In today’s Digest, we discuss the IAB revealing its Agentic Roadmap, China examining Meta’s USD$2bn Manus deal, and Amazon facing claims over unauthorised indie listings.

IAB reveals Agentic Roadmap

IAB Tech Lab has published an Agentic Roadmap aimed at speeding up the adoption of AI-driven buying and selling across digital advertising, while preserving the stability of the existing ecosystem. The initiative focuses on extending established industry standards to support secure, interoperable agentic execution at scale. To accelerate delivery, the standards body is committing additional engineering resources dedicated specifically to AI development.

The roadmap builds on core technologies that already underpin digital advertising, including OpenRTB, AdCOM, OpenDirect, VAST and Deal API, alongside measurement standards such as Open Measurement and the forthcoming Conversion API. Privacy and regulatory compliance remain central, with continued alignment to the Global Privacy Protocol and the Transparency & Consent Framework.

China examines Meta’s $2bn Manus acquisition

Chinese authorities are examining whether Meta’s proposed USD$2bn (£1.48bn) takeover of Manus complies with the country’s technology export control rules. People familiar with the discussions say officials at China’s commerce ministry are assessing whether the relocation of Manus’ staff and technology to Singapore, ahead of its sale to the US tech group, should have been subject to an export licence under Chinese law.

Although the review is at an early stage, any licensing requirement could give Beijing a potential lever over the deal or even derail the transaction in an extreme scenario.

Amazon faces claims of unauthorised indie listings

Amazon is under scrutiny from independent retailers who allege the e-commerce group has listed and accepted orders for their products without permission. Several small business owners told the Financial Times that Amazon had added their full inventories to its platform, enabling shoppers to buy through Amazon rather than directly from retailers’ own sites. Some said this led to orders for out-of-stock items, alongside pricing and labelling errors that sparked customer complaints.

The claims relate to Amazon’s “Buy for Me” feature, launched last April, which allows customers to purchase products not officially listed on Amazon but available on third-party websites. Retailers said they were not consulted before Amazon began forwarding orders and received limited customer data, restricting their ability to build relationships or encourage repeat purchases. Several said the absence of clear communication channels or support had exacerbated problems when issues arose, undermining customer trust and harming their businesses.