January 15, 2026 | SIGN UP

Sara Jerde

Sara Jerde
DIGIDAY, MANAGING EDITOR

Yahoo is recasting its DSP less as a place marketers go, and more as infrastructure their systems can plug into. Media buyers, at least for now, say it’s one to watch.

Keeping our finger on the pulse of the intersection of marketing and culture, we took a look at why Nike sat out the viral Maduro moment.

Also, nearly all of X’s top 100 advertisers returned — if X is to be believed, at least. And here’s a look at the case for and against influencer-led Super Bowl ads.

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Top stories

THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

‘We don’t care if you don’t use our UX anymore’: Yahoo recasts its DSP as a data backbone for the agentic world

Because the real wager, according to the ad tech vendor, sits below the interface, in the identity graph and data the DSP plugs into.

THE PROGRAMMATIC MARKETER

Media buyers say Yahoo’s DSP is one to watch

Yahoo’s DSP has momentum, but Amazon’s aggressive expansion is keeping it in challenger mode

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE

WTF is an incentives marketing strategy?

A unified incentives marketing strategy increases profitability and drives long-term customer value by eliminating siloed teams and merging workflows. “It’s a granular cockpit to drive decision making and make offers — discounts and loyalty tied to business goals, but in a very smart way,” said Talon.One CEO Christoph Gerber.

BRANDS IN CULTURE

Nike sat out the viral Maduro moment. That's the point

The meme Nike didn’t touch.

A MESSAGE FROM NAME.COM

Marketers tap new top-level domains to build recognition in the era of AI

Domains like .studio that align with brands' work create a clearer identity and give brands control of their narrative. They instantly communicate a brand's purpose, reducing the friction between name and identity and turning the domain itself into a marketing asset.

MARKETING ON PLATFORMS

Nearly all of X’s top 100 advertisers returned, ads boss claims

Claim comes as X is embroiled in latest scandal that involves it's AI chatbot Grok creating sexualized images of women and minors.

THE CREATOR ECONOMY

The case for and against influencer-led Super Bowl ads

Inside the Super Bowl ad debate: Celebrities offer mass appeal, but creators provide better engagement.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM THE WEATHER COMPANY

Report: How marketers are unlocking the new evolution of contextual targeting

To build strong consumer connections even as loyalty and attention become harder to win, brands need alternative signals that illuminate and predict consumers’ mindsets and motivations. A privacy-forward, contextual targeting signal that many marketers — across industries — often overlook is weather.

Other things to know

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM EXPERIAN

Context is the missing piece to using AI successfully in marketing

Context bridges the space between recognition and intent. It captures time, place and situational cues that shape decision-making. As privacy regulations evolve and identifiers decline, these in-the-moment signals are becoming one of the most reliable ways to maintain relevance while respecting privacy.