Daily MIC: Google, Blackstone Team Up on New AI Cloud Company; Publicis’ LiveRamp Acquisition Puts Agency Rivals in Data Bind; Walmart’s Spark Delivery Expands to Restaurant Orders

Research evidence excerpt

Daily MIC: Google, Blackstone Team Up on New AI Cloud Company; Publicis’ LiveRamp Acquisition Puts Agency Rivals in Data Bind; Walmart’s Spark Delivery Expands to Restaurant Orders

MEDIA, INTERNET & COMMUNICATIONS DAILY

May 19, 2026

PUB.PA, RAMP, TTD, SFOR.L: Publicis-LiveRamp deal reshapes data landscape—what it

means for rival agencies and the industry (Ad Age) - Publicis Groupe’s planned $2.2 billion

acquisition of LiveRamp puts its agency rivals in a bind: continue to rely on a core data

partner now owned by a direct competitor, or search for alternatives that don’t really exist

at LiveRamp’s scale. The deal also forces the ad industry to confront how much control

agencies should have over the data infrastructure that powers modern marketing. Publicis’

move points to an advertising world that wants to break free from the ad tech supply chain by

owning more of the tech that powers programmatic media and the AI beneath it. LiveRamp

gives the firm “connective tissue” that links the data that agencies own, brands own and

publishers own. That gives Publicis more options in programmatic ad markets to get a

clearer picture of the supply chain and audiences and ultimately reduce fees or buy more

effective media, Madison and Wall Principal Brian Wieser told Ad Age. Experts said that

adding LiveRamp could give Publicis a leg up in principal media buying, where agencies

buy inventory and resell it to clients, potentially allowing the company to sell the most data-

enriched inventory, not just the best-priced. Martin Sorrell, founder of S4 Capital, called it

a good strategic move by Publicis, but said the deal puts the holding company “into direct

conflict with the Trade Desk” and “may further ignite the client focus on take-rates and

proprietary trading margins.”