State of the Advertising Industry

Watch the Full Episode

This week we welcome media industry consultant and educator Steven Golus to the podcast, for a discussion about the future of streaming services, what could happen to companies like Roku and what are the most pressing challenges in digital media today. He’s the founder of Steven Golus Consulting and partner at The Boyd Initiative, an organization established to help young black professionals discover careers in the advertising and media industry.

Third-Party Deprecation – Is It Really a Big Deal?

Much has been made about the deprecation of third-party cookies since Google’s announcement that it would end third-party tracking in 2020 and new privacy regulations have been implemented, both in the U.S. and abroad. Google has since delayed that transition until 2024 and there has been some debate about whether they will follow-through with those plans, marketers are still concerned about what it means for the future of identifying and tracking audiences. We ask Steven for his perspective on whether Google will ever sunset third-party cookies, and what businesses should consider if they do. While Google’s next step is yet to be determined, Steven encourages businesses to look at the total market share impacted by Google’s decision across operating systems, browsers, apps, and devices: what is the actual percentage of people that advertisers can actually track with third-party cookies? While we don’t know the finite number, some indicators suggest the number is smaller than we thought. For example, Safari holds the majority of the market share on mobile devices, and it doesn’t allow third-party tracking. On desktop, Google Chrome does hold the majority of the market share at 68%, while Safari holds only 20%, but that still leaves 30% of an advertiser’s total audience unaddressable on desktop. The real question, Steven says, is what are advertisers already doing to bridge this gap in addressable audiences, and how can they expand on that to reduce or eliminate their dependency on third-party data?

Has Streaming Peaked?

Another hot topic we touch on is the growth of CTV, from SVODs to AVODs. Has the industry reached peak growth? Steven believes so, given recent data that the number of streaming subscriptions per household has flattened, and in some regions like the U.K., is declining. Another indicator that the industry is past its peak is that major players are having to offer incentives to retain subscribers. Even more drastically, Netflix is expected to incorporate ad-supported subscription tiers sometime in 2023.

These are just the highlights of a really educational and enlightening conversation with Steven, which also included discussion about complex industry terms like ‘identity’ and ‘programmatic’ – how we use them, what they mean, and why it’s important to use clear language when buyers and sellers are transacting. You can listen to or watch the full episode via www.amobee.com/podcast. Be sure to rate the podcast on your preferred platform and join the conversation via LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.