CDP Institute

Let’s look at some of the story lines we expect to track this year.  One will be increasingly successful attacks on the once-invincible Tech Lords at Google, Meta, and Amazon.  This ProPublic report offers new ammunition, finding that Google Display Network is exceptionally lax in blocking placements on sites that host fraud, porn, disinformation, and other bad things.

Another unfolding drama is the struggle for success by social commerce – that is, buying through social media platforms rather than traditional ecommerce sites.  Marketers are excited but consumers are skeptical.  This GoodFirms report takes an optimistic view but still finds that 89% of social commerce buyers had a problem of some sort.

The tech world will see a continued shift towards self-service by business users, both in data access and application development.  It’s a rare convergence of interest between business users, who want more control over their fate, and IT staff, who want to focus on other things.  This Forrester report for Airtable highlights the problems, finding that large organizations use an average of 367 software apps and systems, and knowledge workers spend 30% of their time looking for data.

Welcome to 2023, Dear Reader.  This eMarketer study highlights the end of some trends that seemed eternal: Google is losing search share and Amazon’s share of ecommerce growth has stalled.  The action is shifting to retail media and connected TV.  Adjust your expectations accordingly.

B2B data provider Madison Logic is starting the year with a new parent: private equity firm BC Partner last week bought a majority stake from previous owner Clarion Capital Partners for a reported $750 million.  Clarion bought Madison Logic in 2016 for an undisclosed amount.

Digital asset management vendor Bynder also swapped parents last month.  Private equity investor Thomas H. Lee Partners bought a majority stake in the company, including the portion owned by Insight Partners.  The deal is said to value Bynder at $600 million.