HOW GENERATIVE AI IS REWRITING THE RULES OF NEWS MEDIA ADVERTISING

At an International News Media Association webinar, industry leaders said generative AI is rapidly transforming news advertising, from creative production to programmatic trading. As AI platforms become media channels, publishers must strengthen first-party data, rethink consumer journeys, and balance automation with trust and creativity.

Generative artificial intelligence is no longer a futuristic concept for news publishers — it is rapidly becoming a structural force reshaping how advertising is created, sold, targeted and measured. That was the clear message from a recent webinar hosted by the International News Media Association (INMA), where industry leaders outlined how GenAI is moving from experimental tool to strategic engine across the advertising ecosystem.

For years, publishers have adopted artificial intelligence in limited, largely editorial capacities. Now, however, the technology is permeating commercial operations. Advertising departments are using GenAI to generate copy variations in seconds, analyse audience behaviour at scale, design creative assets and optimise campaign performance with a level of speed that would have seemed implausible only a few years ago. What began as workflow assistance is evolving into market transformation.

Gabriel Dorosz, who leads INMA’s Advertising Initiative, pointed to projections suggesting that AI-enabled advertising is expanding more quickly than anticipated. Global AI-driven ad spending is forecast to reach approximately US$142 billion by 2030, representing about 15 per cent of total advertising expenditure. Even more striking, more than 90 per cent of all advertising activity could be AI-enabled in some form by 2029 — three years ahead of earlier predictions. The trajectory signals not gradual evolution but rapid acceleration.

One of the most consequential shifts is the emergence of large language models themselves as advertising platforms. OpenAI’s ChatGPT began introducing advertising formats in early 2026 at premium cost-per-thousand rates, drawing interest from major agencies eager to experiment within AI-native environments. Meanwhile, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s Meta AI are exploring monetisation models of their own. Not every platform has embraced the idea — some competitors have positioned themselves as ad-free alternatives — yet the broader direction of travel is clear: generative AI interfaces are becoming commercial media spaces.

This development has profound implications for publishers. If audiences increasingly discover products and services through AI interfaces rather than traditional search engines or news sites, the flow of advertising budgets may follow. AI tools can compress weeks of product research into seconds, offering curated comparisons, summarised reviews and tailored recommendations before a user clicks through to a brand’s website. In that compressed journey, conventional retargeting loses some of its former influence. Rather than nudging undecided consumers along a lengthy path to purchase, advertising may instead serve to reinforce decisions already shaped by AI-generated insights.

The consumer journey itself is changing shape. AI-driven discovery tends to favour either swift, low-consideration purchases or deeply researched, high-value decisions such as cars or financial services. In both scenarios, the decision-making arc shortens or becomes more concentrated. For publishers reliant on traditional display or programmatic models, this shift demands new thinking about where and how influence occurs.

The question of whether AI platforms should carry advertising at all has sparked vigorous debate. Some argue that advertising risks undermining trust in conversational interfaces. Others contend that ad revenue enables broader access for users unwilling or unable to pay subscription fees. For publishers watching from the sidelines, the debate underscores a familiar tension between commercial sustainability and audience confidence — one that news organisations themselves have long navigated.

Creativity, too, is under scrutiny. While many consumers struggle to distinguish between human-written and AI-generated advertising copy, premium campaigns continue to expose the technology’s limitations. High-end creative work often requires subtle emotional resonance, cultural nuance and iterative refinement. During major televised events, AI-led adverts have at times drawn lukewarm responses, suggesting that generative systems, for all their efficiency, do not yet consistently replicate the depth of top-tier human storytelling. For news publishers whose advertising reputations depend on quality, the balance between automation and artistry remains delicate.

Perhaps the most disruptive force lies within programmatic advertising. Dorosz described generative AI as an “event horizon” for the buy–sell ecosystem. In theory, advanced AI agents could streamline or even eliminate layers of intermediaries — supply-side platforms, demand-side platforms and trading desks — that currently mediate transactions between publishers and advertisers. Autonomous systems might plan, negotiate and optimise campaigns in real time, collapsing complexity into direct, data-driven exchanges.

Demonstrations at global technology gatherings such as CES 2026 have showcased early versions of such agentic systems. Agencies and technology providers are piloting tools capable of setting campaign objectives, allocating budgets and adjusting creative elements with minimal human intervention. Yet with innovation comes fragmentation. Competing standards initiatives — including work by the IAB Tech Lab — aim to shape how AI agents interact across platforms. The eventual outcome could determine who controls data flows and monetisation frameworks in the next generation of digital advertising.

Despite the excitement, INMA speakers urged publishers to avoid rushing blindly into automation. The foundation of future competitiveness, they argued, lies in robust first-party data strategies. As third-party cookies fade and privacy regulations tighten, news organisations must cultivate rich contextual signals, subscriber insights and trusted relationships with audiences. Generative AI may amplify these assets, but it cannot compensate for their absence.

Practical case studies illustrate how this transformation is already unfolding. Executives from Jagran New Media, one of India’s largest digital news networks, described how GenAI is enhancing advertiser value through adaptive audience intelligence. Rather than deploying static surveys that ask identical questions of every user, Jagran’s teams use AI-driven systems to tailor queries dynamically. Follow-up questions adjust according to user behaviour, geography and content preferences, producing layered insights into consumer intent.

In automotive campaigns, for example, generative tools have helped identify not only which readers are in-market for vehicles but also their specific brand affinities and feature priorities. Such nuance enables advertisers to craft longer-term engagement strategies rather than relying solely on blunt retargeting tactics. In another initiative, AI-powered audience surveys mapped viewing habits across free-to-air television platforms with granular segmentation by age and gender. Contextual framing increased participation rates, turning data collection into an interactive experience rather than a transactional interruption.

These examples suggest that generative AI’s value extends beyond efficiency gains. By enabling adaptive conversations with audiences, publishers can reposition themselves as intelligence partners for brands, not merely inventory suppliers. In an era where advertisers seek measurable impact and meaningful engagement, that repositioning could prove decisive.

The broader picture painted by the INMA discussion is one of systemic change. Generative AI is not simply adding another tool to the advertising toolbox; it is reconfiguring the architecture of the industry. From creative development to programmatic trading, from consumer discovery to platform monetisation, the technology is altering assumptions that have governed digital advertising for two decades.

For news publishers, the challenge is strategic rather than purely technical. Investment decisions made today — in data infrastructure, talent, ethical governance and platform partnerships — will shape their ability to compete in an AI-saturated marketplace. Those who treat generative AI as a short-term efficiency hack risk being overtaken by competitors who integrate it into long-term commercial strategy.

At the same time, caution is warranted. Trust remains the currency of news brands. As AI-generated content proliferates across the web, publishers must ensure that advertising innovation does not erode editorial credibility or audience confidence. Transparency about AI usage, rigorous quality control and clear separation between commercial and journalistic functions will be essential.

Generative AI is moving swiftly, but its ultimate impact on news media advertising will depend on how thoughtfully it is deployed. The technology offers unprecedented speed, scale and personalisation. Whether it also strengthens the financial foundations of quality journalism will hinge on the choices publishers make now, as the advertising world crosses its own AI event horizon.