Home The Big Story The Big Story: The Pile On Publishers’ Plates

The Big Story: The Pile On Publishers’ Plates

SHARE:
The Big Story podcast

Publishers are facing challenges on three fronts.

First, they must prepare for cookieless identity, which means sifting through several dozen distinct identity providers. Second, they need to comply with new state-by-state data privacy laws. And third, they are working within an industry facing broad economic headwinds, including layoffs. At a time when they need to do more, they have fewer resources.

Recording from the AdMonsters Publisher Forum in Miami, Fla., Associate Editor Anthony Vargas relayed what hundreds of overwhelmed publishers are thinking about: In particular, three acronyms are getting a lot of play: FLEDGE, SDAs and the MSPA.

FLEDGE, of course, is the remarketing tech within the Privacy Sandbox. SDAs are the IAB Tech Lab’s Seller-Defined Audiences, another post-cookie targeting tool. And the MSPA, or multistate privacy agreement, is an IAB-created standard for the industry, including publishers, to comply with privacy laws. Anthony shares how publishers across the industry are adopting these tools.

He also gives a rundown on last week’s IAB PlayFronts. In-game advertising is often dismissed for its audience (which is more diverse in terms of age and gender than people think), its lack of scale, brand safety or cost. But some of these concerns are outdated or surmountable. Anthony explains why.

The Rundown on ACR

Then we go deep into ACR, or automatic content recognition, a technology that’s becoming more important as smart TV manufacturers enter the advertising business (or vice versa) and the industry moves away from panel-based measurement.

ACR tech, available via opted-in smart TVs, takes screenshots of what you’re watching, matches it to programming and shares that information with ad tech and advertisers to improve measurement and targeting.

But there are two big problems with ACR data, Associate Editor Alyssa Boyle reports.

First, the data is highly fragmented, with each TV manufacturer protecting the data gleaned from its TV sets. Second, this type of tracking can feel creepy to consumers who do opt in but might not fully understand what they agreed to.

Depending on the way the wind blows with future data privacy legislation, ACR tech could find itself facing more challenges ahead.

Must Read

Scott Spencer’s New Startup Wants To Help Users Monetize Their Online Advertising Data

What happens when an ad tech developer partners with a cybersecurity expert to start a new company? You end up with a consumer product that is both a privacy software service and a programmatic advertising ID.

Former FTC commissioner Alvaro Bedoya speaks to AdExchanger Managing Editor Allison Schiff at Programmatic IO NY 2025.

Advertisers Probably Shouldn’t Target Teens At All, Cautions Former FTC Commissioner

Alvaro Bedoya shared his qualms with digital advertising’s more controversial targeting tactics and how kids use gen AI and social media.

Wall Street Turned Against Ad Tech – But May Learn To Love It Again

What can pureplay ad tech companies do to clean up their rep on the Street?

Privacy! Commerce! Connected TV! Read all about it. Subscribe to AdExchanger Newsletters

AppsFlyer and Roku’s New SRN Integration Will Shed Light On CTV Campaign Impact

Roku and AppsFlyer announced the launch of a new self-reporting network (SRN) integration between both companies, which will allow mobile app advertisers to more effectively measure their streaming video campaigns

Comic: Gamechanger (Google lost the DOJ's search antitrust case)

DOJ v. Google: How Judge Brinkema Seems To Be Thinking After Week One

Where the DOJ v. Google ad tech antitrust trial stands after one week’s worth of remedies arguments.

Swish, A Company That's Bringing Programmatic to Product Sampling, Announces Seed Funding

Swish, a startup that partners with retailers to provide product full-size CPG samples to people doing their grocery shopping online, announces $2.3 million in seed funding.