This week, AI continued to reshape consumer behaviour, advertising and commerce, while the ad industry looked for new ways to capture growth beyond traditional models. In today’s MadTech Daily we discuss Google ad tech remedies decision unsealed

China is pulling ahead of the US when it comes to everyday AI adoption. Research from Morgan Stanley found that 80% of Chinese respondents use AI for personal purposes at least weekly, compared with 54% in the US, while China’s generative AI user base more than doubled between December 2024 and December 2025. 

That growing appetite for AI is also reshaping the advertising economy. Google, Meta and Amazon now account for 56% of US advertising revenue, up from 53% a year earlier, with all three increasing their individual shares. As the biggest platforms continue to capture more advertising growth, Omnicom is taking a different approach, exploring outcome-based pricing as it moves to reduce its reliance on traditional hourly and fixed-fee models alongside planned workforce cuts.

Meanwhile, AI is moving deeper into the mechanics of commerce. Alipay announced plans for an AI wallet agent designed to manage transactions initiated by AI, alongside new capabilities covering AI app creation, digital skills monetisation and machine-to-machine payments. 

Away from AI, the digital out-of-home market gained its first major global benchmark. A new World Out of Home Organisation study puts global programmatic DOOH spend at USD$1.339bn (£1.00bn) in 2025, representing 7% of total DOOH advertising across the markets measured. 

Finally, Ozone is taking on performance marketing with Arc, a new tool designed to optimise campaigns towards conversion outcomes across its premium publisher inventory. By using audience data to identify where consumers sit in the purchase journey, Ozone is positioning its publisher network as an alternative performance channel for brands beyond the major platforms.