AD TECH ECOSYSTEM
Why Walmart would rather keep Flipkart private, for now
Over the past few weeks, much has been written about former employees of the online commerce company writing to Walmart's board, asking for liquidity on the stock options they were granted 10 to 15 years ago. On October 1, at least eight former senior executives, among them former Myntra CEO Mukesh Bansal and former chief business officer Ankit Nagori, wrote to Walmart chairman Gregory Penner, other board members and Flipkart Group CEO Kalyan Krishnamurthy, seeking a complete exit for all former employees holding vested options.
Israeli firm used online ads to run vast spy operation, researchers say
Discover-Tech, an Israeli digital advertising agency, faces serious allegations of orchestrating user surveillance via harmful ads. Research teams from Citizen Lab and Confiant uncovered alarming evidence that these ads not only tracked individuals but also facilitated spyware deployment. With implications affecting hundreds of millions, including entities like the Pentagon and Al Jazeera, major platforms like Google have halted Discover-Tech's services.
The Comeback of the Physical Store—and What It Means for Your Business
Brick-and-mortar retail is not declining but evolving, as stores take on new roles as logistics hubs, experiential destinations, and powerful drivers of demand and brand equity. Rising digital acquisition costs and operational challenges are pushing companies to integrate physical and online channels, using stores to improve fulfillment, customer engagement, and marketing effectiveness. The broader lesson for leaders: assets once viewed as liabilities can become competitive advantages when their role is reimagined and aligned with changing economics and customer behavior.
Lessons from Chinese AI Firms on Owning Customers’ Habits
As U.S. AI firms compete in an escalating race for superior models, bigger benchmarks, and more advanced features, Chinese companies are pursuing a fundamentally different strategy: embedding AI into users’ everyday habits. The authors argue that this “habit moat” approach may prove more durable than competing on raw capability alone. Whereas Western firms position AI as a destination consumers consciously visit, companies like Alibaba integrate AI into existing routines such as shopping, payments, food delivery, and travel booking, reducing friction until using AI becomes automatic behavior. Once AI capabilities become “good enough,” marginal technical improvements matter less than becoming the default path through recurring customer tasks. The authors outline four strategic imperatives for Western leaders: focus on behavioral cues rather than feature gaps, subsidize customer behavior instead of subscriptions, embed AI invisibly into existing workflows, and optimize for repeat usage rather than first-time adoption. The central warning is stark: AI may not replace employees first—it may instead capture the critical customer moments businesses currently own.
AI political ads warp reality ahead of US midterms
AI-generated political ads are proliferating ahead of the US midterms, with candidates and outside groups using deepfakes and synthetic video to attack rivals and draw attention. While the tools make campaign content cheaper and more creative, experts warn they could further erode trust by making voters doubt both fake and authentic political material.
AI-to-AI communication could change how ads are bought and sold: Report
Artificial intelligence could change the way advertisements are bought and sold by enabling automated communication between systems, reducing manual coordination across the fragmented advertising ecosystem, according to a report by ADvendio, an advertising technology company.
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Sugar’s valuation slump; Slice takes a hit
Happy Friday! A91 Partners is backing Sugar Cosmetics in a round that will see the beauty brand’s valuation fall sharply. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Semicon 2.0 takes shape; Zomato’s Hyderabad layoffs
The government has notified Semicon 2.0 to boost India’s semiconductor ecosystem. This and more in today's ETtech Top 5.
MSMEs are embracing AI without understanding the privacy risks: PrivaSapien CEO
With key provisions of India’s Digital Personal Data Protection Rules set to take effect in May 2027, PrivaSapien CEO Abilash Soundararajan says MSMEs need to move beyond compliance checklists and build basic privacy and AI safeguards now.
Indian digital ad market likely to double to USD 22 bn by 2030: Report
India's digital advertising market is set for significant growth. Projections indicate it will double in five years, reaching up to 22 billion US dollars by 2030. This expansion outpaces the broader economy. Mobile advertising will continue to dominate. The future of advertising will focus on privacy, AI, and data. Companies that adapt will lead the way.
APP stock (AppLovin) falls over 16% today as AI disruption fears crashed software stocks down - here's what investors need to know
APP stock: AppLovin shares plummeted Wednesday as a sector-wide software selloff intensified. Investors are increasingly wary of AI's potential to disrupt the mobile advertising market, with new platforms like CloudX aiming to automate ad operations. This development casts a shadow over AppLovin's significant ad tech exposure, even as it anticipates strong earnings.
Times Internet’s Satyan Gajwani named Co-Chair of IAMAI Digital Advertising Council
Satyan Gajwani is now the Co-Chairperson of the Internet and Mobile Association of India’s Digital Advertising Council. Priya Choudhary will serve alongside him. Shantanu Sirohi is the Chairperson. They will serve for two years. The DAC represents India’s digital advertising. It includes agencies, publishers and ad-tech companies. The council promotes transparency and responsible practices.
Landmark ruling: Judge delivers blow to Google, declares its ad empire an illegal monopoly that caused widespread harm to digital consumers
Google ad monopoly just took a major legal hit. A U.S. federal judge ruled that Google illegally dominates the digital advertising market, calling its actions harmful to publishers, rivals, and consumers. The court found Google violated antitrust laws by controlling both the ad server and ad exchange systems. With Alphabet shares falling and the Justice Department pushing for a breakup of its ad empire, this ruling could reshape how online ads work forever.
Indian ad market to expand 7% to Rs 1,64,137 crore in 2025: GroupM
India's advertising market is expected to grow by 7% in 2025, reaching Rs 1,64,137 crore. Digital ad spend will lead this growth, projected to rise by 11.5%. Key sectors contributing 60% of total ad spend, such as SME, realty, and BFSI, are anticipated to increase their budgets by 10%.
UK watchdog accuses Google of anti-competitive behaviour in digital ads business
Britain's Competition and Markets Authority said that the US company gives preference to its own services to the detriment of online publishers and advertisers in Britain's 1.8 billion pound (USD 2.4 billion) digital ad market.
Rumble sues Google over digital advertising practices
The suit alleges Google has monopolized the ad stack "by buying companies up and down the chain, concurrently representing both ad buyers and sellers, while also running the exchange that connects those parties."
Zerodha cofounder Nikhil Kamath may acquire more stake in Nazara Technologies
According to CNBC-TV18, citing sources, Kamath is aiming to acquire a total of 3.5% stake in the firm "in his personal capacity". Kamath already holds about 1% stake in the mobile gaming platform. The deal is expected to close soon, Nazara Tech, however, refused to comment on the "speculation", said the report.
Google’s $168 billion in ad revenue at risk in Supreme Court case
Much of the discussion surrounding the case has focused on the costs to online companies if the court determines they are legally responsible for the hundreds of millions of comments, videos and other content posted by users every day.
US DOJ poised to sue Google over digital ad market dominance: report
The lawsuit would be the second federal antitrust complaint filed against Google, alleging violations of antitrust law in how the tech giant acquires or maintains its dominance.
House panel finds Big Tech’s ad business a ‘monopolist threat’
A call to action wants govt to act early and head off anti-competitive behaviour in digital markets.
Facebook owner Meta makes antitrust commitments over online advertising
Meta has committed to giving access over a five-year period to advertising inventories and campaign data to so-called advertising technology companies on transparent, objective and predictable conditions, the French regulator said.
Nazara acquires majority stake in Datawrkz for Rs 124 crore
The Board has approved the strategic investment by the acquisition of 37,498 equity shares - representing 55 per cent of the equity share capital, on a fully diluted basis -- of Datawrkz Business Solutions Private Limited along with its wholly-owned subsidiaries at a total consideration not exceeding Rs 124 crores in two tranches.
Stock Idea | This multibagger is back on recovery path after a blip
The stock had fallen about 30 per cent from its March high of Rs 6,287 to a low of Rs 4,000 in August. Since then, the scrip has been on the recovery mode.
Social media users troll WhiteHat Jr ads for overexposure
The constant exposure to advertisements by WhiteHat Jr, which teaches coding to school students online, has turned into a nuisance, users have pointed out in the most creative of ways across social networks, but predominantly on Twitter
Google blocked and removed over 5,000 'bad ads' a minute in 2019
Google suspended nearly one million advertiser accounts for policy violations to protect users from misleading ads. The tech giant also noted that there has been a sharp spike in fraudulent ads for in-demand products like face masks amid the COVID-19 pandemic that has claimed lakhs of lives globally.
Google and Facebook prey on digital advertising for content by news producers. Fair play?
Google owns the entire supply-demand chain for ad tech and is structuring it so that publishers don't go anywhere.
Adidas founder’s family office seeks partner for sports tech fund
However, just running an accelerator programme was too modest for ADFO, said Bente. “We realised that there are more opportunities and this space is not disrupted, yet.”
Global sports tech fund ADvantage looks to invest in Indian startups
ADvantage is a series-A fund co-owned by leAD Sports, a sports entrepreneurship and investment platform run by the Adi Dassler Family Office (ADFO), and global hybrid venture capital platform, OurCrowd.
How ad tech startup Kratos is helping advertisers tap mobile user base
In a little over two years Kratos has served more than 80 clients. It also saw a revenue of Rs 5 crore in its first year of operation.
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