Digiday

When major marketers like Unilever are saying they’re dramatically increasing their ad spending on influencer marketing, the agencies who manage influencer marketing are, naturally, chomping at the bit to get those ad dollars. But when everyone, even more traditional ad agencies, are after brand dollars — in a market where most ad budgets are tightening — what separates the best when it comes to influencer marketing agencies from the rest? How do marketers and creators sort through the ever-expanding list of influencer marketing agencies and figure out who to work with? “I look for a team that’s flexible, collaborative and genuinely invested in helping solve problems as they arise — going beyond just executing tasks to acting as true strategic partners,” said Amy Moussa, manager of social media and digital partnerships for restaurant company Qdoba Mexican Eats - Urban Eats LLC, which works with creator marketing agency Open Influence. In this piece by Antoinette S., we speak to Mike Vannelli, Becky Owen of Billion Dollar Boy, Tina Cartwright, Hunter Vought, Keith Bendes of Linqia, and valentin pechot of Louce . https://lnkd.in/eMrtq8s3

Publishers are deeply frustrated. After years of preparing for the deprecation of third-party cookies, Google’s u-turn this week has landed like a slap. The sense of betrayal is sharp, but so is the sense that they’ve been led on a wild goose chase — an expensive, time-sapping exercise that now feels, in part, like farce. The irony of the announcement, mere days after the DOJ ruled that Google has abused its dominance in the ad tech ecosystem, is lost on no one. And yet, most publishers concede the effort wasn’t a waste. The pressure did force them to get serious about first-party data — tightening up systems, rethinking relationships with audiences, and, in some cases, laying the groundwork for more resilient businesses, according to 10 publishers Digiday spoke to for this article. Still, it’s hard not to feel like they’ve been running in circles while Google kept moving the finish line. In this piece by Jessica Davies and Sara Guaglione, we speak to Amit Grover of Redfin. https://lnkd.in/eUAiFRqy

The digital advertising industry has spent the last five years preparing for a cookieless future. This week, they’re looking for ways to make that feel less like a wasted effort, following Google’s latest policy reversal. Facing legal challenges and industry pushback, Google has opted to retain the cookie in its popular Chrome browser after all, instead allowing users to manage settings through its existing privacy tools. Google’s own Privacy Sandbox initiative, which aimed to enhance privacy while supporting digital advertising, will stick around, at least for now. The decision has prompted a collective eye-roll from media experts. “It’s a little disappointing to be going through this for the last five years, marching toward this post-cookie era and getting to a point where there’s no final decision,” said Kyle Rovinski, associate director of search at full service agency Duncan Channon. Now, marketers face less pressure to adopt alternative identifiers or cookieless approaches. It’s as if the deadline for a major exam has been indefinitely postponed; their motivation to study has disappeared. 📰 Read the full story here: https://lnkd.in/exAkTxg9 In this piece by Sam Bradley, we also speak to Mathieu Roche of ID5.io, Matt Wilke of Mediaplus UK, Laura Kell of Havas Media Network, Tim Lathrop of Mediassociates, John Thankamony of dentsu, Martin Wexler of Acxiom, Ryan Eusanio of Omnicom Media Group, and Jonathan D'Souza-Rauto of Kepler.

For travel and hospitality brands, challenges revolve around reaching potential guests and proving that marketing efforts lead to actual bookings. Windstar Cruises could see online interactions, but couldn’t link them directly to bookings. By partnering with Experian and MMGY, Windstar implemented a data-driven strategy that closed the loop between digital interactions and offline bookings, resulting in over 6,500 attributed bookings. Sponsored by Experian. https://lnkd.in/e4rN-MPP

In a shocking development, Google won’t roll out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies in Chrome, meaning ad tech companies can still use the targeting technology in the world’s most popular web browser. It’s a move that amounts to a U-turn on the Chrome team’s earlier updated approach to deprecating third-party cookies, announced in July last year, with the latest development bound to cause ructions across the ad tech ecosystem. “We’ve made the decision to maintain our current approach to offering users third-party cookie choice in Chrome, and will not be rolling out a new standalone prompt for third-party cookies,” wrote Anthony Chavez, vp of Privacy Sandbox at Google, in a blog post published earlier today (April 22). “Users can continue to choose the best option for themselves in Chrome’s Privacy and Security Settings.” However, it’s not the end of Privacy Sandbox, according to Google, as certain initiatives incubated within the project are set to continue, such as its IP Protection for Chrome Incognito users, which will be rolled out in Q3. 📰 Read the full story by Ronan Shields here: https://lnkd.in/eUKdgKYT

As more vendors rebrand automation as agents, established giants and startups alike are challenged to show agentic AI delivers real business value — not just hype. Among the most ambitious is Salesforce, which aims to do for AI what it did for enterprise software. Last week, Salesforce highlighted growth for its Data Cloud and Agentforce platforms, reporting $900 million in annual recurring revenue for fiscal 2025 and 3,000 net-new Agentforce deals in the fourth quarter. The company is pitching these tools as the foundation tapping into what it sees as a potential $6 trillion “digital labor market” — which comprises AI agents powering marketing, sales, and service workflows. In this piece by Marty Swant, we speak to Rahul Auradkar, and Andrew Frank of Gartner. https://lnkd.in/ejKbRAWi

Brands looking to reach Roblox users in 2025 are finding themselves inundated with competing pitches from Roblox over how to best advertise on the platform — and some are deciding to spend their marketing dollars elsewhere — or temporarily pause spend — as a result of the confusion. Three executives at Roblox studios — the metaverse platform’s version of influencer marketing agencies, which help design branded experiences or integrate brands into pre-existing experiences — told Digiday that confusion over the platform’s competing ad visions in 2025 had caused a brand they were negotiating with to decide not to enter Roblox, though all three declined to name the specific brands to avoid damaging potential deals, and two requested anonymity to preserve business relationships. In this piece by Alexander Lee, we speak to Nate Spell of Barrier Four, and Ben Spoont of Misfits Gaming Group. https://lnkd.in/ebpGs6jf

For all the increasing attention being paid to business outcome measurement, reach and frequency remain the main metrics for ads running across connected TV platforms and streaming services. So as this year’s upfront negotiations near, it’s worth asking: To what extent are advertisers reaching audiences on CTV and how often? Welp, when it comes to reach, the answer is not enough. In 2024, the average CTV ad campaign running through Innovid’s ad tech platform – which spans 95 million U.S. households – only reached 19.6% of those households, according to Innovid’s latest “CTV Advertising Insights Report,” which is being published on today. In other words, the average CTV ad campaign last year failed to reach four-fifths of the total addressable audience. Now, to what extent can advertisers even conceivably hope to reach every CTV household in the age of audience fragmentation is a valid question, as is the consideration of how costly and cost-effective it would be to do so. But still. That the average CTV ad campaign reached shy of 20% of households “is low,” said Innovid CEO and co-founder Zvika Netter in an interview. Story by Tim Peterson. https://lnkd.in/eYJVEc7w

When the economy wobbles, most marketers ease off the gas. Amazon is telling them to floor it — on its ads, naturally. It’s a predictable pitch from a media owner. But Amazon isn’t just any seller of ad space. It can draw a straight line from impression to impact — be it a sale or a sentiment shift. That’s compelling in any climate but especially when every marketing dollar has to prove its worth. “The depth of Amazon’s customer data and its massive scale and reach are substantial advantages in this environment,” said Sky Canaves, principal analyst, retail and e-commerce at EMARKETER. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/e7-tJHwC In story Krystal Scanlon and Seb Joseph, we also speak to Claire Holubowskyj of Enders Analysis.

It’s been nearly a week since U.S. District Judge Leonie Brinkema ruled that Google illegally monopolized the tools that direct how ad dollars flow across the internet. The moment felt, briefly, like vindication for publishers. After years of mounting frustration, they finally saw their suspicions ratified in a courtroom. Google hadn’t just dominated the open web — it had done so illegally. And yet, few publishers are rushing to celebrate. Because as clear as the verdict was, the path forward is anything but. Google’s likeliest appeasement to the verdict — a forced divesture of its ad server and exchange — may take years to materialize. And, even if it happens, it may fall short of what many industry observers are hoping for. “The implications are still incredibly unclear,” said the commercial lead at a publisher in the U.S., who exchanged their candor on the subject for anonymity. “No one really knows what this will mean in practice, especially with appeals likely to stretch out for years.” Story by Seb Joseph and Jessica Davies. https://lnkd.in/erDcEmVy