Each day, New Digital Age gathers the most interesting digital marketing industry news from around the web…
STREAMING
Advanced Television – 7th October 2026
Data: UK embracing ad-supported streaming in record numbers
With streaming now the default way most of the UK watches television, ad-supported streaming has overtaken every other form of TV viewing, according to Roku’s first VOD Evolution study of UK viewing habits.
AWYN
Digiday – Ronan Shields, Seb Joseph & Krystal Scanlon, 7th October 2026
Apple’s secret blocklist is the talk of Advertising Week New York (mostly off the record)
Advertising Week New York, a four-day conference that draws nearly 20,000 of adland’s finest, is renowned for on-stage programming tinged with optimism and creator reps angling for their 15 minutes in the spotlight.
RETAIL
Digiday – Sam Bradley and Krystal Scanlon, 7th October 2026
‘Defensible to the CFO’: Prime Day catalyzes Amazon video and DSP spend growth
With fuel prices rising and consumer confidence damp, marketers might not be enthusiastic about another round of discounting this fall. Despite that, they’re cranking up media investments with Amazon as the commerce giant stages its Prime Big Deal Days this week (Oct. 6-7).
RETAIL MEDIA
Internet Retailing – Amanda Vlietstra, 7th October 2026
Retail media hits £2bn as UK ad spend jumps 32% in H1
Online retail media grew faster than any other category in the UK digital advertising market during the first six months of 2026, rising 32% year-on-year to reach £2bn, according to IAB UK’s Digital Adspend Study H1 2026, produced with mediasense.
CTV
Marketing Report – Bob Koigi, 7th October 2026
Sony taps PubMatic to power PS5 live TV ads
PubMatic has been selected by Sony Pictures Entertainment as its preferred programmatic advertising partner for LIVE TV on PS5, giving brands and agencies access to premium video inventory and authenticated audience insights across PlayStation 5 users.
RESEARCH
The Media Leader – Jack Benjamin, 7th October 2026
Lots of bigs and lots of littles: Lumen finds cumulative attention drives brand outcomes
Cumulative attention — defined as the total seconds of attentive viewer engagement accrued across all ad exposures for a given campaign — is a significant predictor of brand outcomes in streaming TV advertising.
MARKETERS
The Media Leader – Jack Benjamin, 7th October 2026
Sales promotions have become the largest single component of marketing spend, but three-quarters (75%) of marketers are unable to estimate what proportion of their promotions are profitable.
SOCIAL MEDIA
The Guardian – Dan Milmo, 6th October 2026
Ofcom investigates Meta over Instagram Instants safety checks
Watchdog examining whether company carried out adequate risk assessment as required by Online Safety Act
AGENCY
The Media Leader – Jack Benjamin, 6th October 2026 (also in Performance Marketing World)
Stagwell transforms Assembly into global agency Stagwell Media
Stagwell has launched a global media agency born out of Assembly.
AI
Retail Brew – Vidhi Choudhary, 6th October 2026
Google tweaks its AI shopping experience ahead of the holidays
Google has made it easier for retailers to get discovered across its AI surfaces and added shopping features to YouTube to make it easier for people to buy directly while watching videos.
Performance Marketing World – Bethany Lee, 6th October 2026
X launches AI ad creation tool
X has unveiled a new set of AI tools in Ads Manager at Advertising Week New York.
AUDIO
Advanced Television – 7th October 2026
Bauer Media ads inventory now on Amazon Ads
Amazon Ads and Bauer Media have announced a partnership making Bauer Media’s audio ads inventory available to advertisers via Amazon Ads.
PPC Land – Luis Rijo, 6th October 2026
Walmart DSP gains Spotify ads with outcome tracking across 4,600+ stores
Spotify cites 22% added US reach beyond social and digital for eligible advertisers using shopper segments. Who audits the claim, and what is still unstated?
