April 27, 2026 | SIGN UP

Sara Jerde
DIGIDAY, MANAGING EDITOR

News UK is turning first-party data into a synthetic audience-planning tool for advertisers to plan and test campaigns. (Here’s a refresher if you need an update on what synthetic audiences are).

And though there is some debate on the term “synthetic audiences,” it’s trickling into the media buying process as well.

Top stories

THE BUSINESS OF AI

News UK turns The Times’ first-party data into synthetic audiences for advertisers

News UK is turning The Times’ first-party data into a synthetic audience planning tool for advertisers.

THE BUSINESS OF AI

WTF are synthetic audiences?

Publishers and brands are using AI to create a copy of audience behavior patterns to conduct market research faster and cheaper.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN

How native CTV is capturing the lean-in moment for advertisers

The NewFronts made one thing unmistakable: CTV has moved decisively into its performance era. The industry conversation is no longer centered on reach alone, but on which formats can most effectively turn attention into action.

THE BUSINESS OF AI

How The Times is using AI to model synthetic focus groups from human audiences

The British news publisher has worked with Electric Twin to create a synthetic audience research panel based on The Times’ human reader panel.

A MESSAGE FROM GOOGLE AD MANAGER

Live streaming is a borderless $4 billion global opportunity

As publishers are on the hook to deliver a smooth, reliable ad experience to massive, simultaneous global audiences, the only way to hit this kind of scale is with programmatic advertising.

See how it works

THE BUSINESS OF AI

What Dentsu’s synthetic audiences deal reveals about the future of media planning

Synthetic audiences, or digital twins, offer cost benefits to agencies. There are deeper implications, though.

STRATEGIZING FOR THE FUTURE

Media Briefing: As traffic declines, publishers see gains in commerce conversions and CTR

Publishers like Forbes and Apartment Therapy see growth in commerce business as audiences convert better despite shrinking traffic.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM OPENX

Why brand expression matters more than ever in the AI era

AI excels at scale and speed. It can generate content, test variations and optimize distribution far faster than any human team. What it cannot do is determine what truly matters — brand expression.

Other things to know

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM PATHLABS

How independent agencies are rethinking delivery models

Independent agencies don’t have an AI problem — they have an execution problem, reshaping agency operations and limiting growth.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM OPTABLE

Publishers that embrace agentic AI move faster and win more

The agentic era is moving quickly — from concept to live campaigns in record time. Publishers who are agent-ready gain a competitive edge with more RFPs, more direct business wins and higher CPMs.