St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital

impact.com Sees Strong Growth Amid Partnership Marketing Surge

impact.com reported sustained growth for Q2 2025, noting ongoing investments in its platform and people as brands increasingly adopt partnership marketing to reach engaged consumers. The company added more than 900 new clients in the quarter, including Hobbycraft, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, and Sandals and Beaches Resorts, and now serves over 5,000 brands globally. Data from impact.com’s 2025 Mid-year Industry Benchmark shows a shift toward more strategic, research-intensive shopping, with consumers relying on authentic recommendations from influencers, affiliates, trusted publishers, and peers. CEO David A. Yovanno says authenticity, engagement, trust, and credibility underpin partnership marketing as a growth driver. The quarter included expansion into Spain with a Madrid office, appointing Javier Murillo as country manager, Spain, and Philipp Danielopol as head of sales, Spain, along with Jessica Breslav as Chief Customer Officer and Anthony Clements as UK Manager. The firm sponsored Ryan Trahan’s 50 states in 50 days for St. Jude’s, donating $50k and helping raise over $10M.

Google Struggles in CTV Amid Controversial Ad Policy Shift

A Wednesday AdExchanger roundup covers Google DV360's perceived weakness in connected TV relative to The Trade Desk, with Google calling the TV landscape fragmented and highlighting PAIR clean rooms as an open alternative. It also details a July 2023 policy shift allowing third-party trademarks to appear in search ads for competitive platforms, a change tied to the EU Digital Services Act. Post-change, trademark bidding by Info.com and Ask.com is cited, including a December 2023 instance where a St. Jude search triggered an ad for Look Up Smart. The piece notes a charity spent about $200,000 on Google search ads in the final two days of 2023, more than in 2022. Additional highlights include Jagex’s $1.1 billion sale to CVC Capital Partners and Haveli Investments and related player backlash over potential in-game ads in RuneScape.