McDonald's vs Wendy's

Overwolf Ads Launches In-Game Audience Map

Overwolf Ads, a gaming media platform, announced the launch of its In-Game Audience Map at IAB PlayFronts 2026. The tool allows advertisers to identify where their target audiences play across over 5,000 game titles, including Fortnite and Roblox, and assess potential reach. Powered by Overwolf's first-party data platform, Gamer Grid, the tool uses deterministic signals from real-time gameplay behavior, hardware, and content consumption. Advertisers can input audience demographics from existing media briefs and view mapped gaming environments. The product is now live in eight markets, including the US, UK, Germany, and France. Overwolf reported a 32% year-on-year increase in direct brand deals, with returning advertisers including McDonald's, Samsung, and Amazon.

• Overwolf Ads launched In-Game Audience Map at IAB PlayFronts 2026.
• The tool maps target audiences across more than 5,000 game titles.
• It is powered by Overwolf's first-party data platform, Gamer Grid.

Vinted Surges to Top of German TV Ad Charts

According to All Eyes on Screens data, Vinted became the most-seen brand in German TV advertising during the week of September 7-13, 2026. The company aired over 4,700 spots, achieving a gross reach of over 1,000 XRP, surpassing McDonald's (836 XRP) for the top position. Most spots ran on niche channels like N24 Doku, Deluxe Music, and Warner TV Comedy, while RTL contributed a significant share of reach despite fewer spots. Vinted's estimated gross TV ad spend for the week was about 7 million euros. Other notable advertisers include Jochen Schweizer (ProSiebenSat.1 subsidiary) with 299 XRP, Verivox with 2,570 spots across various channels, and August Storck for its Merci brand. The data measures second-exact reach in Vodafone households.

• Vinted aired over 4,700 TV spots in Germany in the week of September 7-13, 2026.
• Vinted's gross reach exceeded 1,000 XRP, overtaking McDonald's (836 XRP).
• Vinted's estimated gross TV ad spend for the week was approximately €7 million.

Retail Kiosk Retreat & AI-Bolstered Ad Revenue

This AdExchanger daily roundup covers multiple topics: McDonald's reversing its self-service kiosk strategy due to customer preference for human interaction, as reported by WSJ; a Madison and Wall forecast predicting global ad revenue to hit $1.3 trillion by end of 2026, driven by AI efficiencies and increased spend on AI-powered buying platforms; a trend of schools marketing themselves as low-tech oases due to parental skepticism of Big Tech; and several other briefs on agency contracts, OpenAI safety, Meta employee revolt, California child safety laws, CSAM on X, and enterprise AI agent debates.

• Madison and Wall predicts global ad revenue will hit $1.3 trillion by end of 2026, an 11% YoY increase.
• Ad spend within Google's Performance Max and Meta's Advantage+ is expected to spike from $60 billion in 2026 to $158 billion by 2030.
• McDonald's is walking back its self-service kiosk strategy due to customer preference for human interaction.

Leading the Way: Celebrating Wendy's 2025 Top General Managers

Wendy's blog features a new post celebrating its 2025 Top General Managers, published September 1, 2026.