Ad buyers view Amazon warily: Insights from the Digiday Media Buying Summit

Media buying is under pressure. Ad agencies of all sizes are worried about more scrutiny on what they do, keeping up with changing technologies and the evolution of platforms and are particularly focused on talent issues. At the Digiday Media Buying Summit, 200+ agency leaders gathered to discuss these challenges and find solutions. Here’s what we learned.

The Rundown: Barstool Sports has sold 1m bottles of pink lemonade vodka

Just six weeks after a Barstool-branded, pink lemonade-flavored vodka called the Pink Whitney hit the market, Barstool has sold 1 million bottles of the stuff, CEO Erika Nardini told a room full of ad buyers Tuesday, shipping 100,000 cases in less than two months.

Digiday Research: Digital publishers still see growth in direct-sold display ads

Of the 135 publishers surveyed by Digiday in a wide-ranging research survey this Fall, more than 50% of publishers reported that direct-sold advertising was a large or very large source of revenue for them.

Ad buyers want free, ad-supported streaming TV services to show them something special

Free, ad-supported streaming TV services have allowed themselves to be commoditized in ad buyers' eyes.

Digiday Research Report: The state of publisher-platform relations

For publishers, managing their resource allocation and output on platforms has become a difficult game. Even as more publisher seek to make more money directly, whether through more subscriptions or direct-sold ads, many are still reliant on platforms to build audiences. 

‘A sea change’: Local TV ad market races to automation ahead of next year’s election

Local TV advertising is being automated, but automating the ad buy is only the first step in the process.

The Rundown: Media consolidation wave is an effort to outlast, not outrun the industry

In this week’s Rundown: Digital media's consolidation period is on, and the key seems to be less about winning, but more about simply surviving. Meanwhile, agencies are also worrying about survival, especially when it comes to landing prized, hip direct-to-consumer clients. Their strategy: Convince those brands they're just like them.

Digital media companies consolidating should boost their forays into Hollywood

The recent media mergers could help the combined companies to secure more production deals with streaming services.