Welcome to The Refresh, your weekly download of what actually matters in advertising. Brought to you by Marketecture Media and written by AdTechGod.
Stop bidding blind. Rise uses agentic bid enrichment to turn anonymous bid requests into enriched, high-confidence signals before they reach buyers.
Accenture Song Will Buy Whalar, Gaining Global Scale in Influencer Marketing (ADWEEK)
YouTube Doubles Down On AI Tools; Social Media Ad Scams Take The Cup (AdExchanger)
Hearst Magazines Launches Aura IQ, an AI-Powered Ad Platform (ADWEEK)
Omnicom moves Rapp into Critical Mass and global CEO exits in restructure (Campaign)
Publicis Groupe Taps Javier Campopiano Following Omnicom Exit (ADWEEK)
Independent Ad Tech Is Reframing Itself Around Cloud Hardware (AdExchanger)
The Data Quality Crisis in Digital Advertising with Scott McKinley of Truthset
Scott McKinley, Founder and CEO of Truthset, discusses the state of data quality, identity, and measurement in digital advertising.
Scott shares why the industry continues to prioritize scale over accuracy, how data quality deteriorates throughout the supply chain, and why advertisers need to rethink legacy metrics like reach and CPMs. The conversation also explores identity, walled gardens, authentication, and the future of the open internet.
How Contextual CTV Targeting Is Transforming Programmatic Advertising
Dave Bernath, CEO of Wurl, joins Jeremy Bloom and AdTechGod to discuss the evolution of CTV targeting from broad audience and show-level approaches to scene-level contextual targeting.
Is AI's Next Growth Story Mobile Apps?
One of the more interesting IPO stories this year came from a mobile ad tech company that paused its public debut during the market chaos earlier this year, then returned once conditions stabilized.
What stood out wasn't the IPO itself. It was the argument that mobile apps remain one of the biggest growth opportunities in advertising. The company is betting heavily on AI-powered optimization, using massive amounts of app purchase data to improve campaign performance and help app developers monetize more effectively.
Gaming is still a huge part of the business, but some of the fastest growth is now coming from e-commerce and other categories as consumers spend more time buying directly inside apps.
For all the attention AI gets, this feels like a reminder that the technology is only as valuable as the ecosystems it powers. And right now, the app economy continues to look like a pretty good place to be.
Meta’s Scam Ad Problem Keeps Getting Harder to Ignore
Pass me the English Breakfast Tea, please.
The UK's Chartered Trading Standards Institute is pushing for tougher penalties on platforms that allow scam ads to flourish, and it's hard to argue with the logic. Fake celebrity endorsements, AI-generated investment scams, and fraudulent gambling ads continue to pop up across major social platforms despite years of promises to crack down.
If the world's largest tech platforms can't effectively police their own ecosystems, what's the point of the ecosystem in the first place? Peddling fraud ads and scammer content isn't good for users, advertisers, or the platforms themselves. Holding companies more accountable for what runs on their networks feels like a reasonable step in the right direction.
BULLISH OR BEARISH?
This week, I’m posting daily polls under my new Bullish or Bearish series. Stay tuned for more commentary, interviews, and content. You heard it here first folks... ATG is branching out!
The Trade Desk Talent Drain Continues
The executive exits at The Trade Desk keep piling up. Multiple CFO changes, board departures, and senior leaders leaving after surprisingly short tenures have turned heads across the industry.
Many of those executives have quickly landed at other major companies, which makes the situation even more noticeable. Leadership turnover happens everywhere, but when senior leaders aren't sticking around for very long, it naturally makes you wonder what’s really going on behind the scenes.
For a company that has long been one of ad tech’s strongest success stories, the revolving door at the top is becoming hard to ignore. 👀
Stop bidding blind. Rise uses agentic bid enrichment to turn anonymous bid requests into enriched, high-confidence signals before they reach buyers.
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.
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