5 AdTech trends I will be watching in 2024

Looking at 2024, making a few predictions regarding how the year will turn out for AdTech is tempting.?

When I think about what’s waiting for the industry, it inevitably comes down to “2024 will be like 2023 but more so”. Last year, we got a glimpse of a revolution ushered by generative AI, realized that third-party cookies are out for good (we even witnessed the extensive testing of Google Privacy Sandbox updates), saw retail media get solid ground, and so on.?

At the same time, all of the above leaves a lot of topics to explore: in AI space, there are security concerns; the ability of Google Privacy Sandox to replace cookies remains uncertain; and the ability of retailers to leverage retail media entirely depends on the infrastructure they build for the purpose.?

That’s why, where 2023 was a year of ambitious ideas and promises, 2024 should be the year when the industry acts on its claims.?

Reflecting on what lies ahead for MarTech and AdTech will be the topic of this edition of the MadTech Digest. If you missed the last edition, where I summed up the last year for my team at Xenoss, check it out. If you want to get my commentary on MarTech and AdTech news throughout the year, subscribe to the newsletter and get notified when a new issue is published.?

Now, let’s explore AdTech trends for the year ahead.

1. We will be entering a post-cookies era (sort of)

In the first quarter of 2024, Google Chrome plans to switch off third-party cookies for 1% of its users. This might not seem like much, but knowing that there are over 3 billion Chrome users worldwide puts things in perspective. Besides, Google’s announcement still promises a complete phase-out by the end of the year, finally pushing cookies out of the picture.?

As for alternatives, there’s still little clarity. 谷歌 is currently testing “IP Protection”, a feature that allows users who opt-in to mask their IP addresses. For AdTech, this means difficulties in attribution and having to rely on non-IP-based identifiers.?

For early testers, The Topics API did not seem like a precise or user-centered approach to interest-based targeting. It’s safe to say that both users and advertisers got the short end of the stick. As for users, they still have no control over how their data is processed and collected to form Topics or how long these topics are stored.

On the other hand, brands risk losing the granularity enabled by third-party cookies as the number of topics was limited and their nature is too broad. Besides, according to Google, users will be able to opt out of seeing targeted ads. According to extensive testing by Criteo , the first iterations of Topics API seem inferior to similar solutions, like the company’s interest-based audiences.

2. AI is only getting started

2023 was the year of AI, and we can expect the trend to continue in 2024. We have seen multiple ways in which publishers, brands, and AdTech vendors used machine learning, computer vision, and large language models to generate and optimize content, detect fraud, improve targeting precision, optimize bid pricing, and streamline internal operations.

There are multiple ways to use AI technologies in media buying. Machine learning can help empower real-time decision-making, relevance score, campaign optimization, forecasting, and other operations.?

In 2024, we will likely see even more user-facing AI solutions. The impact of machine learning will be more evident in big tech, where 亚马逊 , 谷歌 , and Meta have already made ambitious releases in the GenAI realm and outside of it; in 2023, The Trade Desk released Kokai, an AI-enabled assistant for programmatic marketers.?

I expect there to be even more pressure for smaller AdTech vendors to release AI-based solutions. Given the concerns of sharing sensitive data with public models, publishers, and brands might also feel safer owning their AI tools and models.?

3. Retail media is shifting from an experimental phenomenon to a stable ecosystem

2023 made it clear: Brands want to place their ads within the reach of engaged consumers, and retail media fits this goal perfectly. Last year, it was among the fastest-growing ad channels, with $122 billion in ad spending.?

The plethora of first-party data retailers hold, and the purchase-ready nature of their audiences play in favor of the format. That’s why the growth of retail media is likely to continue at an impressive pace — up to the point of surpassing over $68 billion in 2025.?

While large retailers have more data, RMNs will be instrumental in giving smaller retailers a fighting chance. By 2024, smaller retailers like Hy-Vee, Inc. , Foodland , and Giant Eagles, have launched their RMNs; there may be many more RMNs by December.?

Finally, the sector's maturity is often defined by the extent of its regulation; in the case of retail media, standardization of measurement is finally taking shape. Last year, IAB released Retail Media Measurement Guidelines to increase transparency and unification in the field.?

4. Data clean rooms–here to stay but not unrivaled

DCRs were making huge waves in 2023: 亚马逊 launched Clean Rooms, 谷歌 released a DCR in BigQuery, and mature offerings like InfoSum or Habu were further fine-tuned and improved.?

Brands like 华特迪士尼公司 , Kroger , 沃尔玛 , and Paramount Pictures are jumping on the DCR bandwagon, turning an emerging trend into a reliable practice. 德勤 survey data backs this claim, showing that 9 in 10 brands want to increase their DCR involvement by the end of the year.?

That being said, the road to DCR adoption is not bump-free, as the technology is far from affordable. Most adopters spend over $200K/yr on DCR; for a quarter of brands, total spending crosses half a million annually.?

2024 will likely be a year of looking for new ways to collect and activate first-party data; some of these technologies—be they Topics API or alternative identifiers—may be more scalable and cost-efficient than data clean rooms.?

5. pDOOH will get a magic push from 5G.

As digital formats picked up the pace in 2023, DOOH still needed to catch up. Part of it may have been due to advertisers’ reluctance to invest in out-of-home advertising after the pandemic. Still, the likeliest hurdle was the lack of real-time digital capabilities inherent in web advertising.?

However, in 2024, pDOOH can get more traction due to the widespread adoption of 5G. Improved connectivity opens the doors to a new layer of interactivity and personalization.

Pulling data from real-time feeds allows advertisers to enhance the relevancy of their pDOOH ads with such features as countdowns, the nearest store location, and weather conditions. Brands like M&S and Timberland are inspiring examples of using granular audience segmentation to deliver custom pDOOH campaigns. I am excited to see how capabilities like precise targeting can give pDOOH the lift it needs to appeal to outdoor shoppers effectively.

To see a recap of more AdTech trends to watch this year, explore our blog post covering 2024 AdTech predictions.?

The bottom line is that 2023 was a test for the AdTech ecosystem: it started in a recession-like landscape and ended on a relatively high. It was empowering to realize how resilient and innovative the industry is to economic turbulence.?

I hope 2024 will continue the push for innovation last year set in motion. I am excited to see how AI, 5G connectivity, and new data processing capabilities can help advertisers and publishers overcome the challenges of cookies sunset and continue their course to targeted, personalized, and efficient advertising.?

What key AdTech trends do you see unfolding this year? Share your predictions in the comments.?