Agencies, platforms, and marketers stand at the crossroads of transformation, as privacy regulations tighten, technology accelerates, and consumer behaviors evolve. Yet these challenges also present extraordinary opportunities.
Our 2025 Digital trends and predictions report highlights five trends that will shape 2025 and digs into:
- What’s changing in the market
- How to keep learning about your customers
- How to reach your customers in different places
- How to measure what’s really working along the way
In this blog post, we’ll give you a sneak peek of three of these trends — from cracking the code of signal loss to tapping into the buzz around connected TV (CTV) and stepping up your omnichannel game. Think of it as a taste test before the main course. Ready for the full menu? Download our report to get the lowdown on all five trends.
1. Signal loss: A rich appetizer of alternate ingredients
As traditional cookies crumble, marketers need fresh ingredients to keep the flavor coming. Already, about 40% of browser traffic doesn’t support third-party cookies, and marketers are spicing things up with first-party data, alternative identifiers like Unified I.D. 2.0 (UID2) and ID5, and contextual targeting strategies. In fact, 50% more of our clients received alternative IDs (UID2, ID5, Hadron ID) in their Digital Graph in 2024 compared to 2023. The number of alternative IDs resolved to individuals in our Digital Graph increased by 30% year-over-year – as everyone looks beyond the cookie jar.
There is no secret sauce to replace cookies. Instead, expect a multi-ID recipe that brings together different identifiers, unified by an identity graph. This approach turns a fragmented pantry of data into a cohesive meal, giving you a complete view of your customer on every plate.
2. The rising power of CTV: A hearty entrée of opportunities
CTV is quickly becoming the main dish on the streaming menu, as viewers load up on their favorite shows. While CTV is slated to make up 20% of daily U.S. media consumption by 2026, advertisers are still holding back on pouring in the ad spend. To unlock its full flavor, marketers need to whip up solutions like frequency capping and unified audience activation.
Although CTV will account for 20% of daily U.S. media consumption by 2026, it’s projected to command only 8.1% of ad spend. Frequency capping and unified audience activation solutions will be key to unlocking CTV’s full potential.
By 2025, nearly half of CTV “diners” will choose free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). Marketers need strategies to prevent ad overexposure. With 50% of U.S. consumers avoiding products due to ad overload, and 30% of marketers willing to increase their CTV spend if frequency capping improves, unified identity solutions help ensure every impression is served just right.
3. Omnichannel: A flavorful fusion plate
No one likes a one-flavor meal. Marketers are moving beyond single-channel “side dishes” to omnichannel “fusion feasts” that blend direct mail, digital, CTV, and retail media networks (RMNs) into a truly cohesive culinary experience. Even though only 21% of global B2C professionals currently put omnichannel at the top of their shopping list, the growing demand for seamless, audience-first campaigns is heating up.
In 2025, having an audience-first approach will be like having a perfect pairing for every course. Unified identity solutions act as your master sommelier, ensuring that each channel complements the next, and every customer enjoys a well-rounded, memorable journey.
Vertical trends: A dessert sampler from four unique kitchens
Different markets have their own signature flavors.
- In Auto, crossover utility vehicles (CUVs) claim 51% of new vehicle registrations, and consumers in the 35-54 age group and families are the primary buyers. Automotive marketers should prioritize CUV advertising with a strong focus on family-oriented and income-appropriate messaging
- In Financial Services, marketers need to anticipate shifts in consumer behavior tied to economic conditions, such as increasing demand for deposit products when interest rates are high. For insurance, aligning campaigns with life events, like new home purchases or marriage, can maximize engagement.
- In Healthcare, advertisers are prioritizing personalized, regulation-compliant campaigns that address social determinants of health (SDOH).
- In Retail, advertisers are increasingly activating on both CTV and social platforms, with many managing their own in-house campaigns. While larger brands often rely on media agencies, a shift toward in-house media buying is emerging among some bigger players, offering more control over audience targeting and performance metrics.
Our report covers each vertical’s unique menu, helping you select the right “ingredients” for your customers. With the top Experian Audiences on hand, you can create feasts that delight, nourish, and convert.
Download our new 2026 Digital trends and predictions report
Marketing in 2026 will be defined by connection: between activation and measurement, data and AI, platforms and outcomes. These connections are what turn innovation into impact, and they’re where Experian helps marketers lead with confidence.
What you’ll learn
- AI is only as good as its data : Find out why the marketers who shape how AI works, with high-integrity, human-centered data, will be the ones who lead.
- Activation and measurement are coming together: Explore how marketers are shifting from reporting after the fact to guiding performance in the moment.
- First-party data activation is becoming a foundational capability: See how it’s now possible to onboard and activate privacy-compliant audiences across channels, all from a single system.
- Commerce media is no longer just a retail play: Understand why auto, CPG, financial services, and travel brands are now adopting retail-style models to connect data, media, and sales outcomes.
- Curation is the new programmatic standard: Learn how curation brings identity, quality, and control together, allowing marketers to target confidently across connected TV (CTV), audio, and the open web.
Experian’s U.K. 2025 advertising trends
This article highlights the major advertising trends set to shape the U.S. market in 2025, but significant industry changes are happening on a global scale. For a more comprehensive look at worldwide trends, check out Experian’s U.K. 2025 advertising trends.
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Tapad’s TV analytics solutions now include premium national cable inventory– Travelocity asserts industry need, praises partnership — NEW YORK, February 28, 2017 — Tapad, a part of Experian, has announced its partnership with clypd, the leading audience-based sales platform for television advertising. By integrating clypd’s national cable network inventory, the partnership will expand Tapad’s extensive supply of TV inventory to include premium national cable inventory. Tapad is the leading provider of privacy-safe, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and was first-to-market with a device graph. Clypd’s robust sell-side advertising platform was one of the first built exclusively for the television industry, empowering media owners with solutions that deliver workflow automation, data-enhanced decisioning and, overall, maximize TV campaign performance. Through this partnership, Tapad’s Device Graph-powered TV tools will work in tandem with clypd’s sales platform to enable more precise audience engagement for TV ad buys. This will enable marketers to integrate their customer data or third-party digital segments into Tapad’s TV platform and use them to precisely engage their audience across clypd’s industry-leading footprint of national TV inventory. Campaigns are then optimized using Tapad’s graph-powered TV attribution, ensuring ads are aligned with the best context for each brand’s message. “Clypd is a pioneer in building TV marketplaces,” says Marshall Wong, SVP of TV market development at Tapad. “They were quick to recognize the benefits a device graph could bring to TV so that advertisers can activate linear inventory curated for any digital audience.” “Tapad’s TV activation platform increases the efficiency in which marketers can reach their intended audience on traditional linear TV,” says Doug Hurd, co-founder and EVP of business development at clypd. “Their customized, data-driven campaigns launch with precision and really increase the value marketers can extract from linear TV inventory.” "At Travelocity, we are always looking for ways to more efficiently reach our target audiences,” says Ashley Parker, head of brand marketing at Travelocity. “The combination of traditional linear TV and solutions like this offering from Tapad and clypd are bringing both the tools and the supply to make this vision a reality." Contact us today
Dextro clients to achieve increased accuracy in cross-device consumer measurement and engagement NEW YORK, Feb. 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Dextro Analytics, a pure play analytics company that harnesses the power of human learning and artificial reasoning to drive more informed and effective consumer marketing, is partnering with Tapad, the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and now a part of Experian. The deal is effective immediately and the scope of the partnership covers North America. Additional terms were not disclosed. Leveraging Tapad's privacy-safe Device Graph™, Dextro Analytics will be able to significantly bolster its insight engine to decode complex customer journeys. Armed with more relevant, actionable insights, marketers can use Dextro's cross-screen, closed-loop measurement systems to reach and engage the right customer at the right time through the right channel. "Being able to accurately map consumer preferences, behaviors and journeys in a privacy-safe and unified way across devices is still one of the biggest pain points for marketers," said Ajith Govind, co-founder of Dextro Analytics. "At the same time, this partnership engages customers with the right message at the right time." "Detecting latent patterns and signals, and tracing backward- and forward-looking behavioral characteristics, are keys to sustaining a competitive advantage in a crowded space," said Manmit Shrimali, co-founder of Dextro Analytics. "With the proliferation of data and devices, connecting the dots is of paramount importance." "Dextro is solving some of the biggest challenges in analytics today," said Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad's data division. "Our partners consistently see notable improvements in both budget allocation and device optimizations after integrating with the Tapad Device Graph, and I have every confidence that Dextro will be among them." For more information about Dextro Analytics' revolutionary approach to using human learning and artificial intelligence algorithms to solve business and analytical problems, please visit http://dextroanalytics.com/. For more information about Tapad's cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today
NEW YORK & LOS ANGELES / BUSINESS WIRE / Jan. 30, 2017– Tapad, part of Experian, and Rubicon Project (NYSE: RUBI) announced today a new global partnership offering a unified, cross-device campaign delivery solution within an automated advertising marketplace. Tapad is the leading provider of unified, cross-screen marketing technology solutions and Rubicon Projectoperates one of the largest advertising marketplaces in the world. The Tapad Device Graph™, which enables buyers to expand their high-value display data signals to associated mobile devices, will be integrated across Rubicon Project’s leading advertising exchange and Orders platform, significantly improving consumer mobile reach. The new global partnership will empower Buyers within Rubicon Project’s exchange to find and engage audiences across their entire digital experience. Rubicon Project operates one of the world’s largest mobile exchanges connecting to approximately 1 billion unique mobile devices globally. “We’re excited to partner with Tapad to continue to provide our customers the very best data for managing their advertising businesses,” said Harry Patz, Chief Revenue Officer, Rubicon Project. “Cross-device delivery is crucial for buyers today with more than 81% of internet users currently relying on more than one device for digital access[1]. Through our partnership, buyers will be able to extend their desktop private marketplace campaigns to mobile, allowing them to find and engage their audience across devices, anywhere in the world. The net result will also benefit sellers; the increase in mobile reach will better position publishers and app developers to strategically capitalize on their inventory, ultimately increasing bid rates and mobile revenue across the board.” “Our partnership with Rubicon Project marks the first time advertisers and publishers alike are able to use cross-device solutions at significant scale outside of Google and Facebook,” said Pierre Martensson, GM of Tapad’s Data Division and APAC. “Our Device Graph will help Rubicon Project’s advertisers make more informed buying decisions and find the audiences who matter most.” Barry Adams, VP of Commercial Development at Bidswitch, said, “As digital advertising moves away from desktop and increasingly toward a mobile-first model, cross device data becomes critical to finding consumers. The rich data buyers will now be able to leverage at scale through the Tapad and Rubicon Project integration will enable us to provide a state-of-the-art cross-screen solution for the 150+ buying platforms that use our service, and the tens of thousands of advertisers they represent.” For more information about Rubicon Project’s inventory, please visit www.rubiconproject.com. For more information about Tapad’s cross-platform advertising solutions, please visit https://www.experian.com/marketing/consumer-sync. Contact us today