Top Ad Tech Trends to Watch in 2024
Here are the six top ad tech trends to consider as you plan for 2024.
Top 2024 ad tech trends
Next year is poised to be a pivotal one for ad tech, marked by increased collaboration, disruption, and innovation across the industry. As the impending death of the third-party cookie looms and with the backdrop of a significant election year in the US, the industry is gearing up for transformative changes. Underpinning all of this change, we’ll see a greater focus on driving value, boosting efficiency, and improving sustainability.
Published December 7, 2023
The industry will redefine value throughout the supply chain
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Widespread adoption of industry standards will unlock scale and innovation
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Programmatic will continue to accelerate streaming TV advertising
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Streaming TV will steal the political advertising spotlight
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Third-party cookie deprecation will transform addressability in advertising
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Sustainability and DE&I initiatives will drive real change across the ad industry
Read more1. The industry will redefine value throughout the supply chain
The ad tech industry is experiencing a paradigm shift as it redefines value throughout the supply chain. This transformation is primarily driven by a renewed focus on supply path optimization (SPO) and an industry-wide push for safety, quality, and sustainability.
Media buyers will prioritize partners that can prove they’re driving efficiency and delivering genuine value. This naturally will lead to further consolidation on the supply side in 2024. However, choice will remain paramount, and consolidation doesn’t mean we’ll see one dominant player. Rather, these SPO efforts will squeeze out inefficiencies and ultimately will strengthen the marketplace as players across the industry adapt.
Learn more about unlocking efficiency and value in programmatic
2. Widespread adoption of industry standards will unlock scale and innovation
Standards play a pivotal role in enabling scale and innovation within the ad tech landscape, and we’ll see this in action in 2024. OpenRTB 2.6, first released in 2022, is reaching a level of adoption that will be a tipping point in achieving programmatic scale in streaming TV. The ad podding features it introduces improve the viewer experience, increase revenue for media owners, maximize media investments for buyers, and reduce carbon emissions throughout the supply chain.
Simultaneously, app-ads.txt adoption is improving in streaming TV. By combating fraud and ensuring transparency, app-ads.txt will be instrumental in establishing trust and attracting more ad spend from buyers in emerging channels like streaming TV. The relationship between innovation and industry standards is a dynamic one, and widespread adoption will allow the industry to move and scale faster.
3. Programmatic will continue to accelerate streaming TV advertising
With greater adoption of industry standards and advancements in the underlying infrastructure, programmatic is gaining ground in streaming. With the ability to reach diverse audiences at scale, an ever-growing library of premium programming, and supply chain transparency reaching new highs, brands are eager to invest in streaming while taking advantage of the control and efficiency programmatic provides.
This trend isn’t limited to established brands. In 2024, we’ll also see spend increase from brands venturing into streaming for the first time and performance marketers seeking new avenues for investment.
Learn more about understanding programmatic advertising in streaming TV
4. Streaming TV will steal the political advertising spotlight
The political landscape of 2024 is set to witness historic highs in ad spend, particularly in streaming TV. Projections indicate that this election cycle will bring in an unprecedented $11 billion in political ad spend, with a substantial $1.8 billion allocated to streaming TV (Vivvix CMAG, 2023). Streaming TV was a novel addition to many political media plans during the 2020 national election, but the drastic viewership growth and ad tech advancements since then make it a powerful and necessary investment in 2024.
The diverse and expansive audience of streaming TV, a large portion of which is no longer reachable via traditional linear campaigns, presents a unique opportunity for political buyers. Programmatic streaming TV provides a level of control and flexibility unmatched by traditional channels, as marketers can reach a specific audience, in a specific location, at a specific time, all while measuring and optimizing campaigns mid-flight.
Learn more about Inventory Packages for political advertising in 2024
5. Third-party cookie deprecation will transform addressability in advertising
Addressability will be top of mind for media owners, buyers, and tech platforms in 2024 as Google nears its deadline for third-party cookie deprecation in Chrome. This will profoundly impact the ease of programmatic buying, necessitating a new approach to addressability that enables effective advertising while protecting consumer privacy.
This shift will be a seismic one, but there are new solutions available to preserve addressability. Everyone across the industry will need to invest in testing and adopting these new solutions to prepare for a privacy-centric future.
Google’s Privacy Sandbox offers a series of alternative solutions to cookie-based advertising, but will require a concerted industry effort in 2024 for a seamless transition. Testing is underway and will scale when Google disables third-party cookies on 1% of Chrome traffic in Q1. At the same time, the value of authentication in advertising is only increasing. Alternative ID solutions like Unified ID 2.0 and RampID are reaching scale, unlocking efficiency for buyers and improving revenue for media owners.
6. Sustainability and DE&I initiatives will drive real change across the ad industry
Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives will take center stage in 2024. In particular, companies are recognizing that investing in sustainability and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) is imperative for long-term business growth. Consumers are a driving force behind these efforts, as they’re choosing to support brands that align with their sustainability and diversity values. In turn, brands are implementing comprehensive strategies across their businesses and agencies are increasingly evaluating partners based not only on their commitment to ESG, but also on their measurable progress.
The groundswell we witnessed around improving sustainability in the last year is now evolving into tangible action. With support from several industry bodies, many companies have begun to measure their baseline carbon footprint and subsequent emissions reductions. We’ll see a similar progression when it comes to DE&I, as companies begin to use measurement frameworks like BRIDGE IMAX to assess their maturity and build more inclusive organizations.
Next year represents an opportune moment for the industry to drive real change, aligning advertising practices with societal values and contributing to a more inclusive and sustainable future.
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