News

AI Agents will ‘Reshape’ Media Buying, but Humans Still Set the Agenda

The advertising industry could be racing toward a future where autonomous software agents discover inventory, optimize campaigns, and execute buys with minimal human intervention. But even the most bullish practitioners acknowledge the technology is still in its infancy. At a moment when media fragmentation has made it harder than ever to reach consumers efficiently, the […]

Top 5 Branded Videos of the Week: Is this thumbnail culture?

Welcome to our rundown of the most-watched branded YouTube videos of the week. We’re publishing this snippet of a larger Gospel Stats Weekly Brand Report in order to analyze sponsorship trends in the creator economy. Any video launched in tandem with an official brand partner is eligible for t he ranking. And – as the […] Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

TikTok says yes to more creator-led microdramas from Made By Us and HOORAE

As you probably know, “microdrama” is the current format du jour for everyone hoping to make a buck in the entertainment industry, from Hollywood studios to major social media platforms. That includes TikTok, which just announced a new microseries-focused partnership with production company Made By Us Studios. The studio describes itself as a “first-of-its-kind, Hollywood-grade […] Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Content-to-Commerce Publishers Have Struggled. Could Outdoor Life Be the Exception?

The new owner of the 128-year-old title plans to transform the brand into an AI-powered marketplace, despite the strategy’s spotty track record.

Influencers Sway Midterm Voters, Even As Americans Wonder If Social Media Knows Anything

Online creators are influencing political opinions ahead of the 2026 midterms, but trust remains complicated and AI isn't exactly winning over the electorate.

DPAA's Barry Frey: Why Video -- And Authenticity -- Are Everywhere

"In this day and age when we're not sure with AI what's real -- what's fake news, what's real news - we know that real connections are made with people with brands with advertisers in the real world," he told me ahead of this week's DPAA summit in NYC.

Cal’s Twitch studio for student-athletes shows that creator content is the new recruiting hack

Division I schools use new stadiums, locker room renovations, and booster perks to attract blue-chip prospects to their teams, but the University of California at Berkeley has figured out a forward-thinking way to feed the development of its student-athletes. The Bay Area institution has teamed up with StreamU and UnlimitedIRL to build a studio that athletes can use to stream content on Twitch. Amenities at the new facility include professional lighting, Canon and Sony cameras, a video switcher for multi-camera streams, and a PlayStation 5 for broadcasting gaming content. All varsity athletes will be able to go live from the studio, and Cal has already produced a packed schedule. Across ten hours of weekly programming, content will include workouts, challenges, campus tours, and game-day watch parties. Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

An encounter between hololive’s VTubers and Critical Role’s voice actors is rolling out

Here's a partnership I didn't have on my bingo card: Critical Role and hololive are teaming up. VTubers and voice actors will collide in Shattered Legends, an actual play series set within the confines of the tabletop RPG Daggerheart. Beginning in November 2026, Critical Role co-founder Matt Mercer will serve as the game master for an adventure that will unite one of the most popular streaming programs in the U.S. with a cultural phenomenon born in Japan. Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Reddit To Promote Voter Participation, Combat Election Misinformation

Ahead of the U.S. midterm elections, Reddit is taking measures to promote voting participation across the country and combat AI-generated election misinformation.

10% Of GPT-Cited Holiday Pages Carry Outdated Information

To understand how much outdated information brands leave on websites for ChatGPT to discover, retrieve, and cite with each consumer query, BrightEdge researchers reviewed pages at six major U.S. retailers cited as sources by ChatGPT from June-August 2026.

Amazon - Mini Mic

Havas Grows In North America as It Lags In Other Regions

CFO François Laroze indicated Havas will soon add to the eight acquisitions it already made this year

Marketing has outgrown the organization built to run it

Martech connected the work across teams. AI is exposing how poorly authority, governance, and accountability followed. The post Marketing has outgrown the organization built to run it appeared first on MarTech.

Why website analytics tell an incomplete story of buyer decisions

A visit doesn't prove intent, and a conversion doesn't tell the whole story. Learn how to assess your website's contribution to business outcomes. The post Why website analytics tell an incomplete story of buyer decisions appeared first on MarTech.

Your AI visibility score may be hiding a problem

Brand mentions and source citations often tell very different stories. Marketers need to know which one is weak before choosing a fix. The post Your AI visibility score may be hiding a problem appeared first on MarTech.

The CMO role is evolving before our very eyes

As brands that eliminate the CMO role gain attention in marketing circles, it's time to ask if it's more evolution than revolution. The post The CMO role is evolving before our very eyes appeared first on MarTech.

Who Is Teaching AI Who Your Customers Are? Why Identity is Your Most Critical Asset

Experian’s Matt Tipperreiter and AtData’s John Oronte on why marketers must prioritize data freshness and interoperability in the AI era. AI is beginning to automate how brands interact with consumers, but many marketing organizations are handing over the reins before they’ve established a trusted, accurate view of their audience. The defining question in ad tech […] The post Who Is Teaching AI Who Your Customers Are? Why Identity is Your Most Critical Asset appeared first on AdExchanger.

Druski will break new ground for creators by hosting ‘Saturday Night Live’

November 7 will be an historic night for Drew Desbordes. That's when Desbordes, whose 13.6 million Instagram followers know him as Druski, will become the first Saturday Night Live host who began his career as a social media content creator. After rising to prominence with his viral Instagram Live broadcasts, Druski became a multi-hyphenate creator who extended his "Coulda Been" brand through entrepreneurship, original programming, and strategic partnerships. His success with branded content has shown that he possesses the chops he needs to break into the mainstream, and Lorne Michaels apparently took notice. Though SNL has not shared an official notice about the upcoming Druski gig, Variety confirmed that Desbordes will indeed host the November 7 episode of the long-running sketch series. Visit Tubefilter for more great stories.

Google Launches A Video Series For Odd Technical SEO Questions via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

Google's new Search Central video series tackles unusual technical SEO questions, starting with emoji, non-English characters, and keywords in your URLs. The post Google Launches A Video Series For Odd Technical SEO Questions appeared first on Search Engine Journal.

2027 Ad Age Gen Zers to Watch—who qualifies and how to nominate

Nominations are free and due Dec. 18. See what to submit and what set the 2026 class apart, then nominate yourself or a colleague.

Making the case for purchase and intent data in programmatic

Kristi Argilyan, evp and Chief Commercial Officer, The Trade Desk Every CMO is dealing with the same squeeze. Finance is going through budgets line by line and wants proof. Meanwhile, the data that’s supposed to back up that spend is more fragmented than it’s ever been. Programmatic has more data than ever, and marketers still […]

Has The Ad Industry Lost The Pulse Of American Consumers?

The advertising industry has a relatability problem. Don’t just take it from me. Look at how the industry talks about itself. “I’m going to talk about a few problems that folks might find relatable,” said one startup founder at a LiveRamp-hosted AI demo day that took place adjacent to last week’s Advertising Week New York […] The post Has The Ad Industry Lost The Pulse Of American Consumers? appeared first on AdExchanger.

Edelman’s Mainardo de Nardis: AI Transformation Demands ‘Training, Retraining, Preparing Our People’

Artificial intelligence represents the most significant industry shift in two decades of digital evolution, requiring comprehensive workforce preparation that extends beyond professional skills to personal adaptation for fundamentally different career trajectories. “If I have to focus on one which is life changing for our industry and for people in general, we got to talk about […]

Consumable’s Jared Lapin: Majority of Podcast Listeners are Reachable Beyond the Feed

Podcast advertising has long operated behind a wall. Listeners arrive through RSS feeds, consuming content in environments where individual identity is largely invisible and attribution relies on household-level proxies at best. Consumable is building the infrastructure to change that. “Podcast is largely identity-less. Most of the solutions around it are household level solutions at best. […]