Employment and equality fears add baggage to AI messaging, making disclosure and performance testing critical.

AI tools need clear context and insights to improve utility and earn strategic trust.

Younger consumers’ heavy exposure to synthetic content and worries about AI’s future effects, reducing trust in AI-using brands.

Agency efficiency separates the pack: Holdcos are pairing AI with integration and acquisitions to tackle siloed systems and streamline delivery.

AI adoption outpaces marketer training: 43% of marketers lack formal training, leaving leaders to close skills gaps before AI can deliver meaningful results.

Google beats Q2 expectations as AI spend accelerates: Marketers should expect Google's ad products to become more automated as AI spending continues.

In today's podcast episode, we discuss the patterns behind where AI agents are being built, the technologies that are enabling marketers to do things they couldn't do before, and where marketing campaigns are actually won or lost before a single ad is ever run. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, Principal Analyst Yory Wurmser, and Head of GTM at Rokt mParticle, Nicholas Craig. Listen wherever you get your podcasts, or watch on YouTube or Spotify.

AI labels don’t dent ads: MediaScience research shows that AI transparency leaves performance intact—and consumer trust stronger.

AI Digital debuts AI Creative Studio: New genAI tools promise scalable, TV-grade creative—but consumer skepticism clouds payoff.

On today’s podcast episode, we discuss the three big questions surrounding Google right now: If Google is winning at search, where is its ad machine quietly losing? Is its self-driving car unit, Waymo, a sleeping giant for the company? And are its new traditional TV-style “Stations” the right model for YouTube as it tries to take over the living room? And more. Join Senior Director of Podcasts and host Marcus Johnson, along with Analyst Marisa Jones and Senior Forecasting Analyst Drew Spink. Listen everywhere, or watch on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.

X rebuilds its ad core: A ground-up AI overhaul aims to fix targeting and ROI as revenues lag far behind pre-Musk levels.

Agentic AI hits geopolitical blockade: China halts Meta’s $2 billion Manus buy, which could prevent marketers from accessing low-cost agentic tools.

Adobe rewires creative workflow with agentic AI: Firefly AI Assistant runs Photoshop to Premiere from one prompt, aiming to speed production.

Even as the Iran war trims budgets, digital maintains an 84% share of total ad spending, with CTV poised to capture outsized gains.

The tool lets brands spin 30-second tracks from text, photos, or videos, threatening stock libraries and startups.

Advertisers use AI across creative and targeting, yet 61% report no meaningful gains and only 30% trust it.

AI deepfakes are sparking a global crackdown after Grok’s explicit content scandal triggered UK probes and stricter safeguards--raising governance stakes for AI tools.

Out-of-home (OOH) ad spending keeps climbing, powered by digital screens, in-store placements, and programmatic buying. Growth is steady, but budgets still lean on traditional formats as automation reshapes how brands plan and buy.

As audiences show a preference for user-generated content in ads, brands have an opportunity to showcase credibility across social advertising strategies.

The most impactful ads of 2025 stirred debate and dollars: From Sydney Sweeney to Katseye to Coca-Cola.