AU Ecosystem Hits the Ground Running With Cross-Market Support and a Five-Stop Roadshow

On May 22, Adelaide unveiled the AU Eosystem, which connects media sellers, buyers, agencies, measurement vendors, and partners that leverage AU to create a shared understanding of media quality. From sponsored AU measurement to curated high-attention PMPs, the Ecosystem enables advertisers and publishers to find, package, and guarantee high-quality inventory.

The launch sparked strong industry engagement, with nearly 50 publishers already on board. Adweek spotlighted early adopters, including the Financial Times, Hearst Magazines, NPR, Spotify, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. 

The momentum continued with a two-week agency roadshow in London and New York, drawing more than 300 professionals from EssenceMediacom, Kinesso, OMG, Publicis, and WPP.

Adweek: “From Metric to Market-Maker”

‍Adweek’s Mark Stenberg called the AU Ecosystem Adelaide’s “most ambitious venture yet,” highlighting the shift from attention as a measurement framework to a functioning marketplace.

As the Financial Times' VP of Advertising Brendan Spain told Stenberg: “The AU Ecosystem should be the gold standard for quality publishers. It’s the first time the ad experience is aligned with the user experience.”

The AU Ecosystem in Action: Roadshow Highlights

Adelaide teamed up with dozens of partners, publishers, and clients to introduce the Ecosystem to agency professionals and their clients.

At events in New York and London, Adelaide was joined by speakers from Amazon, Condé Nast, Dell, Dow Jones, EssenceMediacom, the FT, Google, GroupM Nexus, Haleon, Index Exchange, IPG Mediabrands, Kinesso, Mars, NBCUniversal, Omnicom Media Group, Publicis, Teads, The Coca-Cola Company, The Telegraph, The Trade Desk, WPP, and Zenith.

Here are just a few of the highlights:

• Haleon’s Phil Jackson shared the company’s multi-year attention journey—from testing to embedding AU into measurement, planning, and optimization globally. 
• Veronica Stuart from The Wall Street Journal detailed how WSJ leveraged AU guarantees to give advertisers greater confidence in media quality and campaign performance, particularly during competitive cycles like the 2024 presidential election.
• Sharad Kandoi of Google discussed the launch of AU-powered custom bidding in DV360, which allows advertisers to dynamically optimize toward high-quality media, unlocking opportunities for smarter bidding and performance-driven buying.
• Laurie Sommer of Mars showed how the brand is evolving its use of AU from manual optimizations to curated deals and AU-based custom algorithms.
• A lively panel featuring Kristina Ciampi Weiner (Amazon Ads), Maxwell Kalfus (Condé Nast), Sharad Kandoi, Brendan Spain, and Veronica Stuart examined how platforms and publishers are adapting to demand for higher-quality media.‍
• Brendan Spain shared how the the Financial Times uses AU to curate high-attention packages like FT Focus, with the metric now playing a central role in campaign pricing and buyer demand.

Several sessions highlighted how partners and publishers are leveraging AU Ecosystem tools to enhance their offerings, command quality-based pricing, and drive stronger outcomes for advertisers.

Across events, additional speakers included Ridhvi Agarwaal (EssenceMediacom), Martin Beauchamp (IPG Mediabrands), Anthony Crocker (The Telegraph), Harry Day (Index Exchange), David Evans (NBCUniversal), Will Francis (Google), Vicky French (Dell), Nicolas Grand (WPP), Pratush Gupta (WPP), Nir Harnik (EssenceMediacom), John Helm (EssenceMediacom), Ben Holt (FT), Caley Lewis (Index Exchange), Sam Matharu (GroupM Nexus), Manuela Meisel (Zenith), Tara Naipaul (The Trade Desk), Sean Pinkney (OMG), Nishat Quayum (Kinesso), Adam Shlachter (EssenceMediacom), Manu Singh (NCM), Phil Sumner (Publicis Groupe), James Trott (The Coca-Cola Company), Rachel Vicario (PHD), Casper Verhoofstad (Google DV360), and Rebecca Waring (Teads).

Over the five-stop roadshow, attention experts across the market showed what’s possible when media is valued for quality—not just reach. As AU becomes a shared standard across the market, the Ecosystem is bringing greater clarity, consistency, and precision to how media quality is defined and delivered.

Huge thanks to the speakers who helped bring the AU Ecosystem to life by sharing their attention journeys and perspectives. See you next time!