蘑菇AV

The number of US ad tech mergers and acquisitions nearly doubled from 2023 to 2024, per Luma Partners. We could see T-Mobile鈥檚 deals inspire other firms to scramble to buy up smaller or highly specialized ad tech players to expand offerings.

When Apple, which pledged $500 million to US manufacturing, faced UK pressure for an iCloud encryption backdoor, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard called it 鈥渁 clear and egregious violation of Americans鈥� privacy and civil liberties,鈥� per The Associated Press. Gabbard asked the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other US agencies to review the request.

Publicis strengthens AI and first-party data strategy: The Lotame acquisition enhances its identity solutions, adding 4 billion customer profiles and expanding Epsilon鈥檚 AI-powered ad targeting.

US linear TV ad spend is shrinking (8.0% YoY) as connected TV (CTV) ad spend grows (21.2% YoY). This year, US CTV ad spend will total $25.09 billion while linear will total $61.31 billion.

Although traditional radio advertising remains a $10.5 billion business in the US, it鈥檚 slowly shrinking. Digital audio advertising, by contrast, will grow 6.8% in 2024 to reach $7.12 billion.

While 2025鈥檚 projected ad spend shows the industry is healthy, there may be some challenges for major agencies, which have seen a decreasing share of US ad spend over the past several years, per Advertiser Perceptions.

And to attract ad dollars, streaming services need data and tech capabilities as well as a big audience to sell against. Bundles can help streaming services gain ad-supported viewers, which is critical for scale. In turn, scale is needed to attract ad budgets. CTV proponents love to talk up its advanced data and targeting capabilities.

Programmatic advertising will account for 91.3% of US digital display ad spend this year, or a total of $157.35 billion, per our December 2023 forecast. Last week, advertisers at Programmatic I/O discussed where those ad dollars are headed and how programmatic advertising is changing. From ad spend waste to the expansion of retail media, here are three big trends discussed at the event.

Post-relisting, TikTok skyrocketed past US rivals in downloads, reclaiming its dominance while RedNote, once a rising competitor, struggles to keep users.

Whether social media can replace linear TV is debatable. But there鈥檚 no question that it鈥檚 a strong contender for linear TV鈥檚 audience and ad dollars.

狈别虫迟诲辞辞谤鈥檚 ad growth in Q4 was a bright spot, but 2025 will be a stress test for its business model as it prioritizes engagement over immediate ad revenues. AI will be at the core of 狈别虫迟诲辞辞谤鈥檚 future monetization. Tolia detailed how the company plans to use AI to structure historical user conversations into actionable, monetizable content, creating an entirely new ad targeting mechanism.

The Trade Desk and publishers push for a more efficient open internet: Media leaders see programmatic as a way to unlock ad opportunities while reducing reliance on walled gardens and improving supply chain transparency.

Our take: Including creators in its campaign can help Visa make the most of its ad spend. Sponsored content from influencers can be a strong tool in generating brand awareness, and it鈥檚 especially impactful for reaching younger audiences, which Visa is targeting with this campaign.

WBD grows streaming profits as TV revenues decline: It added 6.4 million Max subscribers, but TV ad declines and cord-cutting continue.

AppLovin faces fraud allegations from short sellers: Accusations of deceptive ad practices and data misuse put the firm under pressure; leadership denies the claims.

Walmart looks to make it easier for advertisers to buy its display ads: Walmart Connect鈥檚 new API should help it attract more ad dollars from smaller brands and marketplace sellers.