AI Automation Surges in Adtech but Undermines Brand Identity: Anti-PR® Emerges to Restore Trust
By Karla Jo Helms, Chief Evangelist & Anti-PR® Strategist at JOTO PR Disruptors™ AI has rapidly…
InterMedia Earns Five AdExchanger Award Finalist Nominations for CTV Innovation
Connected TV advertising is becoming more sophisticated, but buyers still face persistent challenges around measurement, optimization and understanding what happens inside programmatic inventory. InterMedia Advertising is being recognized for several attempts to address those gaps, earning five finalist nominations in the 2026 AdExchanger Awards across three CTV-focused initiatives. The agency’s nominated work covers direct publisher…
A2Z Cust2Mate Expands In-Store Retail Media Beyond Smart Carts
Retail media is increasingly moving beyond retailer websites and into physical stores, where purchase decisions still happen at scale. A2Z Cust2Mate Solutions has expanded its partnership with Israeli retailer HaStock, securing rights to sell in-store advertising across HaStock locations in addition to the smart-cart media inventory it already controls. The 24-month agreement gives A2Z Cust2Mate…
Levanta Raises $22M to Expand Creator Commerce Media Across Retail
Creator marketing is moving deeper into the retail media stack as brands look for measurable ways to turn influencer reach into transactions. Levanta, a creator affiliate platform for e-commerce, has raised $22 million in Series B funding led by Volition Capital, bringing its total funding above $43 million. The company plans to use the capital…
FreeCast Launches Beyond Media to Track the Convergence of Media and Telecom
The traditional boundaries between telecommunications and media are becoming harder to maintain. FreeCast is leaning into that convergence with Beyond Media, a new research and industry intelligence series examining how streaming, telecom, satellite connectivity, advertising technology and digital commerce are increasingly becoming part of the same commercial ecosystem. Published through FreeCast’s LinkedIn presence, the series…
NIQ Report Finds AI Is Reshaping Product Discovery and Retail Media
The shopping journey is becoming less linear, and artificial intelligence is increasingly influencing what consumers discover before they ever reach a retailer’s product page. New research from NielsenIQ (NIQ) and World Data Lab finds that nearly three-quarters of shoppers now use AI during product discovery, as retail media and social commerce add new layers to…
Simon Launches Commerce Media Network Built Around Real-World Retail Data
Retail media is moving beyond the checkout counter. Simon, the real estate investment trust behind more than 200 shopping, dining and entertainment destinations, has launched Simon Media Network, a commerce media platform designed to let brands reach consumers across Simon’s physical properties, digital channels and off-platform media. The new network is built around first-party consumer…
Saudi Arabia’s Ad Market Moves Toward Programmatic DOOH and AI
Saudi Arabia’s advertising market is entering a new phase as brands look beyond the limits of digital performance marketing and experiment with connecting physical media, programmatic buying, mobile signals and AI-driven lead qualification. The emerging model combines programmatic Digital Out-of-Home (pDOOH), Connected TV (CTV), location intelligence and agentic AI to connect brand exposure with measurable…
Xsolla Launches Game Biz Institute to Bring Business Expertise to Game Studios
Game developers have no shortage of resources for learning how to build games. The commercial side of the industry is a different story. Xsolla is attempting to fill that gap with Game Biz Institute (GBI), a new editorial and research platform focused on the business mechanics behind game development, including direct-to-player distribution, payments, monetization, user…
ReachTV Expands Airport Media Strategy With New Revenue and Production Chiefs
Airports are becoming an increasingly important battleground for advertisers looking to reach consumers outside traditional screens, and ReachTV is strengthening its commercial and content operations to capitalize on that shift. The airport media network has appointed Jodi Porter as Chief Revenue Officer and Larry Berger as Head of Production and Airport Experiences, adding senior advertising…
The Trade Desk Adds Agentic AI and Smarter Measurement to Kokai Zuma
The next phase of programmatic advertising may be less about giving media buyers more controls and more about deciding which controls they no longer need to touch. The Trade Desk is moving in that direction with Kokai Zuma, a major update to its Kokai advertising platform that combines agentic AI, campaign forecasting, audience discovery and…
