Observed Signal · Jan 2, 2026 · Editorial / Opinion · Source: ExchangeWire · Impact: 2/5 · Sentiment: Neutral
Ad Tech's 2026 Resolutions: Clarity Over Hype
Shirley Marschall's ExchangeWire column outlines three New Year’s resolutions for the ad tech industry in 2026. Rather than generic calls for transparency, the piece advocates pragmatic shifts: first, reduce sensational 'death' declarations about cookies, linear TV, agencies, and attention spans; second, demand honesty about AI and pour cold water on hype rather than chasing ‘AI-powered’ labels; third, treat the ad tech stack like a cluttered closet by retiring obsolete components and reducing fragmentation across data, identifiers, and formats. The author cites Mark Ritson’s push to stop fixating on death metaphors, while Justin Scarborough and José Miguel Sokoloff warn against marketing BS and the risk of removing humans from product design. The column emphasizes that AI will reshape workflows but stresses clarity, real value, and disciplined adoption. Marschall is ExchangeWire's weekly columnist.
Editorial with industry insights on AI and ad tech stack; not breaking news.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- The article proposes three New Year’s resolutions for ad tech in 2026.
- Resolution 1 urges dialing back 'death' metaphors about cookies, linear TV, agencies, and attention spans.
- Resolution 2 advocates honest AI and criticizes hype, citing Justin Scarborough and José Miguel Sokoloff.
- Resolution 3 recommends treating the ad tech stack like a cluttered closet, retiring obsolete components and reducing fragmentation.
- Shirley Marschall is ExchangeWire's weekly columnist.
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AI in Ad Tech: A Call for Calm in 2026
Shirley Marschall’s ExchangeWire year-end column assesses AI and ad tech in 2025 while looking ahead to 2026. The piece argues that the AI conversation has grown fatigued after a year marked by hype, fear-mongering, and a flood of GenAI tools, with users often acting as unpaid testers. It sketches an industry divided between rapid change and adoption challenges, referencing quotes about AI narratives and the “Ever-Waser” mindset in advertising. Marschall envisions a calmer, more vanilla 2026, even as she notes potential developments like AI agents, quantum computing, or the first data center in space. The column closes with holiday wishes and an invitation to share ideas for 2026 on LinkedIn, while pointing to headlines about AI integrations and evolving industry chatter.
AdTech 2026: Transparency and Innovation Take Center Stage
AdExchanger opens 2026 with a reflective comic noting that 15 years have passed since the January 2011 strip. It frames ongoing tensions between middlemen and buyers as unresolved but highlights a hopeful trend toward greater transparency across the ad supply chain. Beyond the comic, the page features a Must Read roundup: iSpot has launched SAGE, an agentic AI platform with a ChatGPT-like interface to generate campaign ideas; the OAAA has introduced a new content taxonomy to classify inventory in OpenRTB bid requests; and the IAB has published an AI regulations framework to standardize when AI in ads should be disclosed. The piece also references LiveRamp’s Q4 earnings and other programmatic/CTV topics, including Evertune’s feature for targeting on sites cited by AI chatbots and guidance to reduce ad fraud in CTV supply.
Ad Tech’s 'Fairy Dusting' of Innovation
This ExchangeWire column argues that ad tech vendors frequently overstate the impact of small or superficial features — a practice the author likens to 'fairy dusting' in cosmetics. The piece says trends and labels (e.g., 'retail media', 'agentic AI') are rapidly adopted across vendors and retailers to drive narratives and justify budgets, even when actual implementation or concentration of capability varies widely. Examples include the broad rebranding of many retailers as retail media networks despite differing data quality and measurement, and the relabelling of existing automation as 'agentic' AI. The author warns this dynamic makes differentiation collapse into language, shifting buyer scrutiny from measurable outcomes to marketable claims.
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