Data + Privacy

Advertising in AI-native destinations and experiences is already starting to look less like a series of experiments and more like an emerging market. Three months ago, I argued that AI platforms had started acting like media companies. Now, the conversation has already changed. It wasn’t simply that OpenAI introduced ads in ChatGPT and advertisers started […]

The open web is moving beyond identity-based systems built around audience data to context systems that understand who a person is, where they are, what surrounds them and what’s happening right now. We already know what this next stage of open web ad tech will look like. At my daughter’s recent dance studio gala, a […]

From avoiding AI slop to achieving show-level transparency on a CTV buy, we talk through how buyers are supercharging performance by focusing on the content where they place their ads.

Ask anyone in ad tech about data governance, and they’ll talk about the supply side. The industry spent years building verification frameworks for publishers and sellers, proving that the data powering supply-side decisions is what it claims to be. Standards exist, enforcement is maturing and the consensus is clear: If automated systems act on your […]

I’ve been making the annual June pilgrimage to the Côte d’Azur long enough to recognize the difference between conversations that will still matter in September and those that evaporate faster than rosé in 95-degree heat.  Threaded through every serious discussion at the Cannes Lions this year, I detected a growing consensus that humans in the […]

Authenticity. Outcomes. Workflow….and containerization? After a week sweating on the Croisette, the AdExchanger team offers you a sweat-free synopsis of the 2026 Cannes Lions.

Linear TV is grabbing attention once again. This time as the broadcast and streaming media worlds are being tied together by major M&A deals. There’s the recent news of Fox’s $22 billion acquisition of Roku and Paramount’s merger with Warner Bros. Discovery (will it be PWBD? Or another rebrand? TV Land waits on tenterhooks), which […]

The dawn of digital advertising came with a seductive promise: the right ad served at the right time to the right person. We were told this paradigm would finally solve John Wanamaker’s century-old conundrum, eliminating the legendary 50% of wasted ad spend.  It was a beautiful fantasy. Setting aside the dystopian, “Minority Report”-style surveillance required […]

How can companies put ads in new places, but still get the user experience right? Smart TV home screens, like Samsung, are adding programmatic ads. Roblox will show ads to kids under 13. We look at the challenges and opportunities faced by platforms expanding their ad footprint.

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 […]