You’ve just set down your Xbox controller after wiping out the final boss. Now, time for an ad! The folks at Patentlyze made me aware of a recent patent filing from Microsoft that hints at Xbox’s in-game advertising ambitions. The filing, published earlier this month, outlines a concept for a content management system that would
Brands have a proposition for influencers: What if you didn’t make those pesky #ad disclosures? The Utah-based wellness influencer Sharon Johnson, who describes herself in her Instagram bio as a “Reformed Tradwife,” said a supplement company recently asked her not to include an #ad disclosure in posts showing her receiving and opening the company’s product.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Colin Piper, CMO of BuildOps, an AI platform for commercial contractors. Prior to that, he spent more than 10 years at Autodesk, eventually leading a large marketing team for its construction business vertical. The essay has been edited for length and clarity. Autodesk said in a
After doing tie-ins with iconic scary movie characters like Chucky and M3gan, Coca-Cola’s Fanta wants to make some spooky personas of its own. Ahead of Halloween, the soda brand is introducing four characters as part of a kickoff to what it’s calling Fanta’s Haunted Universe, which it describes as a collection of products, content, and
A new filing in a lawsuit from a fired WPP executive alleges that Sony, one of the ad giant’s major partners, investigated the company and concluded it had improperly withheld rebates from clients. The lawsuit says that Sony presented the findings of its investigation to WPP in 2025 in a detailed analysis that said the
Ads designed to influence AI agents rather than human consumers are emerging as a new marketing channel. They’re also opening up a new brand safety battleground. The big outstanding question: Once the AI platforms get wise to brands advertising to their crawlers, will they play ball or try to stamp out the practice? Here’s an
