After another year of rapid AI development and experimentation, tech and marketing experts think 2025 could help move adoption beyond the testing phase.
The factors in play come from multiple fronts. Tech companies are expanding access to AI content creation, agencies are working on ways to improve workflows for various tools, and enterprise-focused companies are looking for more ways to drive better performance with specific applications. Meanwhile, tech companies are rushing to deploy new ways for companies and consumers to use AI agents.
No one doubts that 2025 is going to be a fasten-your-seatbelt kind of year.
A new (but also not-so-new) president known to shake up norms, an expected deregulatory environment, but one that generally discourages pro-social initiatives and generative AI adapting and getting more powerful with each new iteration — the latest buzzword being “agentic” AI.
So what’s in store for the media agency world? A lot, it would seem. For one, the mid-December news that Omnicom moved to acquire Interpublic Group has observers and analysts thinking it’s bound to set off a wave of acquisition and consolidation among the other agency holding companies — at least most of them. Scenarios usually involve WPP, which has been the largest global holdco, or Havas, which has just spun out from parent Vivendi, making it a much easier acquisition target now.
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Ads that target AI agents rather than humans might sound like something ripped from the pages of sci-fi, but it’s a concept that’s gaining traction among marketers thanks to recent musings by Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas. On the “Marketing Against The Grain” podcast, he painted a picture of a future where “user never sees an ad. Unlike Google, the different merchants are not competing for users’ attention. They’re competing for the AI agents’ attention”.
Naturally, Srinivas’ comments have unleashed a torrent of hot takes. Somewhere in the swirl of opinions, a few recurring arguments emerge — both for and against this seemingly far-fetched, yet not entirely implausible, vision.
Cases for ads served to AI agents
It provides a cleaner user experience People are over the endless deluge of ads — especially the ones that miss the mark entirety. But if AI agents became the new target for advertisers, the constant stream of ads could disappear from view altogether. The result? A cleaner, ad-free user experience, letting consumers enjoy the web and their platforms without the usual interruptions.
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This edition of Digiday’s daily CES Briefing examines how brands and agencies are seeing a need to change payment structures to account for AI tools handling some agency work, what marketing and media execs may have missed on the CES show floor and how Disney’s tech showcase reflects real-time bidding finally being fast enough for live sports.
Agency compensation models in the AI era
A change to how clients pay agencies seems inevitable in the AI era. How the agency compensation model should change, though, is anyone’s guess. But it has very much been a topic of discussion during CES this week.
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TikTok’s new ultimatum — shutdown in the U.S. or get a lifeline from the Supreme Court — is the latest plot twist in a whirlwind month that’s left markets in a tailspin. With the app’s future hanging by a thread, marketers are navigating murky waters, scrambling to make sense of what it all means for their plans.
Late last month, Chris (not his real name) fired off an email to his TikTok rep. As the go-to guy for managing client ad spend at his agency, he needed clarity ahead of a critical moment for the app, the looming federal deadline that could force ByteDance to sell TikTok — or face a U.S. ban. The response he got wasn’t just telling, it was practically a confession. TikTok reps were offering make-goods to advertisers locking in ad inventory through the end of the second quarter.
For the first time since whispers of a ban began six years ago, TikTok seemed to be bracing for the possibility that its American swan song might not be far off.
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Over the past two weeks, a growing cohort of digital creators has spoken out against the Honey browser extension for swapping creators’ affiliate marketing links with its own. Beyond their stolen affiliate revenue, however, creators are criticizing — and suing — Honey because they believe it has hurt their ability to sign future brand partnerships.
The controversy kicked off on Dec. 21, 2024, when the YouTuber MegaLag released a video essay claiming how Honey, a PayPal-owned browser extension, makes money by replacing creators’ affiliate marketing links with its own, thus gleaning a share of affiliate revenue that would otherwise go to the creators themselves. A Honey representative did not respond to a request for comment.
Since December, the Honey scandal has become something of a cause célèbre within the YouTube community, in part due to the fact that prominent creators such as James “MrBeast” Donaldson and Marques “MKBHD” Brownlee had previously promoted the service in sponsored videos. On Jan. 2, legal YouTubers such as Devin “LegalEagle” Stone initiated a class-action lawsuit against the company.
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Drew Barrymore is thankful for her female friends.
Steven Ferdman/Getty Images
Drew Barrymore says her female friendships have kept her "anchored" through the years.
Research has shown that having strong friendships is as important as exercise for longevity.
However, it can be difficult to make and maintain friendships in adulthood.
Drew Barrymore, 49, is grateful that she has supportive female friends to rely on.
During Wednesday's episode of "The Drew Barrymore Show," which featured guest Julianne Moore, the talk show host spoke about the strong friendships she shares with the women in her life.
"I think female friendship has been the thing that probably anchored my life the most," Barrymore said.
"Most of my friends I've had for 30 and 40 years — I'm going to be 50 — so it's like my whole life I've known these people," she said. "I trust them implicitly."
Barrymore said her friends are "very honest" with her and know what she's been through.
"I feel like not having had traditional family, everything is possible through my female friendships," Barrymore said, adding that they help her get through her heartbreaks "much easier."
"Every time I've ever been dumped, my first phone call is my girlfriends. They make it so much better," Barrymore said.
In particular, Barrymore has been open about her friendships with her "Charlie's Angels" costars, Cameron Diaz and Lucy Liu.
The three of them have made public appearances together over the years, including the premiere episode of Barrymore's talk show in 2020.
Barrymore revealed in a 2021 Instagram Live that she was friends with Diaz long before they shared a screen.
"We met when I was 14 and she was 16. I was working at a coffee house and she was a junior model. She's still my bestie," Barrymore said.
There are plenty of celebrity best friends in Hollywood, including Oprah Winfrey and Gayle King, who became friends after a snowstorm in 1976, and Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, who have known each other since meeting on set in 1980.
Research has found that having good friendships could be as important as exercise and diet for living longer.
However, adult friendships can be tricky to form and maintain, Dr. Frederick Smith, a psychologist, told Business Insider previously.
"As adults, we have many obligations," Dr. Smith said. "We may have responsibilities to our job, family, children, or education. We spend a lot of time doing these things, so we may not have enough time to devote to going out and developing friendships."
However, there are ways for people to improve their friendships, he said. This includes practicing healthy boundaries, communicating clearly, and actively working to keep the relationship alive.
"Both people have to work to maintain it," he said. "Friendship should not be one-sided. If you only call me when you need something, or you only call me when you're going through some type of turmoil, and then I never hear from you, then that's a problem."
A representative for Barrymore did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent by BI outside regular hours.
Devin Williams, Jazz Chisholm Jr., Clarke Schmidt and Scott Effross settled with the Yankees, the team announced, while Mark Leiter Jr. represented the one whiff.
The Orange Bowl saved the best for last. A raucous fourth quarter in the College Football Playoff semifinal game at Hard Rock Stadium saw Penn State and Notre Dame trade body blows but the Fighting Irish ended with a thrilling 27-24 win Penn State, with the ball with under a minute to go and a...
Notre Dame had a huge fourth-quarter takeaway. Until it didn’t. With a little over 10 minutes to go in the Orange Bowl on Thursday, Fighting Irish quarterback Riley Leonard was picked off by Penn State’s Dani Dennis-Sutton. But just four plays later, Leonard seemed like he was saved when his Penn State counterpart, Drew Allar,...
