"At the TV upfronts last May, Netflix said it was working on a bespoke pause ad to be launched sometime in 2026. Amazon did them one better, with the introduction of a contextual pause ad unit it started selling last year. Its contextual twist is to use AI to effectively place ads. A cooking show viewer, for example, might see grocery brands or kitchenware brands during the break."
"When asked how Expedia expanded its profit margin by four points in the past year, Gorin said the top reason was "getting leverage on our marketing spend." Expedia spends a relatively high percent of its revenue on marketing, she said. "Getting better at measurement; understanding incrementality; doing more testing." These are important parts of the company's margin expansion. Not AI tech efficiencies."
Pause ads have become widespread, with Netflix planning a bespoke pause ad for 2026 and Amazon already selling contextual pause ad units that use AI to place relevant ads, such as grocery or kitchenware during cooking shows. The second half of 2025 saw numerous programmatic pause ad launches from industry groups and vendors. Some viewers, such as Twitch users, react negatively to new ad formats. Investors show skepticism about AI's business impact, contributing to share price declines for travel and ad-tech companies. Expedia cites margin gains from better marketing leverage, measurement, incrementality testing, and not primarily AI efficiencies.
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