Industry's "Loose Ends" Set Stage for 2025 Media and AI Shifts

Key Quotes

"I feel like he's been our silver lining throughout all of these so with you and i and our tin foil hats for all of these conversations about omnicom wpp um mergers acquisitions consolidations ai through all of it you and i have had our tin foil foil hats but luckily we've had him and sarah to kind of talk um give us a good silver lining there."

This quote highlights the role of editors Seb and Sarah as providing a more grounded perspective amidst discussions of industry consolidation and AI. The speaker expresses gratitude for their ability to offer a "silver lining" when the hosts were perhaps overly speculative or concerned. It suggests that while the industry faced complex and potentially unsettling developments, these individuals offered a more balanced viewpoint.

"I feel like all of those things and many more right to to the earlier point around sort of the future owner of um of kind of warner bros discovery -- I feel like we'll look back on this year as kind of when almost like we started to see how those decades were were sort of going to be be reordered or at least the kind of starting process of that and so I feel like next year will definitely be a a kind of watershed year sort of in many respects from you know looking at kind of how google starts to really pull the trigger on what the next phase of its kind of business sort of looks like to seeing almost a bit of a correction in the sort of ai platform space and then also on the sort of whole co sort of thing a real a real litmus test for the future prospects of that business model right as the new omnicom my position really starts to metastasize in this sort of market."

Seb Joseph argues that the current year, despite its perceived lack of definitive outcomes, will be viewed retrospectively as a pivotal period of reordering within major industries. He suggests that the events of this year are the initial steps in a larger restructuring, with significant implications for Google's future business, the AI platform space, and the agency model, particularly following the Omnicom acquisition of IPG. Joseph anticipates that the following year will be a "watershed year" as these shifts begin to solidify.

"The idea that the streaming wars this year has finally absolutely been put to rest I think the top players have absolutely revealed themselves and only gotten stronger by kind of like consolidating on one hand so when you think about like paramount and skydance and then on the other hand like if there wasn't consolidation there was acquisition so I think at this point I mean I don't know I would give netflix probably the strongest player here in in that sense given that they've got that bid for warner brothers."

The speaker asserts that the "streaming wars" have concluded, with a clear set of dominant players emerging through consolidation and acquisition. They identify Netflix, particularly with its bid for Warner Brothers, as a strong contender in this redefined landscape. This perspective suggests that the initial phase of intense competition has subsided, leading to a more concentrated market structure.

"The streaming wars have an even bigger player that everyone has like everyone in the streaming wars has kind of been trying to ignore but can't ignore anymore and that's YouTube."

This quote introduces YouTube as a significant, previously underestimated player in the streaming landscape. The speaker suggests that while other companies have been engaged in direct competition, YouTube's massive watch time and influence have become too substantial to ignore. This implies a shift in the understanding of who the key combatants are in the streaming market.

"The large agency hold code model is broken in a lot of ways but it's really being sort of pressure tested in terms of how it's incorporating an ai and then how it's turning around and both charging and to your guys's point licensing out that tech for for future use -- it's all sort of complicated and messy but I think while this year might be the year we really sort of put ai and I say we meaning the industry at large not to assume any sort of responsibility and personal ai use but anyway we are are the guiding plus no no no no -- uh I say we meaning ad industry at large have used if this is the year we have used ai and have some case examples to sort of pick apart next year will be the year that not to say we pay the consequences but maybe and we really take a look at -- what is ai worth to our processes -- how much are our brands willing to pay for it and can we go to your recent coverage especially how much are they just going to bring in house versus go to agencies anyway."

Sarah Jurdy explains that the traditional agency holding company model is fundamentally flawed and is now being severely tested by the integration of AI. She posits that while the current year has seen the industry begin to implement AI and gather case examples, the following year will be critical for evaluating its true worth, client willingness to pay, and the potential for brands to bring AI capabilities in-house rather than relying on agencies. Jurdy frames this as a period of reckoning for the economics and practical application of AI within the advertising industry.

"The third party cookie lives on that's nice we went from the third party -- cookie purgatory to tiktok purgatory but if there's any luck maybe next year we'll be let out don't hold your breath guys I'm happy at least to not have to worry about privacy sandbox anymore -- unclear like what the third party cookie surviving means for any of us -- also unclear what's going to happen in this google ad tech antitrust case because we had the remedies in the google search antitrust case and you know as ronan shields reported google kind of ended up winning that case even though it technically lost the case but when it came to the remedies they were pretty light we haven't yet gotten a remedy on the google ad tech antitrust case which google did lose so is it possible that these remedies come out by the end of this year is this going to be a 2026 story definitely a 2026 story -- but anyone sort of still kind of pining for the prospect of it being kind of broken up the short version is it won't it won't happen I don't think anyway just judging by some of the noises that judge brinkema made during the sort of the last sort of phase the kind of closing sort of phase of the trial -- I think at this moment in time it it seems that as if that it's it's -- it's too big to be sort of broken up I don't think from what she was sort of saying the market moves too fast right and so no one can really predict what it's going to be like in three to five years and a divestiture is going to take at least that amount of time to unwind meaning that you know any remedy could be obsolete by that time if it's if it's sort of implemented and you know you factor in the fact that google's likely to appeal anything that that kind of structurally gets sort of -- kind of rolled I I think it's -- it's clear at this point there will be some form of sort of behavioral -- sort of remedy kind of forced onto sort of google above anything sort of else."

This quote discusses the survival of the