On the eve of announcing this year's winners, I'd like to share some common themes and trends we identified from this year's submissions, because they signal meaningful shifts for the ad industry.

"Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted as he made the decision to reinstate @realDonaldTrump, using the latin terms for "voice of the people" and "God's voice." I visualized Musk donned in emperor-like attire, gesturing "thumbs up."

The problem with Musk's paid verification model is there is no transactional component to it. If he was really smart, he'd build that in and make Twitter an intermediary between consumers and brands that want to have authentic, value-based relationships with each other.

"Did that money go away or is it holding up," GroupM's Brian Wieser muses about the impact on linear TV advertising. "We've got this mystery of sorts."