It’s been a busy news week on the advertising technology (adtech) front. The US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that it is requesting Google to divest of the Chrome browser as the outcome of the monopoly trial that the search giant lost earlier this year. This news nearly drowned out other adtech moves from some of Google’s most significant competitors: The Trade Desk and Mediaocean. Despite many in the industry not knowing what comes next — including the outcomes of ongoing antitrust actions in multiple jurisdictions over its ad network and publisher ad server — these changes bode well for the future of adtech competition and consumer privacy.

If Google Loses Chrome, It Will Gain Luster

If the court agrees with the DOJ’s request, Google will be forced to sell or spin off the world’s most used web browser. It will also be forced to limit payments to Apple, Samsung, and others that collect billions to enable Google as the default search engine on their devices, OSes, and browsers.

Google’s Chrome browser has historically played second fiddle to the needs of its massive advertising business, and advertiser needs were often critical to key product decisions within Chrome, such as the decision to allow websites to continue to collect personal data while browsing in “incognito mode.” An independent Chrome browser would make way for:

  • Better privacy and more secure browsing for consumers. Unburdened of the needs of advertisers or the adtech ecosystem, an independent Chrome browser will need to make user-centric product decisions to compete with Safari and Mozilla (which have more privacy features available and enabled by default). Google’s Privacy Sandbox alternative was designed to appease advertisers but remains in negotiations with the UK antitrust regulator, causing Chrome to delay deprecating third-party cookies indefinitely. Still, data deprecation marches on, as Chrome users increasingly clear browser data and employ ad-blocking plug-ins.
  • Functionality gains for Google’s other products. Without Chrome, all of Google’s products — from YouTube to its ad platforms — would be forced to function under the same constraints as its competitors: working with a constantly shrinking number of user signals, each with limited reliability. While this uneven playing field has historically worked to Google’s advantage, it also disincentivized Google from leading and innovating to the same degree as its competitors. Google may have to invest in partnerships and open standards to maintain competitive observability for its ad products — something it was able to do in the past through acquisition.

The Trade Desk Pushes Into The Sell Side With TV OS Launch

The Trade Desk (TTD) announced a CTV operating system as a challenger to Roku, Google, and Amazon. It will help TTD increase the footprint of Unified ID 2.0 in this environment, where today it is comparatively limited to specific connected TV (CTV) apps. But the competition in this category is already stiff. In addition to concentration in the TV manufacturing space, many of the existing OS players own streaming services or are deeply partnered with competing advertising platforms.

To unhook those relationships, TTD’s Ventura OS will have to offer a better UX, stronger monetization, and better insights into customer habits than the competition. Longer term, enabling new content discovery and providing robust customization tools for developers will ensure stickiness with OEMs and their streaming app partners. The existing space for seller tools is quite robust, so TTD’s appetite for sustained investment in this area will ultimately determine its success over the long haul.

Creative Adtech Consolidation Comes To Fruition With Mediaocean’s Move To Acquire Innovid

Mediaocean’s announcement that it is acquiring and merging Innovid with Flashtalking resonates with analysis from The Forrester Wave™: Creative Advertising Technologies, Q4 2024, which called for “creative adtech’s consolidation.” In this case, Innovid’s video capabilities and Flashtalking’s display capabilities are consolidating for buyers’ benefit. When merged, Flashtalking and Innovid will offer robust automation, activation, and iteration capabilities for static and video creative across the open web, CTV, and social media. Both products’ workflows will remain relatively separate for some time — integrating people and processes is always a headache — so the companies will continue relying on managed services to get to market.

Don’t be surprised by more M+A in the creative adtech space — and adtech overall — as vendors seek to strengthen capabilities across channels. These massive multiyear investments from independent adtech companies such as Mediaocean and The Trade Desk highlight the fact that their position is bolstered by any structural change to Google’s adtech. To evaluate your strategy around Google’s fracture and the future of adtech, schedule a guidance session or inquiry today.