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I’m flying from New York to L.A. today, a commute during which I’ll be listening to Dolly Parton and Dolly Parton only in my headphones. (If you, too, are In Your Feels about the passing of Miss Dolly, make sure to check out our recap of her most fabulous ad appearances over the years.)
In other news, Meta is facing the most material consequences to date over claims that its social platforms put children at risk with addictive features. The tech giant on Wednesday not only agreed to pay up to a record $17.1 billion as part of a settlement with 47 states, but also agreed to limit features like beauty filters and Like counts, and to enforce a new two-hour daily limit for kids using Instagram and Facebook. The changes threaten to impact its core advertising business, as brands will have fewer opportunities to market to minors. No doubt more to come on that.
Speaking of advertising, it’s a big week for one of the industry’s most influential players, The Trade Desk. The company this week bid adieu to its top engineer, Aravind Chandrasekharan, adding to an expanding roster of high-profile exits from the demand-side platform. Also this week, the company is unveiling a reboot of its central ad-buying platform Kokai; the update integrates new agentic features and aims to assuage media buyers’ long-standing complaints about its clunky interface. Paired with a leaked deck obtained by ADWEEK detailing the company’s H2 plans, these may be early signs of a turnaround effort after months of flailing.
I’ll get into it in my feature below.
Finally, a quick reminder that entries are now open for ADWEEK Tech Challengers to Watch, a new award dedicated to spotlighting up-and-coming tech companies making waves in adland. Learn more and enter here.
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