The IAB’s 2026 Connected Commerce Summit in New York City felt to me like the retail media industry’s first sit-down explanation to a child who is now a “big kid” and must act accordingly. Not the birds-and-bees-type conversation by any means. But an important reality check. And I’m not the only one to think so.
Google will replace Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) with AI Max for Search, an AI-powered solution, for all advertisers. The news, announced Wednesday, focuses on all campaigns using DSA, automatically created assets (ACA), and campaign-level broad match.
YouTube is making changes to the way it delivers ads during popular livestream sessions, deciding to rely on artificial intelligence to pause ads entirely when a creators’ viewers are engaging with the video most.
Announcing its Q1 2026 results, Publicis showed a very strong start to the year, outperforming the industry for almost 20 quarters in a row, despite the volatile macro environment.
“The industry has invested considerably in rebuilding radio audience measurement on a sound and sustainable footing. Our responsibility is to honour that investment by ensuring that the data we release is robust enough to support real trading and planning decisions. That standard is non-negotiable,” says Gary Whitaker, CEO of the BRC SA.
As I’ve written before, AI-generated content has long passed the Turing Test, and traversed the Uncanny Valley, and the only thing separating our perception of what is AI vs. human-made — watermarks aside — is the context we perceive it in. Omnicom Media and Zefr’s just-released “AI Slop or Not” report delves into a lot of that
According to TransUnion’s Q4 2025 South Africa Industry Insights Report, the consumer credit market is moving beyond recovery into stabilisation with the vehicle finance market experiencing its fifth consecutive quarter of sustained growth.
It’s been a year since I first began asking ad industry execs — chief investment officers, pure-play digital techies, brand marketers, anyone who will answer me — to predict what share of ad spending will be targeting AI agents — not humans — in five years.
Die Kantoor—an adaptation of the hit series The Office—is the official South African version of the show. But instead of selling paper, they sell polony. The show has performed well on Showmax, but Fourie says it’s too early to confirm a second season which would now likely be on DStv Stream.
A cadre of media strategy leaders has founded a membership organisation to organise training and debate for the next generation of planners. The Media Planning Group (MPG), launched today, will serve as a “new home” for media planners and strategists. It sits alongside the non-profit Account Planning Group (APG), a similar membership organisation founded in 1979 to support creative account planners in advertising agencies.