Digiday Daily

August 11, 2026

Time is selling ads to AI agents. Perplexity refuses to let them work.

Less than two weeks after Digiday reported that Time had started serving ads inside the markdown versions of its webpages, aimed at AI agents rather than human readers, Perplexity confirmed that it blocked those ads from influencing its own search index.

TOP STORY

AI Revenue Generation

Perplexity blocks Time’s ads served to AI agents, calling them 'deceptive'

Perplexity has blocked Time’s markdown agent ads from influencing its AI system.

OTHER THINGS TO KNOW

Instead of experimentation, marketers are testing ideas fast and scaling what’s successful. By prioritizing AI that works alongside marketers, leaders are improving workflows, reducing burnout, ensuring consistency — all while maintaining the human component of their creative. Partner insights from Contentful.
Many purported paradigm shifts have come and gone. While most are simply old ideas with new packaging, there’s a genuine signal front and center that the industry has consistently underutilized: carrier data. Partner insights from Blis.
There are only 14 passes left for the Digiday Publishing Summit, taking place Sept. 14–16 in Miami. Join execs from Reuters Digital, Axios, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and more for three days of candid conversations, networking and practical insights.

BUSINESS OF AI

AI Revenue Generation

S4 and Monks are trying to get ahead of rising AI token costs

Monks is considered a leader in AI marketing services, but “exploding” use of AI tokens poses difficult questions for execs focused on keeping costs down.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM SWAP

The emergence of agentic storefronts

According to Salesforce data, AI and agents drove 20% of all retail sales and accounted for $262 billion in holiday spend during the 2025 holiday shopping season.

MARKETING

The Programmatic Marketer

Experian retires the Audigent brand, folding it into Experian Marketing Services

The Audigent brand is gone. So, increasingly, is the idea of curation as a category.

The Programmatic Marketer

Why agentic media buying is becoming a client-by-client configuration job

Butler/Till is expanding its agentic media buying tests, highlighting the challenge of adapting AI to different client needs.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM MOLOCO

Advertisers are taking different approaches to CTV incrementality

When measurement frameworks don’t suit specific channels, campaigns that are working get defunded and campaigns that aren’t get scaled.

PARTNER INSIGHTS FROM TALON.ONE

What makes agentic commerce so important now?

Up to $385 billion in U.S. e-commerce spend could be influenced by AI agents by 2030, according to Morgan Stanley. That means purchase decisions will increasingly be made by AI agents.