Publicis eyes LiveRamp buy: $2.2 billion deal ties identity to AI, aiming to cement the holding company’s edge in agentic marketing.

The home furnishings category generates hundreds of billions of dollars annually, yet the shopping experience remains frustratingly complex for most consumers. Nearly every shopper reports feeling overwhelmed by options, with the average furniture purchase taking weeks and requiring dozens of open browser tabs before a final decision.

Search ad spending keeps rising as AI fuels online discovery and people search across more platforms than ever. Despite this, search’s share of digital ad spending is edging downward due to faster growth in other channels.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Meta right now: Why isn’t Wall Street satisfied with Meta’s seemingly incomprehensible growth? Where should Meta be focusing its AI efforts? And what happens when the company creates an AI version of CEO Mark Zuckerberg? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Emmy Liederman and Principal Analyst Max Willens. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube and Spotify.

Google considers Gemini ads: After ruling them out, Google eyes chatbot ads to offset AI costs and prove Gemini can rival ChatGPT for budgets.

Reddit monetizes trust at scale: Q1 revenues rose 69% to $663 million, with ad revenues up 74% as authentic conversations drive performance.

Google posts its second $100 billion quarter thanks to AI: The advertising leader is proving that the tech can drive revenues to offset heavy spending.

Real-time payments are growing quickly, but adoption lags due to cost, risk, and entrenched behaviors. Providers must focus on high-friction use cases and cash-flow benefits as competition from alternative rails intensifies.

OpenAI brings ChatGPT ads to logged-out users: Wider reach expands available ad inventory and could tempt wary marketers.

OpenAI courts DSPs for ChatGPT ads: A leaked StackAdapt deck shows high CPM pilots as OpenAI leans on adtech partners to prove value.

OpenAI boosts ChatGPT ads: Click-based pricing, actionable ads, and richer metrics aim to ease doubts and justify spend.

OpenAI's new ads manager and a $50K buy-in aim to turn ChatGPT into a self-serve media buy.

In today’s podcast episode, we discuss what if Apple delivers on its vision of Apple Intelligence? What if Abercrombie evolves beyond retail into a lifestyle brand? What if Google starts paying for the content its AI uses? Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Vice President of Content Suzy Davidkhanian, and Principal Analysts Nate Elliott and Yory Wurmser. Listen anywhere, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

OpenAI tells investors ads will hit $2.5 billion this year and $100 billion by 2030, betting scale offsets steep costs.

AI is reshaping how consumers discover and choose products, creating a fast-growing new commerce channel with its own set of unique challenges.

AI is reshaping brand safety by amplifying risks around placement, accuracy, and authenticity while offering new tools to control them. As automation scales, marketers face a growing tradeoff between performance gains and trust.

Google's AI Max drives up to 80% sales gains, but trust concerns linger as conversational ads test user confidence.

This FAQ covers what AI creative optimization is, which tools are available, how consumers react, and how marketing teams should reorganize for the shift.