Americans are dealing with tumultuous change. For an ecommerce ad agency, that means navigating the same tariff craziness, the Meta ad platform going haywire, seeing Temu ads pulled from the US market and AI solutions making a bid to replace human agency services.

In 2017, Mediaocean CEO Bill Wise predicted the demise of supply-side platforms. The category survived, but he’s sticking to his theory that pureplay SSPs are a thing of the past. Plus: An update on Mediaocean’s $550 million Innovid acquisition and Wise’s counterpoint to recent criticisms of The Trade Desk.

AI isn’t something a marketer “does.” It’s not a singular action or task, and there is no AI easy button. And so AI researcher and consultant Cecilia Dones tries to “get underneath” the reasons behind why marketers want to integrate AI into their businesses.

To say that David Jones, CEO and founder of The Brandtech Group, is bullish on generative AI would be an understatement. “Every single facet of marketing can be done better, faster and cheaper using technology and AI,” Jones says. “I’d rather have a fast, efficient machine than a slow, grumpy creative with a big ego.” Tune in for more zingers.

As the newly appointed president of Horizon Media Holdings, Bob Lord is dubious that megamergers between holding companies are actually good for the client. “Bigger is not always better,” Lord says.

Microsoft ad sales vet Rob Wilk joined Yahoo last year to lead revenue for the company’s advertising business with one main goal in mind: to evangelize Yahoo’s owned-and-operated properties. Most advertisers just aren’t aware of the inventory Yahoo has to offer – and that’s on Yahoo.

Now that Teads and Outbrain are one, the vision, explained CEO David Kostman when the deal was first announced, is to become an “end-to-end, full-funnel platform for the open internet.” But what does that mean in plain English?

What does it take to serve mid-size brand clients; how is AI transforming media buying; and why – for the love of god – is measurement still so messed up? Mediastruction CEO and Founding Partner Marilois Snowman has a few thoughts.

For publishers, digital advertising is a lot like playing craps, says Aditude’s Justin Wohl. It’s all about tuning out the noise while placing safe bets that work for your monetization strategy.

According to CreativeX, ad creative is responsible for nearly half of sales lift, which is more than reach, recency and targeting combined. So why doesn’t creative get the credit it deserves? Until recently, says Anastasia Leng, CEO and founder of CreativeX, technology wasn’t advanced enough to measure creative decisions at scale.