MediaPost.com: MediaDailyNews

Google Confirms AI Model Hacked Companies In Cybersecurity Tests

Sat, 19 Sep 2026 23:00:00 -0400

Google confirmed Friday that a Gemini AI model accessed the internet and hacked other companies' systems during a test of its cybersecurity capabilities.

Meta Defeats Privacy Suit Over 'Voiceprints'

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 17:07:44 -0400

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit by a California resident who claimed Meta violated an anti-hacking law by allegedly collecting his "voiceprint" when he used Messenger.

Montana Deepfake Law Likely Unconstitutional, Judge Rules

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 15:41:24 -0400

The law requires disclaimers on negative political ads with AI-generated content.

Automating The Massive Ad Pivot

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 12:22:03 -0400

'OpenAI Sponsored Agents' launched earlier this week with new integrations, with HubSpot the first CRM integration. The updates represent the next step in automation and building OpenAI's AI-based advertising platform, making the ads a part of the conversation with brands.

Accenture Song Taps Fein To Expand U.S. Media Business

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:37:22 -0400

The former Initiative Australia CEO is credited with scaling Song's APAC media operation over the last two years and is tasked with doing the same in the U.S.

Taboola To Acquire Ad-Tech Company Targeting Affluent Consumers

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 10:31:59 -0400

For advertisers, the acquisition consolidates contextually relevant native ad inventory in finance and other high-value sectors.

Meta Deepfake Protections Are 'Inadequate,' Oversight Board Says

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 09:34:23 -0400

Meta's Oversight Board has filed two new decisions criticizing Meta's ineffectiveness in protecting users from deepfakes - especially with regard to harassment of refugees and women.

Adam Smith To Lead Disney's Direct-To-Consumer Business

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 08:50:11 -0400

Smith takes over Disney streaming businesses Disney+ and Hulu - overseeing product, engineering, ad tech, programming, viewer experience, partnerships, and data and analytics.

U2 Concert At Las Vegas Sphere Was 'Aha' Moment For Winfrey

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 07:00:00 -0400

Oprah Winfrey says the idea for mounting a two-hour journey of light, sound and music at the Las Vegas Sphere came to her as she was watching a U2 performance in the famed globe-shaped arena.

Lawsuits Mount Over Meta's Smart Glasses

Fri, 18 Sep 2026 00:00:00 -0400

Meta faces lawsuits from users who allege their Meta smart glasses captured intimate or sensitive footage of them and exposed it to paid-content reviewers abroad.

Unsealed Court Filing Shows OpenAI, Microsoft Supplant Publishers' Sites

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:57:51 -0400

OpenAI and Microsoft executives admitted that their AI tools pose a threat to the publishing industry, Bloomberg Law reports. The admissions were visible in an unsealed motion for a summary judgement in the copyright case filed by The New York Times and other publishers. It was released on Thursday. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in discovery that conversations with chatbots have “substituted” for publisher sites. And Nick Turley, a senior executive at OpenAI, wrote “[o]ur products are largely substitutive, period.”

Pinterest Debuts Visual Search Ads Advertising Format

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:51:46 -0400

Pinterest unveiled a new ad format, Visual Search Ads, at its Pinterest Presents event, as it moves closer to performance marketing, Trading View reports. The new offering is designed to reach users when they are comparing products. Visual Search Ads will place brands inside Pinterest search results and pin close-ups. Advertisers will appear as users browse products.

'The Atlantic' Gets Less Traffic But More Subscribers From Google

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:44:26 -0400

Like many publications, The Atlantic has seen referrals from Google decline. But The Atlantic is getting more subscribers from the Google traffic that does exist. “Google is sending us fewer people who aren’t going to subscribe,” said Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic. The publication has 1.6 million paid subscribers and has been in the black since 2024. In another development, The Atlantic is getting micropayments from Parallel Web Systems, an AI startup that builds web search infrastructure for non-human AI agents.

News Groups Urge Newsom To Sign Tax Credit Bill

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:38:46 -0400

Several organizations, including the News/Media Alliance, have signed a letter urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign a “news-neutral” employment tax credit to preserve local journalism, the News/Media Alliance reports. The “Community NEWS Act,” (AB-2222) is a “news-neutral” mechanism creates refundable employment tax credits for qualifying local news organizations, whatever their size, speech and structure as long as they hire and retain journalists in the state. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign the legislation.

Judge Urged To Halt FCC Probe Of ABC

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 17:15:14 -0400

"The Commission's actions here signal a retaliatory effort to punish ABC-owned-and-operated stations for speech the administration dislikes," ex-FCC Chairs and other former officials argue.

AI Flick Of The Switch: Consumer Behavior Drives Changes In Marketing Spend

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:40:11 -0400

Almost two-thirds of every new ecommerce dollar will go to AI and cashback apps, Northwestern University's Retail Analytics Council and Minty report.

Linear Reach Beats CTV Frequency For Scaling Performance TV

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 16:38:55 -0400

There's a reason so many CTV advertisers today - particularly those that are performance-focused, are watching their campaigns hit plateaus much faster than they had anticipated.

Sam's Club Expands Predictive Ad Targeting

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:40:57 -0400

Sam's Club Connect introduced "Predictive Precision Targeting" capabilities on Thursday, expanding its measurement offering.

BSSP Elevates Dagli To Chief Creative Officer

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 15:20:24 -0400

As a member of the senior leadership team, he'll also play a central role in planning the agency's next phase of growth, partnering with the CEO, Tracey Faux-Pattani, and executive strategy director, Jake Bayham.

Newsom Signs Law Requiring Disclosure Of AI-Generated Performers In Ads

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:46:35 -0400

The ad industry opposed the law, arguing it "places severe burdens on ordinary commercial speech."

Campaign Data Is First-Party Data, Too, And Maybe Brands' Best Tool

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 13:43:31 -0400

Most buying platforms have a mechanism through which a brand can request all its campaign data, down to the log-level insights that say exactly when and where each ad ran.

NFL Opening Week Draws 19.5M Viewers, Down 13%

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 12:19:13 -0400

The first week of the 2026 NFL regular-season fell 13% to an average 19.5 million viewers per game vs. the record-breaking 22.3 million viewers per game averaged during Week 1 in 2025.

WARC: Role Of TV Declines In Top Campaigns

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 11:52:17 -0400

The research analyzed more than 6,300 award-winning campaigns to see how often creative excellence translated into marketing effectiveness, based on the creative and effectiveness award competitions that the group measures annually around the world.

Show Franchises Going Back Decades Fill Fall Lineups

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0400

Many of the shows on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are so old that the networks have become the assisted-living facilities of TV.

Apple Touts Big Emmy Wins: Will Marketing Do A Big Job?

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 08:00:00 -0400

Premium streamer Apple keeps working under the radar of the big players - including Netflix, Prime Video, HBO Max and Disney+ - in scoring major awards.

AI Makes Creatives Faster, Brands Cheaper, Agencies More Expensive

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 06:00:00 -0400

There's a growing divide over what AI should do to agency compensation, a consequential finding for media buyers.

FCC Seeks Comments On Its Political Ad Pricing Guidance

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:58:27 -0400

The Federal Communication (FCC) is seeking comments on its guidance on discounts for political ads, TVTechnology reports. The guidance issued in March seemed to expand the types of organizations that are eligible for the “lowest unit charge” discounts. This could deprive broadcasters of significant ad revenue. There were no comments sought in March, but the FCC’s Media Bureau has set a deadline of Sept. 25 for input on the guidance, which also been challenged in the courts.

R/GA Debuts AI Tool To Uphold Brand Guidelines

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:53:59 -0400

R/GA is launching an AI tool called the BRDNA Sequencer that can help marketers maintain their brand integrity, Fast Company writes. The new offering trains itself on a company’s brand guidelines and puts them into a format that AI agents can read and understand. The platform-agnostic BRDNA Sequencer allows the company to use simple prompts to generate marketing emails, social assets and CRM systems that can then be edited. The BRDNA Sequencer will be available this month. BRDNA stands for “Brand DNA.”

FTC Clarifies Its Rules For Auto Pricing In Ads

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:40:14 -0400

Auto dealers are finally getting the clarification they have been seeking from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) on vehicle price advertising, RVBusiness reports. The FAQ document specifies that dealers must provide the total price the buyer will pay, including the doc fee and all other possible costs. But government charges can be excluded from the all-in price. “The FTC’s FAQ addresses the key all-in pricing questions we’ve been hearing from dealers, both directly and through KPA’s compliance webinars, and gives dealers better guidance on how the agency will interpret the rule moving forward,” said Phil Ingrassia, president of RVDA.

Automotive TV Spending Falls 15.4% In August

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:38:29 -0400

"Sports remained a significant driver of automaker reach in August, with the WNBA in particular seeing notable year-over-year impression increases," says iSpot.tv's Stuart Schwartzapfel.

Microsoft AI Chief Warns Humanlike Claude Is Risky

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:30:42 -0400

The Microsoft CEO warned of the risks of training AI models like Anthropic's Claude to be human-like and consider their own state of consciousness or welfare.

'Harm Reduction' Is NOT Bad, Says Save A Life Day, Rebutting Feds

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:37:14 -0400

Save a Life Day -- which provides free doses of an opioid reversal drug -- has adopted "Elevate Harm Reduction" as this year's theme.

Meta Reportedly Readies Camera-Less Smart Glasses

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:29:26 -0400

Meta reportedly plans to launch "Luna" - a new camera-less smart glasses model - after unveiling at the company's developer conference Sept. 23-24.

'F-List' Finds Record Number Of Agency Fossil Fuel Contracts

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:41:43 -0400

Nearly a quarter of the contracts in the updated list are with major holding companies. Among those firms, Omnicom has the most, with 118 contracts.

Google Agentic Updates Mean Shorter Commerce Timelines

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:01:24 -0400

Google introduced agentic commerce updates at Rethink ROI including structured conversational attributes and AI-driven interactive video ads on YouTube to help retailers optimize their product feeds.

Threads Rolls Out Creator Tools For Podcast Discovery

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:48:19 -0400

Building on its Super Bowl 2026 NFL Media Center launch, Threads is introducing new podcasting tools to incentivize more creators to share their shows and generate on-app conversations among their fans.

Modernizing Political Ad Disclaimers For The Digital Ecosystem

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:28:15 -0400

To protect voter trust, ad transparency cannot be a final legal review. It must be built into the technology stack from day one.

When Good Good Creative Is Actually Bad

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:47:43 -0400

An ad in which a woman is shoved to the ground? How to avoid a snafu like the one Good Good faced.

Netflix's 'Grand Theft Auto' Promo Pulls High Subscription Sign-ups

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 13:59:52 -0400

In Netflix's third-highest subscriber acquisition event in 2026, a trailer was offered during a 6-hour exclusive time period on its launch day - Aug. 27.

Box Office Surges - What About Movie Theater Tickets?

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 12:04:49 -0400

From Jan. 1-Aug. 16 this year, 568.4 million tickets were sold in U.S. movie theaters - a 30% decline vs. the same period in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.