5 online advertising trends to watch in 2023

Here are 5 online advertising trends I'm definitely going to watch in 2023:

1. CTV
2. Programmatic OOH & Contextual Advertising
3. Retail media
4. Audio ads
5. Shorts

CTV

Connected TVs, or TVs that are connected to the internet, are becoming increasingly popular. With the recent introduction of ads on platforms like Netflix and the expected rollout of ads on Disney+, the CTV market is set to open up great opportunities for advertisers.

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Programmatic OOH & Contextual Advertising

In the summer 2022, Google announced that advertisers could buy digital out-of-home ads through Display & Video 360. This is when I realised that programmatic OOH advertising will become mainstream.

Programmatic OOH will not scan people passing by a billboard to serve personalised ads. Rather, it will use contextual and geo-location data to show dynamic content, like a shop-specific sale, football real-time results, and more.

Contextual targeting will be increasingly common in online ads too. New privacy regulations are making personalised advertising harder to perform and less effective. Plus, the general sentiment around it couldn't be more negative. Advertisers will need to get more creative using contextual data!

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Retail Media

Why would retailers sell their customers' data to third-parties, when they can use it to sell ads directly?

Retail giants like Amazon and Walmart already embraced this trend, with their ads business expected to grow by 19% and 42% respectively, in 2023. Watch out, Alphabet and Meta!

Even Marriott is launching a proprietary ad network to serve ads on its websites and on guests' TVs.

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Audio Ads

Spotify ads' business will grow by 30% in 2023. With podcasts being a massive growth category, there's more and more room for audio ads. Online radio and other podcast platforms will also increase ads sales.

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Shorts

Short vertical videos, such as YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikToks, have become extremely popular. I don't know which one of these platforms will come out on top in 2023, but one thing is certain: short ads will become a major trend.

Advertisers will need to get creative in designing video ads specifically for this format. I think we'll see some very cool ones!