Each day, New Digital Age gathers the most interesting marketing and ad tech news from around the world…
DOOH
The Media Leader – Charlie West, 27th April 2026
Ocean Outdoor UK launches immersive advertising experience
This week, Ocean Outdoor UK launched an immersive format for digital out-of-home (DOOH) with Ocean Portal – a walk-in experience that offers brands an innovative way to interact with audiences.
AI
Financial Times – Anna Nicolaou, 27th April 2026
Advertisers seek to capitalise on the promise of AI
Marketers need to balance the efficiency offered by automation with the authenticity that consumers demand
Digiday – Jessica Davies, 27th April 2026
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 to plan and test campaigns, as open-web signals fade and CMOs come under growing pressure to prove ROI.
Digiday – Kimeko McCoy, 27th April 2026
Marketers join OpenAI’s ad pilot, nudged by FOMO
OpenAI’s ad pilot may be the industry’s latest shiny object. But weeks into the offering going live, it’s unclear if the tech company’s ad platform offers real value to marketers — or whether they’re participating out of FOMO (fear of missing out).
FT – Daniel Thomas, 27th April 2026
End of the road for the ‘Mad Men’ as AI moves into advertising
The era of the Mad Men is now firmly over, with the instant answers of chatbots now replacing the fast-talking advertising creatives of New York’s Madison Avenue as the industry’s centre of gravity.
CTV
Digiday – Ronan Shields, 27th April 2026
Meta eyes CTV expansion to fuel its next wave of ad growth
Tipped to become the largest advertising company in the industry in 2026, Meta is quietly laying the groundwork for a move into CTV advertising, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions.
STREAMING
Performance Marketing World – Bethany Lee, 27th April 2026
Exclusive: YouTube gap exposed as just 5% of marketers ‘confident’ in their strategy
Widespread adoption masks weak strategy, with most brands failing to unlock YouTube’s full ROI.
Campaign – Bethany Lee, 26th April 2026
Netflix to double ads business, introduce vertical video and lose chairman
The streaming platform has been busy, teasing new ad offerings and introducing a big mobile app update.
FT – Daniel Thomas, 27th April 2026
Streaming services give TV adverts a new lease of life
If video was supposed to kill the radio star, then digital was meant to do the same to traditional TV advertising, long seen as the pinnacle of creative work in the industry.
AUDIO
PPC LAND – Luis Rijo, 26th April 2026
SiriusXM lands YouTube’s audio ad rights in a deal that surprised the industry
SiriusXM Media is now the exclusive U.S. audio ad rep for YouTube, giving brands guaranteed impressions across 212 million monthly listeners starting fall 2026.
CREATOR ECONOMY
HelloPartner – Sofia Aira, 24th April 2026
Visa Launches New UK Creator Debit Card in Partnership with TikTok
Visa has just partnered with TikTok to launch a UK-first product designed to tackle one of the sector’s most persistent problems: cash flow.
CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
FT – Daniel Thomas, 27th April 2026
Brands look beyond search engines as customer habits shift
For the past two decades the most common way people have found goods and services online — be it sought-after products, the best deals on utilities or the cheapest flights — has been through traditional search engines.
PROGRAMMATIC
Little Black Book – 24th April 2026
Firefly Expands Programmatic Capabilities Through Integration with VIOOH
Integration provides an additional programmatic pathway for advertisers to discover and activate Firefly’s inventory
RETAIL
EMARKETER – Gadjo Sevilla, Apr 24, 2026
Google’s Demand Gen updates give retail brands a clearer path from views to sales
Google announced two Demand Gen upgrades that reflect YouTube’s role in driving discovery, per Search Engine Journal.
