Can you believe it’s already February? That means it’s one of the most wonderful times of the year for advertisers and, in this case, NBCUniversal: The Winter Olympics start on Friday, and the Super Bowl is on Sunday. My colleague Ilyse Liffreing dove into the surge in new advertisers for these Winter Games. 

Plus: IAB hopes to take its fight against AI bots to Washington (good luck). And speaking of the Super Bowl, we have a preview below of the ads that could break through the noise. 

NBCUniversal’s Winter Olympics expect record number of new programmatic advertisers

As the world’s greatest athletes flock to Milan Cortina this week, a growing number of first-time Olympic advertisers are flocking to NBCU, thanks to widening programmatic access.

• Zac Wang in London wrote about new research that shows how the Olympics fuel engagement beyond the main broadcast, from highlights to sports news to clips. 
• If you want more Nielsen news, our measurement guru Chris Brooklier has been covering the company’s ratings changes. That comes with its fair share of drama, as well. 
• The DOJ and a group of states are appealing the Google search remedies ruling. Some experts were underwhelmed with the decision when we reported on it last year; Lou Paskalis called it a “slap on the wrist.”

“Once you forget about ‘going viral,’ you’re free to make content that actually works, and ironically, that’s when you’re most likely to blow up on social.”

— Lee Warner, Head of Branded Content, Manchester City FC’s City Studios

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• More standards: The Media Rating Council released new standards to compel platforms to explain their “key decision variables” in ad auctions.
• The search is over: Disney named parks and experiences chief Josh D’Amaro as its next CEO, succeeding Bob Iger starting in March.
• Another one: Spain announces plans to ban social media for under-16s, following France and Australia.