Google launches Universal Commerce Protocol with major retailers on January 11, 2026, introducing checkout APIs and payment standards for autonomous AI agents.
by Luis Espada
Aller Media, Bonnier News, and Schibsted endorsed IAB Sweden's expulsion of Meta on March 12 over fake ads, citing SEK 136 billion in fraud revenue and consumer harm on Facebook.
MCP adoption, IAB Sweden expels Meta, NBCU Olympics programmatic expansion, Trade Desk's AI bets, and Google search volatility define the week in ad tech.
IAB Australia's 10th annual Audio Advertising State of the Nation report reveals $339m in 2025 spend, 69% of buyers plan podcast increases, yet fragmentation blocks scale.
The Trade Desk's closed beta lets advertisers build campaigns through Claude, raising real questions about defaults, optimization logic, expertise, and transparency in programmatic buying.
IAB Europe's CTV Working Group says cross-device attribution and fragmented identifiers still block CTV's shift from brand to performance channel in 2026.
Jeff Green's $150M TTD stock purchase sparked rare candour on AI chat ads, agentic campaigns, retail media, and why Amazon's DSP may not last five years.
Google Ads product managers reveal smart bidding best practices for 2026, covering Smart Bidding Exploration, journey aware bidding, and campaign total budgets.
Google AdSense replaces the ad load slider with advanced settings for banner ads on April 16, 2026, giving publishers precise control over ad count and spacing.