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The Big Story LIVE: The Convergence Of Convergences

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“My biggest theme today is the convergence of convergences,” said Lou Paskalis, a veteran marketer and consultant at AJL Advisory. Now, in addition to combining capabilities, companies must weave in data, too. “We need to have multiple partnerships that are transparent and private around identity,” he said.

Disney, for example, cited 80% match rates with Unilever when the two companies combined their first-party data. Or take retail ad networks, which possess identity signals that can be accessed through partnerships, too.

Another hot topic was data privacy. “Too many of us see it as headwind,” said Paskalis, but companies can differentiate on privacy. One big takeaway? Audit your site pixels, which can share the kind of data that violates privacy laws like HIPPA.

Then came the breaking news: Criteo is looking for a buyer. Before the news broke, Arete Research, the research analyst in attendance, predicted either The Trade Desk (so it could get into retail media) or Shopify (so it could diversify into advertising) would purchase Criteo. Time will tell who is interested – but it’s fun to play matchmaker.

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