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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.

Skydance may drop FreeWheel, weighing Google for streaming ad tech

Next in Media’s Mike Shields reports that Skydance CEO David Ellison’s team is considering dropping Comcast-owned FreeWheel as its CTV ad server, rather than building its own platform, with Google positioned as a likely beneficiary.

StackAdapt exec: agentic AI, not feature lists, now wins enterprise DSP deals

Next in Media’s Mike Shields talks with StackAdapt’s Giuseppe La Rocca, who argues that winning enterprise DSP business now means unifying direct mail, vertical-specific identity graphs, and custom agency intelligence rather than matching legacy feature matrices.

Energy drink brand Gorgie tests AI-run CTV buying via Kargo’s Karlo

Ad Age’s Garett Sloane reports that energy drink brand Gorgie is using Kargo’s new AI platform, Karlo, to move its media buying beyond Instagram and TikTok into connected TV.

FreeWheel will follow NBCU, not stay with Comcast, in spinoff split

AdExchanger reports that FreeWheel, Comcast’s video ad server, will join NBCUniversal when the new public company lists next year, citing tipsheet.ai’s reporting on internal Comcast communications.

Madhive integrates AdImpact competitive spend data into local platform

Advanced Television reports that Madhive is adding AdImpact’s competitive ad-spend data, covering 41,000 zip codes and 210 markets, into its Maverick AI local intelligence layer.

Affle brings mobile’s pay-per-install model to CTV

AdExchanger’s Allison Schiff reports that mobile ad tech holding company Affle launched MediasmartTV, a self-serve CTV platform that charges advertisers only when a household exposed to a TV ad later installs an app or makes a purchase.

Meta expands AI business assistant with agentic ad automation

MediaPost’s Colin Kirkland reports that Meta used Advertising Week New York to unveil an expanded AI business assistant with agentic features letting advertisers plan campaigns, generate creative, and adjust budgets via conversational commands.

CTV execs: cross-platform frequency waste is the industry’s next fix

TVREV’s Alan Wolk rounds up Thought Leaders Circle executives from Magnite, TiVo Ads, Mediaocean, TripleLift, Spectrum Reach and The Trade Desk, who converge on overfrequency as CTV’s biggest unsolved problem.

Meta delays commercial-terms rollout after publisher revolt

Digiday’s Sara Guaglione reports Meta pushed its updated commercial terms’ effective date from Oct. 30 to Nov. 20, after publisher trade bodies worldwide sent letters opposing scraping rights and urged regulators to intervene before the original deadline.

AdExchanger: research pileup explains Apple’s WebKit tracking crackdown

AdExchanger reports that fresh research on extended identifiers, spyware delivered via expired ad tags and mercenary spyware hidden in targeted ads has made WebKit’s anti-tracking stance look justified.

Pinterest launches Programmatic Deals to court enterprise media buyers

Marketing Dive’s Jessica Hammers reports that Pinterest launched Programmatic Deals today in North America, South America and Asia Pacific, using Magnite as primary supply-side partner.

TF1 opens pause-ad format to programmatic buying

VideoWeek’s Tim Cross-Kovoor reports that TF1 PUB has made its AdPause streaming format available programmatically, with Vorwerk’s Thermomix running the first campaign via Heroiks and The Trade Desk.

FTC clears Publicis-LiveRamp deal with five-year data firewall order

MediaPost’s Steve McClellan reports that the FTC and Publicis Groupe have agreed to a proposed consent order tied to Publicis’s $2.2 acquisition of data connectivity firm LiveRamp.

Apple’s Safari update breaks identity resolution vendors, researcher says

AdExchanger’s Sarah Sluis reports that Apple confirmed in a blog post it has broken identity resolution companies’ ability to track users on Safari, closing workarounds like short-lived cookies and CNAME cloaking that ad tech used to triangulate identity.

Meta to shift liability for AI-edited ads onto advertisers

Adweek reports that Meta’s AI tools are editing ad creative without brands’ knowledge, producing glitchy “glow-ups” that advertisers have pulled from the platform. Starting Oct. 30, Meta’s updated commercial terms make advertisers “solely responsible” for whatever that AI generates.

OpenAI expands ChatGPT ads to 26 more countries, hitting 89 total

The Verge’s Emma Roth reports that OpenAI is launching ads for ChatGPT Free and Go users across 26 new countries, including Argentina, Nigeria, South Africa, Ukraine and Pakistan.

ExchangeWire’s weekly roundup: Publicis-LiveRamp, Kevel’s $52m raise, Australia sues platforms

ExchangeWire’s Sheila Obeng-King rounds up the week’s MadTech news: Publicis Groupe settled with the FTC over its LiveRamp acquisition, retail media infrastructure provider Kevel raised $52 million, and Australia is preparing legal action against Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google.

Google adds ad-targeting opt-in to Gmail and Photos data via Personal Intelligence

The Verge’s Jess Weatherbed reports that Google quietly updated its privacy policy on October 16th, adding language letting Gmail, Drive, and Photos data feed personalized ads once users connect those services to Search’s Personal Intelligence AI features.

Nexxen touts 8.1 million home-screen ad impressions in Canada soccer campaign

Markets.businessinsider.com, citing an Ad Age-credited GlobeNewswire release, reports that Nexxen and Brainlabs ran a Home Screen Hero and Banner campaign on Hisense smart TVs for a big-box retailer during this summer’s soccer tournament in Canada.

OpenAI will auto-edit advertiser creatives starting October 30

AdExchanger reports that OpenAI will automatically apply “creative enhancements” to existing ChatGPT ads starting October 30 unless advertisers opt out in settings.

OpenAI adds automatic bid strategy to ChatGPT Ads Manager

OpenAI’s help center documents a new “maximize results” bid strategy in ChatGPT Ads Manager, which auto-sets and adjusts bids toward a campaign’s chosen goal, like clicks or conversions.

Meta shifts blame to advertisers for AI-altered ad creative

Adweek’s Trishla Ostwal reports that Meta’s new business terms, effective Oct. 30, make advertisers responsible when Meta’s AI alters their ads, and buyers say the AI is already reworking creative without being asked.

OpenAI’s help docs detail CPM, CPC and conversion pricing for ChatGPT Ads

OpenAI’s help center spells out how ChatGPT Ads Manager campaigns work, covering CPM, CPC, and conversion-based pricing, daily versus total budgets, country and platform targeting, and custom audience rules requiring at least 25,000 matched users for inclusion.

LinkedIn brings CTV ad inventory into Google’s DV360

eMarketer’s Asa Hiken reports that LinkedIn has expanded its CTV ad offering into Google’s DV360, letting advertisers buy LinkedIn’s connected TV inventory alongside other programmatic channels through a single demand-side platform.

OpenAI details how advertisers should write ChatGPT ad context hints

OpenAI’s help center explains that context hints are ad-group-level details describing what a product offers, who needs it, and when, meant to guide relevance rather than act as targeting rules.

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