October 2026

In this month's newsletter:

• Welcome to SOTF26
• Ads, AIs & Trust: What Happens to Digital Advertising Now?
• CTV: Behind the Screens
• Operation Offsides
• The Measurement Conundrum
  
• The Last Word
• Todd's After Party
• One More Thing

SOTF
Special State-Of-The-Fight Recap Edition!!

Every October, leaders from across the digital advertising industry come together in New York City to address the big issues, threats, and challenges in digital advertising at TAG’s annual State-of-the-Fight event.

If you weren’t able to attend this year’s gathering in person, we have a special Halloween present just for you, because we’ve got all of the highlights and key sessions right here in this month’s TAG Today!!

You can watch full sessions from the big event, along with Mike’s kickoff, Jules’ closing, and Todd’s After-Party on TAG’s YouTube channel, or via the links below!

 

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SOTF
Kickoff: Welcome to State of the Fight with TAG's Mike Zaneis

Get a high-level overview of the day’s panels and the state of the industry from TAG CEO Mike Zaneis at this traditional kickoff for all the day’s activities.

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SOTF
Session One: Ads, AI & Trust: What Happens to Advertising Now? with Iced Media’s Ashley Banks, Mobian’s Chris Morgan, and TAG’s Mike Zaneis

Join some of the industry’s most insightful leaders for a deep discussion around emerging challenges including AI-generated creative, ad transparency, agent-based advertising, AI fraud, invalid traffic, and the future of verification.

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SOTF
Session Two (Coming Soon) CTV: Behind the Screens with Brand Safety Institute’s AJ Brown, Cunningham.tech’s Scott Cunningham, and TAG’s Todd Miller

CTV has become a central pillar in the media mix, as CTV investment continues to grow, and the channel is evolving rapidly across platforms, formats, audiences and buying models. In this session, CTV experts take stock of where CTV stands today—what's working, what's changing, and where the industry is heading next. Stay tuned next week for this CTV deep dive on TAG’s YouTube channel.

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SOTF
TAG MEMBER-ONLY ACCESS - Session Three: Operation Offsides: Breaking the Piracy Business Model with TAG’s Rachel Nyswander Thomas and a special guest

Operation Offsides was a landmark collaboration between TAG, our public/private sector partners, and law enforcement to tackle illegal streaming of FIFA World Cup matches. The result? TAG blocked nearly 1,400 known pirate sites from receiving ad spend, thus disrupting the financial engine behind digital piracy. TAG Members can learn first-hand how the sharing of threat intelligence, cross-sector collaboration, and coordinated action across the digital ecosystem delivered this incredible impact and how blocking the money that drives piracy sites can stop it in its tracks.

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SOTF
The Measurement Conundrum with Swayable’s Dena Brody and TAG’s Mike Zaneis

Today’s most pressing measurement challenge isn't a lack of data. It's accessing the right data, connecting the right signals, and knowing which metrics reflect value. Without a complete view of media quality and performance, even the most established measurement approaches can lead to incomplete or misleading decisions. Join Swayable’s Dena Brody and TAG CEO Mike Zaneis for a deep dive on what works and what doesn’t in today’s marketplace.

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SOTF
The Last Word with TAG's Jules Kendrick

If you skip ahead to the end of murder mysteries, you’ll love Jules Kendrick’s concise summary of the day’s panels and takeaways! Watch it here!

 

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SOTF
Last But Not Least: Todd's After Party with TAG's Todd Miller & V Goff-Yu!

Like a boozy brunch after New Year’s Eve, State of the Fight saves the best for last with Todd's After Party! TAG members and non-members can watch the latest updates to TAG's program guidelines, tools, and community activities! Enjoy!

 

Keep Up-To-Date With The Working Group Brief

TAG's working groups are a crucial source point of conversation and collaboration for digital advertising. Make sure you stay up to date with the latest progress and developments with the Workin Group Brief. 

Read the latest Working Group Brief 👉 tagtoday.net/working-groups

Leverage TAG Research into Your Everyday!

From APAC Fraud Snapshot reports, to UK Brand Safety Consumer reports, to Best Practices whitepapers, TAG's research is here to support our member's day-to-day compliance as well as strategic planning. 

Visit our Data and Insight page 👉 tagtoday.net/insights

Let's Make Some Noise Together 🤝

We love it when TAG members highlight our work together to fight digital ad crime and improve transparency. Please send any TAG-related press releases, blogs, or other announcements to Andrew Weinstein at andrewwstn@gmail.com for review before release.

 

Topics: Blog