Each day, New Digital Age gathers the most interesting digital marketing industry news from around the web…
PLANNING
The Media Leader – Jack Benjamin, 21st September 2026
Planning and strategy roles have increased 18.5% at media agencies since 2024
The number of account planning and strategy roles at UK agencies grew 18.5%, from 620 to 735, from 2024 to 2026.
AUDIO
The Media Leader – Charli West, 21st September 2026
News UK’s Octave launches direct sales of audio ads on YouTube
Octave, News UK’s audio-visual ad vertising platform, has launched direct sales of audio advertising on YouTube, giving advertisers access to audio inventory around News UK content, including talkSPORT and Virgin Radio.
DOOH
Marketing Report – Bob Koigi, 21st September 2026
US leads global DOOH spending, report
The United States recorded the largest pDOOH expenditure at $545.5 million. Its 15.9 percent programmatic penetration rate, however, was below Germany’s 31.8 percent, the highest among the major markets covered by the study.
AI
Digiday – Julia Waldow, 21st September 2026
Pinterest unveils new suite of ad tools, including Visual Search Ads, in its pitch to brands
Pinterest is introducing a range of ad tools and experiences as it looks to get ahead in the AI age.
Martech Cube – 21st September 2026
Mediaocean AI Ventures Launches to Scale the Next Gen of AI Ads Startups
Mediaocean, the foundational technology and AI partner for omnichannel advertising, today announced the launch of Mediaocean AI Ventures, a dedicated initiative to invest in and scale startups transforming the advertising ecosystem with AI.
The Economic Times – ANI, 21st September 2026
AI-to-AI communication could change how ads are bought and sold: Report
Artificial intelligence could change the way advertisements are bought and sold by enabling automated communication between systems, reducing manual coordination across the fragmented advertising ecosystem, according to a report by ADvendio, an advertising technology company.
FMCG
Marketing Week – Niamh Carroll, 18th September 2026
PepsiCo launches first-ever brand portfolio campaign
The social-first campaign is designed to bring together PepsiCo’s portfolio of brands, which include Cheetos and Gatorade alongside Pepsi, in consumers’ minds.
MOBILE
Campaign – Gurjit Degun
Shazam makes mobile advertising play with Shazam for Brands
Shazam, the music app, has created tools to help brands advertise on its platform.
PUBLISHERS
Financial Times – George Hammond and Stephen Morris
OpenAI staff knew the ‘existential threat’ AI posed to publishers, New York Times claims
Lawyers say AI co-founder Greg Brockman was ‘motivated by the gazillions’ he hoped to gain from models trained on copyrighted content
BIG TECH
Financial Times – Ryan McMorrow, 20th September 2026
Big Tech uses guarantees to keep $300bn of AI exposure off balance sheets
Big Tech is using guarantees and off-balance-sheet structures to finance the AI infrastructure boom, potentially masking significant underlying financial exposure.
Digiday – Seb Joseph and Krystal Scanlon
Who wins and loses from the remedies to Google’s ad tech monopoly
It’s been 17 months of speculation over who wins and loses from the attempt to fix Google’s monopoly over online advertising. The remedies are finally here so here’s hoping this is the last word on it. The final rundown on who stands to win and lose.
Advertising Agencies
Performance Marketing World – Joseph Arthur, 18th September 2026
Taboola submits $25.4m bid to acquire Dianomi
Taboola has agreed to acquire adtech firm Dianomi for $25.4m, potentially rising to $36.1m subject to performance conditions. The acquisition would strengthen Taboola’s presence in the US financial advertising market, expanding its publisher and advertiser base.
STREAMING
IGN – Michael Cripe, 20th September 2026
Disney+ to Allow Ads on All Plans Following Changes Detailed in Updated Subscriber Agreement
Disney+ has altered its user agreement to clarify that ads will be allowed on all subscription tiers.
