Identity

T-Mobile may be considering an acquisition in the mobile data market; Google’s glitch shuts down ads for a weekend; and ad tech’s old guard is salivating over AI startups.

Since Connatix and JW Player first announced their merger in October, JWP Connatix – a temporary name for the newly joined companies – says things are going well at the six-month mark.

If an alternative identifier is present in the bidstream, and no one transacts on it, does it make a sound? The availability of alt IDs in open auctions has steadily increased, but demand has yet to catch up with supply.

DDM is expanding its performance-focused contextual targeting solution, D/Cipher, to third-party inventory.

The Google Chrome team is getting closer to deciding on its cookie consent mechanism. And  Paramount resolves its four-month standoff with Nielsen, as the mechanics behind currency change forever.

Google just shared a teeny tiny bit more info about its planned consent mechanism for Chrome, which will be “a one-time global prompt.” Pause for amazed silence (lol).

Experimenting more with AI is an item on the top of many New Years resolution lists – including with agencies. SKDK CEO Doug Thornell talks about where he sees opportunity for agencies to use AI in its processes. In this interview on the CES showroom floor, he also recaps the big changes in political spending […]

Every week, we publish an original comic creation inspired by trends in the online advertising industry. These are the stories – and the highly specific double entendres – behind AdExchanger’s top 10 comics of 2024.

What captured our readers’ attention this year was both a continuation of and a departure from years past. Our top 10 stories in the past year coalesce around two themes: kookies and kwality. Ahem, cookies and quality.

Although most people probably understand in an abstract way that they’re being tracked online, the details are fuzzy. Honestly, the details are fuzzy to me, and I write about this stuff for a living.

Dave Strauss, VP of revenue operations and strategy for North America, spoke with AdExchanger about The Guardian’s PMP priorities and how it’s tapping into other emerging revenue streams.

Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority continue their seemingly never-ending colloquy on Chrome, competition and cookies.

One key to successful advertising is showing ads to people at just the right moment. Advertisers understand the typical smartphone user moves seamlessly between apps and websites throughout the day, and this makes showing ads on both crucial to reaching their audience.

On Thursday, TV measurement company Samba TV announced its acquisition of audience data and contextual targeting solution Semasio.

Using lockrKeys, publishers can turn vendors on and off without a direct integration or the need to sign separate agreements with each of their data partners.

Dotdash Meredith’s Lindsay Van Kirk says the cookie-based buying tools she helped develop in her early career at AppNexus placed too much value on unreliable third-party audiences. But contextual tools like DDM’s D/Cipher, which she now oversees, can build a better ad ecosystem for buyers and sellers.

During certain periods this year, advertisers blocked more than 40% of The Washington Post’s inventory over brand safety concerns.

The publication still makes most of its on-site digital revenue from programmatic. But it’s doubling down on direct-sold custom content, especially when it comes to video and social media.

Colgate-Palmolive redesigned all of its consumer-facing sites and apps to make it easier to collect opted-in first-party user data.

In today’s newsletter: Walmart’s hottest growth drivers are ads and subscriptions; why The Trade Desk’s UID 2.0 could be regulators’ next target; and how the growth of CTV content fortresses is preventing breakout streaming hits.

The trajectory of digital advertising remains unchanged. There are plenty of signs that the investments advertisers have made in cookie alternatives are already paying off.

Ad revenue was helped along by 9% growth in unique visitors to the top sites in DDM’s portfolio. Programmatic ad rates were up roughly 36% in Q2, spurred by adoption of DDM’s D/Chipher contextual targeting solution.

ChannelMix is InMarket’s fifth deal within as many years.

What will Chrome’s third-party consent look like? We offer our best guess. Plus, we spotlight the controversy around ID bridging. The tactic supplies IDs for cookieless inventory through a spectrum of approaches, and not all of them are buyer-approved.

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

For some, Chrome’s news that it’s keeping third-party cookies was a moment of vindication. But was it a cruel blow to partners that tested the Privacy Sandbox in good faith?

Enjoy this weekly comic strip from AdExchanger.com that highlights the digital advertising ecosystem … 

Keep the cookies; hold for consent. We unpack Google’s reversal on third-party cookies and what it means for the ad industry, which was preparing for a cookieless future.

The concept of ID bridging has long been the foundation of programmatic advertising, writes LiveIntent CEO Matt Keiser. What is cookie matching but an early iteration of ID bridging? 

Third-party cookies weren’t getting the job done for Indeed. So, two years ago, Indeed began working closely with LiveRamp to create a new audience engagement strategy that isn’t as vulnerable to third-party cookie deprecation.