AOL vs The Independent

Paistry founder Alen Nazarian wants to make publisher content dynamic with AI

In an interview with MEEDIA, Alen Nazarian, founder of Paistry and former CTO of SevenOne Media, discusses his startup's mission to make the open web fit for the AI era. Paistry develops a platform that allows publishers and brands to transform their content into intelligent, interactive user experiences, including interactive journalism, new ad formats, and personalized product advice. The company has already conducted pilot projects with two publishers and tested AI agents with various brands. Nazarian emphasizes the importance of publishers retaining control over their content and monetization, rejecting robots.txt as ineffective, and advocating for a federated data network to enable controlled, paid access for external AI systems. He predicts a shift from attention-based advertising to monetizing concrete user needs, with AI agents potentially handling purchases in the future.

• Paistry is a startup founded by Alen Nazarian, former CTO of SevenOne Media, aiming to make publisher content dynamic with AI.
• Paistry has conducted pilot projects with two publishers and tested AI agents with various brands.
• The platform enables interactive journalism, new ad formats, and personalized product advice.

Walmart's Vibe Deal: Meta or Another AOL?

Walmart completed its acquisition of Vibe.co, a self-serve CTV platform, and the deal has prompted discussion about whether Walmart can build a successful advertising walled garden or repeat past failures. The opinion piece argues the combination of Walmart’s retail data, Vibe’s CTV capability and Walmart’s prior TV play via Vizio could create a connected retail-media + CTV ecosystem that drives measurable outcomes for advertisers. The author warns that convenience and self-serve buying alone do not guarantee long-term advantage — scale, audience ownership, cross-platform measurement and deliberate strategy are required to make a walled garden valuable rather than limiting. The article frames the acquisition as a test of whether Walmart’s approach will emulate Meta’s success or become another AOL-like cautionary tale for closed ecosystems.

• Walmart completed the acquisition of Vibe.co; the deal "closed last week."
• Vibe.co operates a self-serve CTV platform aimed at making streaming TV easier for smaller and midsize advertisers.
• Walmart previously moved into the TV screen via Vizio.

Trump told Americans to ‘pretend I’m on the ballot.’ They did — and voted against him

The Independent's homepage has been updated to reflect the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections, with a new lead story on Trump's defeat and multiple new articles covering the Democratic sweep, including analysis of Trump's loss, reactions from MAGA influencers, and speculation on the 2028 Democratic nominee.

MAGA influencers start crashing out online over Dem midterm sweep

The Independent's news page has been updated with the latest US midterm election results, including Democrats winning control of the Senate and House, and Trump's reaction to the losses.

Intent IQ Boosts The Independent's Revenue Nearly 30%

Intent IQ, a leader in identity resolution, announced results from its partnership with The Independent, a leading international digital news publisher. Using Intent IQ's Bid Enhancement solution, The Independent increased revenue by nearly 30%, CPMs by [unspecified] across ID-less inventory. This collaboration demonstrates the effectiveness of cookieless identity solutions in improving publisher monetization. The partnership highlights the growing importance of alternative identity solutions in a privacy-first advertising landscape. The results were announced on October 29, 2026.

• Intent IQ's Bid Enhancement solution helped The Independent increase revenue by nearly 30%.
• The partnership focuses on ID-less inventory, demonstrating the effectiveness of cookieless identity solutions.
• The announcement was made on October 29, 2026.