In the world of digital advertising, brand safety remains a paramount concern for advertisers. With the rise of programmatic advertising and the proliferation of user-generated content, ensuring brand suitability and protecting brand reputation has become increasingly challenging. To mitigate risks, many advertisers resort to keyword blocking, a popular tactic that allows them to exclude certain keywords from their ad placements.

Connected TV advertising is all the rage as more and more dollars flow from linear TV to content streamed via smartphones, tablets, and other devices straight into viewers’ homes.

Programmatic advertising is a widely-used and fast-growing segment of digital marketing that uses automated tools and real-time bidding to purchase ad space online. Services like Google Marketing Platform, The Trade Desk, MediaMath, and more all allow advertisers to target and segment users based on specific demographics and behavior, and display ads to them across a range of content inventories.

Retail media is exploding. In 2023, it’s become the second-fastest growing digital advertising channel, outpaced only by CTV. There’s simply more inventory, meaning brands and retail media alike have unprecedented opportunities. And the timing couldn’t be better; wise brands and advertisers are preparing for a cookieless future.

This will prove to be a dynamic year for digital advertising, with the deprecation of third-party cookies looming, new privacy regulations on the table and legacy behavioral targeting tactics falling by the wayside. Advertisers need new strategies to reach and engage their target audiences cost-effectively and efficiently without failing to comply with user privacy guidelines or annoying consumers.

Cookies (especially third-party cookies) have long been the backbone of digital marketing efforts: behavioral targeting. However, the end of the cookie is near—and so, too, may be the end of behavioral targeting’s reign as digital advertising’s go-to for reaching target audiences.

We recently sat down with Joe Kyriakoza, vice president and general manager of thePolk Automotive Solutions portfolio at S&P Global Mobility - which produces best-in-class automotive audiences to help marketers connect more effectively with consumers.

Programmatic ad spend is continuing to grow, with budgets expected to hit $725 billion in 2026 (up from $418 billion in 2021). Contextual traffic is leading the charge, growing at a CAGR of 18.75% with an estimated global ad spend of $631.44 billion by 2027.