The Consumer Electronics Show may be “the event that folks love to hate,” as IAB CEO David Cohen put it to AdExchanger – but it’s still the place to be at the start of every new year.
CES, which takes place January 7 through January 10 in Las Vegas, had more than 138,000 registered attendees last year, which isn’t even the event’s record. It hit close to 170,000 in 2015.
The trade show floor is also packed. There were more than 4,300 exhibitors last year, up roughly 17% from a decade ago.
With so much noise, it can be hard for ad tech companies to stand out. In 2024, just 4% of attendees – less than 6,000 people – were in the advertising and marketing industries, according to CES.
But as CES proudly proclaims on its exhibitor website, “every company is a tech company” – and as anyone in the advertising industry knows, where there’s tech, there’s the potential for ad revenue.
It’s tech all the way down
For example, one of the things that excites Mike Brooks, global head of business development and partnerships at LG Ad Solutions, is the potential of “screens expanding into nontraditional environments,” as well as shoppable TV ads and ad-supported CTV offerings.
Of course, just because a product or service involves a screen doesn’t mean it should automatically include ads – much like not every product can justify the inclusion of artificial intelligence. Not that you’ll be able to avoid AI at CES, even if you tried.
Last year, roughly one-fifth – more than 28,000 attendees – claimed to work in AI.
But for every inexplicably AI-powered toothbrush, there may also be a vertical AI product – meaning one actually built for a specific industry task – that could be useful to marketers, said EDO president and CEO Kevin Krim.
Or, in the words of Nancy Hall, CEO of Mindshare North America: “There has to be a core human insight at the center of what you’re doing and real value for your audience.”
CES vs CTV
Meanwhile, CES also marks the unofficial beginning of what one might think of as the CTV upfronts, months ahead of linear TV’s annual ad buying season, Krim said.
Which is why it’s not surprising that digital-first companies with streaming offerings, including Amazon, YouTube and Roku, attend CES in force.
“Attending CES is a no-brainer,” said Sarah Harms, Roku’s VP of advertising, marketing and measurement.
But also expect more traditional publishers such as NBCUniversal, Paramount and Disney to be there as well with programmatic buying and ad effectiveness on their mind.
“If I had to choose one word that will be on repeat at CES, it would be: ‘Easy,’” said Mark McKee, general manager at FreeWheel. “How are we making TV advertising easy to buy, easy to manage, easy to validate, easy to show impact?”
A matryoshka of meetups
It’s also easier to get face time with decision-makers at a show like CES. People are there to do deals.
Brands, agencies, publishers and ad tech platforms use CES as an excuse to convene their own “show within the show,” said IAB Tech Lab CEO Anthony Katsur, who isn’t attending this year but has been at CES multiple times in the past.
Many don’t even step foot in the convention space itself, instead taking meetings and hosting presentations at nearby hotel spaces on the Las Vegas strip.
Where things have changed in recent years is that companies seem to be sending fewer representatives than they did in the past.
One reason could be a hangover from pandemic-related disruptions. After being forced to go virtual only in 2021, CES hasn’t yet fully bounced back to its pre-COVID numbers.
But there’s also a simpler explanation: cost.
”It’s not a cheap trip,” said Katsur. “It has to make fiscal sense.”
