Paramount Skydance’s first full quarter under CEO David Ellison wasn’t flashy—but it was confident. Revenues were roughly in line, shares jumped over 10%, and management struck a new tone: Paramount is (re)building. Ellison and president Jeff Shell raised synergy targets to $3 billion, boosted film and TV output, and reaffirmed streaming growth through UFC integration on Paramount+. Ellison teased “buy versus build” ambitions amid merger chatter with Warner Bros. Discovery, signaling offense over defense. The message landed: Paramount’s next act is about agility and intent—a media giant betting it can grow faster by cutting smarter.

Taboola and Paramount Advertising announced a partnership Wednesday, launching a “Performance Multiplier” tool that enables small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) to extend connected TV (CTV) ad opportunities to the open web. Small-budget brands can now use CTV the way big advertisers do, reaching new audiences through streaming ads that spark awareness at the top of the funnel and drive measurable bottom-funnel results online.

Apple will manage Apple News inventory itself: Company stands to gain a larger share of spending by deprioritizing third-party vendors.

The race to attract small advertisers with AI is on: Taboola is the latest ad tech firm to target small businesses in an effort to grow the ad spend pool.

Small businesses see higher engagement from phone display ads: Our Industry KPI data from Taboola uncovers a way for SMBs to compete with larger marketers.

A fading internet giant meets a fading ad format: Yahoo acquired a 25% stake in programmatic ad firm Taboola in a harbinger of bigger deals on the horizon.

Taboola buys Connexity: The merger will help Taboola's publisher clients tap into ecommerce dollars while also helping Connexity's retail clients diversify away from Amazon.

Advertisers continue to spend on digital formats in the UK, to the detriment of some traditional channels. Brexit is accentuating this trend, with the Google-Facebook duopoly proving to be the biggest winner.

US native ad spending continues to grow robustly, reaching nearly $44 billion this year. By the end of 2020, almost two-thirds of US display spending will be on native units.

A quarter of US internet users block ads this year, as they demand more relevant, less intrusive messaging to support their media consumption.