I just wrapped up at Programmatic.AI in Las Vegas. Special thanks to Lynne d Johnson and the rest of the AdExchanger team
While the floor was buzzing about efficiency, there is a massive structural shift happening beneath our feet.
Here are 3 realities I took away:
1. The Battle Over AI Scrapers and Content Value
The question of whether sites should block AI scrapers was fiercely debated from both sides. Jonathan Roberts highlighted how People Inc. currently blocks over 30,000 crawlers a day, only allowing a select 35 AdTech companies through. This hardline strategy has allowed them to successfully lean into existing licensing agreements for their content.
Conversely, several major tech providers argued that publishers who block crawlers are severely limiting their own demand.
My take: For right now, I stand with the publishers who block. The economics of content value are still being ironed out, and the tech giants owning these AI crawlers won’t share the wealth unless they are forced to.
2. The Traditional Marketing Funnel is Broken
Debra Aho Williamson delivered a keynote on how the buying flow is fundamentally changing, especially for consumers open to new products. Rather than just returning search results, AI is intercepting purchase intent and when it isn’t being sycophantic, it will actually talk you out of products you were considering.
I experienced this firsthand: traditional ads kept hammering me with two specific golf raincoat brands. But when I queried an AI tool, it actively talked me out of both, suggesting five alternatives ranked specifically for my game.
The platform power is rapidly shifting away from Search and Social media. As Debra pointed out, and which I hadn’t fully internalized until now – this isn’t just a tech trend; it’s a permanent structural shift in marketing.
3. A Distinct Lack of Controls and Governance
I was basically alone at an AI-dedicated conference in speaking on this theme. While there were a couple of fleeting references to governance in the fireside chats, there was nothing substantial.
I will be sharing my talk in an upcoming post, focusing on asymmetric risk and the controls Digital Advertising companies desperately need. We have to change how we organize to address these challenges. There is massive risk being incurred when the very people who understand these vulnerabilities are laid off in the name of “AI efficiency.”
The risks we are seeing in recent publisher examples are severe enough to almost bankrupt a company. We need to think much more broadly about these potential threats. Digital Advertising is already bad at preparing for and managing “normal” business risks. We definitely aren’t ready for the potential asymmetric risk from AI.
Stay tuned for more thoughts on this critical subject.