The Trump Administration's decision to ban CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House has been condemned by other top media, The New York Times reports. “No news organization — or person — should be retaliated against by the government over the words they use,” said Lauren Easton, a spokeswoman for The Associated Press. In addition, the Times, The Washington Post and press associations have weighed in with comments saying the ban is an attack on the free press.

Google has alerted advertisers that its invalid traffic filters cannot stop invalid submissions from reaching their advertisers’ contact forms, PPC Land reports. In a Google Ads Help Centre page, the firm explains that its anti-bot systems judge advertising clicks after the ad has shown, so that bots can still fill in a company’s contact form. It is up to the advertiser to check contact forms with tools like reCAPTCHA and email confirmation links, Google states. 

Microsoft has filed a patent application for a system that would support free-to-play games at suitable pause points after a period of ad-free access, TechSpot reports. These points would include the end of a boss fight, a completed quest, a cutscene and a loading screen. The application is titled "Contextually Aware Management of Interactive Software Application Access."

Meta has filed a new legal challenge against Ofcom, the U.K.’s media regulator, seeking to prevent additional burdens from being placed on WhatsApp and Instagram, The Guardian reports. The firm is appealing the placing of those properties in a category that would require greater transparency, user controls and protection from fraudulent advertising. Meta, one of several firms accused of using the courts to slow down enforcement of the U.K.’s Online Safety Act, had challenged Ofcom in May over how fees are calculated. 

OpenAI and Microsoft executives admitted that their AI tools pose a threat to the publishing industry, Bloomberg Law reports. The admissions were visible in an unsealed motion for a summary judgement in the copyright case filed by The New York Times and other publishers. It was released on Thursday. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella testified in discovery that conversations with chatbots have “substituted” for publisher sites. And Nick Turley, a senior executive at OpenAI, wrote “[o]ur products are largely substitutive, period.”

Pinterest unveiled a new ad format, Visual Search Ads, at its Pinterest Presents event, as it moves closer to performance marketing, Trading View reports. The new offering is designed to reach users when they are comparing products. Visual Search Ads will place brands inside Pinterest search results and pin close-ups. Advertisers will appear as users browse products. 

Like many publications, The Atlantic has seen referrals from Google decline. But The Atlantic is getting more subscribers from the Google traffic that does exist. “Google is sending us fewer people who aren’t going to subscribe,” said Nicholas Thompson, CEO of The Atlantic.  The publication has 1.6 million paid subscribers and has been in the black since 2024. In another development, The Atlantic is getting micropayments from Parallel Web Systems, an AI startup that builds web search infrastructure for non-human AI agents. 

Several organizations, including the News/Media Alliance, have signed a letter urging California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign a “news-neutral” employment tax credit to preserve local journalism, the News/Media Alliance reports. The “Community NEWS Act,” (AB-2222) is a “news-neutral” mechanism creates refundable employment tax credits for qualifying local news organizations, whatever their size, speech and structure as long as they hire and retain journalists in the state. Newsom has until Sept. 30 to sign the legislation. 

The Federal Communication (FCC) is seeking comments on its guidance on discounts for political ads, TVTechnology reports. The guidance issued in March seemed to expand the types of organizations that are eligible for the “lowest unit charge” discounts. This could deprive broadcasters of significant ad revenue. There were no comments sought in March, but the FCC’s Media Bureau has set a deadline of Sept. 25 for input on the guidance, which also been challenged in the courts. 

R/GA is launching an AI tool called the BRDNA Sequencer that can help marketers maintain their brand integrity, Fast Company writes. The new offering trains itself on a company’s brand guidelines and puts them into a format that AI agents can read and understand. The platform-agnostic BRDNA Sequencer allows the company to use simple prompts to generate marketing emails, social assets and CRM systems that can then be edited. The BRDNA Sequencer will be available this month. BRDNA stands for “Brand DNA.”