Digiday Daily

August 13, 2026

The digital advertising market continues to grow, but it has not translated into an easy earnings season for publicly traded ad tech companies, with their numbers on Wall Street speaking for themselves.

AppLovin reported 53% year-over-year revenue growth and promptly lost almost one-fifth of its market value after its August 5 report. Meanwhile, The Trade Desk grew just 3% and fell 22% after its Q2 disclosure.

TOP STORY

Strategizing for the Future

By the numbers: Wall Street’s tough assessment of ad tech

Big Tech continues to dominate digital growth, triggering a Wall Street exodus, but are returns imminent?

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

When measurement frameworks don’t suit specific channels, campaigns that are working get defunded and campaigns that aren’t get scaled. Partner insights from Moloco.
Instead of experimentation, marketers are testing ideas fast and scaling what’s successful. By prioritizing AI that works alongside marketers, leaders are improving workflows, reducing burnout, ensuring consistency — all while maintaining the human component of their creative. Partner insights from Contentful.
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MARKETING

Zero-click Future

CMOs are struggling to link AI visibility with sales

Brands are spending on tools that rate their visibility within LLM responses and AI search, but proving the commercial impact of GEO remedies isn’t easy.

The Creator Economy

Brands can’t just flip the 'employees as creators' switch

Employee generated content is an increasingly enticing lever for brands to pull, but there needs to be a clear-cut strategy.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE

Guide: WTF is agentic commerce?

Agentic commerce differs from earlier forms of automated shopping in that AI agents don’t wait for human input to approve each step. They set a goal, evaluate options against structured criteria and execute on it.

MEDIA & PLATFORMS

Member exclusive

Media Briefing: Publishers are replacing Google with a little bit of everything

Publishers are preparing for a future with less Google traffic — but are still figuring out what replaces it.

The Programmatic Marketer

Moloco launches an agency partner program, in part to expand beyond mobile programmatic

Although not a pure-play DSP, Moloco is expanding beyond into CTV and other media realms, building on its mobile and app base.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM T-MOBILE ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS

Brand playbook: Inside the next phase of retail media

In-store media has matured from just thrown-together end caps to high-impact, moveable screens that deliver transparent reporting, track campaign performance and more — becoming a strong channel for visibility and incremental reach.