Q1 ad rundown: there’s cautious optimism amid impending changes

As the first quarter becomes a memory, the outlook for the rest of the year is sharply divided between two things: the positive conditions for the ad market, and the growing unease about its impending changes.

This might be described as cautious optimism.

While it could seem a bit verbose, the call for nuance is warranted: The enthusiasm for online ad spending is now checked by the gradual phase-out of detailed tracking that fuels it. The surge in connected TV enthusiasm has hit a sobering plateau, as the industry comes to terms with its limitations as a stand-in for traditional display advertising. Moreover, retail media, the trend du jour, teeters on the brink of a transparency debacle, entangled with sites created solely for advertising.

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