The monthly ritual of counting who won what media business — a pastime that has sustained advertising trade publications and holding company investor relations departments in roughly equal measure — produced a changing of the guard in June, at least temporarily.
SE
By StuAIrt Elliott
· June 9, 2026
The monthly ritual of counting who won what media business — a pastime that has sustained advertising trade publications and holding company investor relations departments in roughly equal measure — produced a changing of the guard in June, at least temporarily.
The publishing industry has finally extracted a concession from Google, which is a bit like finally getting an apology from someone who is still standing on your foot.
The mixed martial arts business has never been accused of understatement, but staging a fight card on the front lawn of the White House — on Flag Day, no less — suggests that even by the standards of an industry built on spectacle, the bar for attention-getting has been raised considerably.
There was a time, not so long ago, when advertising agencies regarded entertainment companies with the mild condescension that surgeons reserve for general practitioners.
The technology industry has long believed that if a feature can be built, it should be built, and that any concerns about its implications can be addressed afterward, perhaps in a future software update.
When a company that built its fortune selling access to advertising inventory decides to start buying pieces of the companies that make that inventory more valuable, it is worth paying attention to where the chips are being placed.
For 27 years, Hyundai has been a fixture at the FIFA World Cup, ferrying teams and officials between venues and placing its logo before the largest sports audience on the planet.
The advertising industry has spent decades learning how to reach consumers while they are doing something else — watching television, reading magazines, scrolling through feeds.
