Have we reached peak ad network?

“While the pace of new ad network launches has slowed, it is unlikely that we have fully reached ‘peak ad network,’” surmised Jim Misener, president of creative consultancy 50,000feet. “Instead, the market is likely entering a phase of consolidation and specialization.”

Misener isn’t alone in that thinking. Five agency executives and ad buyers Digiday spoke with also said they expect more ad network launches in 2025 — and more consolidation. And so perhaps, as we enter 2025, it’s not about asking whether we’ve reached peak ad network, but rather who will actually matter? Which networks will make themselves appealing to advertisers?

“Larger players with robust infrastructure and first-party data (e.g., Amazon, Walmart) will dominate, while smaller or less effective networks may exit or merge,” said Misener. “We’ll also see specialization, with future growth coming from niche ad networks tailored to specific verticals (e.g., travel, finance) or innovative formats like connected TV (CTV) ads.” 

It may also be a riskier bet for the smaller players to roll out their own offerings late to the game without knowing the “potential appetite” for their offering, Leah Sallen, managing director of retail and commerce media at VML, explained when asked about new ad networks in 2025. “Just like everything else we see when there’s a large bubble of something, you have the big guys first and then the little entrants and then it feels a bit smaller,” said Sallen, adding that this year may have fewer of those new entrants.

Sallen said she expects that the new entrants that continue to debut next year will likely be in “service” industries, such as those in the financial sector like Chase or in hospitality like Marriott, as most major retailers have figured out their ad network propositions already. “Companies that sit on these bedrocks of data [will be] continuing to explore how to monetize that not only for their own services by creating loyalty within their own confines but also to start to sell that data to brands or companies or work with agencies that would find value in it,” said Sallen.

Buyers told Digiday that there is still opportunity for new entrants to stand out in retail media if they have unique data sets.

“There’s going to be a little bit of a reckoning from an advertiser standpoint,” said Jason Loomis, svp and head of media at VaynerX company The Sasha Group. “There’s only so many [ad networks] that people can spend dollars with — and that’s where the DSPs of the world are really going to win on this front. If they can be where all of that data is housed and we can programmatically decide how we’re going to reach users across those different data sources, that’s really compelling from an advertiser standpoint instead of having to split up my dollars across 15 different ad networks and test them all.” 

Marketers and ad buyers said they believe the ad networks that have partnerships or prioritize partnerships with the major DSPs to allow marketers to consolidate their ad network resources will be more successful than others in the coming years.

Ad networks will need to consolidate in some way to make it easier for marketers and ad buyers to spend with them or they may find it difficult to garner the share of ad dollars needed to make the ad network a worthwhile investment. 

Sallen compared the current ad network landscape to that of early direct deals with publishers like ESPN or Good Housekeeping. “I had all those relationships I was working with all those different vendors,” said Sallen. “And then programmatic came and said, well actually we’re gonna own this now. … We’re already seeing the large retailers move to self-service models.” 

That’s not to say that new ad networks are too late to the game but that they’ll have to have a strong proposition to appeal to ad buyers and marketers, especially as the existing networks continue to mature.

“As new ad networks come in, there’s going to be three or four partners that you have in your mix that look really similar to that that are gonna give you a good understanding of, is this a compelling offering or is it not?” said Loomis. “While we don’t jump on all of those opportunities as soon as they hit the market, we want to look at and evaluate and watch [them] over the course of however long that may take for them to mature and become a viable solution.”