Data

The latest news about data. Data is used in advertising in a variety of ways, including Audience targeting, Ad personalization, Ad optimization, Ad placement, and Measurement. Advertisers use data in advertising to reduce wasted ad spend.

Data

Apple services shattered records in 2025

Apple's services division reached unprecedented heights in 2025 with 850 million weekly App Store users and Apple Pay blocking over $1 billion in fraud.

Data

Honey loses access to 2,000 clients after Rakuten network termination

Honey browser extension terminated from Rakuten Advertising affiliate network on January 12, 2026, losing access to major retail partners including Walmart.

Data

StackAdapt brings self-serve NPI targeting to pharmaceutical advertisers

StackAdapt launches in-platform NPI targeting and measurement on Jan. 6, 2026, enabling pharmaceutical marketers to run deterministic HCP campaigns.

Data

Google shuts down session tracking for new advertisers in Ads API

Google restricts IP address and session attribute imports in Google Ads API starting February 2, forcing developers toward Data Manager API migration.

Data

Microsoft Advertising and Epsilon bring precision targeting to search campaigns

Microsoft Advertising Platform now integrates Epsilon data through Third-Party Search collaboration with PMX, achieving 2x higher ROAS in travel pilot campaign tests.

Data

Adsquare launches Q1 seasonal audiences targeting $18.6 billion spending window

Location intelligence platform releases four high-intent audience segments for Chinese New Year, Valentine's Day, Super Bowl, and Winter Olympics campaigns.

Data

Iran goes dark: 98% of internet infrastructure collapses in nationwide shutdown

Iran's government executed a near-total internet blackout on January 8, 2026, eliminating 98.5% of announced IPv6 address space and cutting traffic by 90% within 30 minutes as protests spread across the country.

Data

Cloudflare updates x402 template as micropayments gain traction

Cloudflare updated its open source x402 payment-gated proxy template on January 9, 2026, enabling website owners to charge per download, per API call, or per crawl as traditional content monetization models face pressure.

Data

Cloudflare faces €14.2 million fine from Italian regulator over piracy enforcement

Italian communications authority AGCOM fines Cloudflare €14.2 million for refusing to comply with orders to block pirated sports streaming content through its DNS services.

Data

California data broker fined $45,000 for selling health condition lists

Texas company marketed consumer data on Alzheimer's, addiction, and ethnic backgrounds without Delete Act registration compliance, faces December deadline.

Data

Google adds one-click GCP deployment to tag gateway arsenal

Description: Google Tag Manager integrates Google Cloud Platform deployment for tag gateway, expanding beyond Cloudflare with automated External Application Load Balancer configuration.

Data

Magnite partners with deep learning firm to enrich programmatic bidstream

Magnite integrates Cognitiv's deep learning models into ClearLine on January 6, expanding real-time curation capabilities across premium video inventory and omnichannel campaigns.

AI

LiveRamp just turned its data marketplace into an AI model training hub

Data collaboration platform opens licensing infrastructure for training data, third-party models, and AI-powered applications starting January 6, 2026.

Data

German court holds third-party cookie providers liable without consent

Frankfurt Higher Regional Court rules technology companies placing third-party cookies face direct liability even when website operators fail to obtain user consent, awarding €100 damages in December 2025 decision.

Data

Google's $32 billion bet on cloud security faces February deadline

Description: European regulators must decide by February 10 whether to approve Google's largest-ever acquisition of cybersecurity firm Wiz amid warnings from researchers about vertical monopolization risks.

Data

Spend-based carbon measurements overstate ad emissions by 450%

Cedara and momox case study reveals how spend-based carbon calculations inflate digital advertising emissions compared to GMSF activity-based methodology.

Data

Google's hidden data controls let advertisers block tag tracking

Unnoticed Google Tag feature enables advertisers to block advertising, analytics, and diagnostic data collection when users deny consent across platforms.

Data

California lawmaker wants to ban selling your sensitive data

California Assembly Member Christopher Ward introduced legislation January 5 that would prohibit businesses from selling sensitive personal information to third parties under state privacy laws.

Data

Influencers strike back with detailed contracts showing Honey violated terms

Content creators file second amended complaint January 5, 2026 with specific merchant contracts proving PayPal's Honey extension violated affiliate agreements.

AI

How GDPR strangled European tech before it could compete

New research reveals privacy regulation drove US investors from Europe, cutting venture capital by 20% and forcing tech startups to rely on local funding ill-equipped for global growth.

AI

Former EU commissioners defend digital rules against Trump censorship claims

Former EU commissioners defend the Digital Markets Act against Trump's censorship accusations, clarifying the focus on fair competition and market transparency.

Data

Major browsers achieve cross-platform parity on web performance metrics

Safari 26.2 delivers final pieces needed to measure Core Web Vitals uniformly across Chrome, Firefox, and all major browsing environments, ending years of fragmented performance tracking for marketing professionals.

Data

Google preparing to shut down Ads API v19 in February 2026

Google Ads API version 19 will sunset on February 11, 2026. Developers must migrate to newer versions before all v19 requests begin failing across the platform.

Data

Vietnam implements comprehensive personal data decree on final day of 2025

Vietnam issues sweeping data protection implementation decree December 31, setting strict compliance requirements for digital businesses processing personal information.

Data

Honey co-founder Ryan Hudson defends extension amid fraud detection allegations

Ryan Hudson rebuts allegations against Honey's affiliate practices while launching ZeroClick AI ad network, as investigation exposes detection evasion system.