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Amazon bets creator video podcasts can be the next TV network – if it can fix measurement
Amazon’s Upfront presentation leaned into its podcast offerings, which the company believes are the next generation of TV networks.
OpenAI's ads program matures
Media
Mail Metro Media shifts ad strategy toward PMPs and fewer ads as it unifies stack
Mail Metro Media wants to drive 300% PMP growth over the next three years as part of plans to turn a high-volume digital direct business into an outcomes shop.
The case for and against agentic media buying
Agentic media buying promises a reinvention of the programmatic ecosystem, but experts are divided on whether it could help – or hinder – accountability.
Inside Expedia’s year-long partnership with mega creator IShowSpeed
Expedia partnered with mega creator IShowSpeed on a record-setting livestream and year-long campaign to target Gen Z audiences.
Marketing
How GameStop went from struggling retailer to eBay bidder
It’s still unclear how exactly GameStop, at a fraction of eBay’s size, would secure all the money needed for the transaction.
OpenAI makes it easier to run shopping ads in ChatGPT
OpenAI automates product ads for e-commerce brands, tapping existing catalogue infrastructure.
Marketers strain to juggle media budgets, AI and high expectations from CEOs
A new survey reveals sustained pressure on budgets as CMOs struggle to deliver on marketing goals and AI objectives.
Future of TV
Future of TV Briefing: Inside Warner Bros. Discovery’s programmatic upfront pitch
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how WBD’s programmatic advertising business has evolved with programmatic playing a bigger part in its upfront deals.
Future of TV Briefing: The upfront glossary, 2026 edition
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at the terms on the tips of ad buyers’ and sellers’ tongues when talking about the upfront market.
Future of TV Briefing: Ad tech’s pod bidding push moves CTV toward advancing the live sports ad model in 2026
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at how ad tech companies including Comcast’s FreeWheel, Index Exchange and The Trade Desk are preparing CTV’s programmatic supply chain for upgraded auction dynamics amid an influx of live sports ad inventory.
Media Buying
Ad Tech Briefing: Accountability in adland’s agentic era?
Contractual clarity and guardrails are non-negotiable when the machines take over running ad camppigns.
Amazon positions live sports portfolio as leverage to pry open upfront dollars
Amazon touted its combination of commerce targeting data and NBA and NFL inventory as a solution to marketer wariness during upfront negotiations.
Why Duluth trusts AI agents with bidding, but not brand storytelling
Brands like Duluth are in the middle of the agentic debate, leveraging AI for automated ad bidding while keeping brand voice human-led.
Annual research reports
Podcasts
Research
Upfronts
‘There’s a big shift’: Amazon is turning the upfront into a pitch for its ad tech, not just primetime
The upfront is no longer just a shop window for content Amazon owns, it’s now one for its ad tech too.
As upfront negotiations near, buyers chart path through complex sports market
The DOJ’s NFL probe highlights how sports rights complexity can be ‘good for pricing, but hard on strategy’ for brands and buyers.
Human-led service is an AI differentiator for independent agencies
While AI speeds up media buying, it’s also exposing cracks in how agencies execute. As campaign complexity grows, agency leaders are getting pulled back into the weeds. But clients don’t see process breakdowns — they see unmet expectations. Instinct is generally to juggle more platforms, data and expectations as retail media and programmatic spend surge. […]
For brands including The Outset and Nécessaire, the latest community-building efforts center on book clubs, floral workshops and contemporary art, all aimed at turning beauty consumers into lifestyle communities.
For brands including The Outset and Nécessaire, the latest community-building efforts center on book clubs, floral workshops and contemporary art, all aimed at turning beauty consumers into lifestyle communities.
Eager NeeDoh collectors are flocking to resale sites as the toy goes viral. The stretchy toys, like Pop Mart’s Labubus, are selling for a pretty penny on eBay and StockX, with some of them going for a premium of more than 400%.
Eager NeeDoh collectors are flocking to resale sites as the toy goes viral. The stretchy toys, like Pop Mart’s Labubus, are selling for a pretty penny on eBay and StockX, with some of them going for a premium of more than 400%.