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The Big Story: The Ad Industry’s Long Road Ahead

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When we recorded this episode of The Big Story on Wednesday to discuss what we expect the new year to bring, insurrection at the Capitol was not on the table.

That soon changed.

I would say we live in a different world than the one we inhabited last week, but the same could be said for every week of 2020. Despite the anticipation that 2021 might present some semblance of calm – and it still might – the beginning of the new year has instead brought the past four to a crescendo. Hopefully, what happened at the Capitol is the final combustion before the burnout.

And while advertising has also been touched by the recent madness – Facebook and Twitter finally shut down Trump’s platforms, and keyword banning is once again controversial – for the most part, its challenges are rather sedate and civil.

Though we shouldn’t interpret that staidness as a lack of complexity. From the future of online identity, to the impact regulation might have on the industry, to the way TV ads are bought and sold, each subject has its own difficult path forward and its own issues to untangle – and with great urgency.

In this episode, AdExchanger editors Allison Schiff and Anthony Rifilato will unpack these topics as we examine where the advertising industry left off at the end of 2020, and where it needs to go in 2021.

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