How will the latest legislation out of Europe and the United States impact digital advertising in 2025 and beyond?
It’s been a busy few years for digital advertising industry regulators, with new regulations taking effect around the US and new legislation popping up across the globe. What’s the latest, and how will it impact advertising and marketing professionals?
While the United States has taken its time determining how to handle Big Tech regulation, the European Union has embraced its reputation as the world’s fiercest tech regulator.
Unrestrained by free speech rules like America’s First Amendment, the EU has taken the lead on matters like consumer privacy (with GDPR), walled gardens like Apple’s App Store and the Google Play Store (with the Digital Markets Act), and misinformation and hyper-personal ad targeting on social media (with the Digital Services Act).
Though some requirements of the Digital Services Act (DSA) came into effect in 2023, with “Very Large Online Platforms” and “Very Large Online Search Engines” being subject to the law’s stipulations, it wasn’t until February 2024 that all platforms became subject to its broader implementation and enforcement. The law compels social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to dedicate more resources to stomping out misinformation and hate speech on their platforms, and bans any targeted online ads that are based on an individual’s ethnicity, religion, or sexual orientation. Google and Meta are also now subject to annual audits to uncover “systemic risks” related to their social assets, search engines are required to suppress misleading search results, and even Amazon will have to comply with new rules aimed at curbing the sale of illegal products. Since the Digital Services Act went into effect, the European Commission has aggressively enforced it: X has been under investigation since 2023, while the Commission opened formal proceedings against Facebook and Instagram in 2024 to assess compliance.
While the DSA has somewhat inhibited targeting precision in the region, it is also helping to foster safer advertising environments—particularly on social media—helping both brands and users enjoy a more hospitable digital ecosystem. With brand safety looking like an increasingly-elusive proposition in the United States, an internet with less misinformation and more trust sounds downright novel, providing marketers with some welcome upside in the face of targeting limitations.
As for the Digital Markets Act, in September 2023, the EU designated six companies—Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, and Microsoft—as “gatekeepers” under this regulation. Though TikTok and Meta appealed this designation and Apple filed a legal challenge to the DMA itself, these tech giants have been forced to make changes to meet the rules and requirements outlined in the DMA, such as allowing users to choose different default browsers and search engines, download iPhone apps outside of Apple’s App store, and control how their personal online data is used.
Altogether, social media platforms face strict regulation in the EU—and serious consequences when they breach the bloc's privacy laws. Meta learned this the hard way, incurring a nearly $1.3 billion penalty for transferring user data between the United States and countries in the EU and the European Economic Area. It’s the biggest penalty an EU regulator has levied on a tech company since 2021 and a clear signal that privacy compliance is non-negotiable. That said, the EU-US Data Privacy Framework should hopefully help prevent similar data flow-related fines and confusion going forward.
Back stateside, industry regulation is a bit more decentralized—at least, for now. While federal-level legislation has mostly lingered in congressional purgatory, 11 new state-level data privacy acts have already taken effect this year—with many more set to take effect throughout 2025.
The broadest and most impactful of these enacted state-level regulations is the California Privacy Rights Act, aka CPRA. Building off the foundation of 2018’s groundbreaking California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), the act created a California Privacy Protection Agency that’s dedicated to (and responsible for) enforcing the law—indicative of increased enforcement—while also reducing ambiguity around how to interpret some of the data-related aspects of the law. The CPRA now requires companies to give consumers the opportunity to not only opt out of the sale of their personal information, but also of giving or sharing that data with someone else, including a third party that might use it for cross-context behavioral advertising.
As Basis General Counsel Derek Zolner put it, “Essentially, the CCPA, CPRA, and the other data privacy acts that are popping up around the US are establishing legal enforcement mechanisms around personal control of one’s personal data and codifying many of the core principals of our industry—namely, transparency, notice, and the right to opt out. Only now, instead of the industry self-regulating these matters, state governments are intervening to take control of that enforcement.”
Meanwhile, at the federal level, privacy-focused legislation remains stuck in lawmaking purgatory. In April 2024, a bipartisan group of lawmakers released a draft piece of legislation that would establish a comprehensive federal consumer privacy framework, called the American Privacy Rights Act (APRA). In its original form, the APRA was expected to have serious implications for the digital advertising ecosystem—establishing strong data security standards as well as clear national data privacy rights and protections, giving individuals the right to sue those who violated these rights, and giving the FTC authority to enforce any violations of the bill. But the bill has since stalled and, with the change in administration, appears unlikely to be revived anytime soon.
As consumers grow increasingly skeptical of Big Tech’s handling of their personal data, state-based legislation has provided users with increased transparency and control…for the residents of those states. With national legislation looking increasingly unlikely, at least at any point in the near future, advertisers and publishers are likely to leverage different tactics in different states—or, alternatively, will default to the most stringent policies (such as the CPRA) across all their campaigns.
From a consumer perspective, as much as consumers say they want a unified, omnichannel experience, they’ve also made it clear that they want more control over who can—and who cannot—access their personal data as part of the advertising process. Private companies like Apple (with iPhone’s App Tracking Transparency and the lack of third-party cookies on its Safari browser) and even Google (which, while no longer deprecating cookies in Chrome, is planning to let users make an “informed choice” about third-party trackers in their browser) have shown a willingness to slowly but surely give consumers more control over their data. With signal loss having crossed 50% and third-party cookies heading toward the same fate as MySpace and the VCRs, advertisers should continue to embrace privacy-friendly tactics like alternative identifiers, contextual, and brand lift studies.
As if pending legislative action wasn’t enough, Google, Meta, and Amazon—which, together, account for almost two-thirds of the nearly $350 billion US digital ad market—are also facing both consumer scrutiny and federal lawsuits around monopolizing the adtech market, the social media market, and the online retail market in the US.
Google, in particular, has caught the eye of the Justice Department and several states. It has faced not one but two lawsuits alleging violation of US antitrust laws. The first case, brought by the Department of Justice and 11 state Attorneys General, aimed to prevent Google from “unlawfully maintaining monopolies through anticompetitive and exclusionary practices in the search and search advertising markets.” This suit and its ruling come at a time when Google owns an almost 90% market share in search, though the company maintains that its supremacy in the landscape is because they “simply provided a superior product.” The 10-week trial for this case concluded in early May 2024, and in August 2024, a federal judge ruled that Google had, in fact, violated antitrust laws in online search. In his ruling, Judge Amit P. Mehta stated, “Google is a monopolist, and it has acted as one to maintain its monopoly.” Potential penalties or remedies for Google’s misconduct have not yet been set, although the DOJ has proposed significant modifications to the tech giant’s business, including selling off its Chrome browser.
Additionally, Google is the subject of a second suit accusing the company of “monopolizing digital advertising technologies” in violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. While the first case addressed its monopolization of the search landscape, this second case relates to Google’s overall presence within the digital advertising landscape. During the trial, which wrapped up in November 2024, the Department of Justice argued that Google monopolized the ad server and ad network markets, attempted to monopolize the exchange market, and applied monopoly power by uniting all of the products they used to do so into a single offering. A ruling on this case is expected early this year.
This antitrust regulatory action isn’t limited to the US. Across the pond, Google faces similar antitrust charges for its digital advertising practices, with the European Commission citing Google’s heavy involvement at “almost all levels of the so-called adtech supply chain” and noting concerns that the world’s fourth-most valuable company “may have used its market position to favor its own intermediation services.” This marks the fourth time Google has run afoul of EU antitrust regulations in recent years, and with the bloc’s history of action against US-based tech giants, the case is unlikely to go away anytime soon.
Beyond these antitrust suits, recent years have seen a notable increase in class-action lawsuits against brands for allegedly making false and/or misleading claims in their advertising.
For instance, Starbucks was sued for advertising that they’re “committed to 100% ethical sourcing” despite sourcing coffee beans and tea from “cooperatives and farms that have committed documented, severe human rights and labor abuses,” according to the lawsuit filed by the National Consumers League. Soda company Poppi faced a class-action lawsuit for advertising “prebiotic” and “gut healthy” benefits, when such benefits are negligible—particularly given how much sugar their products contain. The makers of Liquid I.V. were sued for including a “no preservatives” label on their electrolyte drink powder, despite using citric acid and other well-known preservatives. And Grubhub faced a lawsuit that alleges the company deceives customers by promising free delivery, but then charging fees at checkout.
This uptick in false advertising lawsuits shows a growing awareness and intolerance towards deceptive marketing practices among consumers and regulators alike. Both are increasingly willing to hold companies accountable for misleading claims, reflecting a broader demand for transparency and honesty in advertising. Additionally, several new enacted and proposed state-level regulations echo these growing demands, including a California law that targets misleading product labeling around recyclable plastic, a proposed Arizona bill aimed at helping to eliminate misleading information in healthcare advertising, and a proposed Louisiana bill addressing truth in advertising, specifically as it relates to related to how foreign seafood is sourced and labeled.
Given the increased legal scrutiny, consumer sentiments, and uptick in legislation aimed at tackling misleading or false advertising, brands and marketers must be diligent in ensuring that they are not just satisfying regulations, but using messaging that is rooted in truth and authenticity, lest they risk both legal repercussions and lasting damage to their reputations.
Since its public release in 2022, generative AI has garnered a lot of hype—and for good reason. From AI chatbots like ChatGPT, to AI image and art generators like Midjourney, to Microsoft and Google both embracing new AI-powered search capabilities, this emerging tech is making some serious waves in the marketing and advertising world (and beyond). But for all the excitement around generative AI, its boom has also been accompanied by fierce warnings and concerns from experts across the globe.
Amidst these mixed emotions, it’s no surprise that AI regulation has become a hot topic. In 2024, the world’s first comprehensive AI law, the EU AI Act, went into effect. The act outlines the many potential benefits of AI, while establishing “obligations for providers and users depending on the level of risk from artificial intelligence.”
The US, meanwhile, has yet to take action quite as deliberate as the EU’s, but that doesn’t mean Washington has been ignoring AI’s emergence. In 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman appeared before Congress and directly encouraged lawmakers to regulate artificial intelligence. Later that year, former President Joe Biden signed an executive order that aimed to address the “safe, secure, and trustworthy development and use of Artificial Intelligence.” However, President Trump has since rescinded that order and, more generally, has signaled that his administration will adopt a more relaxed regulatory approach to AI. Meanwhile, several AI-focused bills have stalled in Congress, with their paths toward enactment looking increasingly uncertain.
On the state level, Utah became the first state to enact a consumer protection law focused on AI. The 2024 Utah Artificial Intelligence Policy Act (UAIP) mandates that organizations disclose their use of generative AI tools to consumers, and restricts organizations from attributing consumer protection violations to generative AI. And in California, draft regulations around the use of AI and automated decision-making would amend the CPRA to give Californians the right to access information about how implicated businesses use automated decision-making tools, including AI tools, in relation to consumers, as well as the right to opt out of their data being used by those tools.
With President Trump’s increasingly-warm ties to the AI industry, federal-level regulation appears to be off the table for the time being. However, international and state-level AI regulations continue to move forward, and more are likely to be introduced in the coming months and years as the technology continues to proliferate. With nearly three-quarters of marketing and advertising professionals saying they believe AI’s development and usage should be regulated—and with its incredible potential benefits still tempered by its significant risks—it’s critical that advertisers stay up-to-date on this evolving landscape to both ensure compliance and to understand where the industry is headed.
Last but not least, while the majority of industry-focused regulation has centered around American-based companies, there is one notable exception to the trend: TikTok, whose fate in the US is increasingly tenuous.
In 2024, Congress passed legislation requiring TikTok parent company ByteDance sell its stake in the app within 12 months or else the app would be banned in the US. While TikTok filed a subsequent lawsuit seeking to halt the law, the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the ban in January 2025. The app was set to go dark on January 19, but on January 20, President Trump signed an executive order that aims to delay enforcement of this ban until early April. The legality of such an order remains unclear, but for the time being, the app remains online in the United States.
Looking ahead, TikTok’s fate may hinge upon ByteDance’s willingness to sell the app to an American company—or, alternatively, on Congress passing new legislation that amends or supersedes the 2024 bill to permit TikTok’s return to US app stores. While that was long rumored to be a non-starter for the company, recent signals indicate that both the Chinese government and ByteDance’s leadership may be increasingly open to a sale. And though a number of potential buyers have shown an interest in acquiring the wildly popular app, none have emerged as a front runner, leaving TikTok’s future uncertain.
With TikTok’s fate still unknown, advertisers should continue to craft their contingency plans to swiftly shift budgets should the app ultimately be banned in the US. But the clock is ti(c)king...
For much of the past decade, regulators have increasingly turned their eye toward the digital advertising industry and its key players. Advertising leaders looking to balance innovation with compliance must take regulators’ concerns seriously—specifically, by prioritizing consumer privacy, staying abreast of antitrust lawsuits, avoiding false and/or misleading messaging, approaching AI with caution and intentionality, and keeping an eye on regulatory developments across the board.
While the US is likely headed toward a looser regulatory environment, one way or another, the digital advertising industry is going to have to prioritize privacy. Consumers and regulators alike are demanding increased transparency and individual control over user data. And if Big Tech—and the advertising industry—don’t want to make the difficult choices involved in regulating themselves when it comes to consumer privacy, then world governments will likely be all too happy to do it for them.
Recent years have seen an explosion of snackable, quippy video content—particularly on social media.
From live sports highlights and lifestyle content to product reviews, travel recommendations, funny animal videos, and beyond, short-form video has become a pillar of the digital media landscape. Where even a decade ago this content format was relatively niche and limited (except, of course, on Vine), short-form video is now mainstream, with 65% of people engaging with it multiple times a day.
This meteoric rise has transformed how audiences get information and discover products, as well as how advertisers connect with these audiences. Short-form video’s bite-sized, engaging nature makes it a particularly powerful tool for advertisers trying to combat shrinking attention spans, allowing brands and marketers to capture audience interest in mere seconds. As more and more platforms incorporate short-form video elements to engage and excite users, it’s clear that the format is here to stay. As such, advertisers who seek to understand its impact on the digital media landscape will be better positioned to connect with audiences in meaningful ways.
It’s nearly impossible to talk about short-form video content without talking about TikTok. Despite the looming threat of a ban in the US, TikTok’s immense impact on the video, social media, and advertising landscapes has long been solidified. While it wasn’t the first player to embrace short-form video, TikTok perfected the format and sparked a global shift toward shorter, more engaging content. Its rapid rise in popularity has driven a broader trend of audiences increasingly opting for short-form over long-form content. “Shortly after TikTok became an overnight sensation, we saw Instagram launch its Stories feature. There’s a direct correlation between TikTok’s rapid rise to fame, Instagram Stories, and the new user experience behavior of swiping ‘next,’” says Jess Kaswiner, Basis VP of Social Media Investment.
TikTok revolutionized how people consume video content, popularizing the full-screen, vertical feed of endlessly scrollable, bite-sized videos tailored to individual viewers through its highly personalized algorithm. It also changed how advertisers connect with audiences, offering a space for brands to create authentic, engaging, and highly targeted campaigns that made ads feel less like ads and more like…content. From viral challenges and hashtag campaigns to influencer partnerships and shoppable videos, TikTok set a new standard for creativity in digital advertising. This shift has been an impactful one, with nearly one in four users saying TikTok has influenced them to make a purchase within just three minutes of seeing it.
Now, short-form video extends even beyond social media. Streaming platforms, retail apps, sports outlets, and even news platforms are incorporating short-form video to engage their audiences. And even if TikTok is banned in the US, its influence will persist: Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook have long since adopted similar features (Reels and Shorts), and some users even turned to alternatives like Red Note to get their short-form video fix during TikTok’s short-lived ban-related blackout.
For advertisers, this shift signals a critical opportunity. As platforms continue to innovate and audiences increasingly demand fast, engaging video content, advertisers who embrace the lessons of TikTok’s (and TikTok advertising’s) success will be better positioned to thrive.
Much like how TikTok changed how users interact with content and find new products, short-form video is more broadly shifting the digital advertising landscape and will continue to do so in the years ahead. In today’s mobile-first world, these quick, engaging videos capture and hold attention effectively, as well as drive action, with three in eight people saying they have made a purchase based on short-form video content.
This obsession with short-form video is particularly pronounced among Gen Z, whose spending power is forecast to reach $12 trillion by 2030. Advertisers have noticed, with social video now accounting for more than 45% of total digital video ad spending.
So, just how is short-form video changing things for advertisers? First, it’s making engagement (aka capturing audience attention) an absolute must: When you only have a few seconds to connect with viewers, it’s key to make every moment count. It’s also blurring the line between entertainment and advertising, with platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels having normalized ad content that feels organic and entertaining rather than disruptive. Additionally, it’s forcing advertisers to rethink the more traditional advertising funnel, as short-form video drives swift decision-making and immediate action. It upends the traditional linear path from awareness to purchase, instead replacing it with a dynamic journey where viewers discover, engage with, and act on content all within the span of a single video.
Given how short-form video has caused many digital advertising norms to shift, taking a strategic and intentional approach is critical to leveraging this format effectively. By understanding audience behavior, embracing innovation, keeping a pulse on regulation, and safeguarding brand safety, advertisers can maximize the impact of this format and drive ROI.
With the near-ubiquitous presence of smartphones, it’s no surprise that many people multitask, often using multiple screens at once. For instance, the majority of Americans report using a second screen (often scrolling social media and—you guessed it—watching short-form videos) while watching TV. Planning for multiple intentional touchpoints across a variety of digital channels such as connected TV (CTV), display, and audio alongside short-form video on social is critical for building strong brand awareness and driving cross-platform engagement.
Among the many other lessons it has taught, TikTok’s tumultuous history and uncertain future in the US have shown just how quickly the short-form video landscape can change. Advertisers must be agile when assessing new opportunities, ensuring campaigns align with evolving regulations and platform policies. Additionally, keeping an eye on regulatory developments should go hand-in-hand with adopting privacy-conscious advertising strategies in the space. For example, short-form video is ripe for contextual targeting and creator partnerships that are inherently privacy-friendly, allowing advertisers to connect with audiences in a meaningful way while also respecting user privacy.
Short-form video’s speed and reach make it powerful—but also risky. False and misleading content is becoming more and more prevalent on social media as a result of the rise of generative AI, which can both create and fuel the spread of mis- and disinformation. This problem is compounded by Meta's recent announcement that it will get rid of independent fact checkers on both Facebook and Instagram, a move that is part of a larger trend of digital platforms reducing content moderation. As such, media buyers must craft a strong brand safety plan and prioritize tools that ensure their short-form video ads appear in brand-safe environments and align with suitable content, thus building audience trust rather than eroding it.
Short-form video ads are often different from more traditional formats: They’re typically more unpolished and “real,” aligning with the types of content they’re surrounded by. "Creating highly engaging content that aligns with the organic style of each social platform is crucial for encouraging users to interact with a brand's message, making it an essential component of any short-form video advertising strategy,” says Kaswiner. “Ads that look, sound, and feel like ads will fall victim to fast thumbs—often before the brand name can even register with the viewer.” Using creator partnerships, dynamic visuals, and storytelling techniques tailored to platform-specific audiences can make the difference between a campaign that resonates and one that gets scrolled past.
TikTok might still face an uphill battle in the US, but its role in popularizing short-form video content will leave a lasting impact. The rise of short-form video has reshaped how audiences consume content and interact with brands and products. And for brands and marketers, it’s not just about keeping up—it’s about leveraging this shift to stay ahead. By embracing the lessons of short-form video, from capturing attention to blending entertainment and messaging to taking an omnichannel approach, marketers can position themselves to connect meaningfully with audiences through this ever-evolving format.
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Interested in deeper insights on how to take a holistic approach to digital video within the broader media landscape? In our guide, Video Unleashed, we break down how advertisers can leverage the channel to connect with audiences at key moments of impact that inspire and engage.
The questions of whether, why, and how to invest in diverse-owned media and partnerships may appear complex in today’s industry environment. However, at their core, they remain quite simple.
On the complex side, sentiments around brand diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs have fluctuated in recent years, from brands going all-in in 2020 to a recent string of reductions and cuts. Economic uncertainty, increased politicization, and significant financial pressures have also weighed down some businesses’ supplier diversity programs.
On the other hand, evaluating the benefits of a supplier diversity program and then implementing (or improving upon) such a program is fairly straightforward. Agencies are tasked with driving revenue for their clients by connecting with target audiences via resonant, strategically placed and personalized messages. As consumer demographics grow more diverse, investing in media inventory and data providers that help marketers reach these audiences often calls for partnerships with diverse-owned suppliers.
Tapping into diverse suppliers is an impactful strategy for both reaching target audiences and engaging new clients. As such, staying ahead in the industry requires agency leaders to understand this evolving landscape and cultivate diverse-owned supply partnerships thoughtfully and proactively.
While they may seem like a newer part of marketers’ strategies, supplier diversity programs—which are established by businesses to encourage partnerships with women-owned, ethnic or racial minority owned, veteran-owned, LGBTQIA+-owned, or disabled-owned suppliers—are nothing new for many legacy brands. GM, for example, was one of the first to establish a formal supplier diversity program in 1968. The program, which serves to drive “economic parity, social relevance, and business value,” is still in effect today.
In more recent memory, 2020 was a critical year for brands’ engagement with DEI, as many brands committed or re-committed to working with diverse-owned suppliers (and, in particular, Black-owned suppliers) in response to the George Floyd protests.
Since then, research on the industry’s progress in terms of integrating diverse-owned supply has shown mixed results. For example, while spending on diverse-owned media by holding companies and leading independent media agencies increased by over 50% in 2022 (as measured by SMI), total spending on diverse-owned media made up less than 2% of all the spend that year. Similarly, an ANA survey found that both interest and investment in diverse suppliers grew from 2022 to 2023, but businesses’ investment lagged behind the broader industry’s interest. Along the same lines, a June 2024 ANA study concluded that the industry has progressed in its inclusive marketing efforts, including its efforts to integrate diverse-owned supply, but “the gap between intention and industry-wide impact remains significant.”
At the same time, some brands’ DEI programs were dialed back in recent years, and diverse-owned publishers have reported slowdowns and cuts to marketing budgets dedicated to diverse-owned supply. This backtracking can be attributed to both economic instability and a shifting political climate, marked by events like the US Supreme Court overturning affirmative action in college admissions in 2023, the backlash Target and Bud Light received to their Pride month engagements that same year, and a rise in criticism of DEI programs from conservative legislators and activists. In this context, some agency executives experienced clients withholding portions of budgets allocated for diverse-owned media spend until the outcome of the 2024 US Presidential Election was determined.
Despite these fluctuating sentiments around DEI and supplier diversity programs, embracing supplier diversity enables agencies to achieve multiple goals: meeting the rigorous standards of major clients, differentiating themselves to mid-market brands, and driving revenue for their clients by connecting with an increasingly diverse consumer base.
Current industry discussions around DEI may distract from the fact that curating diverse-owned supply is a profitable proposition for agencies.
For one thing, it can be table stakes for working with major brands. “Supplier diversity is deeply embedded in the business strategies of many larger enterprise clients,” says Lois Castillo, Head of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Basis. “It has become a critical expectation for the partners they collaborate with, reflecting a commitment to inclusive and equitable practices throughout the supply chain.” Many of these businesses—like GM, for example—have thoughtful procedures associated with how they engage with diversity, equity, and inclusion within media execution, media buying, and marketing. As such, any agency that wants to work with these clients must be able to offer a curated selection of diverse-owned supply, as well as the ability to leverage those partnerships to help clients meet their DEI spending commitments.
While mid-market brands may not have the same degree of specifications around supplier diversity, curating diverse-owned media can help give agencies a competitive edge. “If an agency can develop a strategic plan with an audience strategy and an inventory strategy that has diversity built into it, and they’re able to tell a meaningful story about the impact of that strategy, that can be a significant differentiator to mid-market clients,” says Dan Wilson, Group VP of Integrated Client Solutions at Basis.
Political discussions around DEI aside, marketing investment in diverse-owned media inventory and data partners is informed by consumer demographics, which are growing increasingly diverse. Advertisers who aren’t working to connect with diverse audiences could be ignoring close to half of the impressions available to them, leaving the significant buying power of diverse audience segments on the table. While partnering with diverse-owned suppliers isn’t the only way to connect with diverse audiences, it’s often the most authentic way to do so.
“For brands, genuine organic growth stems from authentically connecting with audiences beyond their traditional targets,” says Castillo. “Any forward-thinking CMO or leader focused on driving sustainable business growth understands the importance of reaching new communities. This requires not just showcasing the value of their product or service, but also fostering meaningful connections with diverse audience segments.”
Ultimately, by thoughtfully curating partnerships with diverse-owned suppliers, agency leaders can set themselves up for success when going after larger brands, differentiate themselves to mid-market brands, and drive more revenue for their clients across the board.
While some advertising platforms come with a curated selection of diverse-owned suppliers, agencies will likely want to curate additional partnerships that meet their clients’ particular needs.
Proactivity is key here, because if agencies don’t have a repository of diverse-owned suppliers in place before meeting with a potential client, they may lack the organization, fluency, and measurement capabilities to satisfy that company’s supplier diversity requirements. “If you take a proactive approach to building your partnership structure,” says Wilson, “you’ll be better prepared to activate for your clients depending upon how they want to engage with the space.”
Of course, agencies must curate these partnerships thoughtfully and intentionally. The goal is to integrate diverse-owned suppliers, with ownership spanning a variety of diverse identities, across the entire supply ecosystem—from publishers, to data providers, to measurement partners and beyond. It’s worth noting that some brands may prioritize working with certified diverse-owned suppliers, so agencies will likely want to do the same.
The process of finding and vetting these partners shouldn’t look any different than an agency’s process for evaluating any other partner. “Have conversations with people at these companies,” says Wilson. “Ask questions, see whether they’re aligned with your organization’s core values, and use that information to evaluate whether to move forward.”
Finally, agencies should ensure they have some kind of reporting system in place for tracking their clients’ spend on diverse-owned supply. For example, tools like Supplier.io can help agencies track their media spend with diverse-owned suppliers.
Though supplier diversity programs have been around for decades, many agencies are still refining their approaches to curating partnerships with diverse-owned suppliers, integrating those partnerships into their strategies, and demonstrating their value to clients.
This is an area in which agencies should strive to excel, given that diverse-owned supply is a “must-have” for many larger brands, and a great way for marketers to connect with key target audiences. Ultimately, by approaching supplier diversity with proactivity and thoughtfulness, agency leaders can drive new revenue and gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace.
In today's dynamic advertising landscape, media buyers must navigate a complex web of partner relationships, buying decisions, and shifting industry trends. In this episode of Adtech Unfiltered, Shelby Saville, Chief Executive Officer at Starcom US, shares valuable insights from her time serving as Chief Investment Officer at Publicis Media US.
Together with host Noor Naseer, Saville discusses her approach to partner engagement, what drives investment strategies, and how buying teams can adapt to stay ahead. Her candid perspective offers actionable lessons for both buyers and sellers looking to succeed in an ever-evolving ecosystem.
In a surprise announcement, Mark Zuckerberg revealed that Meta will stop using fact checkers for content posted to Facebook, Instagram, or Threads. Instead, they will be employing “Community Notes” akin to those used at X, where Elon Musk has outsourced content moderation to its users.
Zuckerberg and Meta’s new chief global-affairs officer, Joel Kaplan, explained the rationale for their decision in a blog post published January 7, saying the fact-checking program that they launched in the wake of the Donald Trump’s first election victory back in 2016 was "too politically biased" and had damaged user trust.
When it comes to the kind of content that Meta now deems permissible for posting on its platforms, the company has also updated its Hateful Content guidelines to allow users to post controversial and/or offensive content that was previously banned, including “allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality.” The revised guidelines have also eliminated explicit mention of other previously-banned content, granting tacit approval to posts referring to “women as household objects or property” or “transgender or non-binary people as ‘it.’”
In addition to the content moderation changes, the company also announced it would be updating its algorithms to once again prioritize political content in its users' feeds.
Together, these moves have the potential to transform the user experience on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads and have left both users and advertisers holding their collective breaths, anticipating the consequences of the changes while hoping for the best—and preparing for the worst.
Why is Meta taking these actions? Where to begin.
Per the company’s official position, “We've reached a point where it's just too many mistakes and too much censorship,” said Zuckerberg. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point toward once again prioritizing speech. So we are going to get back to our roots, focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.”
Going beyond the company’s official explanation, Meta’s policy pivot appears to be motivated by a number of different factors—the most obvious of which is the incoming Trump Administration, as alluded to in Zuckerberg’s video message and affirmed by Trump himself at a press conference shortly after the announcement. Meta has had a tumultuous past with the former and future president, having suspended him from its platforms following the events of January 6, 2021, and is seeking to curry favor with the new administration.
Zuckerberg also made reference to his hope of working with Trump "to push back on governments around the world," specifically mentioning Europe and what he called its "ever-increasing number of laws" and "institutionalizing censorship." Given Meta's many legal issues in the EU, which have resulted in nearly 3 billion euros in fines to date, the callout seems especially pointed and could signal a new twist in the advertising industry's ongoing regulatory saga.
Meta also revealed plans to promote "civic" (aka political) content on its platforms after previously deprecating it back in 2021. This, too, is likely to appeal to the incoming administration, but it comes with an additional benefit: Political content tends to drive strong engagement, and the company may well be using this moment as an opportunity to re-prioritize these posts in users’ feeds to reap those benefits.
“Meta’s hope is that this change boosts conversation and engagement on the platform,” said Colleen Fielder, Group VP, Social and Partner Marketing Solutions at Basis. “If that proves true and time spent on their platforms increases, that could be a positive for advertisers.”
Additionally, Zuckerberg announced that Meta’s trust and safety team will be relocated from California to Texas, saying that it would “help remove the concern that biased employees are overly censoring content.” In truth, Meta is likely making the move for both optics and for cost-saving purposes, avoiding California’s higher taxes while catering to Republicans—who will now control both the White House and Congress—by relocating teams to a tried-and-true red state.
“From Meta’s perspective, this is potentially a win-win-win situation,” said Amy Rumpler, SVP, Search & Social Media Services at Basis. “Meta will benefit from cost savings and reorganization, the government will be appeased, and users will still have the ability to inform others if they believe content is misleading or misinformation. The key difference is a separate group of people won’t have the same amount of control around removing content they deem as inappropriate.”
The elimination of third-party fact checkers and weakened Hateful Content guidelines introduce new brand safety risks on Meta, threatening to exacerbate what has long been an area of concern (and source of criticism) for the social media giant. However, it remains to be seen whether this new system will be meaningfully different (or meaningfully worse) than the old one—at least as far as advertisers are concerned.
The risk, of course, is that a rise in harmful posts could mar the experience of using Meta's platforms—and, in particular, Facebook—to the point that users flee, further accelerating social media fragmentation and undermining one of marketers' most reliable resources. But for many advertisers, Facebook and Instagram remain essential channels whose reach extends to virtually every audience, so until there is a user exodus, most marketers will stay put, instead keeping a weary by watchful eye on how things develop.
Crucially, Meta also noted that, unlike X, they are planning to focus on maintaining strong relationships with advertisers and that they have empowered advertisers with brand safety tools to navigate this new environment.
“Policy changes aside, they do still have a brand safety system in place which allows advertisers to avoid alignment with content that falls in specific categories of sensitivity—which, if advertisers aren’t already using by default, they should consider implementing now,” said Rumpler.
Additionally, the re-prioritization of political content on its platforms—likely fueled by both a desire to appeal to Trump as well as the knowledge that this content drives especially high engagement (and that it did so during the previous Trump administration)—could provide Meta with an engagement boost that attracts users and, at least temporarily, intrigues advertisers.
Altogether, in the short term, the changes are unlikely to change much for marketers, but the industry will need to pay careful attention to how users respond. While Facebook and Instagram are fairly ubiquitous, their new policies could lead to very different reactions from different communities across the US. Some groups may grow more engaged on Meta platforms, but others could feel alienated or threatened to the point that they leave Facebook or Instagram altogether. Brands should keep a close eye on how their audiences react in the months ahead, monitoring ad performance carefully while keeping tabs on engagement trends—and, of course, leveraging brand safety tools as effectively as possible.
If you’re a digital advertising professional (and if you’re reading this, we’re going to hazard a guess that you are!) then signal loss is probably top of mind as we head into 2025. While it’s true that Google no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, its new intentions to implement a consent-based model will pose similar challenges for marketers, with almost 90% of US browsers expected to become cookieless in the long-term.
For travel and tourism marketers who are already navigating a highly saturated market—and given consumers’ increased price sensitivity thanks to the tumult of the last few years—this mounting signal loss makes things all the more complex. As such, it’s critical that advertisers in the industry begin implementing and optimizing privacy-friendly solutions now, if they haven’t done so already.
For specific insights on how travel and tourism marketers can approach this transition, we spoke to Nicole Stahlecker, VP of Integrated Client Solutions at Basis Technologies. With over a decade of agency and digital media expertise—and extensive experience in travel and tourism advertising—Nicole brings a wealth of knowledge to this discussion. Read on for her top recommendations for travel and tourism marketers as they approach privacy-first advertising in 2025.
Nicole Stahlecker: So many travel and tourism marketers are sitting on a goldmine of first-party data. The problem? It’s often housed in distinct platforms across tons of different third-party vendors, rather than centralized in a customer data platform (CDP). Because that data is so disparate, marketers can’t action it collaboratively, or easily confirm when and how consent for it was given, since different platforms have different levels of privacy consent. This becomes particularly challenging for teams operating internationally, and as a result, they end up using only a limited amount of the data available to them and actioning it on the strictest of levels to ensure they’re meeting all data privacy regulations and requirements.
Since first-party data will be so critical to getting personalized messages in front of prospective travelers as we lose more and more signals, finding ways to unify, organize, and maximize that data is absolutely key. To that end, there are two action steps marketers should take as soon as possible:
The first is to clean up existing data so that it’s organized and usable from a customer data privacy standpoint. This might include working with vendors and platforms to gain access to that data, and/or investing in a CDP. The second step is to come up with a plan for how to collect and house first-party data in a clean and organized way moving forward, so advertisers can use it in future campaigns.
NS: When it comes to cookieless targeting, contextual targeting is key for travel and tourism marketers. There’s never going to be anything that beats that age-old marketing adage of putting your message in front of the right person, in the right place, and at the right time, and when it comes to those objectives, contextual targeting never lets us down. For example, tour companies know that the people most likely to book a tour are already going to be looking at other relevant information for that destination. By placing ads strategically near content about that location (such as on a travel blog that explores best times to book for that destination), advertisers can ensure they’re connecting with target audiences at a time when they’re likely in a decision-making mindset.
When it comes to attribution, leaning on your historical data will be most impactful. Just like keeping your first-party data clean, organized, and readily accessible is going to benefit your team, so too will keeping track of your campaigns and their results. Even though you won’t be able to track attribution the way you used to as signal loss increases, you can compare your recent data to your historical data and make improvements based on that.
NS: Sure! First, let’s imagine you’re a museum, and you have one location in a single destination. When it comes to targeting, you might take want to advantage of geotargeted digital out-of-home ads to capture the attention of tourists who are physically walking around near your museum and might be enticed by these displays.
For larger companies, or those with a presence that extends beyond a single location, you don’t want to overuse geotargeting—and you certainly don’t want to assume that you know where your customers are coming from, as you might miss out on potential audiences. For instance, let’s say you’re a hotel with multiple locations. You would likely lean more heavily on targeting based on your first-party data by linking your data collection with your advertising platforms. This would allow you to both target people who performed specific actions on your site, as well as create predictive (AKA lookalike) audiences to find similar users. You’d then be able to target these audiences based on their booking history, other individual actions on your website, demographic information, and more.
2025 will be a critical year for travel and tourism marketers to implement and fine-tune cookieless solutions to connect with their target audiences. By focusing on collecting, storing, and intentionally leveraging first-party data, as well as harnessing the power of contextual targeting, travel and tourism marketers can find success in today’s privacy-centric digital landscape.
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Mounting signal loss isn’t the only trend set to shape digital advertising in 2025: The shifting landscape of online search, the maturation of CTV advertising, evolving sentiments around AI, and the rise of commerce media will also change how brands engage with consumers, allocate budgets, and measure success. Check out Reality Check: The 2025 Advertising Trends Report to learn more.
Retail and e-commerce advertisers have long depended on third-party cookies for audience targeting and campaign success attribution. After all, with so many product categories falling under the retail umbrella, and significant variation within each category (size, color, material, etc.), marketers needed a way to target audiences with personalized ads for specific products and to then measure the impact of their efforts.
But with rising signal loss across the digital advertising ecosystem, retail marketers must shift towards privacy-first advertising strategies for targeting and attribution. This will be especially important in 2025, with Google appearing set to implement a consent-based model for cookie-based tracking in Chrome. Even though Google has walked back its original plans to deprecate third-party cookies, this new model is expected to have the same consequences for advertisers.
In this context, retail and e-commerce marketers must adapt by building expertise in cookieless solutions, prioritizing first-party data, and adopting automated targeting and measurement methods. But what exactly should those efforts look like? Below, Andrew Barbuto, Senior Agency Lead at Basis Technologies, highlights industry marketers’ top considerations and challenges amidst signal loss, explores potential solutions, and provides examples of privacy-first approaches for different types of retail businesses that can lead to advertising success.
Andrew Barbuto: I’d say there are two major considerations. The first is the ability to target to serve personalized ads. Because of signal loss, advertisers must change the ways they track consumer interests, behaviors, and habits.
Then there’s the measurement of that advertising. Part of the value proposition in digital advertising has long been the ability to tie an individual impression to an action or an acquisition. Without the volume of cookie-based signals advertisers are used to, that’s going to be a challenge for a couple of reasons. First, view-through conversions will go away completely, which will impact almost everything except the click-through conversions. Second, advertisers will likely up their investments in retail media networks, as they have treasure troves of first-party data that can be used for targeting. However, the ways these networks attribute sales are siloed and not standardized, and the biggest players like Amazon and Walmart don’t have much incentive to share their data. That means that results will be coming in from a variety of sources, which makes it difficult to get a holistic view of campaign performance. Retail advertisers will benefit from considering solutions that tie all of these approaches together—tools like data clean rooms, CRM solutions, CDPs, and click-based conversion attribution systems will be key.
AB: Prioritizing the collection and maximization of first-party data will be key to success for retail and e-commerce advertisers. Marketers can collect first-party data through things like promotions and loyalty programs, and then utilize it to create those personalized touchpoints. Customer data platforms (CDPs) are particularly useful for these tasks, as they can organize first-party data for targeting, and help with attribution as well by giving marketers a look into the customer journey and what tactics were most impactful on conversions in a given campaign. Marketers can also use the cookieless analysis of a data management platform like TransUnion for lookalike modeling based on first-party data to grow their addressable audience.
Contextual targeting is another big one for retail and e-commerce. It’s particularly relevant because people are researching products, doing shopper comparisons, and reading reviews on their phones and desktops. To be able to influence them while they’re researching in a contextually relevant environment is well worth the investment.
Next, connected TV is a great, privacy-friendly place for retail advertisers to get premium inventory on private marketplaces, and it’s good for awareness all the way down to conversion. Within their creative, advertising teams can include a QR code, which customers can scan to go to their website. At the same time, they can be running a digital campaign with a similar message to reach audiences while they’re on their desktops or mobile devices consuming shorter-form content.
A few other solutions that come to mind:
AB: Let’s take a large sporting apparel retailer as the first example. They’d want to consider onboarding first-party CRM data into a CDP like LiveRamp for precise ad targeting that doesn’t require third-party cookies. Based on the data they gather about a given consumer’s shopping behavior, they can advertise to them around the web for repeat purchases, new products, or related accessories, across different channels like video, native, or display, from upper- to lower-funnel ad placements. They could also utilize a DMP like TransUnion, which also doesn’t rely on third-party cookies, to build lookalike models off their CRM data and deploy awareness advertising to obtain new customers. Last, they could send people to their brand website and retarget off that site, or they could direct them to a landing page that promotes sales at a retailer partner like a big box or sporting goods store—but, of course, generating traffic to your own site comes with the added benefit of potentially increasing your CRM pool.
For a retail business that has brick-and-mortar stores, a geotargeted campaign can target people in proximity of their retail locations in a way that’s not reliant on cookies. Then, advertisers can use a footfall attribution partner like Cuebiq to measure physical store visits based on advertising. For a more specific example within this category, let’s take a business that sells diamond products in different luxury diamond stores. Their target customers will do research online, but the majority of that industry’s sales happen in-person at their local jewelry store and not online. So, advertisers can target people with a combination of proximity and geotargeting, past website visits, as well as people who have visited a physical jeweler. The business could also switch its KPI from “website visits” to “in-store foot traffic,” which is where sales are more likely to happen and, again, isn’t based on third-party cookies for measurement.
Advertisers may be losing the signals they’re used to, but consumers will still become aware of products, visit brand websites and apps, browse options, buy online or in-store, and spread the word about their experience—good or bad. And they’ll still hand over email addresses and join loyalty programs in exchange for discounts, points, and perks.
With all that online behavior, retail and e-commerce advertisers shouldn’t dread the progression of signal loss. Contextual targeting, first-party data activation, and making the most of premium inventory on emerging platforms can provide a holiday catalog-sized array of options for privacy-friendly campaign targeting and attribution.
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Mounting signal loss isn’t the only trend set to shape digital advertising in 2025: The shifting landscape of online search, the maturation of CTV advertising, evolving sentiments around AI, and the rise of commerce media will also change how brands engage with consumers, allocate budgets, and measure success. Check out Reality Check: The 2025 Advertising Trends Report to learn more.
We hate to say “restaurant and dining” in the same breath as “cookies going away”…but at least it’s only the third-party kind of cookies, right? While it’s true that Google has stated it won’t deprecate cookies in Chrome, its plan to grant users more control over cookie-based tracking is expected to have the same impact on advertisers.
Of course, this isn’t the only force pushing digital advertisers towards a privacy-first approach: Marketing teams have already had to deal with signal loss in recent years due to factors like Safari and Firefox going cookieless, the uptick in digital advertising regulation, Apple’s App Tracking Transparency, and consumer demands for data privacy.
To help advertisers find their footing amidst increasing signal loss, we called on restaurant and dining marketing expert Vanessa Allen, Basis VP of Integrated Client Solutions. Read on for her insights into navigating the landscape of signal loss, as well as her top recommendations for cookieless advertising solutions that can turn prospects into customers and visitors into regulars.
Vanessa Allen: In today’s digital age, signal loss is leading to an eroding internet-based identity. To mitigate this, my top piece of advice for marketers is to prioritize the collection and use of first-party data in a compliant, privacy-friendly way. The good news is, the restaurant and dining industry has several consumer touchpoints where businesses can collect first-party data: point-of-sale systems for transaction data, loyalty platforms for behavior and interest tracking, and reservation systems for timing and frequency of visits. Marketers can then use a customer data platform (CDP) to turn that data into audience segments for ad targeting and to find lookalikes of existing customers.
VA: In addition to first-party data, there are quite a few cookieless and identity-friendly strategies available for restaurant and dining marketers.
Contextual targeting provides a great opportunity to capitalize on clear customer signals. For instance, the person reading a blog post about the best restaurants in Denver will get value from seeing ads for dining options in Colorado’s capital, and the aspiring cook reviewing online pasta recipes might be convinced to order in from the Italian restaurant advertising its delivery options. Contextual targeting can be especially effective for lower-funnel activities: There’s a lot of intent behind researching menus and reviews, as people are viewing that content at or near the moment of decision. Another benefit of contextual advertising is that it tends to be less expensive to deploy programmatically than other solutions, but still allows marketers to measure lower-funnel metrics—like cost per acquisition to generate orders for fast-casual or quick-serve restaurants, or cost per landing page view for fine dining.
Geotargeting a relevant location is another cookieless solution that is ideal for prospecting, as it can make locals and travelers aware of nearby food and drink options. It can even cause a change in buying behavior, as advertisers can geofence their competition and advertise on their customers’ phones. For example, the coffee lover who’s in line at a coffee shop could see a geofenced mobile ad for a discounted drink across the street, which could potentially intercept that sale.
Attribution is changing because of signal loss as well, but there are solutions when all the stakeholders learn how to work together. For instance, businesses can share sales data with their advertising partners, and with the right formatting and FTP setup, that sales data can blend nicely with ad campaign data in the same dashboard to show how advertising efforts are influencing sales.
VA: Let’s take a fast-casual restaurant as the first example. To collect and activate their first-party data effectively, businesses can collect data at the time of purchase and send it into a CRM. That data can then be activated strategically based on dining behaviors—for example, fast-casual customers aren’t likely to dine at the same restaurant again for about a week, so they can be put into a seven-day lookback window. They aren’t targeted programmatically or on social media until a week after their last purchase, which ensures budget is spent efficiently. When they see ads a week later, they’re ready to buy again.
Next, let’s look at a fine dining restaurant. A marketer for this kind of business can generate awareness with location targeting, which reduces reliance on cookies, and census data, which can show customer affinity for these restaurants. Contextual targeting is also effective for finding people researching tentpole events like Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, graduations, and other times when people might spend more money on a nice dinner out. If some of that research happens on more premium websites, a private marketplace deal can use a certified publisher’s first-party data to create interest with the right audience.
Ongoing signal loss, combined with Google’s plans to give Chrome users an informed choice over cookie-based tracking, means that the urgency around restaurant and dining marketers adopting privacy-first advertising strategies may well reach a boiling point in 2025. By collecting and activating first-party data and leveraging privacy-friendly media tactics such as contextual and geotargeting, industry marketers can place themselves at the head of the table.
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Mounting signal loss isn’t the only trend set to shape digital advertising in 2025: The shifting landscape of online search, the maturation of CTV advertising, evolving sentiments around AI, and the rise of commerce media will also change how brands engage with consumers, allocate budgets, and measure success. Check out Reality Check: The 2025 Advertising Trends Report to learn more.
From Apple’s App Tracking Transparency to consumer privacy demands and resulting regulatory action, digital advertisers have grappled with widespread signal loss in recent years. But 2025 may bring even more drastic change in this area: While Google no longer plans to deprecate third-party cookies in Chrome, its new user “opt-in” plans are expected to result in the same signal loss for advertisers. For healthcare and pharmaceutical advertisers, this shift will add yet another layer of targeting and measurement complexity to an industry that is already wrought with privacy-related regulations.
For insights and strategies to help health and pharma advertisers navigate signal loss, we turned to Katherine Mitton, Director of Integrated Client Solutions at Basis Technologies. Read on for her top recommendations on weathering the identity crisis.
Katherine Mitton: My biggest piece of advice is to set up systems that allow for the collection of as much HIPAA-compliant data as possible. If brands haven’t already invested in advanced customer relationship management (CRM) platforms and capabilities, that should be their top priority. Then, once they have those systems and solutions in place, they can shift their focus to building up their CRM list so that, once third-party cookies are completely gone, they can still understand who they need to target and build lookalike audience segments to extend that targeting.
Beyond that, it’s important for health and pharma marketers to maintain a mixed-funnel approach in their campaigns. When third-party cookies are gone, advertisers won’t be able to track their mid-to-lower funnel actions the same way they can now. Those mid-to-lower funnel tactics will remain an important part of a holistic media mix, but health and pharma brands will need to lean more deeply on historical performance to prove out their impact. We know that they work—we’re just not going to have the attribution for them anymore.
KM: Beyond leveraging their own first-party data and CRM lists, health and pharma advertisers have several other options for privacy-friendly targeting solutions. Luckily, advertisers in the space already have experience navigating a lot of regulation (i.e., maintaining HIPAA and OCR compliance), so there’s a level of comfort with alternative targeting and measurement methods that advertisers in other industries may not have.
One cookieless solution that will be particularly useful in the health and pharma space is healthcare provider (HCP) targeting. Now is a great time for agencies to communicate the benefits HCP targeting offers their clients and to bolster the partnerships that enable it. That might look like working with third-party providers that specialize in healthcare systems and targeting based on providers’ specific specialties. Or, it might include leveraging platforms like LinkedIn that allow job title-based targeting, which is another way for health and pharma advertisers to get their message in front of doctors and other healthcare professionals without using third-party cookies.
Contextual targeting is another critical privacy-friendly targeting tool. If advertisers are trying to reach patients via contextual, that might look like placing ads for their products or services alongside relevant health info that prospective patients will likely be engaging with. And if they’re trying to reach HCPs, that strategy might include targeting medical journals, medical resources, and other online medical content that appeals to the HCP audience.
When it comes to attribution, leaning on historical performance will be key for lower-funnel tactics where pixel-based attribution isn’t going to be possible anymore. Agencies will need to educate their clients early and often about the impact of cookie loss on performance measurement and lead the way in resetting expectations. For instance, if one of their client’s paid search ads historically drove a lot of conversions, an agency can encourage their brand partners to continue to invest in those tactics even if they can no longer show the same attribution. Additionally, third-party brand lift studies can be a helpful way to measure success of campaigns without cookies. These studies are privacy-friendly and, when used in conjunction with historical performance, can help agencies and brands evaluate their ad campaigns and make data-driven decisions.
KM: Let’s imagine you’re a pharmaceutical company with a drug that treats a very specific condition. Your target audience is already pretty small, and targeting patients directly is tough due to HIPAA and OCR regulations. Your best options would likely be to do some contextual targeting based on keywords related to the condition your drug treats, and to leverage partnerships that enable the targeting of healthcare providers who treat the condition your drug is tied to.
As another example, let’s say you’re an agency that works with a telemedicine provider. I’d recommend investing in some contextual targeting based on keywords and driving folks who see those ads to a landing page where they can opt in for more information. Once that’s done, you’ll have first-party data you can leverage to target these audiences with customized messages based on the personal information they shared.
With an abundance of industry-specific privacy regulations, healthcare and pharmaceutical marketers are navigating a complex advertising ecosystem even without signal loss. With the shift towards a privacy-first advertising model, these teams must get even more intentional about how they target and measure their ads. By investing in the collection and actioning of first-party data, upping their contextual targeting spend, leaning on historical performance, and leveraging opportunities like HCP targeting, health and pharma advertisers can make the most of their ad spend in a privacy-first world.
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Mounting signal loss isn’t the only trend set to shape digital advertising in 2025: The shifting landscape of online search, the maturation of CTV advertising, evolving sentiments around AI, and the rise of commerce media will also change how brands engage with consumers, allocate budgets, and measure success. Check out Reality Check: The 2025 Advertising Trends Report to learn more.
