Digiday Daily

September 08, 2026

For digital ad buyers, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s lawsuit against Amazon’s on-platform search advertising business appears to be a tempest in a teapot. Marketers have not been panicking and haranguing their agencies for information on the e-commerce giant’s shifty ad auction dynamics, according to agency executives.

TOP STORY

The Programmatic Marketer

‘Frogs in the boiling water’: The Amazon-FTC case and the myth of ad auction transparency

The regulator accused Amazon of “deceptive and unfair practices,” but the e-commerce giant’s opaque auction dynamics aren’t all that unusual in today’s digital ad market.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Join us at the Digiday Media Buying Summit from Oct. 26–28 in Newport Beach for three days of actionable insights, valuable connections and candid conversations about what’s next in media buying. Connect one-on-one with leaders from Digitas, Assembly, Omnicom and more. Your last chance to save on your pass is Sept. 14.
Join this webinar on Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. to learn how Sports Illustrated, the New York Post and Tastemade use first-party data to protect margins, extend off-platform reach, and connect insights to outcomes. Partner insights from TripleLift.
AI agents are expected to soon handle the end-to-end shopping journey — a fundamental shift in how shoppers discover, evaluate and purchase products. For marketers, the key to winning in agentic commerce is becoming agent-ready now. Partner insights from Talon.One.

MARKETING

The Business of AI

Marketers face dilemma around rising bot and AI web traffic

Bot traffic is rising for e-commerce brands and interfering with retargeting strategies. But marketers are split on whether they should remain open to AI visitors or work harder to block.

The Creator Economy

What’s in and out for creators heading into Q4

A look at the creator economy trends heading in to Q4 2026, from clipping to creators in the C-suite, diversification and regulation.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM MOLOCO

The problem with last-touch for CTV

Measuring CTV on last-touch alone tells only part of the story. Across hundreds of advertisers, 30% of campaigns are significantly undervalued by last-touch models alone.

A MESSAGE FROM AFFINITY

How AI is reshaping media planning and what it means for measurement

AI is changing how media gets planned, but measuring its impact hasn’t caught up — yet.

A recent panel hosted by Affinity Global and Digiday, featuring expert voices from Affinity, M+C Saatchi Performance, Omnicom Media and Razorfish, dug into what’s really shifting in advertising because of AI: smarter briefs, emerging standards like Ad Context Protocol, and inventory that’s finally accessible outside traditional programmatic buying and walled gardens.

So, what does that mean for brands and advertisers, especially when it comes to incrementality? It means getting real insight into what’s actually working — and where AI is changing the equation for marketers.

Watch the panel

DIGIDAY +

Member exclusive

Ad Tech Briefing: Regulatory storm clouds gather and scatter over Big Tech, and indies count the cost

The FTC’s Amazon charges presage Google’s second antitrust let-off in a year, while The Trade Desk sheds hundreds.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE

Why marketers must become AI agent-ready now

Agentic AI is projected to account for 15%–25% of total U.S. e-commerce by 2030, according to Bain & Company — an indication that businesses won’t truly be omnichannel unless they have incorporated agentic shopping experiences.