Digiday

The media industry is experiencing a significant transformation driven by ad tech. That sentence is as relevant in the mid-2020s as it was in the mid-2010s and the prior decade, although it begs the question: Is there anything different this time around? The short answer is, “Well, some things…” But for a more thorough examination of the matter, let’s revisit what sources have been telling Digiday in recent weeks. Story by Ronan Shields ?? This is the first edition of Digiday's new Ad Tech Briefing. Sign up here to get it right to your inbox each week: https://lnkd.in/e_AHRZjf

Two and a half years ago, Oren Schauble realized he didn’t understand content creation. At the time, Schauble was the svp of marketing for a toy company, Gel Blaster, and recognized that the traditional advertising toolkit wouldn’t cut it when organic social was “the future.” He decided to dedicate an hour a night — the time he’d typically spend watching Netflix — to making content on TikTok and, eventually, Instagram. “As soon as I got it, it changed everything about what I was capable of at my job,” said Schauble. “I was able to rapidly deploy campaigns, know how to make them good, and know what to ask for. It also opened up a lot of doors career-wise.” Schauble has since racked up nearly half a million followers on Instagram (411.9K) and almost a quarter million on TikTok (203.4K). Nine months ago — 18 months after he started learning the platform —?he left corporate America to become a full-time content creator, branding himself “the internet’s creative director.” Schauble is one of a number of advertising professionals who’ve recognized the potential of becoming creators to better understand the current marketing landscape. ?? Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/ecrpQsUt In this piece by Kristina Monllos, we also speak to Jocelyn McCanles, Sam Ogborn, Andrea Ogunbadejo of Eva Nosidam, John Cornette of EP+Co, Amber Burns of Allen & Gerritsen, Aisha Hakim, and Nathan Jun Poekert of GENERAL IDEA.

Publishers: How has your paid social media budget changed in the past year? How do you determine the content to promote via paid social? How are you allocating your paid social budget across different platforms? Tell us in this survey. Sponsored by Piano.?

As AI remakes virtually every industry and everyone’s way of working, laid-off professionals in Big Tech are discovering that their skills are in hot demand in some of the most unexpected places — and HR people searching for tech talent are reaping the benefits. The tech industry continues reeling from layoffs. Last month, Meta followed through on its earlier promise by?cutting about 5% of its staff, or 3,000 employees, while Google said it would offer?voluntary buyouts to workers?in its platforms and devices unit, which employs about 25,000 people. Many of those displaced workers are landing on their feet in other fields, often for better positions and more money. In this piece by Tony Case, we speak to Danny Veiga, Sarah Bouzarouata of JLL, Elin Thomasian of TalentNeuron, and Drew Firment of Pluralsight.

Nvidia GTC (GPU Technology Conference) 2025 is taking place this week in San Jose, Calif., and the giant chip manufacturer has unveiled a range of AI capabilities across a range of industries, with marketing companies like Accenture and S4 Capital Group’s Monks both showcasing their partnerships. On Tuesday’s keynote, NVIDIA CEO and founder Jensen Huang detailed numerous updates, claiming AI and machine learning has “reinvented the entire computing stack,” which requires different processors, operating systems, applications and data orchestration. “The way you access data will be fundamentally different from the past,” he said, citing Perplexity’s model of fusing traditional search methods with conversational AI as the new norm. “Instead of doing retrieval that way, I just ask Perplexity what I want… This is the way enterprise IT will work in the future as well.” Story by Marty Swant

The lines between a Hollywood celebrity and content creator are blurrier than ever, which is shifting the way agencies and brands approach influencer marketing. In the current marketing landscape, it comes down to prioritizing the partner and most effective brand ambassador, according to influencer marketing agency execs. While there might have been a clearer distinction between working with traditional celebrities and betting on creators in the earlier days of influencer marketing, the business increasingly demands someone who understands both realms. In this piece by Antoinette S., we speak to Sarah Gerrish of Movers+Shakers, Amy Cotteleer of Duncan Channon, Jennifer Quigley-Jones of Digital Voices, and Lindsay Nead of Parker Management.

DoubleVerify has unveiled policy and product updates as part of its News Accelerator program to reduce the impact of keyword blocklists on publishers. ? These developments come amid high-profile criticism of ad verification technologies in successive reports in recent months and, more recently, growing competition in the space. DoubleVerify will now restrict keyword blocking to “unclassified URLs” only, with the company also launching tools to help advertisers optimize keyword blocklists to avoid excessive blocking against news content. In this piece, we speak to Jack Marshall.

Looks like 2024 turned out to be?the turnaround some publishers were hoping for?after?a year of doom and gloom?in 2023. In fourth-quarter earnings calls over the past few weeks, executives at publishers like IAC, Gannett | USA TODAY NETWORK and The New York Times said digital advertising revenue had increased from full-year 2023 to 2024, ranging from increases of 3.8% to 12.8%. Subscriptions were another bright spot. Total digital subscriptions and subscription revenue grew for Dow Jones, Gannett and The New York Times year over year, too. Story by Sara Guaglione

Marketers and agencies are grappling with divisions over who exactly controls retail media spend, seemingly causing a trickle-down effect on how retail media deals are brokered. The rise of retail media networks has happened fast. By 2028, retail media is expected to account for almost a quarter of all U.S. media spend,?according to EMARKETER.?At the same time,?retail media networks are positioning themselves as media companies, blurring the line between retail media networks as performance marketing channels and brand marketing channels. They’re also?asking for brand dollars?as well as increased spend commitments year over year to help maintain momentum and boost revenue,?as Digiday has previously reported. To put some numbers to it, eMarketer also reported that by 2028,?retail media CTV will represent more than a quarter of RMN display ad spend, and nearly 22% of CTV ad spending overall. ?? Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/erbFazyz In this piece by Kimeko McCoy, we speak to George Musi of Night Market, Hillary Kupferberg of Exverus Media, Renee Caceres of StackAdapt, Luke Stillman, CFA, Deanna (Cullen) Mulkeen of Wpromote, Ethan Goodman of Mars United Commerce.

Generative AI and emotional creative analysis have become indispensable for optimizing performance and increasing output, with advertisers and publishers using them to enhance audience engagement, personalize content for specific demographics and drive conversions. The challenge, however, is figuring out how to harness these tools most effectively. Sponsored by Nexxen.