Perhaps because Target had seemed sincere in its support for minority groups including the LGBTQ+ community, the announcement that it would end its DEI initiatives sparked anger and calls for a boycott. Other brands, such as Walmart, are taking similar negative steps. Some 98% of Costco shareholders, however, voted down a proposal to conduct a risk analysis of its DEI program.

Advertisers often worry that automated systems like Google Performance Max (PMax) are placing ads in undesirable locations.  After months of claiming that exclusions can only be specified manually, Google has acknowledged that PMax actually allows advertisers to specify them using an API.  There’s a good chance that this will result in more exclusions and, thus, less inventory for Google to sell.

If a TV manufacturer like Roku can sell ads, why not a brand that makes personal computers? Hewlett Packard has been courting advertisers with the concept of the HP Media Network, according to reports. Given the distribution of HP PCs, the network might reach 830 million people globally across more than 100 million devices. The network would primarily offer laptop-targeted ads and streaming services.