As the ad world descends upon Vegas for CES, streaming services from Netflix to Amazon to Disney are turning out in force. Then, all the intrigue unearthed from the lawsuit that pitted LG Electronics against the startup it acquired, Alphonso (now LG Ads).

The end of third-party cookies is upon us, and independent ad tech is diverging on the best approach for cookieless targeting. Meanwhile, agencies and marketers are zooming out from programmatic to a bigger picture that’s focused on first-party data.

In 2023, supply-path optimization took off, brands took their scalpels to made-for-advertising websites and DSPs and SSPs launched SPO products to cut down on hops. Plus: lessons from the year in data privacy.

Marketers are choosing either Nielsen or alternative currencies (or both) for TV measurement. Learn what’s ahead for alternative currencies in 2024. Plus: the latest outlook on programmatic audio.

Marketers are wasting 25% of their ad spend on inefficiencies and made-for-advertising websites, and the ANA thinks consolidation and education are the solutions. Plus: In 2024, ad spend will grow, but at a slower rate than 2023. And streamers will grapple with CTV’s rising ad spend and linear TV’s accelerating decline.

Google search ads appear on a host of unsavory and offensive sites, according to recent Adalytics research. And without any transparent reporting from Google, marketers can’t do anything about it.

This week we take a look at the rise of new specialist DSPs that thrive in respective categories, regardless of the power of omnichannel giants. Also, why targeting US Hispanic audiences – and targeting by language and ethnicity in general – has been so messy and inaccurate.

Ad tech companies are being graded on transparency and compliance with sharing log-file data. The use of log file data for advertisers is discussed, including its value as a transparent source of information. UID 2.0 in CTV advertising is explored, along with its benefits and limitations. Disney's recent updates to their ad capabilities on Disney Plus are highlighted. Paramount's CTV ad platform and the rise of programmatic in CTV are also discussed.

As Omnicom’s $835 million acquisition of commerce specialists Flywheel Digital attests, commerce media is flush. Then, why the most sophisticated and data-rich programmatic marketers are intrigued by custom algorithms.

The impact of tech on monetization – from SPO sustainability initiatives to the looming end of the cookie and the challenges of implementing its replacements – has publishers feeling jaded. Plus, for retail media fans: inside the Pantry Wars.