CMO TLDR: OpenAI, Publicis, and the Agentic Ad Stack
The AI AD Economy
OpenAI Lays the Groundwork for Performance Ads Inside ChatGPT
Code hidden inside OpenAI’s ads manager, internally codenamed “bazaar,” reveals infrastructure for click and conversion-based campaigns, signaling a move well beyond the impression-only ads it sells today. The system runs on a broader ad infrastructure called “tapestry,” suggesting OpenAI is building a full-stack ad platform rather than bolting on a simple monetization layer. For CMOs, this is the clearest signal yet that ChatGPT could become a performance marketing channel; the implications for search budgets and attribution models are significant.
Microsoft and Publicis Expand Agentic Marketing Partnership
Microsoft and Publicis Groupe are scaling a strategic partnership to build a full-stack marketing solution that fuses Azure cloud, AI agents, and Epsilon’s identity data into a unified system. Publicis is deploying Microsoft 365 Copilot to all 114,000+ employees and has selected Azure as its preferred cloud, while also becoming Microsoft’s global media agency of record. The deal is designed so AI agents can autonomously identify high-value customer segments, personalize content, deploy campaigns, and optimize spend in real time, all anchored by Epsilon’s proprietary identity graph.
Wpromote Tests Kargo’s Agentic SSP to Rewire Campaign Activation
Independent agency Wpromote is beta testing Kargo’s Project Kera, a chat-based agentic buying interface that condenses the journey from campaign brief to live programmatic activation into a single workflow. The platform generates media plans, recommends creative formats such as CTV pause ads and immersive overlays, then pushes ads live through Kargo’s SSP integrations. Wpromote is treating Kera as one component of a larger internal AI operating system, Polaris IQ, which handles bid management, budget allocation, and measurement across all buying platforms.
Programmatic
Keyword Blocking Is Costing Publishers Billions, and Brands Are Missing Premium Audiences
A joint study between Integral Ad Science and Reuters found that 54% of brand-suitable news pages on Reuters.com were flagged by standard keyword blocklists, demonetizing content that had already passed contextual safety checks. Even Reuters’ lifestyle section lost 13.5% of its ad impressions during the test period to keyword blocking on content IAS had cleared. A 2019 Stagwell study estimated that overzealous keyword blocking cost U.S. publishers $2.8 billion in lost ad revenue; IAS and Reuters believe that figure is now higher, making this an urgent wake-up call for any CMO still relying on blunt blocklists.
Ozone Launches Simulation Platform to Show Publishers How AI Uses Their Content
Publisher alliance Ozone has built a simulation platform that lets publishers see how their content surfaces inside AI answer engines like ChatGPT, revealing how articles are processed, cited, and sometimes misquoted. Eight publishers have opted in to the R&D Labs initiative, which is designed to help editorial and product teams optimize content structure for AI visibility and set guardrails for future licensing deals. For publishers, this addresses a fundamental information asymmetry; for advertisers, it signals that the fight over how AI engines consume and monetize journalism is intensifying.
Measurement
Liquid Death Uses Incrementality to Kill Wasteful Spend in Real Time
Liquid Death is piloting Ibotta’s LiveLift platform to measure the incremental in-store sales driven by its promotions, comparing exposed shoppers against matched control groups using data from Walmart, Instacart, and DoorDash. Chief media officer Benoit Vatere says he ignores platform-reported ROAS entirely, instead relying on LiveLift as an always-on reference to decide week by week which tactics to scale, tweak, or shut off. The approach has also changed how Liquid Death justifies upper funnel brand spend; a tight incrementality net at the bottom of the funnel gives the team confidence to invest more aggressively in TV and streaming.
Quick Links
More Departures at The Trade Desk as Three Execs Depart
CMO Ian Colley, communications executive Melinda Zurich, and SVP of consumer products Matthew Henick have all exited The Trade Desk, adding to a wave of leadership turnover that includes two CFOs and four board members in recent months. Shares dropped nearly 7% to a six-year low, and the company has notified Nasdaq that it is not in compliance with minimum audit and compensation committee requirements.
DSP Rivals Pounce After Publicis Drops The Trade Desk, but Buyers Aren’t Budging
Following Publicis’s announcement that it will no longer recommend The Trade Desk, rival DSPs, including Viant, StackAdapt, and Quantcast, have aggressively courted TTD clients with transparency pitches. Media buyers remain unmoved; most CMOs care about results, not how their tech partners run their businesses, and no meaningful spend has shifted.
Aldi Taps Instacart’s Storefront Pro to Power Its U.S. Digital Commerce
Aldi has moved away from its in-house e-commerce build, launching a new website and app powered by Instacart’s Storefront Pro platform, which now serves roughly 380 retailers. The deal expands an eight-year partnership and underscores how even large grocers are outsourcing digital infrastructure to focus on core operations rather than competing on technology.