How technology is changing the face of the advertising business

• Technology has upended the advertising business.
• Consumer privacy controls and changing shopper behavior are forcing advertisers to overhaul how they message to people.
• Here's a breakdown of Insider's coverage of how ad buyers and sellers are impacted.

The advertising industry is going through big changes as technology changes upend consumer habits and where and how marketers reach people.

Apple and Google's privacy moves are threatening longstanding ad targeting practices. The adoption of streaming TV and online shopping have given rise to new advertising sellers.

These trends have fueled new agencies specializing in digital advertising and led to a flurry of deals and investment in ad tech companies.

Meanwhile, metaverse hype has advertisers and their agencies seizing on the chance to market to people as they interact in virtual spaces.

Here's a roundup of Insider's coverage of how these trends are shaking up advertising's biggest players, including WPP, Omnicom, Google, and Amazon.

The crackdown on ad tracking is upending advertising

Google and Apple are putting an end to longstanding ad targeting practices in the name of consumer privacy.

Those moves have led marketers, their agencies, and tech intermediaries like LiveRamp and The Trade Desk scrambling to find new ways to reach consumers.

Read more:

• Meet 29 power players transforming Google's multi-billion dollar ad business for the privacy era
• The ad industry's most promising replacement for ad-targeting cookies just suffered a big setback
• 14 power players from companies like Google and Facebook who are determining the future of digital advertising
• Google's move away from targeted advertising threatens to upend marketers' scramble to save digital ads
• The ad industry is looking for a way to save targeted ads, but publishers worry it'll cheapen their reader relationships and cost them revenue

Marketing meets tech

Companies from Nike to Peloton are trying to survive the privacy changes by finding new ways to zap ads at people or snapping up ad tech and martech companies.

They're also trying to capitalize on gaming and other elements of the metaverse as people flock to virtual spaces.

Read more:

• Peloton, Match Group, Wayfair and others all mentioned Apple's privacy changes on their Q3 earnings calls. Here's how marketers are shifting their ad spend in the wake of the update.
• Direct-to-consumer brands are shifting to old-school marketing tactics like direct mail as Apple's privacy changes wreak havoc on ad campaigns
• Madison Avenue wants a slice of the metaverse action — but some advertisers are wary about its lack of guardrails
• 16 privacy tech companies helping marketers like McDonald's and Disney survive the phaseout of ad-targeting cookies
• Meet 19 execs at companies like Adobe and Shopify who are shaping the future of marketing tech
• Big brands like Nike and Neiman Marcus are snapping up tech companies to learn more about their customers as old ways of ad targeting go away
• 21 advertising execs who are finding new ways to target people in a privacy-centric world

Adtech is hot again

The rise of streaming TV and online shopping has benefitted adtech companies.

Investors are scrambling to invest in firm like TVision DoubleVerify that are solving digital advertising problems and taking on incumbents like Nielsen. Other firms are benefitting from the public markets as Wall Street falls in love with adtech.

Read more:

• 42 rising stars of adtech who are solving advertisers' toughest problems
• The 21 hottest adtech companies of 2021
• Check out these 29 pitch decks that advertising and media startups used to raise millions
• How Terence Kawaja, part banker, part comedian, became adtech's most powerful dealmaker in a banner year for M&A
• Digital ad giant The Trade Desk is on a hiring spree, with many roles paying over $100,000. Here's how much you could make in sales, engineering, marketing, and more.
• Intuit's $12 billion deal to buy Mailchimp could kick off a wave of email M&A. Here's who insiders think will be the new buyers, and who they'll be targeting.
• TV ratings giant Nielsen has lost the media industry's backing. These 6 companies could replace it.
• The Trade Desk is taking on Google for digital ad dollars, and the battle is about to get more complicated
• 9 adtech companies that advertisers are flocking to for new ways to zap ads at people and measure whether they work

Ad agencies are getting disrupted

While the giant holding companies scramble to adapt to the shift to digital, new, digital-focused ad companies armed with investor backing are rising to take their place.

Read more:

• 2022 is shaping up to be a big year for advertising M&A. Here are 10 trends to expect, from a jump in e-commerce ad deals to a surge in event marketing interest.
• TripleLift just snapped up a firm to boost its targeting abilities. Here are 11 other companies that are top M&A targets in 2022 as marketers pour money into data analytics and the metaverse.
• 12 advertising upstarts that are challenging ad giants like WPP and Omnicom
• 24 agency executives leading advertisers' charge into the metaverse and Web3
• Dept is one of the fastest-growing advertising companies. Its CEO explains the Carlyle-backed firm's plan to become the leading digital agency.
• 13 power players at S4 Capital helping Sir Martin Sorrell build a digital challenger to ad giant WPP
• 8 of the most promising tech startups in public relations, according to investors
• Experts name 12 companies that are likely acquisition targets as online shopping takes off

Retailers are seeking a piece of the ad pie

With the rise of online shopping, a new set of companies from grocers to drug stores is jumping on the opportunity to sell advertising. They're hoping to replicate the success of Amazon, which has quietly become the third biggest digital ad business after Google and Meta.

• Amazon's advertising revenue is $31 billion and growing. Here's everything we know about its booming ad business.
• Retailers are building their own ad businesses to compete with Amazon. Here's the latest news on Walmart, Instacart, and more.
• Insiders break down Amazon Advertising's aggressive new push to win over big marketers like P&G with a new sales structure and help from AWS
• Uber just hired a top Amazon advertising exec. Here are 45 other big hires that show how it and other companies are warring for advertising dollars
• 18 firms that are helping solve marketers' giant problems selling and advertising on Amazon