POSSIBLE 2026: Industry Experts Dish On AI – And Other Trends To WatchAt POSSIBLE 2026 in Miami, the ad industry was over the hype around AI. Industry experts got real about how agentic AI is actually changing advertising workflows today. And they called out the pie-in-the-sky use cases that could be longer-term possibilities for AI, but that aren’t currently – pardon the pun – possible. (AdExchanger) |
AI-Driven Bot Attacks Surged 12.5x According To Thales Bad Bot ReportBots now dominate the internet, accounting for over half of all traffic, with 40% classified as malicious. AI is erasing the line between legitimate and malicious activity, making intent – not identity – the new security challenge. APIs and identity systems are primary targets, with attackers bypassing front-end defenses to exploit core business logic at scale. (Thales) |
State Of Affiliate Fraud 2026: What 1B+ Tracked Clicks Reveal Across 500+ ProgramsAffiliate fraud is no longer a line item in the risk register. It’s the second business model running inside your program. Across more than 500 affiliate programs tracked through Scaleo’s platform — spanning finance, eCommerce, SaaS, lead generation, and iGaming — the fraud patterns we see have shifted from opportunistic to systematic. (Elizabeth Sramek / Scaleo) |
Fraudlogix Q1 2026 Ad Fraud Report: Global IVT Rate Drops To 18.12%Fraudlogix’s Q1 2026 snapshot, drawn from 26.3 billion impressions across 246 countries and territories, puts the global IVT rate at 18.12% — down from 20.64% in the full-year 2025 report. Among the standout findings: desktop and mobile fraud rates converged for the first time in Fraudlogix’s data history, and Indonesia emerged as the highest-risk market at 59.17% IVT. The full report includes year-over-year comparisons and emerging fraud hotspot alerts by device, browser, and geography. (Fraudlogix) |
OpenAI Opens Up ChatGPT Ads Manager To The U.S. While Promising Third-Party Measurement, CPA BiddingThird-party measurement and cost-per-action bidding are both in the works at OpenAI, which has now opened its self-serve ads manager to advertisers of all sizes in the U.S. To attract smaller advertisers, it has also dropped its $50,000 minimum spend requirement. (Krystal Scanlon / Digiday) |
The Trade Desk Makes Its DSP Available Within Skai And PacvueDon’t hate, integrate. That could be the programmatic motto. And it’s definitely true today. Because on Tuesday The Trade Desk announced that it will begin allowing mutual clients to use its DSP within the Pacvue or Skai platforms. (James Hercher / AdExchanger) |
PubMatic’s Agentic AI Is Going Beyond Direct DealsThe days of agentic ad tech being only for direct ad buys are coming to an end. PubMatic has run more than 30 fully autonomous, end-to-end agentic campaigns through the SSP’s AgenticOS platform, CEO Rajeev Goel told investors during the company’s Q1 earnings call on Thursday. (James Hercher / AdExchanger) |
Rakuten Advertising Launches Mirai, Affiliate Marketing’s First Advanced AI Optimization AgentLeading performance intelligence partner Rakuten Advertising launched Mirai, an advanced conversational AI agent for streamlining and optimizing affiliate campaign management for advertisers. The launch reflects Rakuten Advertising’s continued focus on developing proprietary AI capabilities that deliver smarter, more scalable tools for advertisers. (PR Newswire / Rakuten Advertising) |