Leveling Up Advertising

The DL: Gaming, engaging 3.4 billion users worldwide, particularly younger audiences, remains an underutilized advertising channel, capturing only a small share of ad budgets despite its immersive potential. Brands can forge authentic connections through in-game integrations on platforms like Fortnite and Roblox, leveraging emerging ad formats like rewarded ads and branded virtual experiences, while CTV offers additional reach through targeted, streaming-based ads. However, marketers face challenges such as measurement complexities, ensuring accurate campaign tracking across gaming and CTV, and navigating privacy concerns, especially with younger players. By aligning with gaming culture and utilizing CTV’s growing ad capabilities, brands can unlock significant opportunities in these dynamic, growing mediums.

OpenAds Redefines Programmatic Ads

The DL: The Trade Desk is making a significant move to reshape the programmatic advertising landscape with its new "OpenAds" initiative. By launching its own version of the online ad auction built from Prebid's open-source software, the buy-side platform is advocating for a more transparent and efficient marketplace. The core of the change involves re-implementing universal Transaction IDs, which The Trade Desk argues are essential for advertisers to track their spending and for premium publishers to prove the value of their inventory. While the company states its goal is to create a "cleaner" auction, reduce inefficiencies, and ensure more ad dollars reach quality publishers, the move is causing friction, with some on the sell-side viewing it as an overreach of buy-side influence into auction mechanics.

Advertising Media Cost Inflation Accelerates

The DL: Global media costs have risen half a point to an annual inflation rate of 4.3% in 2025, according to a just-released World Federation of Advertisers (WFA). It forecasts that 2026 media cost inflation will moderate four-tenths of a point to 4.2%. The report forecasts 42 global markets. The report states that media costs for advertisers in the U.S. have risen half a point to a 3.8% rate of inflation for this year and are forecast to rise a tenth of a point to 4.0% rate of inflation next year. The trend indicates the global media economy has settled into a new normal of moderate but persistent inflation, mirroring the wider economy. The report finds that "video remains king," adding "but not all screens are equal.”

MediAI Minute

DirecTV Partners with AI-Ad Firm

DL: DirecTV is partnering with AI-advertising firm Glance to roll out “shoppable” AI-generated screensavers on its Gemini devices starting next year. When a TV is idle for about ten minutes,

it will display a carousel of AI-created images (which you can even insert yourself into by scanning a QR code).Items shown in the background—like clothing or furniture—can be tapped (via mobile) and purchased, with Glance matching them using a large catalog of products. Glance says that no specific brand is being promoted, but the images are used to generate interest via visual similarity. The idea is to shift from passive “lean‐back” TV viewing to a more interactive “lean-in” experience, though it raises questions about privacy, ad saturation, and the changing role of television screens.