AI Innovations, Legal Wins, and Antitrust Drama: This Week's Biggest AdTech Headlines!

Welcome to The Refresh, a weekly newsletter from AdTechGod and Marketecture. Every Thursday we’ll bring you the latest advertising news, commentary, and memes.

• ViantAI launches to transform advertising (Business Wire)

• Google scores rare legal win as 4.9B Euro fine scrapped (Yahoo)

• Header bidding was decimated, Top Trade Desk exec testifies at Google trial (Adweek)

• Roku launches Ad Manager (Roku) (#ad)

• New DEI-Focused SSP Wants to put more money into the hands of publishers (AdExchanger)

• YouTube CEO defends Google in US adtech antitrust case (Android Headlines)

• Creators in court regarding a possible TikTok ban (AdWeek)

• Google Is expanding Its AI tools for making search ads and measuring campaigns (AdWeek)

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Our dear leader gives his hot takes on the news of the week

Google’s Ad Tech Breakup: Will Publishers Face Chaos or Competitive Revival?

The Department of Justice's antitrust trial against Google’s ad tech business could lead to significant disruptions in the programmatic advertising industry. The DOJ accuses Google of anti-competitive practices, particularly its dominance in both publisher and advertiser products, which they argue has harmed competition. If the DOJ wins and Google is forced to sell its publisher ad tech business, it may open the market for greater competition. However, publishers warn of potential short-term chaos, especially as publishers could face increased costs and uncertainties around demand levels.

If GAM is sold, publishers might face higher costs as new owners may not have Google’s scale. This could lead to more competition at the SSP level, with other ad servers improving features but likely raising costs. While a split could create a more competitive marketplace for ad servers and SSPs, publishers with thin margins may struggle with these changes.

Some experts predict that this breakup could lead to better revenue shares for publishers if AdX has to compete more aggressively. However, there’s concern that Google may reduce its focus on the open web, funneling demand toward its own platforms, potentially reducing demand for independent publishers.

Ari’s view: The key chip on the table is Google Ads (AdWords) demand. In a break-up scenario that demand will be free to bid on any exchange, which will make the market much more competitive.

Read AdWeek Article Here

InMobi Secures $100M to Fuel AI Growth Ahead of $10B IPO

Adtech startup InMobi has secured $100 million in debt financing from Mars Growth Capital, a joint venture between MUFG and Liquidity Group, to enhance its AI initiatives and prepare for potential AI acquisitions ahead of a planned IPO in India next year. The SoftBank-backed company, which counts major brands like Mastercard and Coca-Cola as customers, has been focused on AI advancements to boost ad interactivity. InMobi also owns the Android lock screen platform Glance, a unicorn startup in talks to raise over $200 million. The company is aiming for a $10 billion valuation and expects to surpass $700 million in annual revenue by March. This financing is one of the largest deals Mars Growth Capital has made in its growing portfolio.

Ari’s View: InMobi has a great culture of innovation and they aren’t following anyone else’s playbook. Having a very strong home base in India also lets them compete in ways the in-app leaders don’t. I’m excited to see what they do with the cash.

Read Techcrunch Article

AI in AdTech: The Industry Doubts on Its True Impact!

With the recent launch of ViantAI, I asked the industry how big of an impact AI will have in transforming the ad industry, and the results surprised me. Despite my belief that AI will be completely transformative, 31% of respondents voted for a minimal or moderate impact. It’s a reminder that not everyone sees the AI revolution in the same light at God!

Ari’s view: A lot of the skepticism on this subject comes from the fact that ad tech systems have already been tricked out with highly optimized machine learning engines, so really what we’re asking is whether LLMs will have an impact here. And LLMs are great where there’s lots of text or imagery — e.g. creatives.

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