YouTube Beats Big TV. AI Takes the Olympics. Marketecture Live IV Is Coming.

Marketecture Live III more than lived up to the build-up, bringing 1,000 industry leaders together for two full days at The Glasshouse in New York City. In partnership with ADWEEK and TVREV, the event gathered the thinkers and doers from across brands, agencies, publishers, ad tech, and venture at a moment when the industry is moving quickly and the conversations matter more than ever.

We kicked things off with an intense opening video from AdTechGod before Chairman Ari Paparo and CEO Jeremy Bloom set the tone on stage. The energy in the room was high from the start and carried through the entire event.

Three content tracks tackled the issues shaping the industry right now. Leaders from Molson Coors, Omnicom Media Group, People Inc., The Trade Desk, Tatari, Podscribe, Horizon Media, Colle McVoy, and United Talent Agency joined investors from LUMA Partners, Aperiam, Blitzscaling Ventures, Next Ventures, and S4S Ventures. Every major agency holdco was represented alongside publishers, platforms, and ad tech operators discussing AI, retail media, creative effectiveness, influence, measurement, and the changing economics of modern media.

The setting helped make it even more memorable. The weather was perfect and sunny, and many conversations spilled outside between sessions. Attendees kept telling us how much they loved the venue, the refreshingly non-salsy sessions (we pride ourselves in that), and of course the incredible food.

The mix of people in the room stood out just as much as the program. Brand marketers connected with agency strategists, founders compared notes with venture capitalists, and publishing executives spent time with technology leaders. Networking continued throughout both days with curated introductions and plenty of space for informal meetings that quickly turned into new relationships and new ideas.

By the end of the second day, it was clear this was the biggest and strongest Marketecture Live yet. The scale of the audience, the seniority of the leaders attending, and the quality of the conversations showed just how much the event has grown.

From everyone at Marketecture Media, thank you for spending these two days with us. See you at Marketecture Live IV!

- AdTechGod, CMO and Co-Founder at Marketecture Media

The Trade Desk CEO Jeff Green purchased about 6 million shares of his company, investing roughly $148-$150 million of his own capital after the stock fell 60 to 70 percent from prior highs. The buy comes during a broader selloff across adtech and software as investors question growth outlooks and the impact of AI on existing platforms. While revenue continues to grow in the teens, guidance for 2026 disappointed investors and concerns around pricing and competition have weighed on sentiment.

Green’s investment reflects confidence that automated, AI-driven media buying will expand and that independent platforms with strong identity, supply access, and performance data will remain important infrastructure for advertisers operating across the open web, connected TV, and retail media.

Read ADWEEK

Target is increasing its use of artificial intelligence as part of a broader effort to return to sales growth and improve how it plans products and supports shoppers. The company plans to invest an additional $1 billion in operating spending in 2026, alongside more than $1 billion in added capital investment that will bring total capital spending to about $5 billion for stores and supply chain upgrades.

One internal tool, Trend Brain, analyzes fashion images and social media sentiment to help apparel teams identify emerging styles and develop collections faster. AI is also supporting store operations through handheld devices that assist employees with tasks and display planning. On the digital side, Target used AI coding tools to rebuild its mobile app in about 18 months and added features such as a handwritten shopping list scanner and in-store item mapping to simplify shopping.

Read MarketingTech

Gracenote is suing OpenAI not just for using its metadata without authorization or compensation, but also for copying the relational framework it uses to connect its metadata, which is in part what makes the data valuable to its enterprise clients and useful for consumers.

Read TVNewsCheck

After months of regulatory uncertainty and the restructuring of its U.S. operations, TikTok has resumed business with a quieter but focused strategy to expand its advertising business. The platform is increasingly targeting independent agencies and assigning sales representatives based on agencies’ Meta spending rather than their TikTok budgets, signaling a direct effort to capture dollars from Meta’s ecosystem.

TikTok is also working to strengthen its position as a top-tier advertising platform while continuing to grow its creator and user base. Although its automated ad tools are improving, the gap with Meta’s Advantage+ system remains. Advertisers remain cautious about shifting significant budgets away from established platforms, which continue to deliver reliable results despite technical frustrations. TikTok’s challenge is persuading marketers that its tools and reach can support comparable performance at scale.

Read Digiday

For the third straight year, Marketecture Media is heading back to POSSIBLE, and we’re showing up bigger, louder, and more dialed in than ever.

We’re coming to capture the moments that matter by filming powerful conversations and creating the kind of content that keeps the industry talking long after the Miami sun sets. 

This year we’re recording high-impact interviews on site, hosting curated gatherings with the right people in the room, and yes, the AdTechGod event is back!

If you want to plug into the energy and partner with us at POSSIBLE, drop your info in the form in the comments.