A year ago, the White House's escalation of a trade war with China threatened to derail billions in ad spending by Chinese companies in the U.S. A year later, the White House is escalating the tension to explicitly include fast-growing and powerful digital media companies from China that have largely contributed to a boom in spending on U.S. media outlets.

When it comes to the fastest-growing segment of media-buying -- programmatic -- in-house is now the norm for most clients worldwide. That's the finding of a new report released this morning by the IAB. While the trend should not be surprising to anyone who has been following media buying for the past decade, the stat may be: Only 15% of advertisers say they have no plans to bring programmatic media-buying in-house.

Don't be shocked to see Facebook's advertising results expand, not contract, when it releases its Q2 earnings on Wednesday. In the middle of a pandemic. Amid an advertising boycott by the world's biggest brands. With rampant social unrest, much of which is pointing its finger at the social network.

Some of the most interesting -- and sometimes surprising -- insights charting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on America has come from media stats, but not necessarily the obvious ones. Sure, we all know by now that at-home media usage -- especially for linear TV, connected TV, OTT, and various streaming services -- soared following the beginning of stay-at-home orders in early March. And, according to a UBS analysis of Nielsen data, TV usage levels have already normalized -- and even fallen to pre-pandemic levels (likely mirroring normal seasonal usage trends) -- as America has begun to open up, ...

It's been a while since I've heard the old Wanamaker chestnut "half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." And if a new initiative backed by the ARF works out, it's possible nobody will ever repeat it again.

Some skuttlebutt I heard this weekend that "Ad Age" is on the block was incorrect, but the premise of this column -- the more things change, the more they remain the same -- apparently is.

Rishad Tobaccowala once famously described the ad industry as cockroaches. He meant it as a compliment, but today I'd like to compare it to gnats, in a not-so-flattering way.

As troubling as these times are, it's encouraging to see brands and agencies stepping up and taking an activist stance that I don't think we ever would have seen in "normal" times. Last week's statement by Dentsu Aegis Network's 360i, a column published by The Media Kitchen chief Barry Lowenthal, and big outdoor lifestyle brands such as North Face, Patagonia and REI are stepping up and putting their money where their mouths are, exercising what might be called "the highly visible hand of the marketplace."

That was one of the questions raised during a symposium hosted by the Institute for Advertising Ethics last week featuring hundreds of regulatory, ad industry, and academic experts who spent a day hashing out what it would take for Madison Avenue to create the kind of ethical standards that would prevent new regulations restricting how, when, where and why advertisers use data to identify and target consumers.

Full disclosure -- I am white. I'm also a male. I've also lived what many would consider a privileged life. If you feel those attributes disqualify me from reporting on the protests and discussion surrounding racial injustice that followed the murder of George Floyd on the streets by police officers on the streets of Minneapolis on May 25, I'm sorry. I feel compelled to do it anyway, because it's my job to cover when important things happen that could impact our readers.