TLDR
AgenticAdvertising.org has launched an Australian chapter to push the Ad Context Protocol, a standard for AI agents that buy and sell ads. News Australia's Paul Oyama forecast that half or more of global ad spend could run through such agents by late 2028.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
Who is in the Australian chapter
AgenticAdvertising.org, a trade body for advertising bought and sold by AI agents, launched an Australian chapter on 21 October. It is co-led by Andrew Gilbert, country manager ANZ at pubX, and June Cheung, head of JAPAC at Apostra. Founding members include Paul Oyama, head of supply and agentic trading at News Australia; Pete Barry of PubMatic; Adam Krass of Mutinex; and Dylan Dharmadasa, general manager of product at WPP Media.[1]
The chapter's goal is to get Australian agencies, publishers and ad tech firms using the Ad Context Protocol (AdCP), the group's open standard for how buyer and seller AI agents talk to each other. The global body has more than 150 member companies.[1]
The half-of-ad-spend forecast
Oyama made the headline prediction. "In the next 24 months or maybe by late 2028," he said, as much as 50% or more of global ad spend could go through a buyer agent or an AI-powered platform. He described AdCP as "the guidelines, and I guess the guardrails, if you will, for AI to be transacting through media", and said "Australia is unique in how we trade with our agencies and brands."[1] The figure is his forecast; News Australia is a founding member of the chapter.
What AdCP is
AdCP started in 2025 as a consortium of ad tech and AI vendors aiming to set standard ways for agents to negotiate, plan and run media campaigns. Its co-founding members were Triton Digital, Yahoo, PubMatic, Scope3, Optable and Swivel. In the AdExchanger example, an advertiser's agent sends a campaign request to publisher and platform agents, which reply with matching inventory and audiences.[2] Scope3 co-founder Anne Coghlan said at the time: "Where we are right now, there is always a human in the loop."[2]
Money behind the push
pubX, whose technology is built on AdCP, raised a US$5 million Series A led by Chicago Ventures this month and bought media quality company Compliant. Gilbert, formerly of Afterpay and Yahoo, became pubX's ANZ country manager when it launched in Australia in September.[3] pubX says clients decide how much autonomy its agents get, including where a human must approve.[3]
SOURCES & CITATIONS
- Mediaweek, AgenticAdvertising.org launches Australian chapter as News Australia tips AI agents for half of ad spend, 21 October 2026
- AdExchanger, The Ad Context Protocol aims to make sense of agentic ad demand, 15 October 2025
- Marketing-Interactive, pubX raises US$5 million as agent-to-agent ad push accelerates, 7 October 2026
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
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James Dore is founder and editor of Prompt the Market and Strategy Director at Bushnote, a Sydney strategy, SEO and AI search agency. He has a background in strategy, media and financial services, and led consumer product marketing at MONEYME. He writes on AI search, answer engines, technology policy and media economics.
