for $500 million, are already in progress.

In addition to these major deals, smaller transactions have been occurring throughout the ad tech sector, indicating a trend towards consolidation for efficiency and performance demands from advertisers. Mark Wright of Prohaska Consulting predicts an intense first quarter of 2025, continuing a trend of increasing mergers and acquisitions activity within the ad tech and martech sectors.

Despite the activity, some analysts, like Naveen Sarma from S&P Global, are skeptical about the completion of many significant deals in the near term, citing financial constraints and valuation disparities among companies. This era of consolidation is seen as crucial for companies seeking greater operational scale to maintain profitability amidst tightening margins.  

Digiday+ Research roundup: Publishers’ revenue tactics and TikTok were 2024’s biggest topics.

After a challenging 2023, publishers were optimistic about revenue growth in 2024, with half expecting an increase in ad revenues, according to a late 2023 survey. Throughout 2024, Digiday+ Research noted shifts in publishers' revenue strategies; early in the year, there was a move away from subscriptions, but by the third quarter, 50% of publishers planned significant investment in their subscription models.

Programmatic ads remained a crucial revenue source, although the focus on event revenue diminished, with 48% of publishers deprioritising events by early 2024. Publisher strategies included expanding ad product offerings, with 56% entering 2024 with more ad products than the previous year, particularly in branded content.

Subscription strategies saw a rebound, with 83% of publishers aiming to focus on subscriptions over the next six months, a significant increase from the previous year. Looking ahead to 2025, publishers are likely to concentrate on direct-sold ads, branded content, and subscriptions, as these areas are seen as key growth drivers.

The Ad Measurement Trends That Reshaped Online Advertising This Year.

2024 saw major changes in ad measurement, with Chrome possibly extending third-party cookies while the scarcity of user-level data drove advertisers to methods like media mix modeling (MMM) and incrementality testing. Incrementality measurement, emphasising causation via controlled experiments like geo-testing, became popular for its robust response to privacy concerns.

Early in the year, ASICS used services like Habu and Google’s Ads Data Hub for geo-tests on incremental ROI, showcasing the approach's high costs and market restrictions. MMM saw a resurgence as it adapted to user-level data limits, with Google and Meta creating tools to speed up analysis, enhancing its real-time campaign relevance.

The rise of ecommerce has led to new metrics like ACOS ("advertising as a cost of sale"), which views ad spend as part of overall sales, contrasting with the ROAS approach. The evolution of ad measurement in 2024 highlights a shift towards more holistic and privacy-conscious attribution methods, blending new and traditional metrics to suit the digital landscape.

▸ Week 52

Happy Holidays! The weekly wrap will come back next year.

▸ Week 51

• - Top Trends in the Media Industry for 2024
• - Will 2025 Be the Year of Retail Media Standardization?
• - Eight Predictions for Media and Marketing in 2025
• - How Perplexity Calculates Ad Revenue for Publishers
• - CTV in 2024: Programmatic, Measurement, and M&A
• - How AI Empowers Publishers to Improve Sales
• - UK online safety regulation comes into force
  

Media Briefing: The top trends in the media industry in 2024. 

In 2024, the media industry saw growth in digital advertising revenues for companies like Dotdash Meredith, Gannett, and The New York Times, despite a challenging ad market affected by the U.S. presidential election. Companies like BuzzFeed and Gannett projected growth for Q4, while The New York Times anticipated increases in digital and overall ad revenues.

The year featured numerous AI-related content licensing deals and copyright lawsuits, with OpenAI forming agreements with publishers and companies like News Corp suing for copyright violations. Publishers faced fluctuations in referral traffic from major platforms and looked to smaller social media platforms to boost audience engagement.

Despite Google reversing its decision to phase out third-party cookies, publishers moved forward with developing privacy-focused advertising technologies. The industry also dealt with significant newsroom changes, including leadership shifts and layoffs, particularly at The Washington Post and amid labor actions at The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. 

Is 2025 The Year Of Retail Media Standardization?

In 2024, the demand for IAB-based retail media standards grew, leading to the final release of the first set of standards by the IAB and IAB Europe. These standards introduce consistent definitions and metrics for retail media, such as "gross impressions" and "likelihood-to-see," applicable particularly to digital campaigns in physical shopping locations.

Despite these developments, challenges remain in standardising across diverse physical retail environments, where factors like in-store screens, gas pumps, and checkout displays vary significantly. The adoption of these standards is crucial yet complicated, with larger players like Criteo benefiting from the status quo, while smaller competitors and the industry at large push for standardisation to facilitate broader adoption and fair competition. 

In With the New: Eight Predictions for Media and Marketing in 2025.

Rob Webster of Tau Marketing Solutions discusses the evolving landscape of marketing, highlighting significant trends for 2025. He identifies AI adoption, privacy maturation, CTV growth, retail media expansion, and the dominance of advertising giants as pivotal trends shaping the industry.

Webster predicts that 2025 will mark the beginning of a significant transformation in marketing, driven by AI, changing the traditional SEO and paid search landscape. AI's influence extends to search listings, where platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity are altering SEO norms, making brand visibility within AI-driven platforms crucial.

The rise of AI also introduces new paid media opportunities, urging marketers to experiment early with AI search ads. Google, despite regulatory pressures, will continue to innovate with new technologies while maintaining its core structure. The adoption of AI agents will enhance operational efficiency by automating tasks across various platforms, transforming media planning and execution processes. Webster also anticipates a convergence of CTV, premium publishing, and retail media into a more integrated "commerce media" landscape.

He speculates on Apple’s potential expansion into advertising networks, emphasising the need for privacy-compliant marketing strategies. Finally, Webster stresses the importance of data assurance and AI governance, advising marketers to balance innovation with ethical considerations to foster growth and consumer trust. 

How Perplexity calculates publishers’ share of ad revenue.  

Perplexity introduced a new ad revenue share model in July, allowing publishers participating in its program to earn a percentage of the revenue from ads served in response to user queries citing the publisher's webpages. The revenue share percentage varies up to a double-digit figure and increases with the number of cited links per query, though Perplexity sets a standardised cap on the maximum payout per query.

The Wall Street Journal and other sources report that this cap is at 25%. While some publishing executives express uncertainty about the immediate revenue impact, they recognise the potential benefits of the program and view it as a straightforward, transparent way to monetise content.

Chan from Perplexity highlighted that all participating publishers are offered the same revenue share terms, though some execs are negotiating for better conditions. The program also provides other indirect benefits, such as access to Perplexity's enterprise tools and potential for long-term partnerships.
 

This Year’s CTV Replay: Programmatic, Measurement And Lots Of M&A.

2024 marked a significant year for CTV with global ad spending expected to exceed $30 billion, a 22.4% increase from the previous year. The rapid growth in CTV advertising fueled intense competition among streamers, who enhanced their programmatic and measurement capabilities to attract advertisers.

The industry saw numerous mergers and acquisitions aimed at consolidating capabilities to meet advertiser demands for scale, programmatic access, and reliable measurement. Major streaming platforms, including Netflix and Disney, reported increased profitability and subscriber growth in their ad-supported offerings.

The programmatic landscape evolved as Netflix and other streamers developed in-house ad technologies and formed strategic data partnerships to optimise ad performance. Measurement standards remained contentious, with new and traditional metrics vying for dominance, highlighting ongoing debates over the effectiveness and reliability of different advertising currencies.

AI Empowers Publishers to Sell Better, If They Rise to the Opportunity.

AI is revolutionising the way publishers approach ad targeting, monetisation, and brand safety, offering more nuanced tools to unlock the potential of their content. This year, major publishers like Hearst and Dotdash Meredith launched new AI-powered products that enhance how advertisers connect with audiences through premium content.

However, publishers need to adjust their strategies, including redefining CPM rates and reshaping brand safety measures, to fully capitalise on AI's capabilities. Successful adaptation will require publishers to collaborate with industry groups and ad tech partners to set new standards and practices that reflect the advanced capabilities provided by AI. 

A Time for tech firms to act: UK online safety regulation comes into force.

Ofcom has released the first edition of its codes of practice and guidance under the UK’s Online Safety Act, aimed at protecting individuals from illegal harms such as terror, hate, and child sexual abuse online. These new regulations require tech firms, including social media platforms and search engines, to implement over 40 safety measures by March 2025, enhancing online security and requiring risk assessments to be completed.

The guidance includes specific measures for protecting children from online grooming by restricting profile visibility and direct messaging by non-connected accounts, and uses AI tools to detect harmful content. It also focuses on protecting women and girls from online harassment and non-consensual content, and mandates the removal of terrorist accounts and content.

Tech companies failing to comply with these standards could face severe penalties, including fines and site blocking by Ofcom. This initiative is part of a broader effort to regulate online spaces more strictly, with ongoing consultations and additional protective measures expected to be introduced in the coming years.

▸ Week 50

• - Programmatic Transparency Benchmark Update
• - Redefining Seller Defined Audiences
• - Publishers and the OMG/IPG Merger
• - Changes in US Streaming Trends
• - Programmatic CTV Genre Guidance Released
• - Publishers Moving Beyond Cookies
• - Digital Economy Consolidation Forecast
  
  
  

Programmatic Transparency Benchmark: December 2024 Findings Update. 

The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) released its latest programmatic transparency benchmark study, revealing that for every $1,000 spent in a DSP, only 44% goes towards quality, viewable impressions by real consumers, an improvement from last year's 36%. Despite this progress, less than half of the ad spend achieves the desired visibility, indicating substantial room for improvement in the industry.

The study also noted a decline in expenditures towards MFA sites, with marketers reporting a drop to 6.2% from 15% in 2023, although billions are still being funneled into these sites. Additionally, with the number of SSP increasing, the ANA highlighted the need for further optimisation in programmatic spending.

IAB Tech Lab Is Redefining Seller Defined Audiences.

The IAB Tech Lab is rebranding its Seller Defined Audiences curation specification to "Curated Audiences," aimed at boosting adoption by capitalising on the industry's current interest in curation. Despite the existing framework including standards like the Data Transparency Standard and OpenRTB SupplyChain object, adoption has been slow, leading to the rebrand as an attempt to make the specification more appealing.

Katsur has acknowledged the need for further enhancements to the framework, suggesting that the terminology "seller-defined" may have deterred buy-side engagement, who prefer more control over audience definition. The rebrand to "Curated Audiences" represents a strategic marketing effort to align with industry trends and encourage broader utilisation of the Tech Lab's curation tools.

Publishers Aren’t Sweating The OMG/IPG Merger.

The potential merger of Omnicom and Interpublic Group (IPG) has stirred the advertising industry, indicating major shifts in tech utilisation and buying practices. Publishers anticipate that the merger will lead to significant tech stack consolidations, potentially reducing redundancy and affecting tech vendors more than publishers themselves.

This consolidation could also reinforce principal-based buying, a method where agencies buy media and resell it to brands, which both companies support. Despite these changes, publishers do not foresee a need to alter their sales strategies significantly, as the impact on go-to-market approaches and sales team structures is expected to be minimal. 

What’s Changed in a Year of US Streaming?

Nielsen's final 'The Gauge' report of 2024 reveals that streaming now accounts for 41.6% of TV viewing time in the US, a record high, indicating a continued shift from traditional broadcast and cable TV. However, the growth of streaming's share has shown some fluctuation over the past two years, suggesting a more gradual increase than previously perceived.

Individual streaming services like YouTube and Netflix have seen modest gains, but no service has made dramatic advances against competitors, with most maintaining similar market positions year-over-year. Notably, smaller, ad-supported services like The Roku Channel and Tubi, as well as a collective of 'other streaming' services, have seen significant growth, pointing to a diversifying streaming landscape. 
 

IAB Tech Lab Releases Programmatic CTV Genre Guidance Leveraging Content Taxonomy, Including Mappings for Upgrades for Public Comment. 

The IAB Tech Lab announced the release of new resources aimed at aiding the digital advertising industry in utilising its Ad Product Taxonomy and CTV genre values, now open for public comment until January 24, 2025. These tools are designed to facilitate the industry's transition from the outdated Content Taxonomy 1.0 to more refined taxonomies, enhancing programmatic advertising operations.

According to CEO Anthony Katsur, this initiative is intended to reduce operational complexities, allowing businesses to focus more on value creation. The updates, developed by the Taxonomy & Mapping and Programmatic Supply Chain Working Groups, include new OpenRTB attributes, updates to the genres list, and detailed mapping and implementation guidance for transitioning taxonomies.

Digiday+ Research: Publishers expected Google to keep cookies, but they’re moving on anyway.

Google's decision to retain third-party cookies in Chrome did not alter publishers' ongoing plans to move away from using such cookies, as evidenced by a Digiday+ Research survey conducted among 40 publisher professionals. Despite Google's reversal, 80% of respondents are still pursuing alternative tracking methods.

The survey revealed that 70% of publishers had anticipated Google might backtrack on its plan to phase out third-party cookies. Furthermore, a significant majority, 77%, reported having strategies in place for tracking consumers without relying on third-party cookies.

Only 20% of publishers plan to continue relying on third-party cookies following Google’s decision. Overall, the industry shows strong readiness to adopt new tracking mechanisms, with most publishers prepared for a post-cookie advertising environment. 
 

Digital Economy Consolidates “Around a Few Massive Platforms” in GroupM Forecast. 

Global ad spend is projected to exceed $1 trillion this year and reach $1.1 trillion next year, with a 9.5% growth in 2024 and 7.7% in 2025, according to GroupM's 'This Year Next Year' report. The report notes that a majority of the ad spend is concentrated within five major corporations—Google, Meta, ByteDance, Amazon, and Alibaba, which are expected to capture more than half of all ad revenue in 2024.

GroupM predicts digital and particularly pure-play digital advertising, which includes social media and online video, will make up 72.9% of total spend in 2025. Despite potential regulatory challenges impacting platforms like TikTok, digital advertising growth is expected to continue, though it will face competition and consolidation, mainly among major players already dominating the market.

▸ Week 49

• - Publishers’ strategy on Bluesky remains undefined
• - Experian’s acquisition of Audigent underscores curation's influence
• - IAB Europe’s outlook for the new European Commission
• - AI-driven ad buys reshape programmatic marketing
• - The curation debate: fact vs. fiction in ad tech
• - Tech Lab unveils Ad Creative ID Framework for feedback
• - Global ad spend forecast: 5.9% growth by 2025
• - The Guardian US shifts to private marketplaces
• - Redefining brand safety in a post-GARM era
• - Kantar Media: Key trends and predictions
  
  
  

Media Briefing: Publishers’ strategy on Bluesky is TBD.

This week's Media Briefing explores the varied publisher strategies for emerging platforms like Bluesky, Threads, and X, noting that Bluesky’s and Threads’ traffic are minor compared to X. While publishers are mostly in the test-and-learn phase without a solid strategy for Bluesky, some, like The Boston Globe, report promising referral traffic and subscriber conversions from the platform.

However, tracking Bluesky users is challenging due to limitations in the platform's analytics capabilities, prompting some publishers to use workaround methods like UTM codes. Despite the initial challenges and small scale, publishers are cautiously optimistic, watching these platforms to adapt and potentially increase their engagement and traffic strategies over time. 

A sign of things to come: Experian’s acquisition of Audigent highlights curation’s rising influence. 

Experian has acquired Audigent for $200 - $250 million, enhancing its data and identity solutions and securing a strategic position in the shifting ad tech landscape. The acquisition, which builds on a partnership that began in 2022, positions Experian to capitalise on the decline of third-party cookies by incorporating Audigent’s first-party data and sell-side distribution into its marketing solutions.

Industry experts note that the deal reflects broader trends in ad tech, where companies are increasingly seeking to integrate media packaging and verification to stay competitive. Audigent will continue as a standalone brand within Experian, with plans to further integrate its technologies and data capabilities into Experian’s advertising solutions. 
 

IAB Europe’s Expectations for the New European Commission.

IAB Europe has extended congratulations to President Ursula von der Leyen and her College of Commissioners, marking a crucial moment for Europe to strengthen its role in an inclusive, innovative, and sustainable digital economy. They urge the new European Commission to prioritise the effective implementation of existing digital frameworks like the GDPR and the Digital Services Act.

The group highlights the necessity of consistent and evidence-based regulations to support the digital advertising sector, which is vital for funding diverse content and services while promoting Europe’s digital competitiveness. IAB Europe advocates for cohesive regulatory practices across EU member states to reduce fragmentation and encourages collaborative efforts to enhance transparency, safety, and sustainability in digital advertising. 

Programmatic marketers sound off on impact of AI-driven ad buys. 

At the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, agency executives discussed how AI integration is altering their roles and impacting their ability to optimise campaigns for clients. They expressed concerns about the transparency of AI-driven ad buying, noting difficulties in understanding and controlling automated decisions that affect campaign outcomes.

Executives also highlighted challenges with incrementality, as AI might optimise for conversions from users who would have converted anyway, potentially overlooking broader strategic opportunities. The summit revealed that defining value in an AI-driven industry is crucial, with agencies needing to emphasise strategic thinking over technical tasks.

Agencies are advised to communicate their strategic contributions clearly to clients, enhancing perceived value and trust. Overall, the discussions underscored the need for a balance between leveraging AI efficiencies and maintaining strategic control in advertising campaigns.

The curation conundrum: separating fact from fiction in ad tech’s latest obsession. 

Ad tech's "curation" concept is not new; it has evolved from data-driven tools curating impressions in the open programmatic market. Curation encompasses a spectrum of strategies beyond sell-side targeting, such as traffic shaping and supply-path optimisation, challenging the misconception that it's just about advertiser-demanded quality.

While curation is seen as potentially disruptive, it still heavily relies on SSPs to connect supply and demand, indicating that SSPs are adapting rather than disappearing. Myths around curation highlight misunderstandings about its impact on quality, publisher revenue, and its replacement of agency expertise, emphasising the complexity and evolving nature of curation in ad tech.

Tech Lab releases Ad Creative ID Framework (ACIF) Validation API for Public Comment. 

On December 4, 2024, IAB Tech Lab launched a public comment period for the ACIF Validation API to standardise and automate creative ID validation in TV and video ad operations. CEO Anthony Katsur emphasised the API's potential to resolve industry inefficiencies and called for community input to refine the tool before the comment period ends on January 18, 2024.

The ACIF Validation API is part of a broader effort to normalise the tech stack across TV and video platforms, requiring ad registration authorities to support it and encouraging ad tech platforms to integrate it. This standardisation benefits key players across the ecosystem, from ad registration authorities to platforms that handle automated creative workflows.

Global Ad Spend Forecasts 2025: 5.9% Growth Predicted as Algorithmic Strategies Reshape Media Investments.  

The global advertising market is projected to grow by 6.8% in 2024, reaching $772.4 billion, bolstered by significant increases in digital ad spend and events influencing key markets such as the US and UK. The UK advertising market is expected to outperform with a 7.5% growth in 2024, driven by strong digital media contributions.

Algorithmically enabled advertising is forecasted to comprise 59.5% of total ad spend in 2024, escalating to 79.0% by 2027, reflecting the industry’s shift towards data-driven strategies. Regionally, the Americas are poised to lead growth in 2025, driven by digital and streaming investments in the US and Brazil, while AI-driven placements boost the Asia-Pacific region, and EMEA sees a 5% growth mainly through digital channels.

Dentsu's analysis highlights the growing importance of digital channels, with a projected increase to $513.0 billion by 2025, capturing 62.7% of global ad spend. Retail media and programmatic advertising are expected to see significant growth, with retail media predicted to grow by 21.9% yearly due to high-value consumer data utilisation, and programmatic making up over 70% of digital ad spend by 2027. 

The Guardian US Is Following Programmatic Budgets To Private Marketplaces. 

Programmatic advertising is shifting from open auctions to curated private marketplaces (PMPs), offering opportunities for publishers like The Guardian US, as highlighted by their new VP of Revenue Operations, Dave Strauss. Strauss emphasises that PMPs allow buyers to know exactly what inventory they are purchasing, utilising first-party data for targeted advertising.

To leverage PMPs effectively, The Guardian US is training their sales team to become well-versed in programmatic sales, aiming to sell bundled advertising solutions that include video and display. In adapting to the evolving ad landscape, The Guardian is also evaluating its partnerships with SSPs to optimise the quality of partnerships and unique demands.

Despite a slight decline in revenue, The Guardian sees growth in programmatic revenue, particularly in North America, and is not overly dependent on third-party cookies, increasingly pivoting to contextual targeting. Additionally, The Guardian continues to explore new revenue streams such as affiliate marketing and has seen significant growth in reader contributions, reinforcing the value of their content and audience engagement.

Retooling Brand Safety in a Post-GARM World.

The closure of GARM (Global Alliance for Responsible Media) in August due to a lawsuit by Elon Musk’s company, X, has left lingering questions about the impact on established brand safety standards. Despite GARM's dissolution, its standards continue to influence the industry, as publishers and platforms maintain their adherence to the established brand safety policies and taxonomies.

Legal and political pressures stemming from the lawsuit could potentially influence advertisers' behavior, yet the industry maintains a commitment to brand safety, with major companies affirming their ongoing adherence to GARM's guidelines. Brand safety tools are expected to continue evolving to meet the needs of a complex media landscape, ensuring ongoing prioritisation of responsible advertising practices. 

Kantar Media: MEDIA TRENDS & PREDICTIONS

The 2025 outlook for media and entertainment is optimistic yet challenged by regulatory changes and shifts in content consumption. The annual report highlights key trends including industry convergence, audience attention, regulatory impacts on data and AI, and the necessity for skills development.

▸ Week 48

• - Bluesky delivering more referral traffic than X for some publishers
• - Digiday+ Research: How programmatic shook out for publishers in 2024
• - Canada's antitrust watchdog sues Google for anti-competitive conduct
• - Samsung Ads Report: Targeting the Right ‘TV Moments’ for CTV Success
• - Google subpoenas OpenAI, Perplexity, and Microsoft in search remedies trial
• - DOJ and Google make closing arguments in landmark adtech antitrust trial
• - Publishers grapple with lack of control over deal curation
• - Programmatic Ad Seller Misrepresentation Report
  

Bluesky already delivering more referral traffic than X for some publishers.

Bluesky, a new social network, has outperformed both X and Threads in driving referral traffic to The Guardian's website, with reports of significantly higher engagement and digital subscriber conversions. Guardian Australia's audience editor, Dave Earley, noted that within just one week of joining Bluesky, they saw double the traffic from Bluesky compared to Threads, and more than any week in 2024 from X.

The Boston Globe also observed similar trends, with Bluesky driving three times more traffic than Threads and converting 4.5 times more digital subscribers. Bluesky's appeal lies in its simplified user experience and lower levels of misinformation and commercial content compared to X, alongside not having Elon Musk, a dominant and controversial figure on X.

Other publishers and independent journalists have reported a shift in referral ratios favoring Bluesky over other platforms, indicating a broader trend in the industry. As Bluesky's user base grows and publisher visibility on other platforms like X diminishes, Bluesky is positioned to become the preferred microblogging site for professional journalism. 

Digiday+ Research: How programmatic shook out for publishers in 2024.

Programmatic ads continue to be a crucial revenue source for publishers in 2024, although their focus on programmatic might lessen in 2025. Digiday+ Research's surveys of nearly 50 publisher professionals in the first and third quarters of the year show that 86% of publishers derive some revenue from programmatic ads, a slight increase from 82% earlier in the year.

However, while more publishers report a substantial income from programmatic ads by the end of 2024, a larger percentage than before also note only a minor income from this source. Notably, while 36% of publishers in Q3 said a significant portion of their revenue comes from programmatic ads, up from 33% in Q1, 25% reported only a small revenue share from these ads, up from 17% at the start of the year.

Despite this, fewer publishers plan to prioritise enhancing their programmatic ad business in the coming six months, with only 47% considering it a major focus, down from 53% in Q1. The interest in direct-sold and open market programmatic ads has increased, with 90% and 92% of publishers, respectively, gaining at least a small portion of their revenue from these sources by Q3, up from 80% in Q1.

Yet, the dynamics differ between these sources; direct-sold ads see an increase in publishers earning a substantial revenue, while the share earning a lot from the open market has slightly decreased. Overall, while direct-sold programmatic ads show growth potential, the open market still commands a significant portion of programmatic revenue, indicating nuanced shifts in publishers' strategies heading into 2025. 

Canada's antitrust watchdog sues Google alleging anti-competitive conduct in advertising. 

Canada's Competition Bureau is suing Google for alleged anti-competitive behavior in online advertising, demanding the sale of two ad tech tools and a penalty to enforce compliance with national competition laws. The Bureau's investigation, initiated in 2020 and expanded in 2023, accuses Google of abusing its dominant market position to maintain and strengthen its control over web advertising.

Google defends its ad technologies as beneficial for websites and businesses, and plans to contest the charges in court. This legal action in Canada follows similar scrutiny by the U.S. Justice Department and ongoing antitrust discussions in the EU regarding Google's advertising practices. 

New Samsung Ads Report: Targeting the Right ‘TV Moments’ is Key to CTV Success.

Samsung Ads' new report, "Change The Way You CTV" emphasises the variation in audiences' receptiveness to advertising depending on their 'TV Moment,' which includes their emotional state, environment, and viewing motivation. The research introduces the 'ad acceptance hierarchy,' revealing that a viewer's motivation and emotional state influence their openness to advertisements.

It suggests that advertising effectiveness can be enhanced by targeting the right TV Moments, moving beyond traditional metrics of reach and frequency to consider the nuances of viewer context. Shared viewing experiences, such as watching TV with family or partners, have been found to increase ad acceptance and engagement, with different types of TV like free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) seeing high rates of shared viewing.

Age and gender also play a role, with older generations generally more accepting of ads, while younger viewers are more likely to act on them, and men showing higher tolerance up to a tipping point. The report challenges traditional TV planning methods by highlighting the importance of aligning ad strategies with actual viewer receptiveness and engagement, suggesting a shift towards more data-driven and viewer-centric advertising approaches.

Google uses search remedies trial to subpoena OpenAI, Perplexity and Microsoft over their generative AI efforts.

In the remedies phase of Google's search antitrust trial, Google has subpoenaed leading AI competitors including OpenAI, Perplexity AI, and Microsoft, aiming to demonstrate increased competition in the search and advertising sectors. The subpoenas request various data such as usage statistics, financial performance, and strategic documents, suggesting Google seeks to highlight the competitive landscape influenced by AI advancements.

The legal filings reveal Google's strategy to present evidence of emerging competition from AI-powered search tools to counter claims of monopolistic practices. The companies subpoenaed have varied responses, with OpenAI agreeing to some requests while objecting to others as burdensome, and Microsoft agreeing to provide documents for most requests, citing objections to a few based on relevance and confidentiality concerns.

The broader legal context includes Google potentially facing orders to sell assets like Chrome, which could significantly impact its market position, although any major changes are expected to undergo prolonged legal battles. Experts and industry insiders are discussing the potential long-term effects on market dynamics, particularly how newer AI-driven companies like Perplexity might struggle to scale in an ad-dominated market still largely controlled by Google. 

DOJ and Google make closing arguments in landmark adtech antitrust trial. 

The Google adtech antitrust trial concluded with closing arguments, where DOJ lawyers depicted a monopolistic scene starkly different from Google's narrative of a competitive industry. The case now awaits a ruling, with U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema's questions hinting skepticism about Google's claim of non-monopoly, particularly concerning the definition of the ad market.

Google's defense emphasised historical legal precedents and argued the trial should view the adtech landscape as a unified market, a point the DOJ contests with its focus on Google's dominance in segmented markets. Significant during the trial was Judge Brinkema's concern over Google's broad market definitions and missing evidence, potentially leading to an adverse inference regarding the destroyed documents.

The trial also highlighted a disconnect between Google's portrayal of market dynamics and the realities outlined by the DOJ, which focused on Google's alleged restrictive practices affecting competition. The decision will hinge on how Judge Brinkema interprets the market structure and whether Google's market behavior aligns with antitrust violations, with implications for the digital advertising landscape.
 

Publishers Grapple With A Lack Of Control Over Deal Curation.

The sell-side curation movement is gaining momentum in programmatic advertising, leading SSPs to rapidly form partnerships with DMPs. Despite the allure of curation as a means for publishers to leverage their first-party data, many publishers find themselves automatically enrolled in these programs without consent, losing control over their data and participation.

At a recent programmatic summit, publishers like Amanda Gomez from The New York Post voiced concerns about lack of transparency and control in how their data is used and how deals are structured. Publishers are also worried about pricing transparency, as some curation practices can negatively impact their revenue without setting effective pricing floors.

There is fear among publishers that initially favorable curation terms could be unfavorably renegotiated once they become reliant on the revenue from these deals. The broader discussion at the summit reflected a skepticism toward curation's promise of enhanced control and profitability, highlighting operational challenges and the limitations imposed by existing ad management systems.

Programmatic Ad Seller Misrepresentation Report - Web. 

Pixalate's report reveals that 5% of desktop and mobile web ad impressions are sold by unauthorised direct sellers, causing a 94% surge in ad fraud. Additionally, 11% of all Supply Chain Objects on these platforms fail verification, highlighting significant issues in programmatic advertising compliance.

▸ Week 47

• - News publishers flocking to Bluesky but staying on X
• - Is owning content a conflict for DSPs
• - Publishers’ Q4 programmatic ad businesses in limbo
• - IAB Tech Lab introduces “ID-Less Solutions Guidance” for public comment
• - UK Publishers Back AI Compensation Startup ProRata
• - Forrester’s SSP Wave ranks Google at the bottom
• - US lawyers push for Google to sell Chrome and unbundle Android
• - Kantar Media Webinar: 2025 media trends & predictions
  
  

News publishers may be flocking to Bluesky, but many aren’t leaving X. 

Despite some publishers like The Guardian and NPR reducing their activity on platform X due to concerns about toxicity and ownership, they have not left the platform entirely. Other major publishers, including The New York Times and Reuters, have no plans to abandon X, indicating that it remains a relevant channel for engagement despite its reduced role in driving referral traffic.

On Election Day, platform X saw a significant, if temporary, increase in referral traffic to publishers, but overall, the platform's contribution to traffic has been declining since 2023. While individual publishers like The Dodo and Polygon have ceased posting due to the platform's hostile environment, others within the same media groups see continued value in maintaining their presence on X for audience engagement in sports and entertainment. 

Is Owning Content Actually A Conflict For DSPs?

Despite CEO Jeff Green's initial denials, The Trade Desk has confirmed it has been developing its own CTV operating system named Ventura, aiming to compete with established players like Roku, Amazon's Fire TV, and Google's Android. The company argues that unlike other OS providers, which also own content libraries, The Trade Desk does not face a conflict of interest as it doesn’t own streaming content.

Green suggests that this content neutrality could provide a more objective platform for advertisers. However, industry experts are divided on whether owning content truly poses a conflict of interest.

They point out that platforms like Comcast and Amazon already manage to offer diverse content without limiting consumer choice or advertiser access. Overall, The Trade Desk’s move into the TV OS market is seen as an attempt to innovate control and identity management within CTV, with experts curious about how Ventura will balance advertiser value and user experience without content holdings.

Media Briefing: Publishers’ Q4 programmatic ad businesses are in limbo.

This week’s DigiDay’s Media Briefing reveals that while programmatic ad sales in the open market have slowed in the U.S. and Europe during Q4, they have increased in the private marketplace. Publishers are facing a rare kind of uncertainty due to a tumultuous news cycle, the U.S. presidential election, and shifts in ad spending patterns, leaving them unsure about the final quarter's outcomes.

Notably, the head of programmatic at a North American gaming publisher observed a strong Q3 but a slower start to Q4, though there has been a recent uptick following promotional events like Amazon’s Prime Day. While Google’s ad exchange has seen a decline, other exchanges and direct deals are compensating, with some publishers experiencing significant increases in programmatic direct deals.

However, the general sentiment remains mixed, as the market is still adjusting post-election, and the real impact on Q4 will only become clear by its end. Despite these challenges, forecasts from sources like eMarketer suggest potential growth in programmatic ad spending, indicating opportunities for publishers able to capitalise on them. 

IAB Tech Lab Introduces “ID-Less Solutions Guidance” for Public Comment.

The IAB Tech Lab has released its "ID-Less Solutions Guidance" document for public comment to address the diminishing utility of traditional identifiers like third-party cookies. This guide aims to assist advertisers and publishers by offering frameworks and strategies for operating effectively without reliance on conventional IDs.

Authored by the Addressability and Privacy Enhancing Technologies working group, it clarifies the differences between traditional and ID-less methods and provides a roadmap for adopting new technologies. Stakeholders are encouraged to review and give feedback on this guidance until December 19, 2024, as part of IAB Tech Lab's efforts to promote privacy-conscious advertising solutions. 

UK Publishers Back AI Compensation Startup ProRata. 

Several UK news publishers, including Guardian Media Group, Sky News, and dmg media, have partnered with ProRata.ai, a startup that aims to credit and compensate publishers whose content is used by generative AI tools. ProRata.ai plans to launch an 'answer engine' later this year, which will utilise publisher content to generate responses, and will share 50% of its revenue based on the usage of their content.

ProRata's technology credits and compensates content creators by analysing AI outputs to measure and calculate contributions using a proprietary algorithm. The model promises a fair compensation system by only sourcing content from licensed partners, distinguishing it from other generative AI tools that often rely on broad licensing deals or content harvesting without direct compensation. 

Forrester’s SSP Wave Lists The Top 10 SSPs – With Google At The Bottom (Really). 

Forrester recently released its first SSP wave since 2014, highlighting significant shifts in the SSP landscape. Google, previously considered a leader, was downgraded to a challenger position due to a lack of innovation and transparency, falling behind competitors like Amazon, Magnite, and PubMatic.

The report cited Google's limited response to the phasing out of third-party cookies and its poor integration of new privacy frameworks as major reasons for its lower ranking. In contrast, Amazon Ads has risen to the category leader, appreciated for its interoperability with alternative identifiers and strong performance in the retail media sector.

Magnite has been acknowledged as a standard-bearer in the programmatic CTV ad space, leveraging its acquisition of SpringServe to enhance its video and CTV curation. PubMatic, noted for its comprehensive support to publishers and innovative header bidding solutions, narrowly competes with Amazon and Magnite for the top position.

In the strong performers category, InMobi and Index Exchange were lauded for their mobile expertise and overall competence, though Index’s lack of an ad server was seen as a competitive disadvantage. Adform and OpenX struggled, with OpenX's low industry engagement highlighting the importance of visibility in maintaining a competitive edge in ad tech. 

US lawyers will reportedly try to force Google to sell Chrome and unbundle Android.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is set to request that Google be compelled to divest its Chrome browser following a judicial determination that the company has illegally monopolised search. This proposal comes amidst claims that Chrome facilitates Google's cross-promotion of products, thereby stifling competition.

Additionally, the DOJ plans to enforce separation of Android from Google Search and Google Play without mandating the sale of Android, and to enhance transparency and control for advertisers in their dealings with Google. Further recommendations include providing websites more control over the use of their content by Google's AI technologies and prohibiting exclusive contracts that have been central to the case against Google.

Kantar Media Webinar: 2025 MEDIA TRENDS & PREDICTIONS.

Kantar Media is hosting a broadcast to look into the trends and predictions featured in this year's report and hear from media leaders about the opportunities and challenges set to shape the ecosystem in 2025.

December 4th, 2024 
3PM CET  | 2PM GMT | 9AM EST.

Register here.

▸ Week 46

• - Google prepares to unveil Chrome’s cookie opt-in model.
• - Political ads to end in the EU as Google responds to new regulations.
• - GPP updates introduce expanded data privacy compliance measures.
• - CMA demands updated commitments for Google’s Privacy Sandbox.
• - Facebook and Instagram launch ad-free subscriptions in Europe.
• - Subscriptions resurge as publishers refocus revenue priorities.

Google is getting ready to unveil how Chrome’s cookie opt-in model will work, sources say.

In July, Google’s announcement to retain third-party cookies in its Chrome browser disrupted the digital media industry, overturning years of investment in cookie-free solutions. This decision shifted control over cookie usage to Chrome users, while Google continues developing Privacy Sandbox APIs to balance privacy and ad-supported internet needs.

The announcement has placed the ad tech industry in a holding pattern, with many awaiting clarity on Google’s cookie consent prompt and its potential impact on user opt-in rates. The UK’s CMA and ICO have expressed concerns about Google’s Privacy Sandbox meeting regulatory standards, highlighting ongoing scrutiny.

Industry stakeholders, particularly on the sell-side, are pressing Google for transparency, fearing a repeat of monetisation losses seen with Apple’s 2022 ATT update. Without clarity on alternatives like Topics or Attribution APIs, ad tech players remain hesitant to invest, demanding broader adoption before further third-party cookie deprecations.

Google says it will stop serving political ads in the EU. 

Google will stop showing political ads in the EU next year due to challenges and legal uncertainties posed by the new Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising (TTPA) rules. The TTPA, set to take effect in October 2025, aims to prevent election interference by requiring clear labelling of political ads, transparency about ad funding, and explicit user consent for targeting.

Google criticised the broad definition of political advertising and the lack of clarity in the regulation, which it says makes compliance at scale difficult. Similar to its actions in France, Canada, and Brazil, Google plans to cease political ads in the EU before the rules are enforced, while continuing to evaluate its approach. 

GPP Update: Important Changes to Inform Your Data Privacy Roadmap.

The IAB Tech Lab has expanded the GPP to include Delaware, Iowa, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, and Tennessee to address newly enacted data privacy laws. These changes aim to harmonise data fields across states, and the MSPA US National Section has been updated to version 2.0, introducing new categories in the SensitiveDataProcessing field and revised age ranges in the KnownChildConsents field.

The GPP now covers 15 states with comprehensive data privacy laws and plans to extend to five more states, including Minnesota and Maryland, by mid-2025. This brings the total coverage to 19 or 20 states, depending on whether Florida's Digital Bill of Rights is included. More info on each state in the original article.

The CMA Wants Updated Privacy Sandbox Commitments From Google By Next Month. 

The UK’s CMA is scrutinising Google’s decision to retain third-party cookies but introduce a user choice mechanism. While the CMA acknowledges Google’s adherence to commitments not to favour its own advertising business, it remains concerned about the competition implications and unresolved issues like the Topics API, which may disproportionately benefit Google due to its first-party data access.

The CMA is collaborating with the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), which has expressed disappointment over Google’s decision to keep cookies, arguing it hampers consumer privacy progress. Both regulators are navigating the tension between privacy improvements and competition fairness, with the CMA pushing for updated commitments and the ICO reserving the right to take independent regulatory action.

The CMA plans to release Google’s updated Privacy Sandbox commitments for public comment by Q4, ensuring ongoing oversight of the ad tech ecosystem’s changes. As industry stakeholders remain cautious, the CMA and ICO’s collaboration highlights the complex interplay between privacy and competition in digital advertising. 

Facebook and Instagram to Offer Subscription for No Ads in Europe. 

Meta has announced a 40% price reduction for ad-free subscriptions on Facebook and Instagram in the EU, with web prices dropping to €5.99/month and mobile to €7.99/month. Users can choose between this subscription, a free service with personalised ads, or a new option to see less personalised ads based on minimal data.

The less personalised ads option, designed to meet evolving EU regulations, may show less relevant ads and include unskippable ad breaks to support advertisers. Meta reaffirms its commitment to personalised advertising, highlighting its value for businesses and consumers, while continuing to adapt its offerings to regulatory requirements.

Digiday+ Research: Subscriptions poised to make a comeback as publishers sort out revenue priorities for 2025.  

Heading into 2025, direct-sold ads, branded content, and subscriptions remain publishers’ top revenue priorities, with subscriptions seeing significant growth in focus. Digiday’s survey revealed that 71% of publishers plan to prioritise direct-sold ads, 52% will focus on branded content, and 50% on subscriptions, up from just 37% last year.

Video advertising saw a boost in relevance, rising to the second most common revenue source, while programmatic ads and CTV declined in focus and revenue contribution. Subscriptions experienced notable growth, with 21% of publishers now earning a large portion of their revenue from them, compared to 11% last year.

Affiliate commerce also increased, with 68% of publishers generating some revenue from it this year, up from 61%. However, branded content dropped as a revenue source, from 96% of publishers last year to 88% this year.

Programmatic ads remain significant but saw reduced focus, with 84% of publishers prioritising them, down from 91% last year. Overall, publishers are aligning their efforts towards direct-sold ads, subscriptions, and branded content while adjusting to shifting industry dynamics.