Digital advertising
MarTech is your source for digital advertising content. You’ll find a variety of up-to-date and authoritative resources, including the latest news, tactic-rich tutorials, and the latest data to help you work smarter and make better decisions.
What you read here is written by our experienced in-house team of editors and research professionals, and subject matter experts from leading brands and agencies.
Why we care:
Advertising isn’t just about growing brand awareness or planting a seed. Advertisers and their adtech partners can reach audiences big and small at any stage of the funnel, delivering cross-channel ads across multiple touchpoints. And they aren’t just using traditional demographics and ratings, they’re leveraging device-level or user-specific data, as well as contextual insights, to serve the right message to the right customer at the right time.
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Google adtech antitrust trial: Everything you need to know
An in-depth look at the verdict, arguments and trial about Google's monopoly practices in the $200 billion digital advertising industry.
Google loses advertising monopoly case
A Federal judge found Google “willfully engaged in anticompetitive acts” to control the ad server and ad exchange markets.
IAB report reveals digital ad growth and marketers ready for economic turmoil
Omnichannel strategies, better audience segmentation and data-driven campaign management show marketers are prepared for turbulent times.
How attribution masks what’s actually driving growth
Attribution tells you what happened. Incrementality tells you if it mattered. Here’s why that difference is costing you more than you think.
Marketers push back on Google’s attempt to derail California privacy bill
They are angry about Google's astroturfing and want consent-driven online interactions with consumers.
Canva’s Visual Suite upgrade unifies campaign planning and creation
The upgrade puts design and productivity tools in one platform, making it easier to create, execute and monitor campaigns.
How to make CTV ads that stick
From heartstrings to humor — see what makes CTV creative click in 2025, and how to test and measure what really works.
The latest trend in martech M&A: Agencies buying data collaboration firms
More data means a more comprehensive view of consumers, which should lead to more effective campaigns. That’s the theory, anyway.
How tariffs impact retail sales and ad spending, and why 2025 might be different
Advertisers are worried tariffs will take a bite from their budgets. What does recent history have to say?
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI adoption accelerating, but many fall behind: IAB report
IAB’s ‘State of Data 2025’ report examines how brands, agencies and publishers are using AI and suggests it’s time to think about strategy over automation.
How to assess CTV’s impact on other ad channels
CTV’s true value isn’t always obvious. Learn how to track its hidden impact on paid search, social and even in-store sales.
Google is exploring ads in new AI Mode
Ads could come to Google's conversational search experience, but some advertisers are skeptical about performance.
94% of advertisers concerned tariffs will lead to cut in ad spending: IAB
Another survey found 66% of U.S. consumers want business to cut CEO pay in response to tariff-related inflation.
7 barriers advertisers need to overcome to grow CTV
CTV offers better targeting and more performance metrics than linear TV, but those differences might be holding it back.
5 underrated tools to boost your B2B PPC performance
These will help you track smarter, outsmart competitors, and make sense of multichannel chaos in 2025
3 reasons your paid social ads aren’t converting (and how to fix them)
If your social ads aren’t converting, your creative, targeting or landing page might be the culprit. Find out what’s holding you back.
Adobe looks to navigate privacy and advertising with Adobe Real-Time CDP Collaboration
Adobe’s new data clean room helps advertisers and publishers protect privacy while monetizing audiences.
How to tackle ad fraud in 2025
Despite major strides, gaps in combating ad fraud remain. Learn how emerging transparency tools can drive even greater protection.
Did Meta just launch a CDP with Signals Gateway?
If it looks like a CDP and quacks like a CDP, it might just be a CDP. And it’s an interesting time to enter that market for sure.
6 B2B paid media platforms where you can advertise effectively
Make your B2B ads work smarter. Learn how to target high-value decision-makers across key platforms, such as Google, LinkedIn, Meta and more.
Despite challenges, marketers say retail media is the channel of choice
A pair of studies found marketers are bullish on retail media, despite its growing pains and imperfections.
Google releases its open source marketing mix model to all
Marketers and data scientists have a new tool to help them measure the effectiveness of their efforts.
Meta ad spend up 15% last quarter as TikTok sees sharp drop
Despite the holiday blues, ad spending on TikTok was up 27% for the entire year.
Unilever’s Ben & Jerry’s campaign shows why RMNs are the future
Combining data-driven, privacy-conscious, real-time personalized advertising strategies with Foodpanda's RMN got Unilever a delicious result.
Microsoft Clarity launches Google Ads integration
Microsoft Clarity's new Google Ads integration gives marketers visibility into post-click behavior, allowing them to track user interactions.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI-powered martech news and releases: January 16
GenAI companies have a problem: It costs more the more people use it. And OpenAI CEO Sam Altman says, "People use it much more than we expected."
IAB expects digital advertising growth to slow considerably this year
Lack of ad spending for the Olympics and elections cuts growth to 7.3%, down from last year's 11.8%.
Marketing artificial intelligence (AI)
AI continues to aid marketers’ quest for authenticity: Report
2025 looks to be a year when marketers' refine trends and strategies already underway, according to a new HubSpot report.
Social media and influencers: 2025 predictions
Marketers will seek full-funnel engagement, comprehensive customer service and help from AI over social media platforms this year.
Data, AI and advertising: 2025 predictions
How new strategies and AI-powered tools will help advertisers get the most out of budgets and ad experiences in 2025.
Optimization and personalization
Personalization’s double-edged sword: Balancing relevance with intrusiveness
Consumers really like personalized marketing content and are really nervous about companies gathering data to provide it. Here's how to address that.
Amazon’s new Retail Ad Service brings RMN to the masses
The ecommerce giant is poised to disrupt the adtech market by letting retailers use its powerful technology to sell ads on their websites.
CTV takeover: 2025 predictions
Here’s how this rapidly evolving channel will change how advertisers connect with viewers in the new year.
Retail media networks continue to grow: 2025 predictions
We’ll see more non-retail networks, data collaborations and in-store experiences as the RMN space matures.
Africa Creative makes soccer ad boards shoppable
Here's a new interactive channel for the holidays: traditional soccer field ad boards go shoppable.
Google Ads rolls out Brand Report for enhanced advertiser insights
New feature provides a unified view of brand campaign performance with deduplicated reach and frequency metrics across multiple campaigns.
Google tightens ad policies to align with Search spam rules
Advertisers risk ad disapprovals if their sites violate spam policies, making search compliance critical to PPC success.
Mobile’s growing role in holiday shopping
Shoppable TV ads and mobile wallets are winning a significant percentage of holiday purchases.
5 essential priorities for marketers in 2025
Position your brand for success in 2025 with these marketing priorities, from smarter AI adoption to better data transparency.
How AI can revolutionize creative impact measurement
Marketers are stuck using slow and imprecise tools to assess what's working with their creatives.