Despite concerns around brand misuse and IP, most marketers are sticking to traditional strategies.
July 18, 2025

Generative AI sparks brand safety concerns marketers know all too well

The speed at which marketers are adopting AI-powered tools is moving faster than rules and regulations can keep up. Inadvertently or not — the ad industry at-large has put concerns over intellectual property, brand misuse and other long-term risks in the rearview as it chases speed and scale.

Additional coverage:

  • YouTube has taken its first steps to regulate AI-generated content. Marketers welcome the move, but some creators fear its impact on their bottom line.
  • In ad circles most of the AI chatter has centered on media — how it's bought, sold and optimized. But the conversation is starting to shift. According to Publicis Groupe CEO Arthur Sadoun, creative is now coming into focus.
  • In strategy decks, licensing talks, research reports and closed-door meetings, publishers are navigating a flood of new terms, including “zero-click traffic,” “RAG agents,” and “Model Content Protocol.” Here’s a jargon buster to help make sense of the emerging vocabulary of AI-media economics, what these terms mean, and why they matter now.
  • From sister site, Glossy: Rent the Runway is the latest retail company to raise its prices while citing inflationary pressures and tariffs.
  • Our most-read story this week: Zero-click search is changing how small brands show up online — and spend.

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Despite concerns around brand misuse and IP, most marketers are sticking to traditional strategies.

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Despite the potential crackdown, both creators and marketers broadly view YouTube’s updated policies as a positive move. They believe it indicates that the platform is paying attention to the ways creators are using AI — and that it’s open to AI tools that don’t result in the propagation of so-called “AI slop” videos. 

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By understanding how moving shapes consumer attitudes, advertisers gain access to a rich targeting opportunity that spotlights consumer patterns to reveal high intent and key targeting windows.

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The holdco is positioning AI as core infrastructure for ad production not just media buys.

By optimizing for subscriptions, publishers risk losing ad revenue because they see fewer pageviews and ad impressions.

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Here’s a breakdown of the emerging vocabulary of AI-media economics, what these terms mean, and why they matter now.

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Gamers play a significant role in making household purchasing decisions. Brands can reach these influential decision-makers and increase audience engagement by capitalizing on gaming’s ability to command sustained player attention and to provide tailored interactions.

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To appease the AI powers that be, brands are prioritizing things like blogs, brand content and landing pages.

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As streaming is poised to overtake linear in the upfronts, buyers voice limitations preventing digital from winning the majority of spend, including cost, measurement, and transparency.   

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