AP Group

Privacy Sandbox Advances as AP Partners with OpenAI

AdExchanger’s Friday roundup covers updates in privacy-focused advertising tech, AI in media, and regulatory behavior. Google’s Chrome Privacy Sandbox is nearing operable scale with Chrome 115 for Android, expanding reach for the Topics API and Attribution Reporting API. The IAB Tech Lab released a new VAST feature built with Google to sync with the Chrome Attribution Reporting API, signaling deeper integration with Chrome’s privacy tools. Google Ads has published tests of the Privacy Sandbox and is advocating for adoption, highlighting industry alignment around privacy-first measurement. Separately, the Associated Press struck a two-year deal with OpenAI to provide access to AP reporting dating back to 1985 for training OpenAI models, in exchange for access to OpenAI’s experts and tech. AP has historically used AI for earnings and some sports content and launched an AI-enabled search tool for reporters. The piece also covers FTC merger losses, antitrust commentary, and leadership moves at IRIS.TV and Roblox, among other industry notes.

Weekly Focus APAC: Alibaba Partners with Office Depot to Widen B2B Reach - ExchangeWire.com

Weekly Focus APAC highlights six cross-border and domestic initiatives impacting e-commerce, retail, and health tech in APAC. Alibaba partners with Office Depot to broaden SMB reach by building a co-branded online B2B marketplace and expanding logistics and channels, leveraging Office Depot’s 1,350 stores and extensive U.S. business client base to access a roughly $23.9 trillion B2B market. Chope collaborates with Meituan-Dianping to enable Chinese tourists to access dining and travel services across eight markets, including Bali, Bangkok, Phuket, and Jakarta, via Meituan’s platform and Chope’s network of about 4,000 restaurants. HaloDoc secures £49.19 million ($65 million) in Series B funding to grow Indonesia’s online health services, doctors, and hospital partnerships. Tmall aims to add 1,000 cosmetics stores with multiple international brands amid strong beauty-growth indicators. JD.com plans to merge Toplife with Farfetch China, granting Farfetch Level 1 access on the JD app and access to 300 million customers.

Open AP Emphasizes Audience Data, The First Leg Of The Stool

Open AP is a collaboration among Fox, Turner, and Viacom to standardize audience data for TV advertising, allowing buyers to define an audience once and buy it across the three networks. The initiative, announced ahead of upfronts, invites other media companies to join to promote standardized data definitions and smoother cross-network buying, though it may reduce branding differentiation for networks. NBCUniversal has announced plans to earmark $1 billion in audience-targeted TV advertising using its own data definitions, signaling a strategic push toward proprietary data. The article notes growing pains in TV targeting, emphasizes the need for common transaction rules, and cites a Modi Media example of reaching about 9 million addressable-TV viewers to illustrate transaction complexity. It also contrasts slower traditional TV processes with the automation seen in digital platforms like Google and Facebook, highlighting pressure on TV to improve efficiency and reporting.