David Cohen

If any single event can be considered the jumping-off point for TV upfronts, it’s the Consumer Electronics Showcase (CES), which kicks off this week in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Instead of simply watching ads on the big screen, consumers are now being encouraged to interact with those ads – a shift in marketing that was particularly apparent at the 2025 NewFronts presentations in New York City this week.

The IAB predicts what privacy laws might be passed by the new congress; AI-generated newsletters are competing with local news; and the IAB Tech Lab ramps up production of new OpenRTB specs.

AI-generated slop content is growing exponentially online. Plus, publishers and new organizations are strategizing for a post-TikTok future. 
 

The Consumer Electronics Show may be “the event that folks love to hate,” as IAB CEO David Cohen put it to AdExchanger – but it’s still the place to be at the start of every new year.

The FTC’s got a new report on the data collection practices of large social media and video platforms. Plus, Amazon has its own “Shark Tank.”

Appealing to advertisers’ better angels is never going to bring ads back to the news. But appealing to their bottom lines might.

After going through denial and anger over the death of third-party cookies, the ad tech industry enters the bargaining stage. Plus, top takeaways from the FTC’s first-ever AI tech summit.

In today’s newsletter: The CMA comes out with an updated evaluation of Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox proposals; the IAB talks Privacy Sandbox with Google; and Temu may be a shell company, but its ad spend keeps skyrocketing.

The CEOs of the three largest advertising trade orgs – IAB, ANA and 4A’s – agree that we need a federal privacy law. They just don’t agree on exactly how to get there.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Lost And Found If you’re wondering what happened to all the titles HBO Max just cut, they were rehomed across two other streaming platforms. On Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery announced that it’s making more than 220 canceled titles available on Roku and Tubi […]

Privacy is one of the most pressing issues facing the online advertising industry – and antagonizing lawmakers who already don’t have the highest opinion of the online advertising industry could be a dicey strategy.

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Battle Lines Drawn The online advertising industry is struggling with its own brand perception. Nomenclature like “fingerprinting” doesn’t help, and over the past few years programmatic has been caught up in a vortex of negative opinions. Terms such as “surveillance capitalism” and even […]

Digital advertising’s biggest trade organization, the IAB, took a shot at Apple on Monday. Apple’s AppTrackingTransparency framework undermines advertising, according to the IAB, even as Apple builds its own ad business. “Apple is fine with advertising, as long as they get to control it on their terms,” IAB CEO David Cohen told hundreds of industry […]

How should advertisers approach a wild-child platform like Twitter? David Cohen, CEO of the Interactive Advertising Bureau – who recently spoke with Elon Musk himself on that very topic – weighs in. Also in this episode: grappling with the term “commercial surveillance,” retail media real talk and marketing in the metaverse.

“On TV & Video” is a column exploring opportunities and challenges in advanced TV and video.  Today’s column is by Pam Zucker, SVP and head of marketing at Amobee.  In a recent interview, IAB CEO David Cohen challenged advertisers “to rethink how they buy television.” He highlighted the dramatic change in consumption since the onset […]

Here’s today’s AdExchanger.com news round-up… Want it by email? Sign up here. Mind Your Own IABeeswax Ad Age dinged the IAB for Meta’s prime placement during the trade group’s Annual Leadership Meeting this week. Three small businesses with the Internet for Growth, an IAB-backed advocacy group, all cited Facebook and Instagram advertising during their presentations. “I […]

There’s a talent crunch bearing down on the digital advertising ecosystem. Agencies, brands and publishers are struggling to manage an ongoing labor shortage that’s been exacerbated by the pandemic, a demand for more flexible working environments and elevated expectations for diversity, equity and inclusion practices. “Everyone’s heard of ‘The Great Resignation,’ and we’re really seeing […]

The digital advertising world is changing faster than the seasons. At the Interactive Advertising Bureau, Randall Rothenberg, who held the top spot for 14 years, is stepping into an executive chairman role, while David Cohen, IAB president since March, is taking over. Not only will Cohen become CEO of IAB, he also inherits that same […]

The Interactive Advertising Bureau has a new chief exec. David Cohen, who joined the IAB as president in March (three days before the White House declared COVID-19 a national emergency), is stepping into the top role, the trade org said Wednesday. He’ll also serve as CEO of the IAB Tech Lab, the body responsible for […]

2020 hasn’t exactly gone as planned. As the newly appointed president of the IAB, David Cohen barely had time to shake hands with the rest of the leadership team before the nationwide onset of social distancing and working from home. Meanwhile, IAB Tech Lab President Dennis Buchheim, a frequent flyer who normally spent his time […]

Video marketplace operator Adap.tv, fresh from the closing of its $405 million sale to AOL, is revamping its products to appeal more directly to buyers and sellers. A large part of what Adap.tv is doing is for basic marketing purposes, conceded Teg Grenager, the company’s co-founder and chief product officer. But he hastened to add […]