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 continuing story is marketers’ quest for better media measurement, in particular for connected TV and other video channels. Along those lines, smart TV audience measurement vendor VideoAmp has just announced a deal to measure cross-screen campaign results for Warner Brothers Discovery.
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.
It’s tough to get brand safety right, but the industry keeps trying. IPG Mediabrands announced a new set of tools to find and block inappropriate ad placements, while IAS expanded its suitability measurements to include standards from the Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM). Meanwhile, DoubleVerify admitted a mistake made brand safety on X/Twitter look worse than it really was in October 2023 and March 2024.