Asa Hiken is a technology reporter for Ad Age covering AI, virtual platforms and other emerging spaces.

Latest from Asa Hiken

IAB PlayFronts 2025—5 takeaways for brands

The IAB PlayFronts advertising-gaming showcase was back in New York on Tuesday.

Roblox launches rewarded ad format, partners with Google for programmatic buying

Roblox makes ad announcements timed to the IAB PlayFronts advertising-gaming showcase.

OpenAI and Google’s demand for brands’ copyrighted content challenges marketers

AI companies want to more freely train on brands’ intellectual property, creating a dilemma.

How Discord plans to pitch advertisers at the IAB gaming PlayFronts

Discord is ready to meet with traditional brands it has previously avoided.

How Perplexity could bring advertising to its Comet AI browser

Perplexity’s Comet AI browser could change the ways that brands reach consumers on the internet.

How Puma used AI agents to create an ad from scratch

The spot is a collaboration with Monks to highlight the agency’s partnership with Nvidia.

Substack marketing—why more brands are joining the newsletter platform

Hinge, Loftie, Cava and others are finding ad-free ways to connect with audiences on Substack.

The top 5 SXSW 2025 brand activations to know about

How Whataburger, Criterion, Gorton’s Seafood and others showed up at SXSW with activations.

Why brands should give creators more creative control

Creators at Ad Age’s NextGen Marketing Summit all had a common request for brand partners: Let them take the reins.

Secret Level is at the forefront of AI-generated advertising

The studio helped engineer an industry-shaking campaign for Coca-Cola at the end of last year.

Staying current is easy with newsletters delivered straight to your inbox.