Magnite and ITN hand local TV buying to AI agents at 1,100 stations
Local TV buying moves to AI agents across 1,100 stations this quarter, while FAST channels withhold the audience data that would defend their falling CPMs.
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Amazon starts selling ads inside ChatGPT to its own advertisers
Amazon DSP buyers can now place ads inside ChatGPT through a US pilot, as the IAB lifts its 2026 US ad forecast to 12.3% and AI tools now direct 12% of spend.
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Publishers spent $113m in one month buying back their search traffic
Publishers spent $113m buying paid search in July 2026, up 274% in three years, as AI Overviews now answer nearly 100% of Google's People Also Ask results.
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Grindr pays £26m to 12,000 UK users over HIV data sent to ad partners
Grindr will pay £26m to about 12,000 UK users over HIV status and location data shared with ad partners, pricing the exposure 5.4 times above Norway's fine.
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Half of web requests are bots as agency CPMs climb 20%
Bots and AI agents now pass half of all web requests. Agencies report retargeting pools filling with non-humans and CPMs up 20%, while some brands want more.
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YouTube counts co-viewers in a metric only creators can see
YouTube's views co-viewed metric estimates household TV viewers but appears only in creator analytics, a sponsorship figure that brands have no way to audit.
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OpenAI asks a judge to end the 10.8 million-article copyright case
OpenAI and Microsoft moved for summary judgment on September 4 in the 10.8 million-article copyright case, citing 24 verbatim outputs in 20 million chat logs.
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Regulators rewrote the ad auction rules and left the owners alone
Google kept AdX, the FTC sued Amazon over hidden ad surcharges and The Trade Desk cut 575 jobs, in a week when regulators changed the rules but not the owners.
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The Trade Desk cuts about 575 jobs after growth slows to 3%
The Trade Desk cut about 15% of its staff on September 4 after second-quarter revenue grew just 3%, its slowest rate since 2020, with guidance pointing lower.
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AI agents now buy media, so agencies are metering them by the token
Media agencies are building audit logs and daily token caps as AI agents begin buying real campaigns, after one CTV test returned 5x on a $25,000 media spend.
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Judge spares Google's ad exchange and rewrites its auction rules instead
Judge Brinkema refused on September 2 to break up Google's ad tech business, ordering behavioral remedies that end first look, last look and unified pricing.
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Google gives every site AI search reports, minus the clicks and queries
Google Search Console AI reports went global on August 31, showing impressions in AI Overviews and AI Mode but withholding click and query data for publishers.
