The digital advertising industry is undergoing momentous change, with many AdTech players facing an uncertain future. However, digital advertising is going nowhere and will be here to stay long after technology fueled by third-party data and IDs leave the ecosystem. With this in mind, it is crucial to consider who the current players are and who will ultimately lead the industry forward.
The current AdTech market players are:
These aptly named players are made up of giants such as Google, Meta, Amazon, and Youtube. They own the full experience on their website and, as a result, are able to collect large amounts of first-party data without question. To access these sites, registering and submitting personal data is often mandatory. And, due to the immense popularity of many social media networking sites such as Instagram, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Facebook, users are happy to provide this information, lest they miss out.
An increasing number of first-party data holders are also large retailers such as Walmart, Carrefour, and Best Buy. If you want to shop with these retailers, you need to provide broad consent. This gives them access to a large collection of data directly from the consumer.
Due to the popularity of its services and platforms, walled gardens have been relatively unaffected by the crackdown from regulators and advertisers. While they will continue to grow, it is predicted that they will eventually internalize their AdTech rather than relying on business partners. This has been referred to as “the great AdTech cleanup.”
This bracket is comprised of traditional AdTech players that still rely on leveraging third-party cookies and IDs to drive their advertising efforts (e.g., Criteo and The Trade Desk). Interestingly, third-party data players still represent a large share of the market. However, with IDs and cookies rapidly disappearing from both Apple and Google ecosystems, this is bound to change.
The question is not if these targeted advertising methods will become obsolete but when. This antiquated advertising method is expected to completely disappear sometime in the near future. If these players do not adapt soon, they are bound to fail, as they are already playing catch-up to those who anticipated these changes in advance.
The final bracket consists of AdTech innovators who foresaw the cookiepocalypse and responded by adopting cookieless and ID-less technology solutions. They understand that the future of digital advertising is rooted in consumer privacy and respect for the user experience.
These players will ultimately come out on top. Those who have begun to innovate are set to gain a considerable market share over traditional ID-based advertisers. This will inevitably result in substantial growth opportunities and millions of dollars worth of new revenue.
Personified advertising fits neatly into the latter category. Instead of targeting individuals using cookies and identifiers, it utilizes consumer segments known as personas and targets the content they are most likely to engage with.
Despite the uncertainty facing some players, AdTech isn’t going away; rather, a new advertising model is needed. Ogury has created a futureproof solution that combines:
We heard the industry’s cries for an integrated tech stack that combines the relevancy of personalization with the data safe integrity of contextual and semantic advertising. The answer? Personified Advertising.