Daily News Roundup

You are not immune to shopaganda; AI responses are more limited than retailers would like; and FIFA is forcing ad-mandated water breaks.

People want news, but not from news outlets; X’s blue checkmarks are coming home to roost; and Meta is finally paying publishers (kind of).

The metaverse hype is over; Apple Maps forays into advertising; and streamers vie for HBO Max and the WBD studio archive.

On Google and Meta platforms, AI search becomes the default; TTD might cut its costs; and apparently, toddlers like AI slop on YouTube.

Newsweek launches an AI-powered homepage to offset traffic losses from AI search; OpenAI pulls an emergency pivot back to focusing on ChatGPT; and copycats dilute the impact of Spotify Wrapped.

Omnicom is making more cuts; investors aren’t interesting in publishing; and OpenAI is still on the fence about ads.

Can more ads be better?; Speaking of, ChatGPT’s Android beta code reveals a looming ad business; The web’s new puppy dogs.

DMG Media has a new social-focused agency services biz; AI search and AI slop sites are cannibalizing recipe sites; and a new TikTok trend blasts brands for not delivering free stuff they didn’t promise.

Is TJX recession proof?; Amazon is blocking OpenAI; and Meta is in hot water with the US Senate.

The Trade Desk gets insistent with Korai again; the EU is rethinking hashed IDS; and is the AI industry becoming a cartel?

After pulling back on moderation, Instagram gets flooded with antisemites; BidSwitch builds a programmatic way for AI bots to pay to crawl websites; and nearly half of Gen Z dislikes AI content.

Adobe acquires SEO tech business Semrush; brands want to know what AI search engines think of them; and the LGBTQ community is an under-targeted audience.

There’s no magic bullet for AI search optimization; how kids’ media monetizes outside of YouTube; and hey, whatever happened to the TikTok ban?

Havas makes a play for WPP; The European Commission is getting simplified; and retail chains are monetizing their Muzak.

OneTrust wants to get bought; Europe wants Google to tweak its ad tech; and the DHS is spending more on ads than ever.

Omnicom revamps its revenue reporting; Amazon will now charge for access to its Selling Partner API; and brands seek sponsorship deals with all sorts of social creators.

A former exec sues WPP over an alleged retaliatory firing; Jolt acquires Volta Media from Shell; and AI defamation litigation is on the rise.

Lesser-known browser Brave comes out of the woodwork; agentic chatbots require new ad practices; and private equity can endanger both brands and publishers.

The Daily Mail deals with AI overviews; pause ads are the new hotness; and YouTube fights back against ad blockers.

Dentsu is for sale; Associated Press is scraping its own archives; and AI is infiltrating newsrooms.

Meta is profiting from fraudulent ads; LLMs are taking advantage of SaaS pricing policies; and agencies aren’t going under… yet.

Netflix announces a new way to measure viewership; streaming and smart TV companies face data collection investigations; and Polymarket ads incentivized losing bets.

LiveRamp’s gift could make IAB Tech Lab’s AI consent model workable; Spotify hypes video podcast growth and nabs a bigger ad margin; and Coke launches another AI holiday ad campaign.

Fubo had a good quarter; Kenvue is having a bad time; and the holiday season has started earlier than ever this year.

The Trade Desk is going after Amazon; Facebook creators are going after Meta; and everybody’s going after Warner Bros. Discovery.

WPP aims to turn around faster; YouTube TV tips the carriage deal market; and Roblox takes its time on video ads.

Tylenol maker Kenvue navigates pushing back against the Trump administration’s claims; viewers of Nobody Wants This are tired of product placement; and US Census data might become less privacy-safe.

Prebid changes its mind on universal TIDs; streaming media takes advantage of live events; and short-form video clips are (still) all the rage.

Condé Nast doesn’t think advertising will save it; AWS strikes a blow against Google’s cloud service; and Paramount+ is going to have to pivot.

Procter & Gamble is spending less on ads; OpenAI is spending more on ads; and guess which side of the scale Mondelez is falling on?