Adlook

Georgia‑Pacific Says No to Buying Agents — For Now

Georgia‑Pacific is delaying adoption of AI 'buying agents' for programmatic ad buying until underlying quality and waste issues in the ecosystem are resolved. Paras Shah, the company's senior director of digital media, says automating current inefficient workflows would only accelerate waste. The article describes a split in the industry between holdcos and ad tech vendors pushing agentic buying and brand-side marketers who are cautious. Executives from Converge and Adlook warn agentic buying won’t solve structural incentive and inventory-quality problems, and that adoption will be staggered rather than universal.

CTV Has a Disclosure Problem, Not Measurement

Mateusz Jędrocha, Chief Product Officer at Adlook, argues that Connected TV’s accountability gap is primarily a disclosure problem driven by commercial choices from publishers rather than a technical limitation. While upstream signals such as genre, programme title, episode metadata and viewing context exist, many publishers withhold or generalise those signals to protect portfolio yields and prevent cherry-picking of premium inventory. The piece cites Gracenote research showing limited availability of sports metadata, and references studies from IAS and PA Consulting/Newsworks showing stronger brand outcomes in contextually relevant premium environments. Jędrocha recommends buyers demand programme-level reporting, default viewing-context logs (device, app, time, co-viewing) and integrated attention measurement to enable advertisers to defend and optimise CTV spend.

Industry Reacts: Google Keeps Cookies

Google announced there will be no standalone prompt to opt out of third-party cookies in Chrome, effectively keeping cookies in place amid ongoing antitrust scrutiny of the browser. The decision resets expectations about Privacy Sandbox and cookieless identity timelines, with consent mechanisms remaining unchanged. A VideoWeek piece cites six ad-tech executives weighing the implications for identity, measurement, and the broader move toward privacy-preserving alternatives. While Privacy Sandbox APIs introduced foundational changes, several critical issues remain unresolved, potentially delaying a full shift away from cookies. Industry voices urge exploring privacy-respecting models such as contextual advertising and enhanced IP-based controls, and emphasize the need for new partnerships rooted in aligned incentives and open communication. The article also situates the discussion within macro context, including regulatory considerations and a shift toward data-clean-room–driven approaches and collaboration across the ad-tech ecosystem.