Aditude

What Should Publishers Actually Do When AI Is Eating Their Traffic?

Revenue Operations blog post by The Aditude Team, published Jul 20, 2026, addressing publisher strategies for AI-driven traffic decline.

Are Ad Networks Cool Again? Fuel Raises Grocery Prices

This AdExchanger daily roundup highlights renewed industry attention on agentic advertising — holding companies and agencies are testing AI agents to buy media directly, with Omnicom reportedly piloting agent-to-agent campaigns and The Trade Desk expressing skepticism about potential new inefficiencies. Proponents argue agentic approaches could remove intermediaries and raise working media for publishers. Separately, rising fuel costs and tangled supply chains are pressuring grocery brands, prompting cost cuts, layoffs and price increases while retailers invest in store upgrades and data-driven retail capabilities (including digital price tags and hybrid fulfillment). The piece also notes Peacock will add two unscripted microdramas in partnership with Bravo, larger trends in retail media networks maturing, and several industry hires and legal/news items affecting the ad ecosystem. Published May 12, 2026.

Pros and Cons of Agentic Media Buying

This Digiday analysis (May 11, 2026) examines the debate around agentic media buying — AI-driven, agent-to-agent approaches that autonomously negotiate media buys. Proponents (including some agencies and publisher technologists) argue agents can cut ad‑tech intermediaries, push more budget to publishers, optimize performance at machine speed, and accelerate a flight-to-quality toward premium, first‑party inventory. Critics, including voices at The Trade Desk and publisher and agency leaders, warn agentic trading could add new layers of opacity, replicate ad‑network fragmentation, harm the open exchange, and be misused to prioritize outcomes without human oversight. The practice remains nascent with very little money transacted; several holding companies and agencies (Omnicom, Stagwell, Butler/Till) are testing agentic workflows while industry observers stress governance, transparency and broader platform-driven traffic declines mean agents are unlikely to be a standalone fix for publisher monetization.