Data + Privacy
Why Prediction Is Replacing Precision For Outcome-Driven Advertising
For years, the advertising model was contextual. If an insurance provider wanted to sell its product, it would prioritize advertising on insurance-related sites. The thinking was that you had to go where the signals were strongest. Only those actively visiting a site that offers information about what insurance packages to buy could be guaranteed to […]
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The Big Story
Prog AI Live: AI’s Slippery Slop
Recorded live in Las Vegas at Prog AI, the AdExchanger team tackles a tricky question: As AI floods the feed with chaotic, addictive content and people engage with it, what does “premium” even mean anymore?
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Data-Driven Thinking
Making Marketing More Modular: What Agentic AI Can Learn From The Shipping Container Revolution
Today’s explosion of AI service providers has everyone looking back at the dot-com bubble, revisiting the technological boom and bust at the turn of the millennia for historical precedent to help us separate real innovation from BS. History is a valuable teacher, but I look beyond the history of the ad tech industry for inspiration. […]
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Data-Driven Thinking
Brands Don’t Need Perfect Data To Use AI
There is a common refrain that AI requires high-quality data to deliver high-quality results. “Garbage in/garbage out” refers to the idea that any AI trained on less than perfect data will not be able to produce valuable outputs. Before I get accused of dismissing the importance of quality data, high-quality data does produce the best […]
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The Big Story
To Sell TV, The New ‘Premium’ Is ‘Fandom’
This year’s TV Upfronts buzzwords are in: performance, dynamic, AI and fandom We explain why this quartet of phrases wove their way through the presentations.
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Data-Driven Thinking
The AI Chat Ad Frontier: What LLMs Change About Brand Safety And Control
ChatGPT ads are here, and brands are testing the waters. This marks the true start of LLMs as a new advertising channel, reshaping the customer journey and introducing a new surface for brand safety and suitability. It’s a real inflection point for advertising. Impressions, searches and even transactions that once traveled through websites will increasingly […]
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Data-Driven Thinking
On Neutral Ground: Why Content Licensing Needs Independent Settlement And Verifiable Payments
The content licensing economy has arrived faster than anyone expected. Microsoft and Amazon have both entered the marketplace business. Venture-backed startups like TollBit and ProRata have built infrastructure for publishers to license their content to LLMs. And, in 2025, AI companies committed an estimated $2.9 billion in licensing fees to a relatively small number of […]
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The Big Story
Identity Without Oversight
If a tree falls in a forest, does it make a sound? And if a UID2 doesn’t work — does anyone notice? Inside a UID2 mix-up that has a publisher questioning the value of alt IDs. Then, what Kochava’s settlement with the FTC means for any ad tech company that handles location data.
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Data-Driven Thinking
A “Pay-For-Performance” Ad Industry? Brands And Agencies Will Need A Referee
The very concept of AI and its impact on select industries is enough to cause dramatic swings in stock market sectors and wild future-of-work predictions. But when the world’s largest ad agency talks about changing its revenue model – and trots out a real-world client example to back it up – people pay attention. In […]
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The Big Story
What’s POSSIBLE With AI
Take your sunglasses off for this one. Fresh off the POSSIBLE conference in Miami, our reporters debrief on how the marketing industry addressed the subject du jour, AI. Plus: the topics that were conspicuously absent from the conference.
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Data-Driven Thinking
Stop Scaling Mediocre Ads: How AI Can Actually Elevate Performance Marketing
In a largely creative industry like advertising, performance marketing can seem a bit soulless. Algorithms, tracking and optimization can help us reach targets quicker and more efficiently. But the creative used in performance campaigns can often look or feel … off. When there are metrics to hit and placements to fill, creative often takes a […]
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