How marketers rank this year's generative AI image, video tools

December 26, 2025 This year has brought winners, losers and middleground contenders when it comes to generative AI image and video tools — based on their integration capabilities, user interface and of course, final output. To get a better sense of how these tools performed this year, Digiday pulled together a 2025 agency generative AI report card ranking based on output, user experience and capabilities. TOP STORY Generative AI How marketers rank this year's generative AI image, video tools Digiday’s 2025 agency generative AI report card explores the winners and losers of the generative AI landscape. Advertisement OTHER THINGS TO KNOW In an era defined by privacy regulations and signal loss, curation is reshaping programmatic advertising into something more focused, efficient and accountable. Partner insights from Experian. Panelists at 4As Gaming Day underscored that the term "gamer" feels increasingly outdated and often unnecessarily creates distance between people and the behaviors they already participate in daily. Partner insights from Activision Blizzard Media. Even many of the most successful challenger brands are stuck with siloed data and rented identity, lacking the 360-degree customer view they want. Partner insights from Adstra. MEDIA & PLATFORMS Brands in Culture In memoriam: Brands we lost in 2025 Digiday Media staff rounded up some of the most notable brand names we lost in 2025, like Joann and Rite Aid. YEAR IN REVIEW Life Beyond the Cookie Google Chrome will now continue to use third-party cookies Google will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM INSTACART ADS Report: The state of retail media RMNs have historically limited ad placements to their own digital properties, but now many RMNs are extending ad offerings to off-site channels like social media, CTV and email to improve growth opportunities and expand reach. The Creator Economy The Shorts play: YouTube steps up creator monetization YouTube Shorts monetization has been a challenge for creators, pushing YouTube to create more sponsorship opportunities for Shorts creators. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TATARI How brands win on CTV when they pair programmatic and direct buys Successful brands are pairing the flexibility of programmatic buying with the access to premium ad inventory and consumer data from publisher-direct buys to gain scale, efficiency and full-funnel impact across CTV. Advertisement Business of TV How Amazon Prime Video made itself an essential pick for brand media plans Amazon has tweaked its CTV ad pitch over 12 months and established a foothold on brand media plans. Brand Safety In wake of Meta moderation shift, advertisers have accepted new status quo: brand safety is a myth Despite changes, brand safety concerns aren't leading execs to pull back from platforms.  PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM FULLTHROTTLE.AI Why agencies are making automation the first line of financial defense Every manual task, campaign setup, pacing, tagging and trafficking leaks margin. Agencies that lean into AI media agents as the first line of financial defense will find that their revenue isn't squandered to inefficiency. Evolving Agencies WPP's not only losing Mark Read, it's about to lose another client to Publicis: Mars The move leaves WPP Media without an account valued at $1.7 billion, and marks yet another blow to its client roster. DIGIDAY+ IN REVIEW Evolving Agencies Media Buying Briefing: What's going to happen with Dentsu outside of Japan? The Japanese-owned holding company wants to sell all its international assets. Who might buy them and what are the best parts? Written by Jim Cooper and Sara Jerde Were you forwarded this email? Sign up to get it daily. Advertise | Digiday+ | Events | Awards Update your email | Unsubscribe | Privacy policy