Technology

Google claims that more than 90% of the 44 use cases analyzed by the IAB Tech Lab’s Privacy Sandbox Task Force are actually still doable using the Privacy Sandbox APIs.

In today’s newsletter: Walled gardens are turning into an interconnected network of fortresses; Walmart eyes a Vizio acquisition; Dentsu stumbled in 2023.

Do people hate ads? No, according to Vegard Johnsen, eyeo’s chief product officer. What they don’t like, he says, is not being treated with respect.

Some marketers failed to heed the warning signs that their relationship with third-party cookies was coming to an end. But the time to move on is now. Fortunately, there are plenty of other addressability solutions in the sea.

In today’s newsletter: could an open-source website template fix programmatic advertising?; The Trade Desk’s new tool for targeting only the top 500 sites; and some of Apple and Microsoft’s services won’t fall under DMA regulation.

DoubleVerify added a feature to its platform on Tuesday that classifies MFA sites based on a tiered system.

Tastemade taps Wurl for performance marketing campaigns that direct viewers to its FAST channels while lowering customer acquisition costs.

The question isn’t whether Google will fall, but whether its time is near. And, if so, what will finally bring it down?

In today’s newsletter: The Trade Desk opens up OpenPath to CTV inventory; subscriptions remain an important revenue source for news publishers; and a class-action lawsuit alleges PHE violated the California Invasion of Privacy Act.

We caught up with IAB Tech Lab CEO Tony Katsur in the wake of a new bombshell report that claims the Chrome Privacy Sandbox is not fit for purpose.

The anonymous alphanumeric string made and lost fortunes in its short but eventful life. It was best-known for something it wasn’t actually designed to do: targeting ads.

In today’s newsletter: Users’ rare anime collections disappear as Sony consolidates Funimation and Crunchyroll; Instagram and Threads stop promoting political content; and why Fortnite is winning the metaverse.

LiveRamp has always been a facilitator, a data platform that plugs into your tech stack. Nowadays, that means being a cloud-jumping service provider.

In today’s newsletter: Buyers are relatively blasé about made-for-advertising sites; Meta is riding high, having fully adapted to ATT, while Google’s search dominance is under threat; and Publicis Groupe reports strong growth.

IPG struggled in 2023 as tech clients slashed their ad spend and its digital agencies underperformed.

In today’s newsletter: Uber, the New York Times and Roblox all have ads businesses, but in different flavors; Disney, Fox and Warner Bros. Discovery plan to launch a sports streaming service; and Amazon gets introspective in response to competition from Temu, Shein and TikTok.

The Criteo bounce back is in full effect after the company reported strong profit growth and continues to hit benchmarks distancing it from the old days of retargeting.

While other holding companies are touting their AI roadmaps, Omnicom is focusing more on a different shiny object: retail and commerce media.

“Standard advertising services” shouldn’t include recording intimate patient-doctor conversations to help drug companies guide doctors on how to push opioids.

In short, does the Privacy Sandbox work? In the Tech Lab’s view: No. But whether these APIs work or not is a deceptively slippery question, because it depends on your definition of “work.”

Viant announced AI updates to its existing data platform, including the rollout of its Chat with Data tool. The tool delivers data reports and analysis directly to marketers, nixing the need for business intelligence analysts, data scientists or SQL knowledge.

In today’s newsletter: The FTC is suing Kochava (again); marketers are complacent about third-party cookie deprecation; and Publicis Health pays the piper for its role in the opioid epidemic.

Bonbon, which officially launched on Monday – wants to reward people for their signups. The company, co-founded by two ad tech vets in July 2022, has a cross-site, single-sign-on service for the 30 publishers in its network.

In today’s newsletter: Nielsen sues VideoAmp alleging patent infringement; Rembrand’s virtual product placements hit social media; and the MOW, CMA and publishers cry foul over the Chrome Privacy Sandbox’s Related Website Sets.

Wall Street wanted profits. Big Tech delivered. That was the case for Google, Meta, Microsoft, Apple and – more than any other US tech giant – Amazon.

Meta’s shares surged by nearly 15% after reporting Q4 earnings on Thursday. It was the company’s fourth consecutive quarter of revenue growth, following a dismal 2022.

In today’s newsletter: Netflix is the only profitable streaming service; Meta’s automated support software frustrates advertisers; and the US Consumer Product Safety Commission may designate Amazon a “distributor of goods.”

On Thursday, TEGNA-owned CTV ad platform Premion announced the acquisition of Octillion Media, a DSP launched in 2019 to serve local CTV ad buyers. Premion declined to disclose the terms of the deal.

After going through denial and anger over the death of third-party cookies, the ad tech industry enters the bargaining stage. Plus, top takeaways from the FTC’s first-ever AI tech summit.

Are the big players building a more privacy-friendly advertising ecosystem in the right way? Or are they just cementing their control?