386 signals

Ad-tech

Desk brief

State of Play

Revised Nov 1, 2026

The moment. Search is paying for the AI that is replacing it. Adweek’s Kendra Barnett reports Alphabet’s Q3 search revenue growth slowed to 12% from 17% the quarter before, with executives citing AI Mode’s lower ad monetization, and TechCrunch has Google taking AI Mode ads international anyway. Google is also moving to personalize those ads with signals from Gmail and Photos. Meta rebuilt the engine underneath its feed: AdExchanger’s Allison Schiff reports an LLM-based ranking model and a retrieval overhaul letting Andromeda score more than a billion ads per second. OpenAI kept building its ad business in public, taking ChatGPT ads to 26 more countries for 89 in all, adding an automatic bid strategy, and applying creative enhancements to existing ads from October 30 unless an advertiser opts out. The FTC cleared Publicis’s LiveRamp acquisition under a consent order with a five-year data firewall.

The tension. The platforms are editing the work and moving the liability to the buyer. Adweek has Meta’s AI reworking creative without being asked, and Meta’s new terms make advertisers solely responsible for whatever it generates, a change Meta pushed from October 30 to November 20 after publisher trade bodies objected. Identity is closing in one browser and opening in another inbox: Apple confirmed it has broken identity resolution vendors’ tracking on Safari, while Google’s policy now lets Gmail, Drive and Photos data feed ads once a user connects them. CTV’s plumbing is still the weak joint: The Measure’s Jon Lafayette reports Wurl finding 89% of CTV ad requests lack a usable program name, and executives from Magnite to The Trade Desk name frequency waste as the problem nobody has fixed. Indie agencies now ask aloud whether they need a DSP at all.

Who’s moving. Google, with search growth at 12% and AI Mode ads going global. Google again, on Gmail and Photos signals in AI Mode ads. Meta, scoring every impression with an LLM. Meta again, delaying its terms to November 20. OpenAI, at 89 countries. The FTC and Publicis, on a five-year firewall around LiveRamp. Apple, closing the Safari workarounds. Wurl, on CTV requests with no program name. Skydance, weighing Google over FreeWheel. FreeWheel, following NBCU in the Comcast split. Madhive, adding AdImpact spend data across 210 markets. Pinterest, launching Programmatic Deals with Magnite.

What the desk is watching. Whether Meta’s November 20 date holds, and whether AI Mode’s ad load closes the gap in Google’s search growth or widens it.

Virtual Minds pitches an interoperability layer for total TV

VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that German ad tech firm Virtual Minds is building a layer to connect linear and CTV sales silos rather than replacing broadcasters’ existing systems.

Criteo bets its 4 billion SKUs on becoming ChatGPT Ads’ commerce layer

ExchangeWire’s Dana Lee reports that Criteo VP Tim Conley says the company became ChatGPT Ads’ first partner using a dataset of 4 billion globally mapped product SKUs and over $1 trillion in annual online transaction data.

Wurl launches Content Intelligence platform for CTV ad targeting

Adweek’s Geoff Schiller reports that Wurl debuted a Content Intelligence Platform that enriches bid requests with contextual signals across more than 140 billion monthly CTV impressions, integrating partners KERV, Peer39 and IRIS.TV to give DSPs signal-rich inventory before requests reach them.

Thrad launches self-serve DSP for advertising inside LLM chats

ExchangeWire reports that Thrad opened a self-serve platform letting marketers build and launch ad campaigns inside large language model conversations without a managed-service deal.

Profound raises $180 million at $1.8 billion valuation for AI search marketing

Bloomberg’s Rebecca Torrence reports that Profound raised $180 million in a Series D co-led by Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins, valuing the AI marketing startup at $1.8 billion and bringing its total funding past $335 million since 2024.

ChatGPT ads reportedly work, and Amazon uses them to sidestep its bot problem

Stratechery reports that ads inside ChatGPT are proving effective, addressing OpenAI’s monetization question. The piece ties this to Amazon placing ads in ChatGPT, framing it as a fix for Amazon’s exposure to chatbot-driven shopping bypassing its retail site.

EMarketer: ChatGPT’s sponsored agents preview AI-native ad formats

EMarketer’s analysis frames OpenAI’s sponsored agents inside ChatGPT as an early test case for how advertising will work inside AI assistants. The piece treats the feature as a signal of where agentic commerce and sponsorship models are headed industry-wide.

Google adds agentic commerce tools across Search, YouTube and Gmail

MediaPost’s Laurie Sullivan reports that Google unveiled agentic commerce updates at Rethink ROI, including an “AI Performance Insights” dashboard and an open-standard “Universal Cart” letting shoppers buy across Search, YouTube and Gmail.

Wurl launches Content Intelligence Platform for CTV targeting

Advanced Television reports that Wurl debuted a Content Intelligence Platform that consolidates contextual signals for demand-side platforms buying connected TV inventory.

AI ad automation is deepening Google, Meta and Amazon’s market grip

Digiday’s Gamers Nexus reports that Google, Meta and Amazon captured 56% of U.S. ad revenue in 2025, up from 53% in 2024, as AI-directed spending grew from 2% in 2023 to roughly 12% today, per Madison & Wall estimates.

Google quietly expands pay-per-value AI licensing pilot for publishers

Digiday’s Jessica Davies and Sara Guaglione report that Google is scaling a Search Console-based program paying publishers only when content “significantly” contributes to Gemini, AI Overviews and AI mode answers, with payouts opaque and skewed toward small and mid-sized sites.

Google’s AI licensing pilot pays publishers, but critics call it a fig leaf

Digiday’s Jessica Davies and Sara Guaglione report that Google is quietly scaling a Search Console-based “AI contribution pilot” that pays publishers only when their content “significantly” contributes to Gemini and AI Overviews responses.

Big travel brands go missing from AI chatbot answers

EMARKETER’s Behind the Numbers podcast examines why major travel brands are largely invisible when consumers ask AI chatbots like ChatGPT for travel recommendations. Smaller or niche sites often surface instead, even when searchers name a specific well-known brand.

OpenAI tests ad format that opens a chat, not a website

Digiday’s Krystal Scanlon reports that OpenAI is piloting a new ad unit that turns a ChatGPT ad click into a branded chat with an AI agent instead of a site visit. Wayfair confirmed it’s testing the format, called Sponsored Agent, at limited scale.

Ad tech execs say Google’s light remedy is a warning sign for FTC v. Amazon

AdExchanger’s Allison Schiff reports that Judge Brinkema declined to break up Google’s ad tech business, opting for behavioral remedies instead of divestiture.

OpenAI names Mark Bambury to lead EMEA advertising business

Mark Bambury, formerly senior brand partnerships director at Roblox and a Twitter/X veteran, becomes Head of OpenAI EMEA, Ads. He will build ChatGPT’s advertising team across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, reporting to global ads chief Dave Dugan.

As Google’s ad tech case winds down, antitrust scrutiny shifts to AI

Digiday’s Ronan Shields reports that Google avoided forced divestiture of Chrome and its ad exchange in two DOJ losses, with judges opting for behavioral remedies instead. Observers now say regulators should scrutinize Google’s AI Max and AI Commerce expansion.

Amazon DSP adds iHeart streaming audio, broadcast radio to follow in 2026

Inside Radio reports that iHeartMedia’s streaming music and live streaming radio inventory is now buyable through Amazon DSP, letting advertisers extend omnichannel campaigns to iHeart listeners. Podcasts and broadcast radio station inventory join the platform in 2026, the companies said.

Amazon Ads pitches content-commerce measurement amid budget scrutiny

In a sponsored WSJ column, Amazon Ads VP Alan Moss cites Nielsen data on streaming’s rise and a MAGNA study finding 63% of viewers want to buy products seen on TV.

CTV ad-tech firm Keynes launches AI marketing assistant kAI

The Measure’s Jon Lafayette reports that Keynes, a connected-TV data company, is rolling out kAI, an AI layer built on Anthropic’s Claude atop its Kortex data repository that answers marketer and CFO questions about cross-channel spend instantly.

Amazon Ads connects its DSP to ChatGPT ad inventory

fr.themedialeader.com’s Vincent Thobel reports that Amazon Ads and OpenAI launched a partnership letting Amazon DSP advertisers book ad placements inside ChatGPT, with Delta Vacations among the first brands testing it.

Thrad pitches apps as both supply and demand for AI-conversation ads

ExchangeWire reports that at Appsforum London, Thrad argued apps now sit on both sides of AI ad conversations: publishers monetizing chat responses and marketers buying app-install campaigns inside them. Inside one publisher app, Thrad said it lifted blended eCPM 55%.

Trade Desk cuts 15% of staff, cites cash pile not distress

ExchangeWire’s Sheila Obeng-King reports that The Trade Desk is cutting roughly 575 roles, about 15% of its global workforce, in what CEO Jeff Green called a reallocation rather than a response to financial trouble.

Nscale adds ex-OpenAI No. 2 Fidji Simo to board ahead of IPO

TechCrunch’s Kirsten Korosec reports that AI infrastructure startup Nscale named Fidji Simo, who led Instacart through its 2023 IPO and recently served as OpenAI’s No. 2 executive, to its board as it pursues a fall public offering.

Amazon DSP becomes a buy path into ChatGPT ads

Marketing Dive’s Peter Adams reports that Amazon advertisers can now extend campaigns into ChatGPT as a managed service through Amazon DSP, with Delta Vacations among the first U.S. pilot brands. OpenAI retains control of ad delivery and placement through its own systems.

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