Welcome to the revitalized version of ADWEEK’s flagship tech and business newsletter, AI, Tech & Money. I'm Kendra Barnett, reporting from New York. Everyone in the industry is talking about AI, and this overhauled format will bring you more than just a recap of the top tech headlines—it’s designed to deliver a more comprehensive look at what’s happening at the intersection of tech, media, advertising, and finance. Each Thursday, you'll hear from me, my colleague Trishla Ostwal, or another ADWEEK reporter about what's happening in the world of Big Tech, adtech, and artificial intelligence. You can expect a selection of must-reads, a snapshot of market-defining data, a deep dive into one major story and why it matters, a roundup of relevant M&A moves, a digest on key hires and layoffs, and finally, a little something fun to cleanse the palette. This week, I’m feeling like the emoji with the dollar sign eyes. No, sadly I didn’t cash out on a big Polymarket bet—it’s just earnings season. Yesterday, Alphabet, Meta, and Microsoft reported their Q3 numbers. Meta shares plunged as it incurs massive costs for building AI infrastructure, while Google tallied its first-ever $100 billion quarter. Amazon, Apple, Roblox, and Roku will report today. My sense of dread (not to be confused with doom [or P(doom)]) is still rising about if-slash-when we should consider ourselves to be in an AI bubble. On Wednesday, Nvidia became the first company in history to achieve a $5 trillion market cap. The computing giant is the beating heart at the center of the AI ecosystem, which is seeing an increasing number of circular deals pulling in and pumping out capital at mind-boggling scale, helpfully explained by this Bloomberg chart. (The Financial Times and The Wall Street Journal also have some great charts visualizing these circular deals between AI giants.) The future of digital advertising and media, in a very real sense, will hinge on what happens in that spinning, messy universe. Speaking of adland’s future, tensions between two of the industry’s power players—Amazon and The Trade Desk—are rising this week, as Amazon has begun quietly approaching agencies with an offer to run head-to-head tests pitting its demand-side platform against rivals, free of charge. The effort is already moving markets. More on that below.
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During shopping sessions, just 46% of consumers trusted the product recommendations produced by AI answer engines, according to research published this week by IAB in collaboration with Talk Shoppe. Consumers are hesitant to rely on AI alone for guiding their buying decisions, and still largely prefer trusted sources such as community forums, real user reviews, social media, and traditional search. Another study from researchers in Germany earlier this month found similar trends, with affiliate and social marketing outperforming LLM-based referrals to ecommerce sites. |
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Amazon Throws Its Weight at Competitors |
Last Friday, I reported that Amazon is approaching ad agencies and offering to pit its demand-side platform, or DSP, against rivals’ in free tests. In one email to an agency, Amazon even offered to cover associated costs—including ad inventory, technology, and media measurement. The company claims it can conduct side-by-side comparisons in test campaigns running for a minimum of four to six weeks, and will deliver a performance evaluation with KPI comparisons and cost efficiency analysis, in addition to data on incremental reach, audience segments, and media quality. Post-campaign, Amazon said it will share recommendations for future media planning and case studies detailing campaign results. The program has been viewed by industry insiders as an attempt by Amazon to undercut its biggest competitor in the DSP space: The Trade Desk.
This year, the two platforms have gone toe-to-toe over capabilities and price tags. Amazon’s exclusive deal with Roku, inked in June, raised the heat on an already intensifying battle at a time when media buyers were shifting millions in ad spend from The Trade Desk to Amazon DSP, as ADWEEK previously reported.
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Amazon has made an aggressive effort to win over a greater share of the digital ad market since around 2021, when the company overhauled its adtech stack. Today, Amazon commands more than a third of the global retail media market—35.4%, per a forecast from the World Advertising Research Center, and its advertising services revenue climbed 23% year over year in the second quarter, reaching $15.7 billion. Amazon’s relative strength in the space also means that every move it makes has a ripple effect in the market. Shares of other DSPs including Viant and The Trade Desk dropped on the news of Amazon’s DSP face-off. The Trade Desk is considered a top dog in the DSP market, especially for transacting on the open web rather than within the walled gardens of Google, Meta, or Amazon. It'll report Q3 earnings Nov. 6. |
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AI, Tech & Money covers the intersection of artificial intelligence, emerging technology, and the business forces shaping them — from groundbreaking research and infrastructure shifts to the investors, startups, and strategies driving the next wave of innovation. Each issue breaks down how new AI developments translate into real economic impact, market opportunities, and competitive advantage across industries. | |
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