May 18, 2026  |  SIGN UP

 
Sara Jerde

Sara Jerde
DIGIDAY, MANAGING EDITOR

We’re not so far away from AI agents doing the heavy lifting across the internet on our behalf. The Economist, at least, is taking steps to prepare — and has created agent‑readable versions of content.

Agentic media buying hasn’t completely won everyone over yet, and we broke down the cases for and against the practice.

Outside of AI — two trends out of recent reporting: what BuzzFeed’s sale means for digital media pricing and what upfront conversations mean for how that inventory is bought and sold.

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Top stories

 
 

ZERO-CLICK FUTURE

The Economist prepares for a two‑track internet: one for humans and one for AI agents

The Economist is testing agent-readable versions of content that already sits outside its paywall, as it prepares for "two versions of the web." 

THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

The case for and against agentic media buying

Agentic media buying promises a reinvention of the programmatic ecosystem, but experts are divided on whether it could help – or hinder – accountability.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM SPORTRADAR

Sports marketing is shifting from media buys to moment-based activation

Marketing to sports fans was previously a formulaic process, available only to an exclusive group of top-tier brands. Now, through new technology, any brand can activate campaigns at high-impact sporting moments on the world’s biggest stage.

MEMBER EXCLUSIVE

Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit May Recap: How marketers are navigating agentic ad buying

Execs are already using AI agents to buy ads. At DPMS, they shared what's worked (and what hasn't) and the guardrails that the industry needs to put in place to future proof.

A MESSAGE FROM DIGIDAY EVENTS

Connect with CTV leaders from Uber, Digitals and CMI Media Group 

Join us in NYC on July 15 for Digiday's CTV Advertising Strategies, where top brand and agency executives will connect and dive into how they're navigating the opportunities and challenges in today’s streaming ad market.

Secure your seat

 

PUBLISHING IN THE PLATFORM ERA

Media Briefing: BuzzFeed’s $120M sale marks another step in the repricing of digital media scale

Byron Allen’s $120 million BuzzFeed deals marks another turning point in the collapse of the platform-era media business model.

UPFRONTS

Why Amazon and YouTube pitched operating systems, not just TV inventory at this year’s upfront

Negotiations over identity, infrastructure, AI-driven buying take place as much as programing. 

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM PATHLABS

The new risk emerging for independent agencies

As retail media and programmatic spend surge, independent agencies are juggling more platforms, more data and more expectations. As a result, execution is becoming the biggest risk to performance and retention.

 

Other things to know

 
 

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CONTENTFUL

AI investments are shifting from generation to workflow automation and intelligence

According to a new survey from Contentful and Benchmarker, 70%–85% of companies plan to increase investment in AI, primarily in workflow automation and AI analytics.