Welcome to The Refresh, your weekly download of what actually matters in advertising. Brought to you by Marketecture Media and written by AdTechGod.
InMobi, Scope3 Debut Sell-Side Agent for Autonomous Media Buying (ADWEEK)
CMA forces Google to offer 'fairer' AI search deal to publishers in UK (Campaign)
Why retailers like Target and Aerie are moving beyond straight affiliate deals with creators (Digiday)
NHL Set to Enter Rights Talks With ESPN, TNT As Ratings Climb (Front Office Sports)
Walmart names Yahoo and Magnite as partners in its ad tech tuneup (Ad Age)
How Self-Service Advertising Is Transforming Publisher Revenue with Ray Adamson at DanAds
Ray Adamson, Head of Solution Sales at DanAds, discusses the evolution of self-service advertising, automation in ad operations, and publisher monetization strategies, as well as how AI is reshaping the future of ad tech. Learn how leading publishers are unlocking new revenue streams and improving efficiency through self-service platforms.
Why Contextual Targeting Matters More Than Ever with Emily Kennedy at Dentsu
Emily Kennedy, EVP and Head of Marketplace at Dentsu, joins Jeremy Bloom and AdTechGod to discuss how contextual targeting is evolving from a planning tool into a true optimization signal. Emily shares how brands can create stronger consumer connections through scene-level targeting, why quality signals matter more than signal volume, and how the industry can overcome fragmentation challenges across streaming and video.
The Death of the Dashboard
MCPs enable AI agents to communicate and have therefore become invaluable tools for advertisers integrating agentic technology across their workflows. (TikTok) Source: Ad Age
The biggest ad platforms are opening the door to a new way of managing campaigns. Through MCP servers from Google, Meta, Amazon, TikTok, and others, advertisers can now connect AI assistants like ChatGPT and Claude directly to multiple ad ecosystems and manage campaigns through a single interface.
The appeal is obvious: faster analysis, cross-platform visibility, and the ability to shift budgets based on insights generated across channels instead of inside isolated dashboards. Media buyers can compare performance across Meta, Google, TikTok, CTV, and more without constantly jumping between platforms. But there’s a catch. MCPs make campaign management easier, yet they do little to solve long-standing issues around attribution, transparency, and platform-controlled reporting. The workflow is changing rapidly, but the black boxes are still very much intact.
The Creepy New Frontier of Healthcare Advertising
A new AdExchanger report highlights how healthcare marketers are using patient data and medical signals to build highly targeted audiences for services like IVF and plastic surgery.
Maybe I'm old, but I hate this idea!
Health is one category where I believe advertisers should keep their hands off hyper-targeting. Just because the data exists doesn't mean it should be used to chase people around the internet. There’s a difference between relevant advertising and turning deeply personal health information into a targeting strategy.
Peer39 Is Coming for DoubleVerify and IAS
Peer39 just acquired Adloox, giving it ad verification and measurement capabilities across Google and Meta and putting it on a more direct collision course with DoubleVerify and IAS.
Scope3 says the sale lets it focus on agentic advertising and its Interchange platform. That's probably true, but it's hard not to wonder if there's more to it. Ad verification is a tough business dominated by a few established players, while agentic media buying is where all the excitement, investment, and future growth seem to be heading (although I don’t 100% believe in the “agentic world” everyone promises).
Temu’s Ad Pullback Wasn’t the Disaster Everyone Expected
Temu slashed ad spend across most major platforms after tariffs and the end of the de minimis loophole changed the economics of its U.S. business. X, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap all took a hit, while Pinterest was one of the few winners.
The surprising part? User growth barely flinched. Downloads remained steady, and monthly active users climbed 21% year-over-year. Temu appears to be trading aggressive customer acquisition for efficiency and retention.
I love Temu’s ad spend. I do not love Temu’s products. But this is a reminder that smarter media strategies can sometimes outperform brute-force spending.
Marketecture Live Early Bird Pricing Has Landed!
This fall, Marketecture Live is headed to the beating heart of ad land: Chicago. The Windy City serves as the industry epicenter for some of the biggest shifts happening across brands, agencies, media, and tech. If you’ve been wanting to attend Marketecture Live but couldn’t make the trip to NYC, meet us in Chicago on Sept. 23. Lock in your seat and the lowest price of the season today.
Get Ready to Dodge, Duck, and Dive!
The 212NYC Agency Dodgeball Tournament is back on June 11! Join teams from across the NYC agency world for a night of high-energy action. Come for the game, stay for the afterparty! Your brand can be part of the action. Click the link below to find out more.
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