By the numbers: Wall Street’s tough assessment of ad tech

August 13, 2026 The digital advertising market continues to grow, but it has not translated into an easy earnings season for publicly traded ad tech companies, with their numbers on Wall Street speaking for themselves. AppLovin reported 53% year-over-year revenue growth and promptly lost almost one-fifth of its market value after its August 5 report. Meanwhile, The Trade Desk grew just 3% and fell 22% after its Q2 disclosure. Advertisement TOP STORY Strategizing for the Future By the numbers: Wall Street’s tough assessment of ad tech Big Tech continues to dominate digital growth, triggering a Wall Street exodus, but are returns imminent? OTHER THINGS TO KNOW When measurement frameworks don’t suit specific channels, campaigns that are working get defunded and campaigns that aren’t get scaled. Partner insights from Moloco. Instead of experimentation, marketers are testing ideas fast and scaling what’s successful. By prioritizing AI that works alongside marketers, leaders are improving workflows, reducing burnout, ensuring consistency — all while maintaining the human component of their creative. Partner insights from Contentful. There are only 14 spots left for the Digiday Publishing Summit, taking place Sept. 14–16 in Miami. Hear from top publishing leaders at CNBC, Politico, The New York Times and many more. Don’t miss this chance to build meaningful connections to move your business forward.  MARKETING Zero-click Future CMOs are struggling to link AI visibility with sales Brands are spending on tools that rate their visibility within LLM responses and AI search, but proving the commercial impact of GEO remedies isn’t easy. The Creator Economy Brands can’t just flip the 'employees as creators' switch Employee generated content is an increasingly enticing lever for brands to pull, but there needs to be a clear-cut strategy. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE Guide: WTF is agentic commerce? Agentic commerce differs from earlier forms of automated shopping in that AI agents don’t wait for human input to approve each step. They set a goal, evaluate options against structured criteria and execute on it. MEDIA & PLATFORMS Member exclusive Media Briefing: Publishers are replacing Google with a little bit of everything Publishers are preparing for a future with less Google traffic — but are still figuring out what replaces it. The Programmatic Marketer Moloco launches an agency partner program, in part to expand beyond mobile programmatic Although not a pure-play DSP, Moloco is expanding beyond into CTV and other media realms, building on its mobile and app base. PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM T-MOBILE ADVERTISING SOLUTIONS Brand playbook: Inside the next phase of retail media In-store media has matured from just thrown-together end caps to high-impact, moveable screens that deliver transparent reporting, track campaign performance and more — becoming a strong channel for visibility and incremental reach. Advertisement PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM CONTENTFUL How AI is impacting content marketing According to a new survey from Contentful and Benchmarker, AI hasn’t replaced content outsourcing, but it is used most heavily in ideation, writing and editing. MODERN RETAIL Gaming & Esports Walmart-backed gaming publication lays off editorial team Brandy Berthelson — who had been Restart’s editor-in-chief — said on Bluesky last Friday that the “entire editorial team” at Restart was laid off. 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