In this episode of The MadTech Podcast, ExchangeWire's head of marketing, Grainne Reid, is joined by COO Lindsay Rowntree and John Still, head of content. They discuss Google's ad tech rules, OOH advertising growth, and John Lewis launching a YouTube chatshow.

The first story covers Judge Leonie Brinkema's assessment on the DOJ's proposal to break up Google's ad tech business, and what the ruling means for advertisers. The second is out of home advertising in Q2 showing +12.7% revenue growth from the same period last year. The conversation explores drivers of OOH growth, and whether it will continue on the same trajectory without World Cup activations.

Finally, John Lewis is launching an online chatshow with the aim of improving its visibility in AI search. How should retailers be adapting their marketing strategies in the age of chatbots and social media?

US judge says Google should relax ad tech rules

US District Judge Leonie Brinkema has recommended that Google relax its rules governing its ‌online advertising auctions and appoint an internal antitrust compliance monitor. The assessment came two weeks after she rejected the DOJ’s insistence that Google break up its ad tech business, saying that access to real-time bids from AdX using other publisher ad ​servers would restore “much-needed” competition. 

She also said a monitor was necessary given the “gravity” of Google's antitrust violations, though the monitor would have less oversight than the DOJ sought. 

Out of Home advertising reports +12.7% revenue growth in Q2

Outsmart, the trade body for the Out of Home advertising industry, reported that OOH advertising revenues for Q2 of 2026 hit £402.6m, a 12.7% increase compared to the same period last year. The results represent two consecutive quarters of strong growth for the sector, with H1 seeing a 13.7% increase from H1 2025.

The figures, collated by PwC, revealed that digital OOH revenue grew 14.6% and traditional OOH grew 8.8%, with digital’s share of revenue making up 68%. 

John Lewis to launch YouTube chatshow to improve AI search results

John Lewis is launching a YouTube chatshow and social media studio to help make itself and its products more visible to chatbots and in AI search results. The “vodcast” comes after the success of its sister chain Waitrose’s podcast and amid growing consumer reliance on LLMs and social media to find and recommend products.

John Lewis’ outgoing boss, Peter Ruis, said that the volume of its customers searching for products via LLMs has risen from 0.3% to 2.5% since last year, and that usage is growing exponentially with all ages using the technology.