2025 Trends: AI’s Rise, Privacy’s Reign, and the Next Wave of Advertising

The article outlines five key trends for 2025: AI agents will automate processes like app/game production, UA campaign development, and customer service, reducing the workforce needed for billion-dollar companies from 10,000 to potentially 500. Privacy remains paramount, with ~40% of the open web non-addressable via cookies, pushing adoption of anonymized IDs or contextual targeting. Advertisers will diversify into CTV and in-app, accepting higher CPMs in favor of cost-per-outcome models (e.g., $20 for a first purchase).

M&A activity surges—Q3 2024 deal volume rose 118% YoY, with notable acquisitions like Outbrain-Teads ($1B) and Omnicom-IPG ($13.5B)—signaling renewed confidence. Finally, creative takes center stage as targeting becomes constrained; AI enables rapid generation of hundreds of ad variations, making novel, scalable creative a competitive advantage. Key data points include 40% cookie-less web, 118% M&A growth, and CPMs of $50-$100 for in-app.

Actionable takeaways: invest in AI for automation, prioritize privacy-compliant targeting, explore CTV and outcome-based in-app buys, monitor M&A opportunities, and leverage AI for creative testing.