The Rise and Decline of Digital Advertising

2022 was a remarkable year for digital advertisers. Post-COVID restrictions generated an advertising boom, with brands scrambling to capture pent-up consumer demand. As restrictions lifted and the world took baby steps towards normalcy, digital ad spending skyrocketed.

However, fast forward to 2023, and the scene has somewhat changed. Global economic concerns have ushered in an air of caution. Brands are now more deliberate with their ad dollars, meticulously choosing where to place them.

In a landscape where cautious spending prevails currently, one thing remains consistent: programmatic ad buying continues to dominate the digital space.

Digital Ad Trends: The Numbers

MediaRadar’s analysis of ad spending from national digital media outlets paints an intriguing picture. By Q3 2023, national digital advertising was hovering at a colossal $46 billion. Despite this impressive number, digital spending noted an 8% YoY decline from 2022.

Interestingly, this downturn is predominantly due to a slump in programmatic spending, which decreased by 13% YoY. Industries such as technology observed a significant decline in programmatic ad spend by 31% YoY, settling at $3.8 billion.

However, let’s add some context: programmatic ad investments still commanded a large share of the pie, with 74% ($35 billion) of digital spend through Q3 2023 being allocated to programmatic channels. Tailor digital ad sales by understanding which advertisers embrace ad tech along with their buying behavior.

On the flip side, digital publishers should note that direct ad spend has shown growth. Up 7% YoY, direct ad expenditures touched nearly $12 billion. Leading this uptrend are sectors like tech (increasing 7% YoY to $1.8 billion) and home furnishings, which saw a whopping 19% YoY increase, amounting to $924 million. Not to be left out, professional services also hiked their direct ad investments by 6% YoY, bringing their total to $763 million.

Top Programmatic Advertisers in 2023

A staggering 136k companies jumped aboard the programmatic bandwagon by the end of Q3 2023, buying ads for about 208k brands or product lines. This is an impressive 83% of the nearly 165k companies that opted for digital advertising during this period.

Several top companies, including industry giants like Amazon.com, Comcast, Hyundai, and Mondelez, dedicated a whopping 80% or more of their budgets to programmatic spending emphasizing its significance in today’s ad landscape. And when we delve into different advertising categories, eleven out of 27 allocated more than $1 billion solely for programmatic advertising. Leading this list are media & entertainment and retail advertisers, with over 80% of their digital ad dollars flowing programmatically. These along with apparel, food, and beauty are categories to target for ad tech sales opportunities.

However, there are always outliers. The home furnishings category, including furniture, maintenance items, and outdoor products, leaned less into programmatic channels, placing less than 60% of their digital ads through ad tech.

Looking ahead, several brands, such as Aflac, H&M, and Old Spice, seem poised to bolster their programmatic ad spending, with predicted RFPs slated for Q4.

The Future of Programmatic Advertising

The world of programmatic advertising is dynamic, and shaped by myriad external factors. While we’ve noted a YoY decrease, the resilience of ad tech remains undeniable. Companies are still betting big on programmatic, signaling its enduring relevance in the ever-evolving advertising ecosystem.

For advertisers and ad sales professionals keen on staying ahead of the curve, harnessing advertising intelligence is paramount. Ad sales professionals leveraging real-time insights and data can make informed decisions on how to target key brands for success, ensuring their sales efforts yield optimal results.

Why does it all Matter?

MediaRadar’s analysis highlights that while programmatic advertising has seen a slight decline in 2023, it still makes up the vast majority of digital ad investments. Advertisers across industries continue to lean heavily into ad tech to reach their target audiences.

For ad sales professionals, these insights indicate that programmatic channels remain crucial for prospecting new business. Focus sales outreach on categories investing heavily in ad tech like retail, media, entertainment, and apparel brands. Use real-time data to identify brands increasing their programmatic budgets.

For publishers, direct ad sales present an area of growth to capitalize on. Allocate resources to building direct relationships with advertisers in home furnishings, tech, and professional services. Develop tailored offerings to attract these brands investing more in direct channels.

The programmatic landscape will continue to evolve rapidly. By leveraging timely advertising intelligence and data, ad sellers and publishers alike can adjust strategies to drive revenue and stay ahead in 2024’s digital advertising arena.

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Luckily, that fear waned as advertisers realized the measurement, performance, and efficiency benefits were too good to pass up. Today, programmatic ad tech is, for the most part, universally loved. In fact, Insider Intelligence predicted that more than 90% of digital display spending last year would be bought programmatically.

But even the mighty programmatic machine isn’t immune to the retreat in spending amid economic uncertainty—nearly 30% of major advertisers say they’re cutting their ad budgets in 2023.

Publishers and supply-side platforms (SSPs) are feeling it—and they’re evolving quickly to steady themselves on the shifting sands. 

Publishers and SSPs Change Their MO 

In December 2022, Insider Intelligence published an article predicting programmatic spending would slow. While they still predicted a lofty number, the reduction was far from surprising, considering over half of marketers expect a decline in programmatic spending this year. 

Even Google is feeling the heat. In its Q1 2023 earnings report, Alphabet cited that YouTube’s ad revenue dropped by 2.6% YoY, making it the third consecutive quarter the video giant saw ad revenue dip.  

Understandably, publishers are fighting their way through the turmoil. According to our data sample, 2.3k publishers (down by 5% YoY) used ad tech partners between January and May 2023, investing more than $13.2b across the likes of Google Marketing Platform (formerly DoubleClick and Google), Facebook, Innovid, Twitter, and YouTube.

At the same time, their strategies are evolving. Through May, 66% of publishers (1.5k) partnered with two ad tech providers, down by 21% YoY. Meanwhile, the 430+ publishers (19%) that partnered with three ad tech providers increased by 14% YoY. 

Although the number of publishers spending with 3 (up by 14% YoY), 4 (up by 197%), 5 (up by 267%), and 6 (up by 600%) ad tech partners all increased, the real story lies with those that consolidated their tech stacks. 

Sam’s Club dives deeper into the battle for retail media dollars

Sam’s Club decreased the number of ad tech partners from three to two through May in what was likely a strategic move driven by the Walmart-owned company’s fight for a larger chunk of retail media dollars. Retail media ad spending is accelerating so quickly that it’s expected to surpass TV spending by 2028. 

At the heart of Sam Club’s strategic move is the freshly launched Sam’s Club Member Access Platform (MAP), which launched in June 2022 to allow advertisers to buy sponsored product ads via a self-service interface and target shoppers based on their search behavior, past purchases, and membership info. MAP also allows advertisers to retarget people off Sam’s Club’s platforms through partnerships with The Trade Desk (TTD), IRI, and LiveRamp. 

More recently, Sam’s Club launched MAP Partners Club to connect advertisers with a “certified network of agencies and technology providers to maximize campaign performance.” 

Other big-name publishers, including Twitch and The Weather Company, reduced the number of ad tech partners they’re working with from three to two through May. 

Yahoo exits the supply-side game

Yahoo! Finance reduced the number of ad tech providers it works with from four to three in the wake of Yahoo’s intensified investment in the buy side of programmatic advertising.  

According to Yahoo CEO Jim Lanzone, “It’s [the shuttering of its SSP] really about narrowing our focus on the piece of ad tech we do best, which is our DSP [and] not spreading our resources too thinly across every part of the stack.” Yahoo also announced it would refine the scope of its DSP to focus on the “premium side of the market, Fortune 500 companies, and top agencies.”

The shuttering from Yahoo is yet another chapter in SSP’s recent story that’s seen the rapid commoditization of the technology, EMX (an ad tech company) going out of business, and Magnite laying off 6% of its staff. 

For Daily Mail, a publisher that previously monetized with Yahoo, the closure of its SSP was surprising, but they don’t plan—at least at the time—to partner with another SSP. Publisher ad management platform, CaféMedia, shared that sentiment. That shared sentiment could foreshadow how other publishers will respond to the consolidation and commoditization of SSPs. 

At the same time, Food Network partnered with two ad tech providers through May, down from five during the same time last year, while Fortune and TheCHIVE went from four to three ad tech partners.  

What’s Next for Publishers and SSPs?

SSPs and publishers are evolving. Havas recently agreed to a deal with Freewheel to improve its CTV advertising capabilities, while Horizon teamed up with OpenX’s SSP. And despite layoffs, Magnite bought SpotX and Telaria. 

While the rapid evolution may seem sudden for such established ad tech, the writing has been on the wall for some time. First, header bidding made it easier for advertisers to buy inventory. Then supply-path optimization (SPO) simplified the overly complex process. Eventually, SSPs started competing on price. 

These shifts are forming a new foundation in which fewer, but likely larger, SSPs exist, giving publishers access to a smaller playing field. Most industry experts see this overall shift as a positive move forward for the programmatic industry. 

As publishers navigate the consolidation and fight for ad revenue during the economic uncertainty—the New York Times’ digital ad revenue fell by nearly 9% between January and March—they’ll source revenue elsewhere.

For the New York Times, that means increasing the price for 1.5mm subscribers and using promotional pricing to attract new ones.

“Our bundle strategy is gaining momentum, engagement metrics are strong, pricing initiatives are taking hold and we are slowing cost growth,” said Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of The New York Times Company.

For other publishers, branded content studios, i.e., in-house services that allow advertisers to create native-like ads that engage the publication’s niche audience, will be in the cards as an extra revenue stream and a way to insulate themselves in a world without third-party cookies.  

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

So much so that the average person spent over 5 hours a day watching videos in 2021 (across TV and digital).

Video ad spending is through the roof, but where are budgets going, and what does the allocation mean for the future?

Advertising Like It’s 1950

Many historians dub the 1950s the Golden Age of TV. One could argue that TV ads shined the brightest around that time, too, as “motion pictures” captured the attention of consumers and advertisers alike. 

It’s 2023, and TV is still popular, with Americans watching more than 2 hours of it a day. But the emergence of YouTube, connected TV (CTVs), and social media have turned the spotlight. 

Certainly, ad dollars have followed, right? 

Yes, but less than you’d think.  

In 2022, advertisers for more than 12.5K brands spent more than $59b on TV ads, representing a 3% YoY increase from 2021; the number of brands buying TV ads also increased by 3% YoY. 

Eight thousand of those brands increased TV spending by more than 20%, while advertisers for more than 30 brands surpassed the $100mm mark, including 4imprint Inc. ($175mm), BetterHelp ($349mm), FanDuel ($994mm), and St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital ($213mm).

For FanDuel and other gambling advertisers, the spending follows a historical MO centered around flashy, often costly, campaigns aimed at customer acquisition. But those strategies are souring. 

David VanEgmond, a former FanDuel and Barstool Sportsbook executive, said, “You’ve seen the industry pull back and say, ‘Wow, fighting for market share got pretty ugly in terms of losses.” 

He was talking about the lengths gambling advertisers went to catch the attention of the 1 in 5 people who bet on sports. Although those lengths were powerful, they often lacked measurement and attribution. 

As gambling advertisers shift their focus to efficiency and profitability, expect the advertisers from FanDuel, DraftKings, and BetMGM to move their dollars to digital video where they can measure performance and optimize in the best interest of their bottom line. 

While no one’s surprised by the TV-heavy strategy among gambling advertisers, the investment from direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands may turn heads. 

Digital-native DTC brands embrace traditional video ads

When most people think of DTC brands, they think of digital-native ones that built their business online. Brands like Allbirds, Harry’s, and Stitchfix are all examples of DTC brands that live and breathe the internet and, thus, digital advertising. 

Despite DTC’s digital association, many brands still embrace traditional ads. 

In 2022, more than 475 DTC brands spent over $5b on TV, representing a 5% YoY increase (the number of DTC brands investing in TV ads decreased by 9% YoY).

They’re not just dipping their toes into TV to diversify their media mix, either. Nearly 270 DTC brands increased TV spending by over 20% in 2022. 

As surprising as DTC brands’ investment in TV may seem, it follows the recent trend of brands embracing traditional ads to escape the digital clutter, take advantage of consumers’ trust in these formats and prepare for the final downfall of third-party cookies in 2024.

Still, DTC brands aren’t abandoning the digital highway that got them to the top.

Of those 270 DTC brands that increased spending by at least 20%, 93% spread their dollars across multiple formats, including Airbnb ($96mm), Booking.com ($77mm), Chime (bank brand) ($63mm), and Instacart ($118mm). 

Advertising Like It’s 2023

In 2021, digital video ad spending surpassed $55b and is expected to reach $80b this year, which would represent an increase of more than 140% from 2019. 

Video advertising is table stakes, but how are advertisers spending on formats across OTT, online video, and social media? 

OTT intimidation 

OTT advertising made up just 3% of ad budgets in 2020 despite accounting for 29% of the time people spent watching their favorite shows and movies. 

A couple of years later, OTT gained mainstream status. As of 2022, the average household had nearly 7 OTT streaming services. 

However, despite the preference for OTT, advertisers don’t seem ready to dive into OTT ads.

In 2022, advertisers for more than 7.3k brands, especially those in insurance, quick service restaurants (QSRs), and cell phones, invested $1.7b on OTT ads, with nearly 4.5k (61%) advertising in multiple formats. (Remember: Advertisers spent almost $60b on TV.) 

While advertisers appear uneasy about OTT, which could be due to the down economy and the need to invest in more measurable formats, ad dollars will come as younger generations abandon traditional TV, streaming services—now including Netflix—improve their ad tech, and advertisers flock to ecosystems that can help them thrive without third-party cookies. 

Online Video (OLV) 

If advertisers are keeping OTT at arm’s length, they’re making up for it with a firm grip on online video (OLV). 

In 2022, advertisers for almost 53k brands (up by 7% YoY) spent over $28b on OLV, with over 75% (~41k brands) increasing their budgets by at least 20%. 

A select group, including Aviron Interactive ($324mm), Harbor Freight Tools ($109mm), Ka’Chava ($175mm), and Purdue University Global ($111mm), each spent more than $100mm. 

For big and small advertisers alike, OLV is a safe bet, providing them with an engaging and measurable way to reach a massive addressable audience across popular platforms like YouTube. 

While these video hotspots have long served as a haven for advertisers, their popularity often ignites rising ad loads—and prices. If these hotspots become too crowded and expensive, forward-thinking advertisers may exit right to more affordable (but less proven) ones, like OTT and CTV.   

Social Media

Last year, advertisers for 37k brands spent $6.7b on video ads across social media, but are they falling out of favor? 

Maybe. 

Only a fraction of brands (~5k) increased their spending on video ads by more than 20%—and those were brands with deep pockets, like AMC+, Masterclass, and Spotify. Nevertheless, spending from these brands reached nearly $5b, or 72% of overall spending on social media video ads. 

The apparent aversion to social video—at least compared to video ads elsewhere—is likely due to the rising ad loads and negative sentiment. Social media ads are also losing some of their steam in the wake of Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, which allows iPhone users to ask apps not to track them across other websites and apps. 

According to analysis, Apple’s firm stance on privacy was expected to cost Facebook more than $12b in 2022 due largely to its ads’ diminishing impact. Other social platforms are feeling the brunt as well.   

What We Learned at NewFronts 2022

The battle for video advertising supremacy (and dollars) is full steam ahead, and it’s far from reaching its main event. The degree of diversification between digital and traditional formats that still exists makes that abundantly clear.   

But there’s a battle within the battle that’s arguably more captivating. We’re talking about the battle for digital video advertising supremacy, which took center stage at IAB’s NewFronts.

Here are some takeaways:

• Peacock introduced two new ad formats, including “scene ads,” which allow brands to insert themselves “directly into targeted content moments through natural visual effects.” Amazon released a similar format.
  
• In Twitter’s first NewFront since Elon Musk’s acquisition, the platform pushed Amplify (released in 2019) as a way for brands to run ads alongside audio and video content.
  
• Snap teamed up with Cameo and introduced Snap Promote, a solution aimed at content partners on Discover.
  
• Meta focused on its metaverse and highlighted how brands could connect with consumers on Reels. 

Whichever battle you watch, the fighting is over the same thing: Video ad dollars—and both digital and traditional players will stop at nothing to get them. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

The number of OTT users across Netflix, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, and other platforms is expected to reach 4.2b by 2027.

Connected TVs (CTV) are seemingly more commonplace than toasters. As of February 2022, there were around 117mm CTV households in the U.S.

This leaves advertisers and media brands asking: Where are programmatic ads headed?

Programmatic advertising is certainly in the cards for brands, both large and small. And programmatic TV advertising continues to make headlines and big promises. 

But one thing is certain: The popularity of ads across streaming services is growing as the industry figures out measurement, inventory and growth.

By 2026, ad revenue is projected to surpass $32b.

How OTT Is Shaping Programmatic Ad Tech 

With the streaming giants’ rapid expansion — fueled by Silicon Valley’s mantra of ‘move fast and break things’ — ad tech had difficulty keeping up with the shift from traditional TV to OTT. 

Programmatic advertising fits individual web properties and Internet-native video platforms. A native ad on a publisher’s site feels natural. So do ads across major social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.

But applying the same ad tech to OTT (particularly with live programming) proved difficult. 

“Early adopters are finding that pairing digital data with connected TV and OTT ads isn’t a simple plug-and-play exercise,” wrote eMarketer’s editorial board. “Those hoping to benchmark connected TV and OTT performance against standard digital video advertising metrics are also finding this a complex task.” 

Programmatic advertisers in OTT have faced the unique challenge of translating the metrics of traditional TV and data-driving digital ads. 

According to a 2022 survey, 48% of respondents said measuring incremental reach across streaming platforms and publishers was challenging for CTV advertising. Meanwhile, 43% pointed to managing ad frequency across platforms and publishers as a hurdle.

But the challenges don’t end there.

Another survey found that 85% of respondents said they were “very” or “somewhat concerned” over ad fraud.

Buying digital ad space for OTT and CTV is still difficult, but more laser-focused DSPs have popped up to support the demand. 

“Comcast-owned FreeWheel is introducing a one-stop shop for buying commercials in these emerging forms of TV,” writes Jeanine Poggi at AdAge. “The suite of new ad products will allow buyers to access inventory from FreeWheel’s clients, which include more than 60 of some of the top TV networks and publishers that are being served on platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire, Google Chromecast and Apple TV, among others.”

Similarly, Adobe acquired TubeMogul, a DSP aimed directly at programmatic video. 

The Trade Desk, one of the world’s most popular DSPs, has also invested in CTV advertising.

TTD’s solution not only helps advertisers “maximize reach to increasingly digital audiences, wherever they’re watching,” but the company’s relationships with top networks and content providers give it an edge.

TTD also positions itself as an “all-in-one” DSP, which gives advertisers a more streamlined way to scale their CTV ads across inventory, including video, audio, native, and OOH.

It’s DSPs like these that will allow programmatic video ads built for CTV and OTT to scale in a meaningful way.

Specialized DSPs Are Expanding Opportunities for Programmatic 

But that doesn’t mean it’s suddenly a straightforward affair. 

Tal Mor is the CTO of Tremor Video, a DSP purportedly meeting these new demands. “Just because programmatic video is everywhere doesn’t mean it’s easy,” writes Mor. He says that programmatic video — and especially Connected TV or OTT — requires the right balance of ad tech to prove effective: “It requires access to the right audiences, unique targeting abilities, channel-specific inventory, reporting/optimization abilities, and fraud detection/prevention methods.” To drive this home, Mor writes that the lack of industry standards makes it particularly difficult to navigate the nuanced space. 

That said, movement in OTT services is driving growth in programmatic video ad spend.

Automation and measurement are improving.

For example, DoubleVerify launched a solution that can verify a CTV ad’s viewability, allowing advertisers to determine if an ad was actually seen. The launch marks the first viewability measurement solution to hit the market.

“As CTV impressions continue to be sold at a premium, brands need insight into which platforms and environments offer the best viewability rates,” said DoubleVerify CEO Mark Zagorski. “To that end, we’re excited to launch this first-of-its-kind solution and continue to lead in measurement and innovation for CTV buyers.”

Targeting is getting more precise.

Ad formats are innovating.

Case and point: Samsung Ads is tapping into Clinch’s ad tech platform to “deliver personalized and dynamic programmatic campaigns across FAST service Samsung TV Plus.”

Clinch CEO Oz Etzioni said, “Samsung has established an incredible global footprint, fueled in part by their commitment to providing innovative consumer experiences. Through this partnership, we are able to bring a new level of real-time personalization to millions of Samsung connected devices with superior automation and efficiency.”

Metrics and benchmarks are also catching up—and consumer demand only continues to rise, aided by increased mobile consumption.

All of this translates into scalability and a better advertising ROI. 

Mor, the DSP tech leader, writes that video-specialized DSPs have the best hope of capturing this value. Within their specialization, they can focus on ad formats and creative, inventory and execution, and (maybe most importantly) measurement. 

The benefit is clear: Reach a more engaged audience for less than it costs on traditional TV.

“OTT program producers focus on developing video programs for targeted, highly enthusiastic audiences instead of broad-based fare,” writes Barry Levine at Marketing Dive. 

Programmatic video is a natural way to take full advantage of this benefit — and DSPs are starting to meet demand. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

Or was it a surprise?

Growing up during the age of “necessary profitability,” advertising on Snapchat was an inevitability. The real surprise was that they took so long to show up.

Understandably, the announcement of the network — dubbed the Snap Audience Network — created plenty of buzz.

The network “will exist beyond Snapchat’s own platform and allow marketers to target users across a variety of apps,” wrote Marty Swant at AdWeek. “The move is part of a broader push by the company to better scale its advertising business, which over the past two years has shifted from a primarily direct-sale model to one that’s primarily programmatic.”

In other words, the announcement of the Audience Network was more than a new advertising channel.

The Audience Network signaled a shift in Snap’s ad business, bringing self-service (i.e., programmatic advertising) into the mix, using customer data in ways the company has shied away from in the past, and an expansion from its own user base.

The response to the announcement was largely favorable — Snap stock rose 9 percent in the days following the presentation.

But what else can the new ad network mean?

Snap Audience Network: New But Untested Opportunity for Brands, Apps and Snap

The new Audience Network is essentially a win/win/win scenario, provided it delivers.  

It’s a win for advertisers, with more targeted reach to a larger audience. It’s a win for app developers, with access to advertisers on a programmatic exchange. And it’s a win for Snap, with a brand-spanking new source of revenue.

According to Kurt Wagner at Vox, it’s a way for Snap to grow its business without adding new users to the flagship social platform — something Snapchat has struggled with in the past. “Snap is trying to take the next step to become a more established advertising business,” writes Wagner. “But announcing that plan is one thing; we’ll see if Snap can execute.”

At the time, the main concern was that Snap wouldn’t be sharing personal or identifiable information in user data, leaving some to question how targeted, personalized ads will be possible with the ad network.

Remember: Access to first-party data is a major draw for advertisers, especially as third-party cookies fade.

“If Snap is not sharing data with its ad partners, those ad partners will have to share data back to Snap so it knows who it is targeting,” concludes Wagner. Suffice it to say details are sparse.

Snap has since expanded its advertising capabilities, enabling brands to place ads outside of Snapchat’s walls. Facebook launched a similar network in 2014.

Fast-forward a few years, and the decision to introduce ads appears to be paying off.

In 2021, Snapchat drove over $3.1 billion in advertising revenue—a number that’s expected to approach $6b by 2026.

It hasn’t been all smooth sailing, though.

Apple’s iOS 14 update caused the entire social ecosystem to shutter in fear.

Why?

Because millions of iPhone users could now ask apps not to track them, making measurement and attribution on the world’s most popular smartphone a nightmare.

Leading up to the update, Snap CFO Derek Andersen said, “It is not yet clear what the longer term impact of those changes may be for the topline momentum of our business and this may not be clear until several months or more after the changes are implemented.”

More recently, Spiegel spoke about the turbulence in 2022, saying, “It seems like advertising demand hasn’t really improved, but it hasn’t gotten significantly worse either. Our partners are just managing their spend very cautiously so they can react quickly to any changes in the environment.”

This isn’t an inherently Snapchat problem. Google parent Alphabet announced in its Q4 2022 earnings that it fell short of expectations on revenue and earnings per share due mainly to a decline in ad revenue.

Which Brands Bought Snapchat Ads in 2022?

We pulled data from 190 companies (396 brands) that bought ads on Snapchat in Q1 2022.

Of them, 46% and 27% (184 and 52) didn’t buy Snapchat ads in 2020 or 2021. 

That said, 47% of the companies we looked at had bought Snapchat ads, indicating the stickiness of the platform’s ad products. 

Of the companies buying ads in Q1, 5% (nine) increased spending by more than 1,000% YoY, including Samsung, UVNV (the company that owns Mint Mobile), and Johnson & Johnson Services. 

Q1 2022 Snapchat advertising top categories

Media & Entertainment: These advertisers increased spending by 20% in Q1, thanks largely to Amazon upping its ad investment in its Prime streaming service, Audible and Twitch TV. At the same time, Paramount decreased its budget by 19% QoQ.

Apparel: Apparel advertisers spent 25% more in Q1 than they did during the same quarter last year. Kering (Balenciaga and Gucci) and VF (Vans and Timberland) led this charge, boosting their investments by 116% and 308%, respectively.

Travel: Travel advertisers increased their investment by 119% YoY compared to Q1 2021, including Carnival, Royal Caribbean, the State of New Hampshire, and Southwest Airlines.

Tech: Tech advertisers increased spending by 3% QoQ in the first quarter of 2022. While spending from Samsung was down by 66%, Apple (beats Earbuds, iPhone and iPad) helped offset this with an increase of almost 1,000%.

Pharma: Pharma advertisers decreased spending by 29% QoQ, largely due to advertisers for Procter & Gamble decreasing their budget by 95%. Meanwhile, advertisers for Novartis increased spending by more than 100x QoQ to promote Kesimpta.

As long as people are opening Snapchat 40 times a day, ad dollars will follow.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

It’s not a tease, though. Google is parting ways with third-party cookies. It’s just a matter of when. As of today, third-party cookies will go away in 2024.

To make matters worse, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature continues to pose challenges.

Needless to say, advertisers are concerned. How can they roll out and optimize their programmatic campaigns without third-party cookies and other identifiers?

Alternative identifiers will eventually fill the void, but which ones?

Email? Probably.

Phone numbers? Yep.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox?

Absolutely.

What is the Privacy Sandbox, and what does it mean for advertisers and publishers? 

What’s Google’s Privacy Sandbox?

Google’s Privacy Sandbox is a set of APIs designed to protect user privacy while allowing publishers and advertisers to target based on interest, demographics and more. The project “consists of new APIs that will allow advertisers to show targeted ads, but without having direct access to users’ personal details, as they do now,” writes Catalin Cimpanu at ZDNet.

Using the so-called ‘Differential Privacy’ techniques that Google has employed for its internal projects, the APIs block the Chrome browser from sharing identifying data until it can be lumped in with thousands of other users’ data points. It means advertisers can still track and target but introduces a layer of anonymity. Vox calls it a tightrope walk. 

Recently, Google launched the first beta of its Privacy Sandbox on Android, allowing users and developers to test the new technology.

Anthony Chavez, Google’s vice president of Privacy Sandbox, said, “The Privacy Sandbox beta provides new APIs that are designed with privacy at the core, and don’t use identifiers that can track your activity across apps and websites.” Chavez continued, “Apps that choose to participate in the beta can use these APIs to show you relevant ads and measure their effectiveness.”

The Privacy Sandbox on Android shares similarities with Google’s Privacy Sandbox for the web, which will replace third-party cookies in Chrome when they disappear in 2024 (we think).

Understanding Ad Relevance and Impact with Google’s Privacy Sandbox

Google’s Privacy Sandbox sounds great in theory, but how does it actually work, and how will it ensure ad relevance? Going from one-to-one targeting via third-party cookies to one-to-many targeting via Privacy Sandbox certainly can’t be a good thing, right?

Let’s break down what we know about Google’s Privacy Sandbox and, more importantly, what it means for advertisers.

Showing relevant ads

Without third-party cookies, how will Google know which ad to show person X, Y, and Z?

The simple answer: Interest-based targeting via “the Privacy Sandbox privacy-preserving APIs.”

• Topics API: Topics are categories the browser concludes based on the pages you visit. For example, Topics may categorize ESPN as “sports” and The New York Times as “news.” The browser then collects a handful of topics commonly associated with the websites someone’s visited.
  
  From a high level, Privacy Sandbox is saying, “someone is interested in X website, so they may also be interested in Y website.” They’re then shared with advertisers and used to deliver relevant ads.
  
  Users can go into Chrome, see the topics they’re “linked” to and remove or disable any they don’t like. It’s like disabling third-party cookies in the post-cookie world.
  
• FLEDGE: FLEDGE addresses the constant need for remarketing, i.e., delivering ads based on what someone has looked at online in the past. Remarketing is why you often see ads “following” you online.
  
  With FLEDGE, the sites of advertisers someone visits can inform their browser that they’d like to show them ads. They can also share information with their browser, including the ads they’d like to show. Then, when someone visits a website with ad space, an algorithm informs ad delivery.
  
  Here’s a diagram that outlines FLEDGE:
  

At one point, there was FLoC, which grouped people based on their browsing patterns. However, FLoC was stopped in 2021.

Check out this article to learn more about interest-based targeting without third-party cookies.

Measuring advertising impact

Third-party cookies have been the gold standard in digital for so long because they made tracking and measurement easy. Cookies basically put a name tag on someone, followed them around online, and then said hi (with another ad) when the time was right. Guesswork wasn’t necessary; there was always a one-to-one connection between advertisers and consumers.

That’s gone, so how will Google’s Privacy Sandbox allow advertisers to measure the impact of their campaigns?

Attribution Reporting API.

Attribution Reporting API measures “when an ad click or view leads to a conversion, such as a purchase on an advertiser site.”

According to Google, the API allows for the measurement of two events linked together: an event on a publisher’s website—think a user viewing or clicking an ad—with a subsequent conversion on a website.

Here’s a breakdown:

Event-level reports link a click or view with data on the conversion side. Google says these reports help answer the question: “How can I improve my return on investment?”

Summary reports aren’t tied to a specific event on the ad side but offer richer conversion data than event-level reports. Google says these reports help answer the question: “What is my return on investment?”

Looking Ahead to a Better Internet and More Thoughtful Advertising

Third-party cookies aren’t the enemy. They never were.

At their core, third-party cookies facilitated the fundamental value exchange on which the internet was built: you see ads in exchange for (most of the time) free content.

Third-party cookies are powerful, turning many people off from targeted advertising over time. It’s why most people go out of their way to avoid ads via ad blockers, skipping, or paying for ad-free services.

Six months before Google announced the initiative, a Think with Google blog positioned the idea behind the sandbox project. “When you work in digital advertising, it’s easy to forget what it’s like to be an average internet user,” Global Product Strategy Lead Kelsey LeBeau wrote. “But when you take a step back and experience the web as most people do, you begin to understand why so many people employ ad blockers.” 

Misconceptions aside, third-party cookies are on their way out, and advertisers will immediately need an alternative way to deliver, optimize, and measure their campaigns across the addressable internet.

Google’s Privacy Sandbox could be one of those ways.

The Privacy Sandbox is among the first steps “in exploring how to address the measurement needs of the advertiser without letting the advertiser track a specific user across sites.” Google is the king of ad tech — if the Privacy Sandbox threatened advertiser reach or ability to target (or ad revenue) in any way, you can rest assured they wouldn’t move forward. Instead, it seems to be a way to address consumer concerns with privacy. 

If the philosophy behind the project is sound, a Privacy Sandbox across browsers won’t mean a decrease in revenue for publishers or the nullification of targeting for advertisers. Google seems to think it simply means users will be less likely to use ad blockers. 

For more of a developer view on Google’s Privacy Sandbox project, you can check out its series of explainers designed to encourage commentary from the web community. 

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

Ad spending on the medium was up and podcasts became a big topic at Digital Content Next.

Better yet, Midroll Media found that 6 out of 10 podcast listeners purchase based on the ads they hear on their favorite shows. The power of podcast ads was becoming crystal clear.

Today, podcasts and their ads are shining even brighter. A 2022 study found that 38% of the U.S. listened to a podcast in the past month, more than 3x the share recorded a decade earlier.

Advertisers have responded. Podcast ad revenue was expected to reach $2 billion in 2022 and $4 billion by 2024.

What feeds this advertising format?

Their very nature. Many podcast ads are the audio equivalent of native ads, which we know perform well.

Traditionally, host-read ads have attracted the most attention, but they may have to make way for their programmatic counterparts as advertisers seek more efficiency and performance from the format.

The question is: How, exactly, do podcasts connect to programmatic tech? 

Programmatic Podcast Ads: What We (Don’t) Know

The conversation surrounding programmatic podcast ads is more complicated than anyone would like. 

Case and point: AdExchanger featured two apparently contradictory articles.

One focuses on how programmatic audio took off. The other argued we shouldn’t expect programmatic ads for podcasts just yet. 

“As the podcast industry gained steam, it also overcame some technical hurdles,” writes Alison Weissbrot. “As for programmatic, the buying method is still nascent in podcasting but the technology is advancing.”

By way of evidence, Weissbrot points to Panoply’s new programmatic marketplace, Acast’s $35M Series C funding designed to move programmatic forward, and NPR’s foray into listener metrics. 

In a phrase, the state of programmatic podcast advertising was still uncertain—and it still is.

According to a Digiday article published in 2023, advertisers are hesitant to buy programmatic podcast ads.  

Why? They still love host-read ads, and programmatic technology strips their ability to vet the corresponding content before the ad goes live, i.e., they don’t know where their ad will play.

That said, the downfall of third-party cookies could put a premium on podcast ads as advertisers look for equally effective ways to reach consumers with targeted ads. As that happens, players rolling out programmatic podcast ad tech will have to evolve quickly to meet the rising expectations.

How Podcasts Move Programmatic Tech Forward

The success of programmatic podcast ads revolves around one thing: The technology’s ability to keep up. Advertisers big and small have come to trust programmatic technology elsewhere, which is why ad spending via programmatic means continues to rise.

Programmatic podcast advertising may reach that point, but it must prove itself first.

“The tech infrastructure that underlies much of digital ad buying wasn’t really made for audio,” Ross Benes writes at eMarketer. “The ad industry’s most popular ad servers and ad exchanges were originally designed for display. To ensure that their ad insertions aren’t too clunky, audio streaming platforms have had to build a lot of their ad tech themselves.”

According to some, the tech is coming.

“Standardized measurement will come,” one Spotify automation lead told The Drum. “If you look at video, there are a lot of verification technologies out there. None of these have a metric for audio, yet. As adoption grows and expands, those layers of verification and development will expand.” 

Which brings us to our second question: Have podcasts affected advances in programmatic tech? 

For their part, Pandora, Apple, and Spotify have dipped their toes into programmatic podcast advertising. Pandora even opened its ad inventory for programmatic buying partway through last year. 

More recently, Pandora announced that it reorganized into a cross-platform ad sales team that combines SiriusXM, Pandora and Stitcher.

Lizzie Widhelm, SVP of ad innovation and B2B marketing at SXM Media, said, “We can take the exclusive content we have from Sirius to build new shows, use Stitcher to find new audiences and monetize in a way that makes sense for the intimacy of the podcast medium.” 

Meanwhile, Spoify’s ad business is booming.

Despite the hesitation, it’s clear that advertisers are warming up to programmatic podcast ads. As the technology grows stronger and advertisers learn to trust it—like elsewhere in the programmatic world—the sentiment will warm even more.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

We began our series of “integrated advertising in sports” posts in 2017 by looking at how brands, including T-Mobile and Duracell, were capturing the attention of baseball fans during that year’s World Series. We also wrote about the NHL and how the league’s evolved from blank boards to virtual ad overlays.

Today, we’ll keep the ball rolling and dive into integrated advertising in the NBA—and how brands can reach a massive addressable audience.

Breaking Tradition

The MLB is perhaps the best example we’ve seen of a professional sports league leaving tradition in the past – interesting, as baseball is the game that seems to thrive on tradition more than any other.

The ads present in 2017’s World Series showed a true effort and diversion from what viewers were used to seeing.

The most “in-your-face” example came from YouTube, which brought an ad smack-dab in the middle of the action, right behind home plate. 

More recently, FTX sponsored logo patches on the uniforms of baseball’s umpires.

The NHL’s many innovations have been impressive but are more so extensions of things that already existed. The NHL has continued to push the boundaries of integrated advertising, sometimes at the behest of its viewers. Most recently by debuting digitally enhanced dasherboards.

The NBA is following suit and taking its own strides to incorporate ads into its product.

Despite being one of the most consistently fast-paced sports to watch, the NBA still has a lot of traditional downtime via advertising. Commissioner Adam Silver, however, has made notable strides during his tenure to better integrate ads into the viewer experience. 

The first was to restructure the game itself. The league introduced a new timeout structure, leaving teams with fewer timeouts, resulting in fewer commercial breaks for advertisers.

The second stride came as a way for NBA teams to still drive revenue, even with fewer commercial breaks – they added advertisements to team jerseys. The NBA took things further by approving two more ad spots on uniforms for the 2022 season. 

Jersey Patch Ads

The discussion surrounding jersey ads has lingered for a while now, and not just in the NBA.

We’ve seen jersey ads before, most notably in professional soccer leagues worldwide and the WNBA.

Jersey ads recently came to the NHL as well. Two of the most “traditional” franchises—the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadians were quick to jump on the opportunity for additional revenue.

Soon enough, the NBA decided to break away from the pack and endorse the long-discussed jersey advertisement with a three-year test run.

The test run was successful, at least by the NBA’s standards. Since 2016, the available “inventory” has steadily grown, with the NBA recently announcing more inventory was becoming available—this time on shooting shirts and warmup jackets.

When the league first announced jersey patch ads, it was not to much delight from fans.

Upon seeing the ads, however, it became clear that there was much attention paid to integrating the brand logos into the color schemes of each team to make them less noticeable, even native to the surrounding branding.

Here are a few recent examples from the Golden State Warriors, Philadelphia 76ers, and Phoneix Suns:

Of course, the 76ers will have to move on from Crypto.com as the company in light of the industry’s collapse and the subsequent hard stop on advertising to promote digital currencies. 

Overall, however, these ads generally work well with team branding. More so, they provide another legitimate source of revenue for NBA teams.

While there are no set prices for this inventory, one of the most lucrative deals for any team has been the Golden State Warriors’ sponsorship agreement with Rakuten, a deal worth $60 million. Recently, the Golden State Warriors and Rakuten agreed to continue their partnership.

All-Stars and All-Sponsors

Typically, jersey ads and things of that nature are test-run in international and exhibition matches, regardless of the sport.

The most notable yearly exhibition in the NBA is its annual All-Star Game. The All-Star Game is a perfect example in looking at the NBA’s high-level inclusion of sponsorships during game broadcasts.

Here’s a list of some of the events that’ll take place during this year’s All-Star Weekend:

• Jordan Rising Stars Practice
• Ruffles NBA All-Star Celebrity Game
• NBA All-Star Practice Presented by AT&T
• Kia Skills Challenge

For Jordan, Ruffles, AT&T, and Kia, All-Star Weekend will be filled with fun and excitement—and their logos front and center.

While All-Stars and All-Sponsors have been done for some time now, it’s important when considering the NBA’s efforts to minimize commercial breaks.

In-Game Sponsorships

The deeper fact here is that sponsorships come in many forms in the NBA. Jersey ads are the most recent, and currently, the most talked about form of sponsorship, but there are a number of other in-game sponsorships.

There are a lot of working parts during any basketball game aside from the players, as well, including the many tools, technologies, and people that maintain the court’s functionality.

One of the most important technologies present during NBA and NCAA Basketball games is the shot clock. Tissot took advantage of this when it debuted a new integrated timing system and shot clock with innovative LED glass technology developed exclusively for the league.

It’s transparent, houses touch-screen controls, and displays a large Tissot logo for all to see. No other sport uses a Shot Clock as the NBA does. Therefore, no one else can utilize this ad space.

Old Spice also found a way to get an advertisement into the working functionality of basketball games. And even though this one has been taking place during college games, it was simply too much fun to leave out.

The War on the Floor

The NBA has put in a great effort to be the most progressive, tech-driven league. As we mentioned earlier, that’s largely due to their youthful audience. 

That effort is most evident in the experience they offer fans, ads or no ads. A good example of this is the NBA’s endorsement of virtual reality.

The NBA experience is free and available on Meta’s Horizon Venues platform, a free software download for the Oculus headset. People appear as digital avatars and watch games from a courtside perspective.

From a business perspective, the deal could give the NBA a new set of media rights, which is important as regional sports networks struggle.

Facebook is also partnering with the NBA to launch NBA-licensed apparel in the Meta Avatar Store where consumers can purchase NBA or WNBA apparel for their avatar.

In terms of ads, however, one of the most innovative things we’ve seen the NBA do is use arena floor space as a video ad landscape.

On February 10, 2018, the Golden State Warriors played the San Antonio Spurs in their home, Oracle Arena. At halftime, the fans were treated to what was called, “The War on the Floor,” where they used the court as a projector for a God of War video ad:

At first, the video plays on the Jumbotron, which is nothing out of the ordinary. Soon after, however, the entire court lights up with a snowy, icy, action-packed narrative.

This is extremely important for the broadcast’s sake. Even though these videos cannot be played during live-game action, they can be used to reach viewers streaming live games.

Streaming service NBA League Pass, for example, allows viewers to stay inside the arena during broadcasts. There are breaks, but simply no commercials. Viewers instead watch halftime shows, timeout breaks, t-shirt tosses, and so on.

Integrated Advertising in the NBA: A Primetime Opportunity for Brands

Overall, the NBA has done a fine job in living up to its tech-driven reputation, and with time, can prove to only become better. As the league looks to tap additional revenue streams, more ad inventory will undoubtedly follow. That said, the NBA will have to be careful not to infringe too much on the viewer experience.

Nevertheless, ad dollars will follow from brands looking to capitalize on the NBA’s niche and ever-expanding audience.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

That’s not the case.

After all this time, new ad technology is still rolling off the conveyor belt of innovation to help advertisers make the most of their digital ad dollars.

Supply path optimization (SPO) falls into that bucket.

What is SPO, and why is it a game changer for programmatic advertisers?

This article answers both of those questions.

What Is Supply Path Optimization (SPO)? 

Supply path optimization, or SPO, reduces the redundancies and intermediaries between advertisers and publishers.

Supply path optimization is “understanding who is touching your inventory and [removing] as many touches as you possibly can,” said Prebid President Mike Racic.

In the simplest terms, SPO ensures media buyers purchase ads at the best price while allowing publishers to maximize revenue, both of which are increasingly top-of-mind for media buyers and publishers as they fend off the down economy.

Jounce Media Founder and President Chris Kane said, “SPO is really just making deliberate choices about which auctions to participate in and which ones to ignore.”

Where Did SPO Come From?

Almost paradoxically, the impetus behind this new form of optimization is a decrease in ad tech investments. 

AdWeek reports that the ambiguity surrounding future ad tech legislation is causing many venture capitalists to place their funding elsewhere.

“Whatever funding is left in the ad-tech ecosystem is being snapped up by an increasing array of middlemen seeking to get their share of the multibillion-dollar digital ad market,” the article points out. “In an attempt to bring some sort of transparency, we’re now seeing advertisers become a bit more choosy about partners, using SPO to slim down the number of supply-side platforms they work with.”

In other words, the multiplex of supply side platforms (SSPs) and demand side platforms (DSPs) is getting crowded.

As a result, advertisers must determine which platforms are worth getting onto and which make sense to pull out of. At the same time, publishers work toward increasing ad revenue. 

“With thousands of ad-tech middlemen littering the landscape and seemingly more entering daily, marketers are quickly realizing the need to be smarter about the outfits they partner with,” writes Shoshana Wodinsky for AdWeek. “Enter supply-path optimization, or SPO, which translates to cutting through the clutter between media buyers and the publishers they work with.”

What role does header bidding play?

Header bidding is a programmatic technique that allows publishers to offer ad inventory to more than one ad exchange at once before making the call to ad servers. By allowing multiple bids at the same time, publishers make more money.

Yieldbot CEO, Jonathan Mendex, said, “Header bidding is a much cleaner and better tech integration between revenue partners, ad tech companies and publishers compared to what’s going on currently.”

While leveling the playing field was necessary, it created a new problem: DSPs receive multiple bids for the same ad impressions. As a result, they had to pick a “path” without losing the inventory.

Enter supply path optimization.

Now, media buyers can pinpoint the best—and most profitable—path for their ads.

What Are the Benefits of SPO?

For those pushing SPO, it’s meant to benefit publishers by giving them an avenue for better, more efficient advertising relationships and benefit advertisers by decreasing spending in unnecessary areas.

Considering at least 50% of every dollar spent in digital channels now goes to intermediaries rather than publishers, according to three studies, it seems there is a lot to optimize. 

An article from Forbes summarizes the challenge nicely: “In what other industry would customers be OK paying a 50% tax on goods and services, and on top of that be at risk of money simply gone missing?”

To push for transparency isn’t exactly scaring away SSPs, either.

Adam Soroca, the Head of Global Buyer Team at Rubicon Project (an ad network), writes that “the recent transparency movement stands to build buyer confidence through curating efficient, transparent programmatic partnerships while establishing clear industry benchmarks.”

The 3 benefits of SPO

• Cost: SPO pulls back the curtain and gives buyers a glimpse into the fees of different SSPs. It also improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the auctions, which translates to higher-performing ads for a better price.
• Insights: Eliminating the unnecessary complexity from auctions gives media buyers a better vantage point into performance, which they can use to improve future campaigns.
• Control: SPO largely eliminates the fraud that comes with the “old way” of buying ads, ensuring a brand’s ad only shows up in tandem with websites they want to be associated with. The simplicity of SPO also increases accountability and rewards partners acting in advertisers’ best interests.

The primary factors that go into an SPO-based decision are inventory quality, the scale of advertising, pricing, audience, and the mechanics of the auction platform. It’s a perfect combination that will continue to catch the attention of advertisers.

SPO: A Move in the Best Interest of Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising’s meteoric rise has been nothing short of remarkable.

Between 2017 and 2021, programmatic ad spending increased by more than 122%. Despite an expected slowdown in spending this year, largely due to the economy, by 2027, spending is expected to reach more than $700b.

The growth lends light to programmatic’s efficacy but also points to the need for ad tech players to constantly improve. SPO isn’t exactly new, but it’s the perfect example of the industry working together in the best interest of everyone involved.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.

In 2017, Google announced that Chrome would instill stricter ad-blocking standards. The announcement raised speculation, as publishers and advertisers were left to wonder exactly which ads would be blocked and how Google would handle violators.

In December of that year, Google gave “an update on Better Ads,” officially confirming that “Starting on February 15, in line with the Coalition’s guidelines, Chrome will remove all ads from sites that have a ‘failing’ status in the Ad Experience Report for more than 30 days.”

Now that these standards are officially in place, however, it’s important that publishers and advertisers know exactly what is being blocked, given that Chrome currently holds more than 64% of the global web browser market share.

And, more importantly, what does Google’s advertising future look like?

What is the Coalition for Better Ads^®?

The Coalition for Better Ads is an alliance of companies and associations that have come together in an effort to give internet users the best possible experience with advertising. The Coalition put the Better Ad Standards in place to clarify how content producers can best interact with viewers and serve ads in a way that is not annoying or intrusive.

The Coalition for Better Ads developed the Better Ad Standards based on “comprehensive research involving more than 25,000 consumers” while citing “Extensive consumer input and empirical data” as factors in shaping the new standards.

In a broad sense, the Better Ads Standards were implemented to create a more user-friendly online experience, ridding of the most annoying, least preferred ads on both desktop and mobile.

But what do we, as internet users, prefer the least?

What Exactly Is Google Chrome Blocking?

Google Chrome is blocking 12 types of ads across desktop and mobile (four types of desktop ads and eight types of mobile ads).

Desktop Ads

Pop-up Ads^*

This one should not come as a surprise to many.

Pop-up ads have long existed to the disdain of internet users. When considering ads as “disruptive,” nothing is quite as disruptive as an ad that pops up in front of the content a web user is trying to enjoy.

The Coalition’s website states that pop-ups “are among the most commonly cited annoyances for visitors to a website.”

People are generally not fond of anything that disrupts their experience to this level—82.2% of the sample from G2’s study said they hated email pop-ups.

Auto-playing Video Ads with Sound

We’ve all had it happen… You’re scrolling through a tremendous article when suddenly, noise erupts from somewhere unknown.

Before you realize that there’s an auto-play video ad on the page, you’re jolted from concentration and left searching for the “mute” or “close [X]” buttons.

Video ads that require a click to activate sound did not fall beneath the Better Ads Standard and are, therefore, still allowed.

Auto-play ads are a hot topic outside of Chrome’s walls.

Traditionally advertisers have opted for it due to the ability of auto-play ads to introduce words rather than just text and subtitles. While Facebook and other popular advertising ecosystems allow advertisers to launch auto-play ads, they make it just as easy for users to disable them, which many of them do.

Prestitial Ads with Countdown

Prestitial countdown ads are the ads that appear before a page’s content loads, forcing the reader to wait a few seconds before allowing them to click and continue.

The Coalition states that these ads “can disrupt users in a way that dissuades them from waiting for the countdown to finish and continuing onto their content.”

They also note that for desktop, prestitial ads without a countdown do not fall below the Better Ad Standards’ threshold for acceptability and are thus okay for publishers to use.

This begs the question: What about pre-roll ads on YouTube and popular OTT streaming services? Ads that play before content—and “count down”—are widely popular in these ecosystems and generally excepted by users.

Large Sticky Ads

Large sticky ads attach themselves to the bottom of a page of content, staying there as the user scrolls down the page. To qualify as “large,” a sticky ad must take up more than 30% of a desktop screen’s real estate.

Regardless of the device, consuming content on a full-screen is always much more preferred by viewers, especially on mobile devices that people generally hold vertically. That’s good news for advertisers as it allows them to maximize real estate on mobile devices.

Mobile Ads

Pop-up Ads

For pop-up ads, there’s not much difference between desktop and mobile. According to internet users, they’re annoying no matter where they appear.

For desktop and mobile, pop-ups with and without countdowns fall beneath the threshold for viewer acceptability.

Prestitial Ads

Prestitial mobile ads, like on desktops, appear before the content of a web page loads. The difference on mobile, however, is that all prestitial ads are restricted, not just the ones with a countdown.

On mobile, prestitial ads tend to take up more real estate, which, even without a countdown, can make them more disruptive than on desktop.

Ad Density Higher Than 30%

“Ad density is determined by summing the heights of all ads within the main content portion of a mobile page, then dividing by total height of the main content portion of the page.”

In short, within a piece of content, a publisher may not have more than 30% of the space in which that content sits being filled by advertising.

When considering the “content portion” of the page, that only means the real estate where the content sits, excluding headers, footers, and anything outside the content itself. The 30% also applies to the entire content portion of the page, the page in total, not just what is viewable on a user’s screen.

Sticky ads count toward ad density, with the height being counted toward the page’s ad density percentage. Video ads “that appear before or during video content that is relevant to the content of the page itself are not included in the measurement.”

Flashing Animated Ads

The Better Ad Standards restrict the use of “ads that animate and ‘flash’ with rapidly changing background, text or colors” because they can be “highly aggravating for consumers, and serve to create a severe distraction for them as they attempt to read the content on a given page.”

Not all animated ads are blocked on Chrome – only the ones that rapidly flash.

Auto-playing Video Ads with Sound

As they are on desktop, auto-play video ads on mobile are also restricted.

Users won’t have to worry about finding the “mute” button on Chrome for mobile anytime soon.

Postitial Ads with Countdown

Postitial countdown ads appear after a user has followed a link in a piece of content.

Once they follow a link, the ad appears with a countdown, making the user wait before they can be redirected to the page they were trying to access.

Much like prestitial ads with a countdown, users may be inclined to leave the page once they see a postitial countdown appear, as it makes them wait to enter the following page.

Full-screen Scrollover Ad

Scrollover ads are unlike inline ads, as they do not move with the content on a page but instead sit on top of it.

Scrollover ads, in a certain sense, can almost be looked at as something similar to a pop-up since they lay on top of content, obstructing it from view.

The Coalition for Better Ads refers to these ads as “disorienting” for mobile users, as they may distract users from the content they’re trying to read.

Large Sticky Ads

On mobile web browsers, large sticky ads can appear on more than just the bottom of the page but serve the same static disruption that sticky ads do on desktop browsers.

* All images and quotations used above are from https://www.betterads.org/standards/. Visit the site to see the full breakdown of the Better Ads Standards.

What happens to violators?

Sites that violate Google Chrome’s ad blocker and use at least one of these ad types will first be notified by Google that they are violating the Better Ad Standards and given 30 days to remedy the issue.

If the site owner repeatedly violates the new standards and ignores Google’s notifications for those 30 days, only then will Chrome start blocking all of the ads on that site.

So, while Google is putting in great efforts to make online advertising better for everyone, the metaphorical gavel is not being dropped on violators as quickly as many had initially anticipated.

Still, the risk of a publisher losing all their online advertising is likely not something they want to play around with.

There is no question that these changes are, at the least, the beginning of a much better user experience with advertising on the internet.

This brings us to our next topic: What else is Google doing to tackle the user experience.

Google Sunsets Third-Party Cookies

Stricker ad-blocking standards aren’t the only measure Google is taking to ensure the millions of people who use its browser don’t get tired of ads.

Google is also sunsetting third-party cookies in 2024 (after delaying it for several years). The delay not only gives Google more time to test its Privacy Sandbox but gives advertisers more time to prepare for a world without their beloved third-party cookies.

The impending deprecation is understandably concerning for advertisers, considering more than 80% of senior marketers in the U.S. rely on third-party cookies.

Third-party cookie alternatives

So, what will advertisers use when Google says goodbye to third-party cookies next year?

If they want to advertise on Chrome, Google’s Privacy Sandbox will likely be the solution. But other alternatives exist, including The Trade Desk’s Unified ID 2.0, which allows for targeted advertising without revealing the end user’s true identity. Other likely third-party-cookie alternatives are email addresses and phone numbers.

Outside of Google’s walls, retail media will continue to gain steam as consumer brands capitalize on first-party shopper data.

For more insights, sign up for MediaRadar’s blog here.