The week digital ads reminded us who’s steering the wheel (and who’s just riding along)

Hey there 👋

Every week, the digital ad world finds new ways to prove it’s equal parts fascinating and ridiculous.
Here’s what caught my eye this week, a quick scroll through the noise 👇

⚖️ Google’s antitrust trial wraps up, and it ends as it began

After months of testimony, US v. Google Ads closes much like it started: with regulators asking whether Google’s dominance over publishers has gone too far.

It’s less about what happens next and more about what we’ve learned, mainly, that the ad supply chain remains a black box even for those who built it.
🔗 Trial Update – October 6, 2025

🗳️ Meta pauses political ads across the EU

As Europe heads toward another election cycle, Meta is hitting “pause” on political and issue-based ads.

Transparency is the official reason; risk aversion is the unspoken one. For advertisers, it’s one more reminder that regulation and reputation are now as strategic as reach.
🔗 Meta cuts political ads across the EU

🤖 Meta’s AI wants to pick your ads too

Meta will soon use people’s interactions with its AI tools to refine content recommendations and ad targeting across Facebook and Instagram.

Conversations about hiking trails might soon lead to ads for hiking boots. Sensitive topics stay excluded, but the move blurs the line between chatting and being marketed to.

When (not if) this hits the Ad Library, expect a mix of fascination and mild panic.
🔗 Meta AI interactions and ad recommendations

🧩 Amazon + Microsoft = DSP muscle on the open web

Amazon is deepening its footprint beyond retail media, partnering with Microsoft to expand its DSP reach across the open web.

Translation: the two most data-rich tech giants are quietly aligning right when everyone else is cutting budgets.
🔗 With Microsoft in tow, Amazon’s DSP tightens its grip on the open web

🎬 Atresmedia’s “Simplificando CTV” educational throwback vibes

Atresmedia just launched a video series to explain the connected-TV ecosystem.
It’s a nice initiative (though I can’t help but picture it ageing like those late-90s tutorials teaching you how to surf the web).

🎞️ Atresmedia simplifies CTV
📼 Bonus nostalgia: the 90s Internet tutorial you didn’t ask for

📈 Italy’s CTV momentum keeps rising

FreeWheel’s latest report shows connected-TV ad views in Italy, Europe and the US are up again in H1 2025, proof that CTV is solidifying its presence in the media mix.
🔗 CTV ad views grow in Italy (FreeWheel report)

That’s the pulse for this week.
If you made it this far, congrats!

— Alessia Cappello
International Markets & MarCom | adjinn
(Curated from adjinn’s internal “Friday Pulse” newsletter, which provides me my weekly excuse to read industry news before anyone else does.)