The advertising technology industry is undeniably hot. By one estimate, over $2.5 billion has been invested in nearly 200 companies spanning 24 categories. The upside to all this activity: innovation keeps coming. The advent of ad exchanges gave birth to demand-side platforms and data exchanges, giving rise to agency trading desks. But it’s also led to innumerable point solutions, like ad verification, tag management and dynamic ad creative. That gives rise to the downside of all this: it’s a complex, messy landscape that’s hard and expensive to navigate. As Google CEO Eric Schmidt said this week, “It’s still too complicated to get a campaign up. It’s just too hard.”
More in Media
News publishers may be flocking to Bluesky, but many aren’t leaving X
The Guardian and NPR have left X, but don’t expect a wave of publishers to follow suit. Execs said the platform is still useful for some traffic and engaging with fandoms – despite its toxicity.
Media Briefing: Publishers’ Q4 programmatic ad businesses are in limbo
This week’s Media Briefing looks at how publishers in the U.S. and Europe have seen programmatic ad sales on the open market slow in the fourth quarter while they’ve picked up in the private marketplace.
How the European and U.S. publishing landscapes compare and contrast
Publishing executives compared and contrasted the European and U.S. media landscapes and the challenges facing publishers in both regions.