Digiday Daily

January 12, 2026

After Yahoo was sold by Verizon Wireless to Apollo Global, many deemed it a trade-down, with exits to private equity often interpreted as a last shot at relevance.

Since that 2021 deal, it has undergone a reputational turnaround among parts of the advertising industry, even if the aggressive advance of another challenger has blunted its momentum.

TOP STORY

The Programmatic Marketer

Media buyers say Yahoo’s DSP is one to watch

Yahoo’s DSP has momentum, but Amazon’s aggressive expansion is keeping it in challenger mode

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Discounts are like empty calories — revenue without positive contribution. A unified incentives marketing strategy aligns internal teams around a shared strategy to build customer lifetime value and increase profits. Partner Insights from Talon.One.
The discussion around brand safety and suitability has matured. The industry is now entering a new phase, where brands expect more control, more extensibility into walled gardens and closer accountability to outcomes. Partner insights from Channel Factory.
Agencies need to shift how they plan, pitch and prove their value to new and existing clients. Partner insights from Keen Decision Systems.

MEDIA & PLATFORMS

Member exclusive

Media Buying Briefing: How the holdcos fared in 2025, according to Comvergence

The gap between Publicis, which ended up the year $9.5 billion in the positive, and second place Dentsu with $1.7 billion, is cavernous.

AI Revenue Generation

'The net is tightening' on AI scraping: Annotated Q&A with Financial Times’ head of global public policy and platform strategy

Matt Rogerson, FT’s director of global public policy and platform strategy, believes 2026 will bring a kind of reset as big tech companies alter their stance on AI licensing to avoid future legal risk.

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.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM EXPERIAN

Why context is key to making AI successful in marketing

As AI takes center stage in marketing strategy, context is emerging as the differentiator that turns reactive automation into predictive intelligence.

MARKETING

Marketing in Sports

Why cookware brand HexClad is sitting out of the Super Bowl for a broader field

With Super Bowl ad costs hitting $8 million, brands like HexClad are pivoting to streaming and other sports stages for a better marketing bet.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM META

Why Q5 is a golden period for lead generation

During the period from late December to mid- or late January, many consumers are still in the buying mindset, and conversion rates remain high.

Generative AI