Technology

This year, programmatic companies faced tough decisions about privacy, awkward acquisitions and the cookie die-off that never quite happened.

The generative AI trend generated endless hot takes this year, but the ad industry also had plenty to say about growing competition between DSPs and SSPs. Here are AdExchanger’s top 10 most popular guest columns of 2025 and why they resonated.

AI is fueling advertising, and AI agents are running ads. As we close out 2025, take a moment to listen to this AdExchanger Talks interview with Paul Longo, GM of AI in ads for advertising, for his POV on both of those topics.

Private equity finds ecommerce publishers aren’t worth what they used to be; Salesforce rethinks its faith in agentic AI; and CBS News accidentally encourages people to pirate its content.

FAO Schwarz is getting into data; ChatGPT is better at driving traffic than we thought; and Honey’s bad behavior might go beyond affiliate hijacking.

Agencies are shifting away from third-party ad tech; ChatGPT is throwing all kinds of monetization spaghetti at the wall; and Axel Springer is looking to buy.

First, the VAB clashes with Nielsen over Big Data, and Pinterest teams up with tvScientific. Plus, Google Ad Manager rolls out major EU changes, from ditching Unified Pricing Rules to deeper data sharing with publishers.

Anthropic’s AI-operated vending machine sparks chaos; ad revenue should remain a top priority; and Roblox has potential for in-game ads – and concerns.

The film and TV studio Lionsgate has chosen Comcast’s FreeWheel as its exclusive ad server to help manage and sell the growing volume of ad inventory Lionsgate creates with new FAST channels.

Unauthorized ID stuffing, rampant reselling and misaligned signals inflict incredible damage on the programmatic ecosystem. If publishers want to compete with the walled gardens, we must raise our standards. 

Jay Richman, Amazon’s VP of product and technology, on how AI-generated ad creative can still stand out at scale without becoming generic or too samey samey. Plus: The risks brands face if they wait too long to embrace AI.

Fluency plans to invest its new funding into AI and engineering to bring more automation into the platform.

On Tuesday, Infillion launched fully agentic media execution platform built on MCP, marking a shift from the programmatic to the agentic era.

Meta’s not beating the scam ads allegations; SEO tools are getting into AI prompts; and the telcos are at it again.

AI shopping agents are breaking the traditional attribution loop. Marketers must ensure that AI is aware of their brand and track how that awareness influences ecommerce outcomes.

Auctions aren’t just for programmatic ads anymore; fashion influencers are turning to Substack; and AI-generated recaps continue to get the facts wrong.

Google’s AI browser opens relevant tabs for you; Disney-owned characters are now featured on Sora; and Google’s AI Max for Search gets lackluster feedback.

YouTube TV launches new skinny TV bundles; anti-ad Substack is testing ads; Google strikes new publisher licensing deals to feed its AI.

Publisher comment sections remain an untapped source of intent-based data, according to Kelly Andresen, who recently left USA Today to head up comment monetization platform OpenWeb’s direct sales efforts.

Almost everything in AI feels big. But are you looking at the next Gangnam Style or the birth of a new industry? Here’s how to assess whether an AI vendor is likely to matter in two years.

Instacart tried dynamic pricing for groceries; AI companies aim for an open-source agentic AI standard; and Tinder digs into users’ camera rolls for data.

Bringing programmatic ads to AI chatbots marks a shift in the business model for AI search, while traditional publishers must find new ways to monetize.

Marketers used to wait for obvious signals, like a product page view, a cart add or a keyword search, before triggering campaigns. But in today’s fractured landscape, those signals can arrive too late.

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

Thanks to mitigated tariff effects and the AI boom, WPP Media’s 2025 ad spend forecast has good news for marketers.

Criteo recently debuted new AI tech and pilot programs to a group of reporters – including a backend shopper data partnership with an unnamed LLM.

Consumer spending on Black Friday Cyber Monday was up 7%. But prices are high, and it’s affluent customers who are doing the most spending in the US. Plus: the challenge of being an ad buyer managing campaigns on Meta during “Glitchmas.”

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.

Agency buyers are facing a new wave of Google account hijackings that steal funds and lock out admins for weeks or even months.