artificial intelligence

Meta is channeling its booming ad revenue into a $135 billion AI drive to power its “personal superintelligence” future.

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

AdExchanger, part of the Chief Marketer Network, is launching Programmatic AI, a new spring industry event debuting May 18–20, 2026, in Las Vegas.

From headline to punchline, AdExchanger’s weekly comics distill ad tech industry news into something our readers can laugh about. These are our faves of the year.

The Economist is charting its own course in the age of AI, says Nada Arnot, the 182-year-old publication’s EVP of marketing. It’s steering clear of licensing deals and lawsuits and partnering with Claude on its own terms.

Marketers know that quality matters – and here’s yet more proof. But breaking old habits in digital media is easier said than done.

AI hype is everywhere, but Moloco CEO Ikkjin Ahn says the real winners in ad tech will be those who can move beyond flashy demos and harness AI at true hyperscale.

Meet Guideline, a marketing intelligence platform that aggregates anonymized agency billing data to generate data-driven insights on media spend, pricing and market trends.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Jeff Cohen, Skai’s new chief business development officer, unpacks why the smartest retailers and brands are already connecting the data dots and rethinking their playbooks for the AI era, even though the shopping bots aren’t quite there yet.

AI is bringing accountability to ad tech’s murky middle, helping brands like EssilorLuxottica cut out bots, bad bids and wasted spend before a single impression runs.

Tony Stubblebine became CEO of Medium in 2022 and turned the struggling, loss-making platform profitable by cutting costs, improving content quality and refusing to rely on advertising.

Marketing often gets unfairly pegged as a cost center. But that wouldn’t happen if marketers had access to better measurement that gave them clarity on what truly drives business growth, argues Henry Innis, CEO and co-founder of MMM platform Mutinex.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Anne Coghlan, co-founder and COO of Scope3, on why cutting carbon in ad tech isn’t just about saving the planet; it’s about eliminating inefficiency and financial waste at the same time. Plus: Using AI to automate and optimize digital media buying at the impression level.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem …  Click here to see what inspired this week’s comic!

Meta is rolling out Reels trending ads, value rules beyond just conversions, upgrades to Threads and pixel-free landing page optimization.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Meta is making a massive investment in AI because “we have a conviction that superintelligence is going to improve every aspect of what we do,” Mark Zuckerberg told investors.

DSPs are building tools to bypass SSPs, and SSPs are trying to cut out the buy side. But the real question in the noise is whether the technology improves effectiveness, says Kara Puccinelli, chief customer officer at Nexxen, which just so happens to describe itself as an end-to-end platform.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

The rapid evolution of generative AI technology has created uncertainty between brands and their agencies. But finding answers can be difficult when advertisers often don’t even know what questions to ask.

Enjoy this weekly comic from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Sometimes it takes an outsider to point out the obvious: There was a lot of talk about AI in Cannes, but where is the real ad tech innovation?

Charlotte Maines, Head of Fire TV, Alexa, and Tablets at Amazon, joins AdExchanger to discuss how AI is revolutionizing content discovery, advertising, and the connected home. From personalized recommendations to voice-powered engagement, she reveals how Amazon’s ecosystem is driving immersive brand experiences. Discover how AI and cross-device innovation are shaping the future of streaming and […]

If journalists don’t decide the best use of AI in journalism, then AI firms will decide for them, says Christian Broughton, CEO of The Independent,

Michael Komasinski, Criteo’s newly-minted CEO, shares his vision for the company – and swears that Criteo doesn’t regret its huge investment in testing the Chrome Privacy Sandbox.

Viant is on an M&A tear, with two acquisitions – IRIS.TV followed by lockr – in less than six months. Although the rationale behind these deals might be obvious to ad tech insiders, Wall Street investors speak a different language, one that Viant CEO Tim Vanderhook has become fluent in as the leader of a publicly traded company.

Why bring data to SaaS applications when you can bring the applications to your data? That’s what modern data platforms do, says Erin Foxworthy, global industry go-to-market lead for marketers and advertisers at Snowflake. Cloud-based platforms, meanwhile, are becoming the foundation for technologies that are increasingly integral to how digital advertising functions.