Marketing

01 Introduction Publishers are utilizing AI more than ever, as we explored in part 1 of this report, but it’s also the source of major challenges for the media industry. AI-driven search is a big part of those challenges. As of October 2025, a full third of the 15 billion searches conducted on Google (or […]

New data is reinforcing a structural shift in how AI systems access publisher content: AI models are increasingly scraping publisher content, regardless of bot-blocking measures or content licensing deals meant to control usage, improve attribution or drive referral traffic. New research from analytics firms and bot-tracking companies shows AI tools are increasingly crawling publisher sites

For a certain generation, a token had weight. It was a small metal coin dropped into a subway turnstile or an arcade machine — the literal price of access. Now, the word is back. Only this time the machines are data centers and the games are AI models. Every prompt, summary, workflow automation or agency

This story was originally published on sister site, Modern Retail. Join Modern Retail, Glossy and Digiday at our inaugural AI Marketing Strategies event on Feb. 11 in New York City, where top marketing leaders will discuss how they are using AI. The quick rise of artificial intelligence-powered tools has reshaped retailers’ process of selecting technology partners for

In the weeks leading up to the IAB Annual Leadership Meeting, there was an uproar on LinkedIn about the agenda. Publishers (and sell side tech vendors, too) were openly frustrated. There was too much future-casting, critics said. Why weren’t there any conversations focusing on the here and now? How do publishers grow real revenue in

Traditionally, digital out-of-home (OOH) inventory is grouped by venue type. But programmatic buyers want to know exactly what they’re bidding on – which is why generic categories like “retail” or “transit” just don’t cut it anymore. Not to mention that when publishers and SSPs lump together media of varying quality, it undermines transparency and makes programmatic

Agentic AI is gaining popularity as a tactic for media buyers and sellers striving to simplify workflows, including in streaming TV advertising. On Tuesday, the ad measurement firm iSpot introduced SAGE, an agentic AI platform with a “ChatGPT-like interface” that media buyers can use to generate campaign planning ideas, according to iSpot CEO Sean Muller.

Marketing has an uncomfortable habit we rarely acknowledge: We’re addicted to short-termism. For more than a decade, dashboards and last-click attribution have quietly dictated strategy. These tools were never built to explain how marketing drives growth; they were built to sell advertising. Somewhere along the way, we let them become the decision system for the