Advertisers are trying to figure out if the audience targeting they’re doing on publisher sites is using non-compliant cookies and if so how prevalent it is across the media they buy.
April 23, 2021
Turns out, some advertisers will walk their talk on behaving ethically to a point.
Sure, we’ve been here before, but CEOs have short memories and people are wising up to that apathy; something had to give. Now, companies are being asked, pressured, forced, encouraged, and regulated to take a stand or at least not stand back on everything from data privacy to voting rights, diversity to sustainability.
Nowhere is this sort of corporate do-goodery more on show currently than in advertising.
Responsible spending seems to be more important than ever if the agency pitches are anything to go by. In February, for example, GroupM joined the Conscious Advertising Network (CAN) a voluntary coalition of over 70 organizations set up to highlight the ethics that underpin advertising. Of course, there’s a chance this could all be window dressing given how often brand purpose tends to look like propaganda. For all the strongly-worded warnings from marketers, there
February 23, 2021
The latest wave of consolidation is in full swing and it’s scrappier than ever.
Magnite and Spotx. Verve and Nexstar’s digital platform for video ads. Smart Adserver and Capital Croissance. Liveramp and Datafleets. District M and Sharethrough. Kubient. Pubmatic. And now Viant. Those are just some of the more notable mergers, acquisitions and IPOs that have occurred in recent months. In fact, the pace of deals has accelerated to a point that’s left some onlookers puzzled and for good reason.
Investors, whether they’re private or public, seem fine with big, initially costly consolidation of ad tech companies. This is largely because revenue growth, not profit, drive corporate value right now. Put another way: It’s as if investors forgot that ad tech is steeped in a lot of uncertainty right now.