In an Ad Age article titled, “Agentic AI dominated CES—but competing standards could fracture ad tech,” (January 8) chief technology reporter Garett Sloan reviewed CES and the heightened interest level in agentic AI in digital advertising as well as the competing visions which have emerged.
Sloan previewed his piece on LinkedIn:
“There are still question about how much scale AI agents are really achieving. Magnite tested a campaign that was in the five-figures. Also, agentic is still a nebulous term, is it automation? Or is this working toward an open system where buyer agents can get access to inventory and data from everywhere they want, with seller agents that are ubiquitous and easy to call.
One of the more interesting conversations, too, is whether the industry is even developing toward the same standards and goals, and that debate was raging at CES. “There is a sense of urgency across the industry to understand which protocols will win out,” Matt Barash told Ad Age.”
Currently, the agentic protocols in the center of the digital advertising debate are AgenticAdvertising[dot]org’s Ad Context Protocol (AdCP) and IAB Tech Lab’s Agentic Real-Time Framework (ARTF).
But, LiveRamp’s User Context Protocol (UCP) — which was donated to the IAB Tech Lab late last year — as well as Anthropic’s Model Context Protocol (MCP) and Google’s Agent2Agent (A2A) continue to move forward in various ways in an AI-enabled world of ads looking for interoperability, composability and, ultimately, outcomes for ad dollars.
Read more on LinkedIn. (January 8)
From tipsheet: Was “agentic advertising” even whispered at least year’s CES? Agents are everywhere and nowhere (no scale, yet). Programmatic media’s early days were similar.
Today, programmatic has matured into a digital advertising bulwark providing either a launch pad or infrastructure (depending on what side you take) for the agentic opportunity enabled by AI.
LLMS & CHATBOTS
Developments
- Gmail is entering the Gemini era (January 8) – Google’s The Keyword
- France’s armed forces ministry awards Mistral AI framework agreement (January 8) – Reuters
- DeepSeek’s AI gains traction in developing nations, Microsoft report says (January 8) – ABC News
COMMERCE
Microsoft’s “conversations that convert”
Yesterday, Microsoft announced that it, too, was bringing agentic commerce to its chatbot, Copilot.
A blog post explained to marketers:
- “Copilot Checkout turns conversations into conversions—instantly. No redirect, no friction, and you stay the merchant of record.”
- “Brand Agents bring AI-powered guidance for customers to your own site—your brand’s voice, built for fast, scalable adoption.”
Initial checkout partners include: PayPal, Shopify, Stripe, and Etsy.
Brand Agents is initially focused on Shopify merchants and, given the description, appears to loosely compete with Meta’s Business AI customer service chatbot for websites which was announced in October.
- Read the Microsoft blog post. (January 8)
- And, read the press release.
Microsoft’s new ecommerce features also echo OpenAI’s Instant Checkout product for ChatGPT announced back in September.
Search Engine Land’s Barry Schwartz covered the agentic news and observed, “Shopify merchants will be automatically enrolled in Copilot Checkout with an option to opt-out, and non-Shopify merchants can apply to onboard over here.”
Read more on Search Engine Land. (January 8)
From tipsheet: Agentic commerce is laying the foundation for conversational advertising (i.e. “ads in a chatbot”).
COMMERCE
Amazon and OpenAI’s agentic commerce race
The big National Retail Federation show is next week (Jan. 11-13) in New York City, so expect to hear a lot more about media, commerce —and agentic commerce if CES was any indication on agentic momentum.
On that note, The Information reported yesterday that Amazon is pulling ahead of OpenAI with its AI-powered shopping efforts. One reason may be Amazon’s aggressive posture and raising the walls of its “walled garden” even higher versus OpenAI’s cautious approach.
Why should ad industry participants care? Because commerce and ads, thanks to AI, are tied together.
The Information explained:
“On one hand, it makes sense for OpenAI and its partners to move cautiously, as AI shopping tools misfiring on purchases would upset shoppers and retailers alike. But Amazon’s ‘Buy for Me’ is going after Shopify’s bread and butter: small, independent online retailers that don’t sell on Amazon. By taking a more collaborative and slow-rolling approach, OpenAI and Shopify could risk ceding ground to Amazon, especially since it’s still early days for people getting used to the idea of AI doing their shopping.
At the same time, Amazon has taken a hard line against other AI search tools and apps that display Amazon-listed products in their search results. The e-commerce giant has blocked most bots and agents of major AI companies from accessing its site, and it has also started to crack down on other, smaller AI apps even if they ultimately instruct customers to complete purchases on Amazon’s site.”
Read more in The Information. (January 8)
Related: 2026 will prove whether AI checkout is here to stay (January 5) – ModernRetail
From tipsheet: You may recall that some on Wall Street – such as Moffett Nathan analyst Michael Morton – have been warning that a successful eCommerce strategy by OpenAI could severely impact Amazon’s advertising revenue as well as others engaged in retail media.
Mr. Morton called it going “from ads to product feeds.” The reasoning: if consumers get used to doing all their buying through a chatbot such as ChatGPT (which ingests all of retail’s product feeds), they won’t need to visit other eCommerce sites which will impact the highly profitable ad revenue that often helps fund the rest of retail’s business. Read more from tipsheet in November.
EVENTS
From CES: “Agentic AI”
“You’d need a network of agents to count the number of times ‘agentic AI’ came up in pitches to marketers at CES this week.”
Read: Consumer Electronics Show (CES) observations from The Wall Street Journal’s Patrick Coffee on LinkedIn. (January 8)
AGENCIES
Publicis AI partners with LiveRamp
Data collaboration platform LiveRamp has been busy during this week’s CES show.
In addition to its ongoing participation in the “agentic” discussion regarding its User Context Protocol (UCP) and an expansion of its data models for AI, the company announced a deal with agency holding company Publicis.
From Ad Age on LinkedIn:
“Publicis has announced a ‘strategic partnership’ with LiveRamp, which helps advertisers and media companies match their customer data with ad platforms and publishers so they can target ads and measure results without sharing raw personal data. The deal combines Publicis’ AI capabilities and data assets with LiveRamp’s collaborative technology, allowing advertisers to connect and analyze information across systems without moving it.”
Clean rooms are table stakes.
Read more on LinkedIn and Ad Age. (January 8)
From tipsheet: This “AI partnership” can also be construed as an evolution of Publicis thinking in regards to its own Epsilon platform (i.e. “data assets”) which provides its ads/marketing/data technology stack to the holding company. Publicis needs more and better matching of first-party data in the age of AI?
Back in 2023, LiveRamp and Epsilon partnered on cookie matching services as third-party cookie deprecation unfolded.
Publicis acquired Epsilon in 2019.
AGENCIES
The AI Operating System
“In separate unveilings this week, WPP, Omnicom and Havas each introduced a new layer of software meant to sit above their sprawling networks of agencies, data sets and specialist teams. The branding differed — an ‘agent hub,’ a rebuilt ‘marketing intelligence platform,’ a secure ‘LLM portal.’ The direction did not.
All three are trying to turn what agencies have traditionally sold — judgment, craft, and an ability to connect disparate signals — into productized systems that can be deployed repeatedly, measured more cleanly, and scaled across clients and geographies. In other words: less bespoke alchemy, more operating model.”
Read: “WPP, Havas, Omnicom: Are advertising’s biggest holdcos recasting agencies as AI Operating Systems?” (January 8 ) – Storyboard18
From tipsheet: Right now, we appear to have the following:
- The “AI operating system” (the agency approach)
- The “agentic operating system” (an ad tech approach)
- The AI-enabled automated buying platforms: So, The Trade Desk’s Kokai to Google’s Performance Max to AppLovin’s Axon to… many others (and often with a “+” or a “Max” at the end of their product’s name!).
EVENTS
RMNs and the “Agentic reset”
Regarding National Retail Federation’s (NRF) “Big Show” which spans everything from in-store commerce to eCommerce, will run this Sunday, January 11 to Tuesday, January 13. It’s actually more than that.
If you’re a member of a retail media network (RMN), you’re probably on your way to NRF’s full day retail media event tomorrow (Saturday), January 10, titled, “What’s in store for Retail Media in 2026.” It’s a monster one day event!
See the retail media event’s speakers and agenda.
Concern about “agentic commerce” is obviously top of find if you judge by the agenda and the phrases “AI reckoning” and “agentic reset”.
Here’s a sample from the agenda:
The AI Reckoning for Retail Media: An Industry Insider Discussion Featuring: Collin Colburn VP, Commerce & Retail Media, IAB , Kiri Masters, Industry Commentator, Retail Media Breakfast Club, Sarah Marzano, Principal Analyst EMARKETER
“A pragmatic, debate-forward conversation translating The Agentic Reset into action. This session examines how AI will reshape both online and in-store retail media—potentially reallocating budgets, reframing measurement, and redefining organizational models for a store-first future. Panelists will offer an inside view of the practical shifts required to move from thesis to execution, and the real tensions shaping the next wave of retail media strategy. Attendees will leave with a sharper understanding of how AI is accelerating transformation and what it will take to build measurable, monetizable growth in the years ahead.”
From tipsheet: Can you imagine going from CES to NRF? You know who you are…
MORE
- Roku CEO Predicts First ‘100% AI-Generated Hit Movie’ Will Be Released in Next Three Years (January 7) – Variety
- On overview on AppLovin strategy in light of selling its gaming unit in order to “double down on AI ads” (January 7) – Yahoo Finance
- Changes to IP Address and Session Attribute Support in the Google Ads API (January 8) – Google Ads Developer blog
- How Howie Mandel’s Clean Eating Ties To Agentic Measurement (January 7) – MediaPost
- Opinion: Why OpenAI paused ChatGPT ads to fight Google’s Gemini – Search Engine Land