AI shifts ad tech competition toward control of automated buying decisions
· 4h ago · Originally reported by Digiday
As AI takes over more advertising workflows, the competitive battleground in ad tech is moving to who gets to make the optimization decisions that drive results. The piece frames this as a fight over the 'brain' directing automated media buying rather than the plumbing around it.
Why it matters
It signals that value in ad tech may consolidate around whoever controls AI-driven decisioning, potentially squeezing intermediaries that only handle execution or data plumbing.
Explain it like I’m new here
It's like self-driving cars: once the car drives itself, the real competition is over who gets to program the navigation brain, not who builds the road.
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