^{_{This Week’s 3 Biggest AdTech Headlines}}

1. Publicis Accelerates AI Expansion Through Acquisitions

Publicis Groupe is making serious moves in the AI space and it’s not just buzzwords. The global marketing giant has already invested €600 million in AI during the first half of 2025 and plans to pour in another €300 million by the end of the year. This isn’t about jumping on a trend: it’s about reshaping the future of marketing.

The strategy? Publicis is targeting smaller, innovative AI-driven startups like Persado, Superscale.AI, Newton Research, Akkio, Prescient AI, and Cassandra. These “bolt-on” acquisitions are meant to plug directly into the group's existing tech ecosystem, enhancing everything from creative copywriting to predictive ad performance. One standout example is Persado, which uses generative AI to write emotionally intelligent ad copy. Then there's Akkio, offering no-code predictive analytics, making it easier for marketers to work with data without needing to be data scientists. For Publicis, this isn’t just about automation. It’s about amplifying human creativity and using AI to make marketing smarter, faster, and more effective.

2. WPP Issues Profit Warning Amid Shifting Ad Agency Landscape

It’s a tough time for WPP, the world’s biggest advertising and PR agency. The company has just issued a profit warning, forecasting a 3–5% drop in revenue for 2025 a major red flag in an already competitive industry. First, WPP has lost major accounts, including Pfizer and Coca-Cola North America. On top of that, the number of new business pitches they’re involved in is way down: 68% fewer in volume, and 37% less in value. That’s a serious blow for a company that thrives on pitching and winning global campaigns. But it’s not just client losses. The bigger picture is about how fast the ad world is changing. With the rise of AI-powered tools, many brands are questioning whether they even need a traditional agency anymore. Quick-turnaround creative, automated targeting, and performance insights: all things agencies used to handle are now increasingly being done in-house with AI tools. WPP isn’t ignoring this shift. The company is investing around £300 million a year into its own AI platform, WPP Open, hoping to modernize how it delivers creative and media services. But progress is slow and now there’s added pressure with CEO Mark Read expected to step down, creating even more uncertainty at the top.

3. Political Scrutiny Forces Ad Industry to Rebrand "Brand Safety"

The advertising world is quietly shifting how it talks about one of its biggest responsibilities: keeping brands away from controversial or risky content online. For years, this was known as “brand safety.” But lately, that term has gotten political and now the industry is being forced to rethink the whole approach. A wave of conservative-led backlash has accused ad agencies and platforms of using “brand safety” policies to blacklist certain types of media, especially right-leaning outlets. This led to legal scrutiny in the U.S., with regulators starting to ask hard questions about whether advertisers were unfairly silencing certain voices. It came to a head recently when the FTC approved the merger between Omnicom and IPG two giant ad groups but added a condition: they can’t collude to block ads based on political ideology. That’s a big deal. It’s a signal that regulators are watching closely, and the industry must be more careful about how it applies content filters. In response, agencies and advertisers are starting to ditch the phrase “brand safety” and replace it with something softer and more flexible: “brand suitability.” The idea? Instead of blocking entire categories of content, brands want more nuanced, tech-powered tools that help them decide where their ads appear based on context, not just keywords or political alignment.