Welcome to The Refresh, your weekly download of what actually matters in advertising. Brought to you by Marketecture Media and written by AdTechGod. Every Thursday, we bring you the latest news, commentary, and memes that speak the truth about this industry. If it's happening in AdTech, media or marketing and its interesting it’ll be here.
Q2: IPG Continues Its Slight Decline As It Prepares To Get Eaten By Omnicom (AdExchanger)
Adform & Airtory Partner to Power Global CTV Creative Planning & Optimisation (Exchangewire)
Agentic Adtech Firm Clinch Scraps CPMs for Monthly Subscription Pricing (Adweek)
Freestar Partners with Fortune Media to Power the Publishers’ Ad Tech Ops (Martechcube)
Taboola vs. Magnite: Which Ad-Tech Stock Should Be in Your Portfolio? (Yahoo!)
Texas Is Getting Tough On Data Protection (AdExchanger)
Seedtag’s New CEO Brian Gleason Says Contextual Will Be Bigger Than Retail Media (AdExchanger)
Rethinking Ad tech with Austin Scott from Bedrock Platform
AdTechGod chats with Austin Scott, founder of Bedrock Platform, about her shift from corporate to startup life, the evolution of CTV, and why media buyers need more flexibility.
HOT YACHTS!
The Hot Yachts video series on YouTube by The Advertising Forum is filmed in France during Cannes Lions, where we sit down with leaders from PubMatic, Kerv, Viant, MiQ, InMobi, Nexxen, and Philo to talk about the festival and what’s coming next for their companies.
Roku and Amazon Join Forces in Bid to Own the Living Room
Roku has partnered exclusively with Amazon, allowing advertisers to access its inventory through Amazon’s DSP. The deal combines Roku’s reach with Amazon’s retail data, creating what they call the largest authenticated footprint in CTV, about 80 million U.S. households.
Roku’s Miles Fisher and other insiders say this is more than a supply deal. It’s a strategic move as Roku faces pressure from The Trade Desk’s Ventura OS and Walmart’s Vizio play. The deal could give Amazon deeper insight into Roku’s business, raising questions about control in the race to dominate the living room.
(Miles was on the AdTechGod Pod last year. You should listen here)
AI Won’t Fix Programmatic for Premium Publishers
AI and signal aggregators are being framed as solutions for premium publishers, but they risk repeating past mistakes. Commoditization 1.0 began when top media brands joined the open marketplace, eroding their value. Now, AI threatens a second wave by automating flawed systems.
While AI might help optimize lower-tier media, it can’t fully measure the value of premium environments built on trust, content, and audience connection. Quality media can’t be reduced to signals or scanned by bots. Unless the industry rethinks its models, AI could accelerate the decline of premium media rather than save it.
Netflix Can’t Miss: Ad Revenue Set to Double in 2025
Netflix just raised its 2025 revenue forecast to as much as $45.2 billion and expects to double its ad revenue next year. In Q2, revenue grew 16%, and upfront ad sales jumped over 150% year over year. Most agency deals are already locked in.
The company also completed the rollout of its in-house Netflix Ads Suite and plans to integrate Yahoo’s DSP, boosting programmatic capabilities. With 94 million monthly active users on its ad tier, Netflix is positioning itself as a major CTV ad player.
And yes, AdTechGod still loves Netflix. Can’t quit her. Doesn’t want to.
From Cookies to Context: A Four-Era History of Ad Targeting
Privacy attorney Alan Chapell outlines four major phases in ad audience targeting. Era 1 started with behavioral targeting from companies like Tacoda. Era 2 brought data onboarding and marketplaces from players like LiveRamp and BlueKai. Era 3 focused on “data exhaust” and behavioral patterns, driven by social media habits.
Now, Era 4 is emerging with AI, but Chapell is skeptical. He warns that using AI without transparency could backfire with regulators and says current AI tools are better at brand safety than true targeting. Without deeper change to the ad system, AI won’t fix the bigger problems.
AppLovin Loses $32B Amid Ad Tech Allegations
AppLovin’s stock took a major hit, shedding over $32 billion in value after short sellers accused the company of ad fraud, privacy violations, and shady user tracking practices. The mobile ad tech firm, once riding a 700% stock rally, now faces scrutiny over alleged fingerprinting, tracking of children, and inflated performance metrics.
AppLovin denies the claims and has hired high-profile attorney Alex Spiro to investigate. No official probes have been announced, but the company risks losing key partnerships with Apple and Google if the accusations stick. Despite the noise, AppLovin continues to position itself as a serious ad tech contender to Meta and Google.
Everything is a (retail media) network… even HP.
HP is officially in the ad game. The company has launched the HP Media Network, offering advertisers access to unique data from its personal computing products. With ad placements on HP devices, apps, and extended campaigns via Microsoft and Kargo, HP joins the growing list of hardware companies monetizing direct consumer access.
Madison Ave Returns
Last year’s Return of the Golden Era of Madison Ave party was a blast with a packed house, great energy, and a night people still talk about.
We’ll be back at the Virgin Hotel for Madison Ave Returns. Live band, live singers, and yes MICK is headlining.
As always, we’re looking for a few great sponsors to help bring the night to life. If you're interested, hit the form on the site.
Register ASAP to be placed on the waitlist.
Hosted by AdTechGod and MadConnect
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