Nova Studio

Publisher ad supply fell up to 40% in Q2 2026

Benchmarking data from Ozone, shared with Digiday, shows publisher ad request volumes fell sharply in Q2 2026 as AI-driven, zero-click search and changing discovery patterns reduced referral traffic to open-web sites. Ozone tracked roughly 20 billion impressions and reported ad-request volumes down about 32–37% YoY in the U.S. and 39–41% YoY in the U.K. Despite lower inventory, average eCPMs rose (about 30% YoY in the U.K. and 7% YoY in the U.S. in June), so spend fell less dramatically in some markets; combined programmatic spend across Ozone’s U.S. and U.K. cohort was down 30.6% YoY in H1 2026. The report highlights channel divergence (apps grew), big declines in outstream video, DSP-level variance, and argues the trend represents a structural shift toward walled gardens, subscriptions and logged-in products.

Viewbotting Threatens Livestreams; Twitch Outlines Crackdown

Viewbotting — the use of automated software to inflate livestream viewer counts — is growing more sophisticated as AI makes fake accounts appear lifelike. Platforms and creators face harms including distorted discoverability, creator reputational damage, and marketplace contamination that can mislead brand sponsorships. Streams Charts says viewbotting began before 2016 and has evolved from simple idle scripts to AI-driven bots that mimic chat and device fingerprints. Platforms including Twitch and YouTube say they have detection systems and policies against fake engagement; Twitch CEO Dan Clancy announced a new enforcement that temporarily caps concurrent viewers based on historical non-fraud traffic, with longer penalties for repeat offenders. Brands and creator-focused sellers warn inflated metrics can distort sponsorship pricing and selection, creating auditing challenges beyond traditional transactional ad fraud.

Amazon Pushes Video Podcasts; 'No Essay' Data Ploy

AdExchanger's Daily News Roundup highlights several industry trends: Amazon promoted video-based podcasts at its New York upfronts, positioning creator-led video podcasts as TV-like franchises while measurement remains a challenge. The piece notes the podcast market is increasingly video-driven (with YouTube a major distribution channel). Sallie (Sallie Mae) launched a retail media business, Backpack Media, exposing education-first-party data to advertisers; the New York Times reported that ‘No Essay’ scholarship listings are being used to capture personal data. The roundup also covers nonprofit ad tactics (Kars4Kids ruled misleading in California), shifts toward fixed-fee agency pricing, and disparate AI items including Mayo Clinic’s opt-out ER-listening pilot and agency conversations about AI agents and media-mix modeling.