How automation and AI are rewriting the upfront marketplace

Digital twins are helping brands scale content and talent deals. Marketers are still navigating the tradeoffs. On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson unpack the rise of digital twins, AI sprawl and authenticity.

The upfront marketplace has long been built on relationships and negotiation. Now, automation and AI are changing how deals get done.

OpenAI's ad pilot is plagued with reporting hiccups and under-delivery issues. It's testing marketer's patience, but the fear of missing out on AI's next big platforms seems to outweigh their frustrations.

Once valued in the billions, digital media giants like BuzzFeed and Vox Media are now selling assets and restructuring as the old traffic-driven publishing model breaks down. On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Digiday senior media editor Jessica Davies and senior media reporter Sara Guaglione joins hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson to unpack what the fall of billion-dollar valuations says about the future of digital media.

If shoppers start turning to AI assistants instead of retailer websites, the foundation of the retail media business could begin to crack. That’s the tension at the center of agentic commerce. On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson explore how AI-powered shopping agents could reshape retail media networks, disrupt ad dollars and force retailers to rethink their role in the shopper journey.

The programmatic world seems split: is AI the future of media buying, or just a tool requiring heavy supervision? Duluth Trading Company lands somewhere in the middle by leveraging agents for high-speed bidding while keeping a firm human hand on brand storytelling, Duluth’s Director of Marketing Ellie Uberto joins Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson live from the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit on May 6 - 8 in Palm Springs, Calif. to break down's Duluth's approach to agents in media.

Is the era of performance-only marketing over? Performance returns are dropping. Brands are chasing AI visibility as LLMs take over search. All roads point to the return of 'brandformance.' Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson explain the brandformance to brand health metrics rebrand, and why marketers care about it again.

In this episode, Digiday senior marketing reporter Sam Bradley joins Digiday Podcast co-hosts Tim Peterson and Kimeko McCoy to break down Netflix's massive ad business glow up, and how the streaming giant is rewriting the streaming ad business playbook.

The AI ad race is heating up. OpenAI is staffing up and cutting deals to win brand budgets from Meta and Google. On this episode of the Digiday Podcast, Digiday senior platforms reporter Krystal Scanlon joins hosts Kimeko McCoy and Tim Peterson to breakdown the ad business playbook.

Major agencies are pulling back ad spend from The Trade Desk’s OpenPath platform, citing concerns of hidden fees and lack of transparency. Meanwhile, TTD is shifting its payment model for identity providers, like LiveRamp and Experian. All said, The Trade Desk is facing a new set of rising tensions with agencies over transparency — and more importantly, programmatic control.