DIGIDAY+ MEMBER EXCLUSIVES
The Rundown: Google has drawn its AI payment lines — and publishers’ leverage is narrow
For publishers trying to navigate AI licensing, the message was blunt: Google is willing to pay for access, but not for training – and it remains unwilling to define AI Overviews as a compensable use of journalism.
Media
‘The net is tightening’ on AI scraping: Annotated Q&A with Financial Times’ head of global public policy and platform strategy
Matt Rogerson, FT’s director of global public policy and platform strategy, believes 2026 will bring a kind of reset as big tech companies alter their stance on AI licensing to avoid future legal risk.
Future starts to sharpen its AI search visibility playbook
Future is boosting AI search citations and mentions with a tool called Future Optic, and offering the product to branded content clients.
Digiday’s extensive guide to what’s in and out for creators in 2026
With AI-generated content flooding social media platforms, embracing the messiness and imperfection of being human will help creators stand out in the spreading sea of slapdash slop.
Marketing
‘Worried about getting caught out’: Sir Martin Sorrell on why CMOs are not ready to pay for outcome-based agencies
A steady economy is emerging as the quiet counterweight to AI’s much-hyped reinvention of the agency holdco model.
‘Amplified, and used against you’: Nike sat out the viral Maduro moment. That’s the point
The meme Nike didn’t touch.
Retail leaders at Target, Lowe’s and more on the AI investments they’re plotting for 2026
Anywhere from 33% to 83% of respondents used AI to do their holiday shopping in 2025.
Future of TV
Future of TV Briefing: 5 ripple effects that will shape the future of TV in 2026
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks at the trends and developments that will shape the TV, streaming and digital video industry in 2026.
‘A year of loose ends’: Digiday editors share top takeaways from 2025
This year was filled with major developments – from Netflix’s planned WBD deal to Omnicom’s acquisition of IPG to Google’s ultimately cookie reversal – and Digiday editors Sara Jerde and Seb Joseph help to recap the year that was (and wasn’t).
Future of TV Briefing: How the future of TV shaped up in 2025
This week’s Future of TV Briefing looks back at the top topics and trends that overtook the TV, streaming and digital video industries in 2025.
Media Buying
Will technology enable independent agencies to match the holdcos? They think so
Technology is seen by indies as a potential great equalizer when it comes to delivering solutions for clients, and competing with bigger agencies.
Media buyers say Yahoo’s DSP is one to watch
Yahoo’s DSP has momentum, but Amazon’s aggressive expansion is keeping it in challenger mode
Media Buying Briefing: How the holdcos fared in 2025, according to Comvergence
The gap between Publicis, which ended up the year $9.5 billion in the positive, and second place Dentsu with $1.7 billion, is cavernous.
Annual research reports
Podcasts
Research
AI may be changing the creator economy, but it’s also fueling it. That’s according to executives at the National Retail Foundation’s Retail’s Big Show Conference this week; the importance of authentic voices for resonating with consumers was a hot topic throughout the event.
-
Member ExclusiveFashion Briefing: What went wrong with Saks?
AI may be changing the creator economy, but it’s also fueling it. That’s according to executives at the National Retail Foundation’s Retail’s Big Show Conference this week; the importance of authentic voices for resonating with consumers was a hot topic throughout the event.
Executives from Target, Best Buy and Nordstrom say their marketplaces are playing a bigger role in how they choose products, make money and help shoppers find what they want, both online and in stores.
Executives from Target, Best Buy and Nordstrom say their marketplaces are playing a bigger role in how they choose products, make money and help shoppers find what they want, both online and in stores.