The Refresh News: April 7 – TikTok Bidding War, Ad Fraud Drama, Spotify’s SAX Debut & WPP's AI Bet

In this week’s episode of The Refresh, Kait from Marketecture dives into a chaotic mix of acquisition rumors, ad fraud allegations, new tech rollouts, and a shift in how advertisers think about data and identity. From TikTok’s uncertain future to Spotify’s programmatic power play, here’s what went down. This week’s highlights: TikTok’s next owner? – Amazon, Applovin, and even a Trump-backed billionaire consortium are in the mix. Applovin’s algorithmic advantage and Amazon’s ecomm ambitions make them viable contenders—but antitrust and politics muddy the waters. No matter who ends up with TikTok, creators and advertisers should brace for disruption. Analytics vs. Verification Vendors (Again) – A new 240-page report alleges IAS, DoubleVerify, and HUMAN failed to block millions of ad impressions from known bots. The vendors clapped back, calling the findings flawed and unsubstantiated. Meanwhile, Analytics continues to expose weak points in media quality across the ecosystem, even if some argue the system is working “as designed.” Spotify launches the Spotify Ad Exchange (SAX) – The long-anticipated exchange is here, giving advertisers more control over targeting, measurement, and creative—plus the ability to generate AI-powered audio on-platform. It’s a clear move to democratize access and tap into the growing SMB market. WPP acquires InfoSum – WPP is going all in on federated data collaboration and AI-based targeting. With cookies fading and identifiers under scrutiny, the future of audience segmentation may lie in machine learning models and predictive behaviors—not user IDs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices