Publishers Reset Ad Ops for 2026: SPO Tests and Creative Overhaul
U.S. News bets on SPO testing and AI frameworks; USA TODAY moves creative audits upstream and mandates integrated campaign design for 2026.
Updated
The brief
- U.S. News plans to test clear-path configurations using direct DSP connections like The Trade Desk's OpenPath in 2026
- USA TODAY will add an enhanced creative audit phase for every new advertising partner before campaign execution
- Both publishers are responding to AI search and chatbots cannibalizing site traffic
January usually brings lofty New Year's resolutions. In ad ops, publishers aim lower and mean it: fewer fires to fight, smarter systems, and less time fixing problems that shouldn't exist in the first place.
Last year, AI search and chatbots cannibalized content and cut into site traffic. Many publishers pivoted to multimedia strategies as a result. Looking ahead to 2026, they may face an even steeper battle as AI search habits become engrained in consumer behavior.
AdMonsters asked publishers what new initiatives they're committing to this year. Two answers stand out.
Be More Intentional About the Pipes
U.S. News and World Report is approaching 2026 through the lens of supply path optimization, said Jake Sullivan, Senior Director of Advertising Monetization.
"The goal is to understand where SPO work designed for long-term value can also deliver short-term revenue," Sullivan said.
One personal resolution: more testing of clear-path configurations—setups that avoid reseller SSPs in favor of direct DSP connections such as The Trade Desk's OpenPath, or SSPs that are direct-to-DSP. Sullivan said he wants to work more closely with those direct partners to understand what inventory and signals they actually want.
Sullivan is also tracking industry initiatives around emerging AI use cases. He's following the IAB Tech Lab's CoMP framework for compensating publishers when AI companies scrape their content, the Tech Lab's Agentic RTB Framework (ARTF), and the open-source Ad Context Protocol (AdCP). The latter two aim to let AI agents communicate with each other to complete ad deals. Positioning early means U.S. News is ready if adoption of these frameworks takes off, Sullivan said.
He isn't just observing, though. Sullivan is advocating for more thoughtful system design so emerging agentic AI tools avoid the usual pitfalls of digital advertising automation.
"I want to push for thoughtful architecture around AdCP and ARTF, so we don't build two frameworks in parallel, dedicated to solving some of the same problems, without collaborating or designing those systems to interoperate," he said.
Make Creative a Strategic Asset
For USA TODAY Co., 2026 is about pushing creative further upstream in the ad ops process.
The company is leaning into a unified vision where creative plays a bigger role in campaign performance and client success, said Toni Humphreys, VP of Pre-Media. USA TODAY is prioritizing tighter alignment between data-driven processes and integrating campaign design across departments. Humphreys hopes this approach will help display campaigns deliver measurable impact and a more cohesive brand experience.
One concrete change: an enhanced creative audit phase for every new advertising partner. Instead of jumping straight into campaign execution, the ad ops team will assess the campaign's creative upfront and identify improvements before a single pixel is moved. In effect, the publisher is acting as a creative consultant to its advertisers.
Stop Letting Campaigns Fragment
USA TODAY is also done tolerating disconnected creative.
Humphreys pointed to a familiar problem: social, email, display and print campaigns that don't align creatively. Even when each piece performs well on its own, the lack of cohesion dilutes campaign impact and complicates optimization.
The fix is a cohesive campaign mandate. Every project this year will be developed as an integrated digital ad design spanning social, email and static formats, with a consistent brand identity baked in from the start, Humphreys said.
That cohesion should produce cleaner, more consistent ad creative. It also makes campaigns easier for publisher ad ops teams to measure and optimize—especially as teams juggle more media channels with fewer resources.
Based on AdMonsters; adexchanger.com
Filed under ad-ops, spo, publishers, creative-strategy, ai-search
Tom Whitfield
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Staff writer covering consumer brands and retail at Marketing Herald.