Upfront ad spending is slightly down, but sports inventory remains in high demand. Reddit’s data deal with Google is under pressure as AI-driven search changes impact referral traffic.
Media buyers are wrapping up this year’s TV upfront negotiations with a notable shift: while overall ad spending is slightly down, demand for sports programming remains exceptionally strong. According to Digiday, sellers are leveraging this demand by requiring advertisers to increase their commitments to nonsports content in order to secure premium sports inventory, including next year’s Super Bowl and March Madness. This bundling approach, known as match spending, is not new, but it is now being used more aggressively as buyers seek access to high-profile sports events.
Buyers are accepting these terms for now, drawn by the continued popularity of live sports. However, this strategy runs counter to advertisers’ growing calls for more control and transparency in their media buys, setting up a potential conflict as market dynamics evolve.
Meanwhile, Reddit and Google’s data-sharing relationship is under strain. In 2024, the two companies agreed to a $60 million-per-year deal allowing Google to use Reddit’s data to train its AI models. But as Google’s AI overviews reduce referral traffic to publishers, Reddit executives are questioning the value of the arrangement, The Wall Street Journal reports. If Reddit opts out of allowing its content in Google’s AI search results, it risks losing all Google Search traffic-a move that immediately impacted Reddit’s stock, which dropped 9% after news of the potential split surfaced.
Other publishers are also reconsidering their relationships with Google. USA Today Co. has indicated it may block Google entirely if traffic declines persist, and People Inc. is evaluating similar options. As CEO Neil Vogel told the WSJ, blocking Google is a real possibility if current trends continue. For more on how publishers are weighing the risks of blocking Google’s crawler over AI training disputes, see this recent analysis of publisher strategies.
