The Advertising Industry: AI is Taking Over Everything
The disruption of the advertising industry by artificial intelligence is no longer a distant prophecy. Giants like Google and Meta are heavily investing in image and video generation technologies not just because of their broad prospects, but because these AI tools primarily serve advertisers first.
However, it was not until a recent in-depth interview with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and tech critic Ben Thompson that the ultimate direction of this transformation was fully revealed: This is not about optimizing processes, but about rewriting the rules of the advertising industry game right from the source of creativity.
A Revolution from "Placement Assistant" to "Full Chain Control" in Advertising
In the interview, Zuckerberg publicly shared Meta's complete vision for the future of advertising for the first time: Advertisers no longer need teams for creativity, strategy, distribution, or optimization. They just need to input a goal and link their account, and the rest is handled by AI.
He put it bluntly: "You tell us your marketing goals, link a payment method, and the rest—copywriting, images, videos, audience targeting, evaluation—all of it is handled by us. This is a fundamental shift that will redefine the entire advertising industry."
This vision is backed by a shocking AI closed-loop system:
AI generates creative content, replacing traditional ad agencies in producing videos, images, and copy.
AI matches target audiences, achieving precise ad placements.
AI conducts real-time testing and optimization to maximize conversions.
Clients only need to "read the results," with no need to intervene in the process.
From start to finish, brands are merely data providers, while Meta becomes the sole controller of the advertising process.
"Infinite Creativity": A "Dimensional Strike" from the Perspective of Traditional Advertisers
This model, known as "infinite creativity," signifies that the entire industry's foundation is collapsing:
The creative link is being eliminated
From brainstorming to refining materials, the core value that 4A advertising agencies rely on for survival is being pierced by AI's ability to generate thousands of variants in seconds.
Media planning becomes meaningless
With control over data from 2 billion active users, automated decisions will precisely replace manual channel placements.
Monitoring agencies are sidelined
All performance data is provided by the platform, and advertisers can only "trust the algorithm" without being able to verify its authenticity.
An angry CEO of an advertising company pointed out: "Meta is both a player and a referee, which is a breeding ground for advertising fraud."
Others sarcastically said: "'Read the results we spit out'—sounds like AI is telling you 'believe it or not, you have no other choice'."
Who Benefits, Who Suffers?
✔ A Savior for Small and Medium Enterprises
Meta's AI advertising system undoubtedly greatly lowers the threshold for ad placements. A small business without a professional team can simply input "I want to promote strawberry latte," and the system will automatically generate multiple versions of materials and complete precise placements—a revolutionary change for resource-limited small and medium enterprises.
✖ A Nightmare for Big Brands
However, for international big brands that spend hundreds of millions annually, this model is highly disruptive:
Brand tone is hard to control: AI might turn luxury goods into "discount clearance" in pursuit of clicks at the expense of image.
Data sovereignty is sidelined: All conversion behavior data accumulates on the platform, and brands cannot control customer relationships.
The ecosystem collapses: Media, creativity, evaluation, and other links are consumed by the platform, forcing millions of advertising professionals to either transition or exit the industry.
The Ultimate Battle of the Platform Economy: Meta's "Black Hole Ambition"
Meta's goal is not just to optimize advertising processes, but to create a "business black hole":
Front-end: Attract more advertisers with AI creative tools.
Mid-end: Control the logic of placements and audience data, forming a traffic monopoly.
Back-end: Complete the closed-loop of advertising-ordering-payment, cutting off direct relationships between brands and users.
In the future, advertisers will have to rely on platforms, losing control over brand volume, user data, and even business models.
Once this model is operational, other platforms like Google and Amazon will inevitably follow suit, potentially plunging the entire business world into an "AI advertising arms race."
User Perspective: You Will Be Surrounded by AI Ads
Ordinary people might think, "What does this have to do with me?" But every ad you see, every product recommendation will soon be tailor-made by AI:
More precise behavior insights: AI will use your shopping, browsing, and even health data to push precise recommendations.
Blurred authenticity of information: Seemingly genuine "user reviews" might be AI-generated content.
Privacy boundaries are breached: The more intelligent the ad experience, the more your privacy information is accessed.
Advertising is no longer content we choose to see, but rather an illusion that AI deduces "you want to see."
The End of One Era, The Beginning of Another
Zuckerberg's "AI advertising revolution" is an outright gamble:
Betting that technology will surpass creativity.
Betting that efficiency will overcome trust.
Betting that platform dominance will crush industry inertia.
This will end the golden age of advertising built on creative brainstorming, offline proposals, and media negotiations.
When the first Super Bowl ad created independently by AI launches in 2026, and when 99% of creative ads are generated by machines, we will realize:
It's not just the advertising industry that has changed, but the entire business world, which is being restructured by AI.
Welcome to the new era dominated by AI advertising.
