TECH
Microsoft taps Amazon DSP
Amazon and Microsoft announced that as of February 2026, Microsoft would shut down its demand-side platform and move all demand to Amazon DSP, its “preferred transition partner.”
Read the release. (October 7)
Analyst Karstein Weide broke down the news in a tweet and concluded:
“Key items of the deal:
– Microsoft will offer advertisers Amazon’s DSP as preferred transition partner for media buying.
– Microsoft Monetize (its SSP) joins Amazon’s Certified Supply Exchange, opening Monetize inventory to Amazon buyers.
– Amazon gains data, reach & legitimacy beyond its own walls – a major step into open-web demand.”
Read more analysis from Mr. Weide on X. (October 7)
From tipsheet: This is yet another win for AI-enabled Amazon DSP which has included recent partnerships with Roku, Netflix and Spotify to name just a few. The DSP’s authenticated reach keeps extending.
TECH
Targeting with transaction data
TikTok’s AI-enabled buying platform is now closing the purchase funnel loop with transaction data from Instacart. Adweek’s Kathryn Lundstrom reported:
“Initially restricted to a select group of consumer packaged goods advertisers, the deal lets brands focus TikTok ad campaigns on specific groups of Instacart shoppers. TikTok users that click on the ads will be taken to Instacart, where the item will be added to their cart with the option to have it delivered in as quickly as 30 minutes…”
Read more on Adweek. (October 7)
Related: TikTok Announces New Automation Updates for Advertisers: Smarter Ads, More Control, and Measurable Impact – press release
SELL-SIDE
Creator worries about AI ‘beast’
Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. MrBeast, has over 630 million followers and is expected to earn $85 million annually via his creator empire this year.
And he’s worried about AI.
In the wake of the recent OpenAI Sora 2 and Meta Vibes launches, Mr. Donaldson tweeted, “When AI videos are just as good as normal videos, I wonder what that will do to YouTube and how it will impact the millions of creators currently making content for a living.. scary times.”
Read more from the BBC. (October 7)
From tipsheet: At one end, prompt-based creators who generate content that lives in virtual worlds seems inevitable if it isn’t already happening.
Also, humans will still crave human connection – therefore, many human creators will continue to thrive.
The question is in the middle. Do we, as humans, start watching more virtual content (also created by humans)? I think so, especially as AI-enabled content becomes increasingly hyper-personalized.
AGENTIC AI
Agentic shopping with Google
Taking inspiration from a speech by Google Search VP of Engineering Julie Farago just last month, AdVenture Media CEO Patrick Gilbert said that Google’s agentic search capabilities are here and already finding the path to purchase. He explained:
“One of our clients was recently included in a Google pilot that replaces the traditional Shopping ad with a new LLM-powered shopping agent. Instead of clicking through to a website, shoppers can now open a conversational LLM chatbot experience—right from the Google SERP—to ask questions, compare options, and discover products on the brand’s store…”
Read Mr. Gilbert’s anecdote on LinkedIn. (October 7)
From tipsheet: This Google chatbot application sounds similar to the Business AI chatbot product announced by Meta last week. Advertising is extending to customer service and product (Read: Eric Seufert) and generating data which potentially compresses the purchase funnel.
TECH
The AI enterprise layer & marketing
Salesforce SVP Martin Kihn touted Trusted AI and what he called “a major expansion” in the way his company supports AI and agents yesterday on LinkedIn.
Mr. Kihn explained:
“The philosophy/insight here is that agentic AI — the driver of the Agentic Enterprise we describe — requires consistency and interoperability … and it functions across the entire enterprise.
This means that marketing, service, sales, commerce, even HR and finance — they all need a common data foundation, ensured trust, a common language across apps…”
Read:
- About “Trusted AI” from Martin Kihn on LinkedIn. (October 7)
- Salesforce Unveils the Foundation for Building Trusted AI (October 2) – Salesforce
Next week is the company’s annual Dreamforce event where its agentic “bet” — AI agent platform AgentForce — will be a centerpiece. Among the speakers, Alphabet and Google CEO Sundar Pichai. Visit Dreamforce.
From tipsheet: All parts of the enterprise (such as marketing) feed the enterprise LLM, which lets the company’s AI optimize the enterprise. That seems to be the idea, anyway.
AGENCIES
Omnicom pitching GEO services
In a new 26-page research paper, agency holding company Omnicom is pitching its generative engine optimization (GEO) services for the new world of AI-enabled chatbots.
Titled, “Generative Engine Optimization, The New Paradigm for Discovery in the GenAI Era,” Omnicom CEO Florian Adamski said of the report on LinkedIn:
“The latest installation in our ongoing Future of Search study, this new report from OMG Intelligence offers a deep dive on how GenAI is reshaping consumer discovery and — most importantly — provides a playbook for building a GEO strategy that will ensure competitive advantage for our clients in a world where GenAI recommendations are quickly becoming the new word of mouth, and are impacting all stages of the purchase funnel…”
- Read more from Mr. Adamski on Linkedin. (October 6)
- Download the report here. (Email required)
Related:
- From keyword to dialogue: How Hyundai optimizes for AI-driven search (October 7) – Marketing Dive
- AI Search’s Shi*ty Listicle Problem – Dax Hamman, FOMO[dot]ai
From tipsheet: SEM/SEO/GEO/AEO services are an important part of the agency holding company revenue mix. And AEO/GEO services are important from a brand perspective – Omnicom wants to be perceived as a holding company of agencies with a clear understanding of the future.
LLMs & CHATBOTS
Developments
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Jony Ive Says He Wants His OpenAI Devices to ‘Make Us Happy’ (October 7) – Wired
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Anthropic and IBM Partner in Bid for AI Business Customers (October 7) – The Wall Street Journal
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Opinion: “The AI Arms Race Gets Even Hotter” (October 7) – Editorial Board, The Wall Street Journal
EVENTS
Advertising Week: Marketers & AI
“Marketers like to say they’re used to chaos. Lately, that’s been put to the test.
Between broken measurement systems, widening AI-created talent gaps and the ongoing existential crisis of what it means to be an ‘authentic’ brand (sorry), they’re earning those paychecks just staying afloat.”
Read: “Advertising Week Briefing: Marketers have a lot to worry about in the face of AI-induced shifts” (October 7) – Digiday
BRANDS
Pfizer marketer on AIOs, search referrals
Pfizer’s VP of Performance Media Josh Palau, an experienced programmatic marketer, commented yesterday on a curious trend he’s seeing:
“Anyone else seeing an uptick in Google Search Partner Network Impressions and Clicks since the increase in AI Overviews? Causation or correlation?”
You can tell Mr. Palau your thoughts in the LinkedIn comments here. (October 7)
Google defines the Search Partner Network in its support section saying, “Search partners can extend the reach of Google search ads and listings to hundreds of non-Google websites, as well as YouTube. Like all search ads in the Google search partner network, you are charged only when a user clicks on your ad.” Read more.
From tipsheet: I’ll take a guess.. Pfizer’s search marketing budget is likely significant. Google is prioritizing Pfizer’s budget across the search partner network more than ever before. Due to AI Overviews, traditional Google Search isn’t producing the search ad impressions or yield that it once did for Google and/or the outcomes that it once did for Pfizer. How am I doing?
TECH
The AI pitch: Yahoo! DSP’s Blueprint
Ever-wondered what the authenticated environment available to media buyers looks like through Yahoo! DSP? The demand-side platform has put together a helpful graphic which features its AI core known as “Yahoo Blueprint”:
See more from Yahoo! business solutions here.
From tipsheet: Reaching 335 million users, Yahoo! is no slouch when it comes to reach. According to industry sources, its ad tech (was Aol) remains a well-respected competitor on the open web let alone across its owned and operated properties.
AdExchanger summarized Yahoo! DSP’s history, and rumors of a possible sale, in April. If yesterday on LinkedIn was any indication, Yahoo! DSP appears to be turning on the marketing budget.
Related: With Microsoft in tow, Amazon’s DSP tightens its grip on the open web (August 7) – Digiday
MEASUREMENT
Measuring outcomes in the age of AI
Attention-based, media measurement firm Adelaide has joined RealEyes Vision AI as a partner in the Nielsen Outcomes Marketplace, which was originally announced in July.
“Nielsen has also developed a new set of metrics that gauge the efficiency of achieving both reach and attention. By combining Adelaide’s [omnichannel metric] AU with Nielsen’s established reach data, these metrics enable marketers to better optimize their campaigns mid-flight by allowing them to see efficiency scores across ad placements.”
Read the release. (October 7)
RealEyes – Vision AI’s chief growth officer Max Kalehoff said of the Adelaide addition on LinkedIn yesterday:
“The leaders in Attention (ad creative and placement quality) now are available in one place, bolstering the foundational value of Nielsen’s reach-and-frequency currency ratings.”
More: Nielsen enhances its cross-platform offering with attention metrics from Adelaide (October 7) – Digiday
From tipsheet: Outcomes, the final frontier… will it get easier in the age of AI? Attention is the metric being offered by the Nielsen marketplace. Transacting in a logged-in environment would seem to help, too.
OPINION
‘Video CPMs are about to explode’
Marketing startup founder Henry Ennis opined on his Substack that AI is bringing transformation in the creation of video advertising and, accordingly, a massive uptick in performance will take place.
Reduced costs for creative and SMBs appear to be key to the recipe.
And that’s not all. He concluded:
“Video CPMs are about to explode. Not because attention is scarcer than yesterday, but because scarcity has moved. The moat was never the editing suite. The moat was the number of bidders who could credibly show up to the auction with something worth watching. AI just knocked out the drawbridge. The auctioneer is ringing the bell. If you plan like last year, you will buy less than you think. If you plan like a trader, you will still pay more—but you will know exactly why.”
Read more on Mr. Ennis’ “Marketing Economics” Substack. (October 7)
h/t Jay Friedman
PEOPLE MOVES
The sales agent
Alex Sherman, CEO of answer engine optimization (AEO) firm Bluefish AI, announced the appointment of media executive, Peter Naylor, as strategic advisor. Read the press release. (October 7)
Mr. Sherman said on LinkedIn, “Peter is known across the marketing industry the guy to call for trusted advice when the landscape shifts – and AI is definitely changing a thing or two 😉 I’m excited to partner with Peter as we help the largest brands in the world re-imagine their marketing systems for the AI internet.” Read more on LinkedIn. (October 7)
MORE
- Podcast: Reinventing Ad Tech, Criteo CEO Michael Komasinski on Retail Media, AI, and the Future of Addressability (October 7) – Next In Media on YouTube
- Opinion: “LLMs Will Do to Search What the Internet Did to Classifieds” – Teddy Jawde, tvScientific on Inside Performance Advertising newsletter
- MAI: $25 Million Raised To Launch AI Agents That Automate Performance Marketing For Small Businesses (October 7) – Pulse 2.0
- PayPal Unleashes the Power of Retail Media for Small Businesses, Enabling Them to Join Billion-Dollar Advertising Boom (October 7) – press release
- Index Marketplaces Accelerates; Index Exchange Adds Data Vendor Ecosystem to Power Sell-Side Audience Activation (October 7) – press release