CMO TLDR: AppLovin’s Boom, Trade Desk’s OpenAds, and Publicis’ AI Payday

AI Becomes the Edge

Publicis Says AI Investment Is Paying Off

Publicis Groupe raised its full-year growth forecast for the second time this year after reporting 5.7% organic revenue growth in the third quarter, with CEO Arthur Sadoun crediting "booming demand" for its AI-powered tools and services. The holding company says 73% of its operating model is now AI-powered following years of quiet investment, with 80% of media revenues and a third of creative revenues now flowing through its AI infrastructure. Sadoun pushed back against predictions that agencies face a "Kodak moment" from AI disruption, arguing that clients need marketing partners more than ever and that current industry job cuts stem from poor performance and consolidation rather than automation.

The Drum: Arthur Sadoun credits ‘booming demand for AI’ as Publicis lifts growth forecast again 

AdWeek: Arthur Sadoun Says AI Shift Doesn't Need to be Ad Industry's ‘Kodak Moment’

AppLovin's Algorithm Drives 30-Fold Stock Surge

AppLovin has become the best-performing stock in the S&P 500 over the past three years, rising more than 30-fold to a $200 billion valuation by using AI to match mobile game advertisers with players likely to download their apps. The company now controls 40% to 45% of ads served to mobile games and tripled its ad revenue between 2022 and 2024, though it faces scrutiny from short sellers and an SEC probe over its data practices. AppLovin plans to expand beyond gaming into retail next year, putting it in direct competition with Meta and Alphabet, which together control half of global digital ad spending.

Read more at The Economist 

Transparency Takes the Wheel

Trade Desk Launches OpenAds to Clean Up Programmatic Auctions

The Trade Desk is introducing OpenAds, an open-source auction system designed to eliminate manipulation tactics like metadata distortion and dynamic take rates that have plagued the programmatic advertising marketplace. Built on Prebid technology, the platform will allow publishers and advertisers to independently verify auction fairness through transparent, auditable code while aiming to improve campaign performance and ad pricing. The move positions Trade Desk deeper into the advertising supply chain as it seeks to restore trust in an ecosystem where supply significantly outpaces demand.

The Trade Desk: OpenAds: Enabling the most trusted, efficient ad auction 

When Agents Buy the Media

Ad Tech Launches Protocol for AI Agent Transactions

A consortium of ad tech companies, including PubMatic, Yahoo, and Scope3, has formed the Ad Context Protocol to create industry standards for AI agents to negotiate and execute media campaigns across the advertising supply chain. Built on Anthropic's Model Context Protocol, AdCP aims to enable buyer and seller AI agents to communicate directly using a common language, potentially bypassing traditional programmatic intermediaries while running alongside existing OpenRTB systems. The group is establishing a nonprofit governing entity to maintain neutrality and plans to expand the protocol's scope to cover creative generation and performance attribution in 2026, with supporters comparing its potential impact to the debut of header bidding.

Digiday: WTF is Ad Content Protocol

AdExchanger: The ad context protocol aims to make sense of agentic ad demand

Quick Links

Spotify Podcasts Are Officially Coming to Netflix

Netflix will start streaming video podcasts from Spotify Studios and The Ringer in early 2026, giving the streamer a foothold in popular genres like sports and true crime while helping Spotify push beyond audio.

Shoppers Will Soon Be Able to Buy Walmart Products on ChatGPT

Walmart will let shoppers buy products directly through ChatGPT starting this fall, joining Shopify and Etsy in the race toward agentic commerce as retailers bet on AI to reshape how consumers discover and purchase goods online.

Key Article Takeaways - TLDR

• Does anyone remember asking ad tech to create industry standards for AI agents?

  Me neither.

• The sweat equity Publicis put in is finally paying off, and the sheer volume of spend and creative now flowing through its AI stack is impressive. Moving the dirt isn’t glamorous, but it moves the market.

• AppLovin’s numbers are eye-popping, but skepticism is still warranted: the company is worth more than Disney.

• The Trade Desk is digging deeper into the least glamorous corner of ad tech: supply. It’s the industry’s leper colony, but it’s also where real trust and future margin can be built.

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