Marketing tech

Marketing tech

In 2021, Apple tweaked its privacy rules to make it harder for app developers to track their users across the internet. This created a massive problem for social media platforms, because without access to users' browsing data, they could no longer target them accurately for advertising purposes. Millions of people in developed markets like the U.S. use Apple's iPhone to access social media, so this was a gigantic sea change.

While that influx of big advertisers is good news for podcast companies, it also makes it more challenging for small- to mid-sized brands to stand out in the space. After all, host-read ads became popular among startup and DTC brands initially because it was a relatively untapped space, and they gave listeners an authentic, direct call to action through a unique promo code.

"I wanted revenue predictability, and so every deal that we did this year and for next year, we did on an annualized basis, and so I pitched every advertiser that we were basically building like a kind of Formula One team," Hays told Axios' Eleanor Hawkins.

In a move that could clean up one of programmatic advertising's messier processes, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its proposed Deals API for public comment. The new spec introduces a standardized way for supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-side platforms (DSPs) to sync deal data-cutting down on the manual errors that often derail private marketplace (PMP) transactions. The public comment period runs through the end of January,

Marketers instinctively know that better data and higher-quality media drive better outcomes. But bad habits are sticky and they die hard, said Jamie Barnard , CEO of Compliant, a startup that tracks data quality standards across digital media. The ad industry has "a volume-based mentality," said Barnard, who knows that struggle firsthand. He spent nearly 16 years at Unilever as its general counsel focused on global marketing, media and ecommerce before leaving in 2022.

Adnami, a leading attention-first ad tech company, is expanding its European footprint with the opening of a new office in Amsterdam, following strong growth in the Dutch market and the company's continued international expansion.

"A press release really lends itself to AI, because if you think about it, if you're talking about your company or your you're putting out expert knowledge," Jeppsen explained during a recent Tech Talk at Ragan's Future of Communications Conference. "You are the domain expert. You are factual. You've got a framework ... that resonates, and not only humans read it that way, but then AI tries to read it like a human."

AdPlayer.Pro, a global provider of digital video advertising technologies, has enriched its video ad format suite with the performance-driven Interstitial Video Ads 2.0. According to the company's announcement, the full-screen, fully closable upon viewer action, Interstitial video format can deliver maximum ad viewability for advertisers, while maintaining a non-intrusive user experience with the ad. The newly introduced Interstitial Video Ads 2.0 are also completely customisable and fully configurable on a publisher's end, in line with their specific monetisation tactics and technical setups,

"I think there are two tracks in terms of how it changes things. The first is the self-service... we will launch Commerce Go as a self-service tool by the end of Q1 next year. That means an advertiser can go online, put in their credit card information, and have campaigns up and running in 10 minutes. It is competitive with some of the self-service tools from Meta with Advantage+ or from Google with Performance Max"

MrBeast is building out a platform to match creators and marketers, the CEO of the top YouTuber's company said at The New York Times' DealBook Summit on Wednesday. Jeffrey Housenbold, CEO of Beast Industries, said the company was "building a two-sided marketplace in a global creator platform, matching creators with Fortune 1,000 marketers who want to be able to access the creator influencer economy in an efficient way to be able to build demand for their products and services."

Posh's blend of community and commerce captures the theme of this year's Under 30 Marketing & Advertising class of founders and marketing leaders turning fast-moving technologies into new engines of creativity and connection. As the boundaries between tech, entertainment and advertising blur, these innovators are building tools, platforms and campaigns that reflect how people actually engage with brands today. Some are leveraging AI to reimagine the creative process.

The vendor landscape is turning into a sea of sameness. So what's worthwhile and what's worth chucking in the bin? The best way to separate AI hype from reality is to roll up your sleeves and try out the tech for yourself, says Ikkjin Ahn, CEO and co-founder of machine learning-based ad tech startup Moloco, on this week's episode of AdExchanger Talks. It's like watching a movie, he says. How do you know if it's good before you even try it?

Media shops organized around a simple machine: More client cash flowing through their pipes means more revenue. Fees. Volume incentives. Data leverage. Margin on margin. Their economics compound. A dollar placed becomes infrastructure for the next dollar. Creative agencies built the opposite. Every idea is a bespoke project. Every campaign starts from scratch. Deliver, invoice, repeat. There's no compounding. No flywheel. Just craft sold by the hour.

Conversations Inbox - Keeps customer communication organized across email, chat, and social channels. Small business owners can now respond faster, prioritize conversations and stay on top of every customer interaction - all in one place. Marketing Calendar and Social Posts Agents - Helps small businesses plan and launch marketing campaigns and create social posts, videos, and blog content for channels like Facebook, Instagram and more, driving engagement and saving countless hours each week.

Multimodal AI represents the next frontier in AI, enabling machines to understand and evaluate multiple data types, providing greater understanding and flexibility than a single data type could ever offer. In this WTF explainer guide, Digiday and Dstillery explore what multimodal AI is, how to apply it in real-world settings, its benefits to advertisers and how it's well-positioned to solve current and future challenges.

To help B2B marketers drive the bottom line and grow their business, the networking platform is debuting a suite of new marketing products and services. The updates include new ad formats, including in-stream video ads, inbox-placed 'conversation ads' as well as 'thought leader ads,' whereby content from executives or other employees is boosted. The new ad formats will be available beginning in July.

Magenta Telekom and Readpeak boost awareness and activations with native content-driven creatives, reaching people as they travel outside of the EU. Roaming charges whilst abroad are always a source of concern when visitors and holidaymakers are travelling outside of the EU. These worries often lead to people avoiding using their mobile data abroad altogether. To combat this, Magenta Telekom introduced travel packages for non-EU countries allowing customers to easily activate these packages online, by phone, or through the MeinMagenta app.

Shopping has always been a game. And now it's being rigged against you. This is the story of a little piece of technology that you have been taking for granted. Almost every time you've gone to the store, this little guy has been fighting for you. It's called the price tag. And over the past decade, companies have been on a secret mission to kill it without you noticing.

Adform, the most powerful and safe media buying platform built for game changers, announces the next chapter in its partnership with Spotify, the world's most popular audio streaming subscription service. The direct integration of Adform into the Spotify Ad Exchange makes it easier and more effective for advertisers to reach and engage Spotify fans at scale. With the market projected to reach USD$43bn (£32.5bn) this year, this partnership is poised to supercharge advertisers' audio investments and strengthen omnichannel strategies.References: WARC. 2025. "The Big Picture: Audio 2025." WARC. https://www.warc.com/content/paywall/article/the-big-picture-audio-2025/en-gb/en-GB/159947?