Observed Signal · Mar 25, 2026 · Interview/Analysis · Source: State of Streaming · Impact: 4/5 · Sentiment: Positive
AI Reshapes Advertising; Marketers Face Trust Deficit
AI is fundamentally transforming digital advertising across planning, execution and measurement, driving major platform shifts and new creative workflows while creating industry uncertainty. Jarrod Allen of Monks highlights big tech moves — Microsoft will retire the Xandr DSP by early 2026 to focus on a Microsoft Advertising Platform with Copilot-style AI; Google is embedding ads in 'AI Overviews' and advancing AI Max for Search; Meta is expanding Advantage+ and generative AI investments. The DSP market is consolidating as leaders like The Trade Desk and Google add AI, pressuring smaller DSPs. Despite broad intent to increase AI use (cited ~86% of marketers), adoption is incomplete (~30%) because of a trust deficit tied to black-box models, privacy and control. Google’s third-party cookie phase-out accelerates a shift to first-party data and retail-media partnerships.
Major platform strategy changes (Microsoft retiring Xandr, Google embedding AI in search) and industry-wide AI adoption and cookie-deprecation issues materially affect programmatic DSP dynamics, data strategy, and media buying.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Jarrod Allen is Associate Director of Strategic Media Solutions at Monks and provided commentary on AI’s impact.
- Microsoft will retire the Xandr DSP by early 2026 and focus on a Microsoft Advertising Platform using AI like Copilot.
- Google is developing AI Max for Search and plans to place ads in 'AI Overviews'.
- The Trade Desk (with Koa AI) and Google’s DV360 are adding more AI capabilities, pressuring smaller DSPs.
- Approximately 86% of marketers intend to use more AI while only about 30% have fully adopted it; a 'trust deficit' persists over AI opacity and data/control concerns.
Connected Companies & Entities
6 Entities mappedOntology Mapping & Concepts
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