The Big Story

The FTC approved the Omnicom-IPG merger, but with a brand-safety caveat: The agencies cannot create agency-level blocklists of any media that's political or ideological. With Ad Fontes CEO Vanessa Otero, we unpack the consent order's ramifications.

From Cannes Lions, our editorial team discusses the mix of perspectives on the ad industry's application of AI: the opportunity, the hesitation and the predictions of how it will disrupt marketing.

In the latest sign of massive change among ad agency hold cos, Mark Read is stepping down as leader of WPP. We unpack the impact of AI on agency hold cos and media, including WPP Media's prediction that 2025 will be the first year in which the majority of ad spend flows through user-generated content.

Meta updated its ad platform Wednesday with AI-based buying improvements. Is the company on track to be fully automated with AI by the end of next year?

Amazon is integrating into Prebid. What does this mean for publishers? Plus, are Amazon and Google diverging in their product focus?

Recorded live on the Programmatic IO stage in Las Vegas, the editorial team recaps the trends that dominated our conference: marketers adopting AI and finding truth through measurement.

GroupM is in the middle of "restructuring," as AI looms over the business model of agency holding companies. One-click campaign planning is coming for agency jobs. Now what?

Does a connected TV DSP need lower take rates? Inside the battle among DSP's to take on The Trade Desk's dominant market position. Plus: an on-the-ground report from the TV NewFronts.

Emarketer is predicting tariffs could lead to a $2.78 billion to $4 billion decline in linear TV upfront spending, but CTV spending will be flat to up. Emarketer analyst Ross Benes unpacks these findings. Plus: At the Possible conference, optimism reins.

Google's SSP and ad server businesses have been ruled monopolies. Plus, Google Chrome isn't going to change its third-party cookie opt-ins, preserving their utility for marketers. Go inside this momentous news.

Temu pulled back on its US ad spend this week, as tariffs loom. Plus, in France, the ATT prompt was deemed anticompetitive and, as a result, will likely need to be changed.

The Trump tariff situation is in constant flux, creating uncertainty that spells doom for any potential growth in US ad spending this year. Plus, how retail media and other emerging channels could be threatened by tariff turmoil.

What's old is new. Time is a flat circle. Trends are cyclical. Choose your idiom, because this week's episode grapples with two topics that are back in style (so to speak): bot traffic and the tantalizing dream of scaling programmatic in-game advertising.

After the IAB Tech Lab proposed to move ad auctions from the browser to the server with its Trusted Server prototype, controversy ensued. Plus: Should data privacy be viewed as a badge of honor or a baseline?

Alphonso shareholders won their lawsuit against LG Ads, clearing the way for an IPO. Then, as TikTok counts down the days until its stay of execution expires, Oracle might buy a minority stake.

Tariffs are taking effect in the US, and advertisers are shook. Our special guest, Madison and Wall's Brian Wieser, weighs in on the "blindingly obvious" consequences of implementing tariffs, including supply-chain disruptions that lead to a pullback in ad spend. You can't promote what you can't produce. Plus: the rationale behind Publicis' acquisition of Lotame.

Programmatic algorithms optimize for performance, which can leave digital media companies floundering. Inside programmatic's pursuit of "premium." Plus: an ad tech acquisition forged on matchmaking buy-side and sell-side IDs.

In her last week at AdExchanger, Senior Editor Alyssa Boyle reflects on three years of change, and stasis, in the CTV space. Then, how Ozempic is changing the marketing world.

When the ad tech darling of Wall Street, The Trade Desk, misses earnings, the industry pays attention. Plus: Reddit, fueled by Google search, sputters after an algorithmic adjustment.

When an ad shows up next to illegal content, there is often not a single point of failure. Adalytics Krzysztof Franaszek walks us through why he found ad showing up next to the worst kind of criminal content -- and the simple and complex solutions to this problem.

The Google Chrome team is getting closer to deciding on its cookie consent mechanism. And  Paramount resolves its four-month standoff with Nielsen, as the mechanics behind currency change forever.

CTV transparency remains a flashpoint between advertisers who want it and broadcasters who won't provide it. Our special guest, Jounce Media's Chris Kane, weighs in. Plus, we examine a persistent issue in ad tech: the chronic mislabeling of instream video.

TikTok was granted a 75-day stay of execution this week. We discuss what's next for the social media platform, why it was classified as a threat to national security – and how advertisers are responding.

2025 M&A is off with a bang. T-Mobile bought Vistar Media. The Trade Desk bought Sincera. With a special guest from LUMA Partners, Conor McKenna, we explore the rationale for these ad tech acquisitions.

Recorded from the showroom floor at CES, the AdExchanger editorial team talks about the intersection of consumer electronics and advertising with our guest, Monks head of AI innovation Dave Meeker. From the responsible use of AI to new ad experiences that will be enabled by tech on the showroom floor,   we dig into what caught our eye this year.