Digiday Daily

February 09, 2026

Last week, Google’s parent company Alphabet reported that 2025 revenue was an eye-popping $403 billion, making the last 123 months its highest-earning year – almost $114 billion in Q4 alone – with these sums representing a 15% and 12% respective annual increase.

TOP STORY

Google on Trial

In Graphic Detail: The scale of the challenge facing publishers, politicians eager to damage Google’s adland dominance

Last year was a blowout ad revenue year for Google, despite challenges from several quarters.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Leaders need new frameworks for handling the human-agent hybrid workforce. This means rethinking foundational assumptions about expertise, collaboration and career development. Partner insights from BetterUp.
Now that campaigns can accommodate mid-flight changes — adjusting visual sequences, calls to action or tone based on audience engagement — advertisers can treat creative as a dynamic asset, not a fixed deliverable. Partner insights from PadSquad.
Panelists at 4As Gaming Day underscored that the term “gamer” feels increasingly outdated and often unnecessarily creates distance between people and the behaviors they already participate in daily. Partner insights from Activision Blizzard Media.

MEDIA & PLATFORMS

The Programmatic Marketer

The case for and against bringing programmatic in-house

As more advertisers beef up in-house media operations, some are looking to the “final frontier” of programmatic.

Modern Newsroom

The Athletic invests in live blogs, video to insulate sports coverage from AI scraping

As the Super Bowl and Winter Olympics collide, The Athletic is leaning into live blogs and video to keeps fans locked in, and AI bots at bay.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM NEXXEN

What advertisers can learn from the 2026 World Cup

For advertisers, the challenge that comes with TV is not whether people will watch. It is where they watch, how they move between platforms and how quickly plans need to adapt.

See how it works

Navigating Economic Instability

In Q1, marketers pivot to spending backed by AI and measurement

Q1 budget shifts reflect marketers’ growing focus on data, AI, measurement and where branding actually pays off.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE

Why brands should take a unified approach to incentives marketing

The future of customer loyalty lies in a unified incentives marketing strategy where outcomes are tied to concrete business goals and can be clearly measured. The results: increased profitability and greater customer lifetime value.