By Mateusz Jędrocha, Chief Product Officer, Adlook
The first month of 2025 set a clear tone for the year ahead. At CES, the focus was on AI-powered personalization, immersive experiences, and the intersection of content, commerce, and advertising. Meanwhile, IAB ALM delivered a reality check, with IAB CEO David Cohen warning that the open web is not a given.
With Big Tech tightening its grip, AI reshaping content discovery, and media fragmentation accelerating, advertisers must rethink where—and how—they invest. Digital advertising has long fueled the free and open internet, but without industry-wide collaboration, that foundation is at risk. If 2024 was about preparation, 2025 must be the year of execution.
Here are the key areas that demand urgent attention:
The Fragile Ecosystem of the Open Web
The internet as we know it—an open ecosystem where diverse voices, independent publishers, and free content thrive—is under threat. IAB CEO, David Cohen, emphasized an often-overlooked reality: digital advertising doesn’t just serve brands; it funds the open web. Without a sustainable ad-supported model, the internet risks becoming dominated by walled gardens and closed ecosystems, limiting access to diverse content and perspectives.
As an industry, protecting the open web is a shared responsibility and we must champion solutions that keep the open web viable, ensuring that publishers of all sizes can monetize their content effectively. This means supporting privacy-first advertising models that do not rely on third-party cookies but still enable targeted, measurable, and effective campaigns. It also requires advertisers to reassess their media investments, balancing performance-driven goals with a long-term commitment to the health of the broader digital ecosystem.
The Industry’s Collaboration Problem is Holding Back Progress
While technology is advancing rapidly, human collaboration is lagging behind. The barriers to progress in areas like brand suitability, creative trafficking, and identity resolution are not technological but operational. The technology to enable better interoperability exists—it’s the fragmented implementation that creates inefficiencies.
IAB Tech Lab’s roadmap highlights a strong focus on fostering industry-wide cooperation. However, we need more than just technical standards; we need a shift in mindset. Ad tech players must be willing to align on key frameworks, publishers must embrace new ways of working with advertisers, and agencies must evolve their approach to campaign planning. Without a more cohesive industry effort, even the most sophisticated innovations risk failing due to a lack of adoption.
Publishers Must Adapt to AI-Driven Content Discovery
The way audiences find and consume content is shifting dramatically. AI-driven content discovery is reducing direct traffic to publisher sites, forcing publishers to rethink their business models. As a result, many are turning to streaming, CTV, and alternative distribution channels to capture audiences where they now spend the most time.
This evolution is not just a shift in format but a fundamental change in how content is monetized. As an industry, we must ensure that advertising continues to support content creation regardless of how it is consumed. That means building better programmatic infrastructure for emerging channels, enabling smarter ad placements that respect user experience, and ensuring that publisher revenue models remain sustainable in a fragmented media landscape.
Measurement Needs a Reset
Measurement remains the cornerstone of our industry. Without reliable, standardized metrics, we cannot accurately assign value or optimize performance. The emerging focus on attention metrics represents a promising step, but we must push further—breaking down silos, establishing universal standards, and prioritizing collaborative measurement frameworks.
Streaming and CTV Must Embrace Programmatic Buying
Streaming video and audio ads remain largely locked in direct deals, limiting flexibility and efficiency. Yet, the potential for biddable media in CTV is enormous. By enabling programmatic ad slots, publishers can improve yield, advertisers can optimize campaigns in real-time, and the industry can create a more efficient, scalable marketplace.
We’ve seen this transformation play out before in digital display and mobile, and there’s no reason CTV shouldn’t follow suit. However, making this shift requires better infrastructure, improved transparency in pricing, and a focus on quality inventory. Advertisers must also rethink how they approach CTV, moving beyond simple reach metrics to engagement-driven strategies that leverage the unique advantages of connected TV.
Commerce Media is Expanding—But Needs Standardization
Retail media has been one of the fastest-growing sectors in digital advertising, and it’s now evolving into commerce media, extending beyond traditional retail into a broader e-commerce landscape.
While this shift presents massive opportunities for brands, it also introduces fragmentation and inefficiencies. Every retailer has its own data, platforms, and measurement methodologies, making it difficult for advertisers to execute unified campaigns. Industry-wide standardization is crucial to scale commerce media effectively and ensure that brands can seamlessly activate campaigns across different retail environments without unnecessary complexity.
Looking Ahead
The industry is at a critical juncture where privacy-first solutions, better measurement, and programmatic advancements must move from theory to widespread implementation.
Technology alone won’t solve these challenges. Collaboration, interoperability, and a shared commitment to an open, sustainable digital ecosystem will define the next era of advertising. The companies and leaders who recognize this and push for execution, not just innovation, will be the ones shaping the future.
