Three former Wieden+Kennedy executives, known for creating iconic Nike ads, have launched Someplace, a new ad agency in Los Angeles. The agency offers a hands-on approach to creative and media strategy for major brands and startups. The executives express a desire to stay close to the creative work and plan to differentiate with their combined expertise, seizing the opportunities presented by media fragmentation.

Major brands are wasting ad dollars on Made for Advertising (MFA) sites. MFA sites prioritize profit through advertising, resulting in subpar user experiences with low-quality content and excessive ads. Brands like Procter & Gamble and Pfizer have inadvertently had their ads placed on these sites, emphasizing the importance of thorough ad spend monitoring.

Meta has announced new ads updates that primarily focus on retailers and those using its automated Advantage+ campaigns. Advantage+ creative optimizations can now automatically optimize video ads for viewing on Reels and dynamically create ad variations in order to personalize them to each user. The platform also offers new dynamic formats, including Reminder ads on Instagram, improved promo code ads, and ads with product tags.

LinkedIn is expanding its Thought Leader ads by enabling businesses to promote content from any user in the app, not just their own employees. To help prevent content from being promoted without consent, creators will receive a notification asking them to approve or deny requests to promote their posts.

Reddit revealed new free-form ads that mirror user posts, aiming to bolster engagement and advertiser interest ahead of its IPO. The new format will offer flexibility in content creation and quick information delivery inspired by popular megathreads. While advertisers may benefit from enhanced engagement, users might perceive ads blending with regular content as intrusive.

90% of ad buyers are shifting personalization tactics as a result of increased privacy legislation and signal loss, with ad budgets increasingly allocated to channels that leverage first-party data, such as CTV, retail media, and social media. One challenge marketers are likely to face as they focus more on first-party data is a lack of interoperability between these channels, which makes it harder to assess effectiveness.

Amazon's ad system charged a seller almost $300,000 for ads targeting California, where they couldn't sell their products due to state regulations, despite them flagging the issue to the company.

Microsoft is injecting pop-up ads into Google Chrome to push users to switch to Bing, a move reminiscent of previous malware-like notifications. Despite assurances of choice, Windows users are frustrated with Microsoft's aggressive promotion tactics. There is currently no easy way to opt out permanently.

AI-enabled marketing today accounts for nearly 45% of all advertising globally. By 2032, AI will influence 90% of all ad revenue. Agencies are facing pressure to adapt or risk irrelevance. This is leading a shift towards value-based pricing models, where costs are determined by the value of services provided to the advertiser.

Advertisements will inevitably become a regular feature in AI-powered chatbots. Smaller startups are already monetizing their chatbots through advertising plugins. The future of ad-driven chatbots will depend on how developers and marketers implement ads.

Instagram has launched its new “Ads with Promo Codes” option to all brands globally, enabling advertisers to entice potential shoppers with promo codes listed in ad captions. This provides brands another option to track IG sales based on the promo code entered.

A cheeky, playful ad by SURREAL (cereal brand) that’ll stop your stroll down the aisle.

LinkedIn has expanded its advertising offerings for B2B marketers by introducing connected TV ad placements. This will enable marketers to target audiences off-platform while they're streaming shows and movies. The move aims to reach users more intentionally during their workday or leisure time.

This article dives into the world of negative keywords and how to use them to refine Google Ads strategies. It shares six different implementation strategies including setting keyword thresholds, employing search term reports, and blocking undesirable phrases from the start. Marketers can optimize budget allocation, improve campaign performance, and ensure alignment with their advertising goals by properly using negative keywords.

Roku filed a patent for a system that could extend ad placement beyond its platform. Ads would be displayed over content paused on external devices connected to Roku TVs. This technology, still in the patent stage, proposes detecting static or paused video content and overlaying relevant ads. This potentially opens up new advertising opportunities and revenue streams for Roku.

A curation of creative ads to serve as inspiration from Nescafe, Pedigree, The Economist, and McCafe.

Microsoft has announced the commencement of ad testing within the Start menu on Windows 11, utilizing the Recommended section to propose apps from the Microsoft Store. Restricted to Windows Insiders in the Beta Channel in the US, feedback from testers will determine whether these ads become a permanent fixture in Windows 11. There is an option to turn off the ads in the settings.

Last year, Google launched Demand Gen campaigns to help advertisers increase demand using visual storytelling. New generative image tools make it easy for creatives and advertisers to create stunning, high-quality images in a few steps using prompts. The new capabilities will optimize the testing of creative concepts, whether you're experimenting with different types of images or building your own from scratch.

Google is developing a two-hop proxy to enhance privacy for Chrome users, a move that has major implications for advertisers. For ad location targeting, advertisers will only have the option to target regions designated by Google, which won't be accurate. The proxy will mask users' identities, meaning advertisers will not be able to distinguish between genuine and bot traffic. Google is increasing its collection of uniquely valuable location data, which could increase advertising costs.

Reddit has become a more common destination for product search. People now add “reddit” to their Google Search queries to get more honest takes, as opposed to trusting testimonials on product sites. Reddit's Dynamic Product Ads allow advertisers to showcase their items within related subreddits. These ads auto-populate in real time, using images and pricing info from advertisers' catalogs. This feature is currently available in public beta.

US digital video ad spend is expected to hit $63B in 2024, a 16% increase from the previous year. For the first time, digital video — which includes CTV, social video, and online video — will claim a higher share of budgets than linear TV. Cable subscriptions have continued an annual decrease of 6% each year.

Amazon Ads has unveiled an expanded suite of new interactive and shoppable ad formats for Prime Video designed to make it easier for viewers to connect with brands. Shoppable carousel ads allow customers to browse and shop multiple related products on Amazon during ad breaks. Interactive pause ads show a translucent ad featuring brand messaging and imagery when a user pauses a show or movie. Interactive brand trivia ads feature factoids about a brand while giving customers the opportunity to shop on Amazon and even unlock rewards.

Meta has announced several new features designed to help advertisers drive performance. The platform now offers personalized machine learning-powered creator recommendations in Instagram's Creator Marketplace designed to reduce the time spent sourcing creators for Partnership Ads. Advertisers can now use multi-destination product ads on Facebook Reels, which allow users to swipe through multiple products at once. Reminder ads on Instagram now support external links, designed to help convert a user's interest into a purchase.

The advert, which is still live on Apple's YouTube page, shows tools used by creatives – including instruments, desks, games, and paint – being crushed. When the press retracts, an iPad is shown. The video was intended to show how the iPad can be used. However, it was broadly criticized by creatives on social media, who believed that it showed how technology can replace human creatives.

The advertising industry tells consumers to ‘buy, buy, buy', yet overconsumption is one of the driving forces of climate change, energy shortages, and poor mental health. Brands can employ honest and clever ads to promote their products without encouraging consumers to buy irresponsibly. This article contains examples from IKEA and Volkswagen that use honest advertising to effectively promote a product.

Bumble faced criticism for a billboard ad devaluing celibacy, prompting the company to apologize and remove the ads.

Netflix's ad-supported plan now has 40 million monthly active users, with more than 40% of all signups in ads markets picking the plan. The Trade Desk, Google's Display & Video 360, and Magnite will join Microsoft this summer as Netflix's main programmatic partners for advertisers. Netflix has announced plans to launch an in-house ad tech platform. It also announced a slew of new content, including two NFL Christmas games, and a slate of new measurement partners.

Google will soon start testing search and shopping ads within AI Overviews for users in the US. The company says it will display ads in AI Overviews when they're relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview. Advertisers already running certain campaigns through Google will automatically become eligible to appear in AI Overviews. It is unclear when exactly the change will roll out.

Google announced plans to test search and shopping ads in the AI summaries. Ads will appear within the AI Overview in a section labeled as ‘sponsored' when they're relevant to both the query and the information in the AI Overview. AI Overview will draw on ads from advertisers' existing campaigns. This means they can neither completely opt out of the experiment nor have to adapt the settings and designs of their ads to appear in the feature.

Netflix's introduction of ad-supported subscription tiers marks a significant shift in its business strategy that aims to appeal to price-sensitive consumers and diversify its revenue. By partnering with advertising firms and offering cheaper plans, Netflix hopes to attract a broader audience and compete with other streaming services. Netflix plans to innovate in advertising approaches, develop strategic partnerships, and ensure that ad-supported models contribute to long-term sustainability and growth.