So This Happened…30th April 2025
The winners and losers of Google’s third-party cookie reversal
Digiday
Why It Matters:
Google's abrupt U-turn on eliminating third-party cookies from Chrome - after five years of pushing the industry toward a "cookieless future" - represents one of the most significant shifts in digital advertising strategy we've seen in years - not to mention (arguably) one of the biggest wastes of time and money.
For marketers and publishers who dragged their feet on finding cookie alternatives, this is a reprieve. Those who invested heavily in alternative identity solutions and privacy-forward approaches are left questioning their rushed investments. The big question: was this all just an expensive fire drill?
The reversal exposes fundamental tensions in the digital advertising ecosystem. First, Google's ability to unilaterally dictate the rules of engagement reinforces its dominance, even as it faces antitrust scrutiny. Second, the industry's reluctance to fully embrace cookieless alternatives reveals how deeply dependent digital advertising remains on tracking technologies that consumers increasingly distrust.
For retail media networks, which pitched their first-party data offerings as solutions to cookie deprecation, this removes a compelling selling point at a crucial moment when marketers are scrutinising their value, although the value of retail media’s extensive first party databases still remains from a targeting and attribution perspective.
Privacy advocates see this as a major setback, leaving "billions of Chrome users vulnerable to online surveillance," according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
The most intriguing winners might be publishers who hedged their bets - investing in first-party data and contextual solutions while maintaining cookie capabilities. These publishers now have the best of both worlds: they've built valuable first-party data assets (with 2.9x revenue uplift and 1.5x cost savings compared to third-party data approaches) while retaining access to traditional targeting methods. Their investments weren't wasted - they've future-proofed their businesses against inevitable privacy changes while maintaining flexibility in the present.
This saga demonstrates how changes in one area create ripple effects throughout the entire digital landscape. The industry may have gotten a reprieve, but the underlying privacy concerns and regulatory pressure that drove the original decision haven't disappeared.
I’ve seen ChatGPT’s new shopping features in action, and this could be the game changer we’ve been waiting for
TechRadar
Why It Matters:
We hate to say we told you so, but... we told you so!
Following our discussion last week of the potential OpenAI/Shopify collaboration, OpenAI has officially a new shopping feature for ChatGPT (although it’s not specifically linked to Shopify yet).
Today's e-commerce experience is fundamentally broken. Consumers toggle between countless browser tabs comparing products, specs, and reviews - a fragmented process directly linked to cart abandonment. AI-powered shopping assistants address this pain point by creating an intuitive conversational shopping experience that guides consumers through personalized product selection within a single, seamless interface.
While AI shopping assistants aren't entirely new - Perplexity launched "Buy With Pro" last year, and numerous retailers have introduced their own versions - what sets ChatGPT's implementation apart is its unprecedented scale. Previous tools have been confined to specific retail ecosystems or specialized applications with limited audience reach. ChatGPT, with its larger user base than competitors like Perplexity, has the potential to catapult AI-assisted shopping into the mainstream virtually overnight.
ChatGPT's implementation also solves a critical limitation plaguing existing AI shopping tools: the disruptive handoff to external sites for completing purchases. By containing the entire shopping journey within the conversation flow, ChatGPT eliminates a major friction point that has historically derailed conversions.
OpenAI's strategic decision to emphasise that product recommendations are selected independently - not as paid advertisements - positions ChatGPT as a trusted shopping advisor in an increasingly skeptical consumer landscape.
For brands and retailers, this development requires immediate strategic consideration. It signals a fundamental shift toward conversational discovery that could challenge the dominance of traditional search and marketplace giants. Products with easily describable attributes, distinctive features, and clear value propositions will likely gain competitive advantage in this new paradigm. Companies should urgently evaluate their product content strategies to optimise for natural language discovery while strategically positioning their offerings for favourable AI-driven recommendations.
With the feature rolling out universally - including to non-logged-in users - ChatGPT's shopping capability is poised to dramatically accelerate conversational commerce adoption while establishing new consumer expectations for seamless, AI-guided shopping experiences across all digital channels.
Perplexity is building a browser in part to collect customer data for targeted ads
Why It Matters:
Last week, Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas, announced the AI-search platform was developing its own browser, Comet. But Perplexity isn't simply entering the browser market - it's creating an infrastructure to collect comprehensive user data across the entire web experience, building profiles that go far beyond what's possible through its AI search alone.
While it may not be as well known as its peers, AI-powered search platform, Perplexity AI has rapidly established itself as a leading conversational search platform (we're big fans here at Atonik). Unlike traditional search engines that return links, Perplexity delivers direct, cited answers synthesised from multiple sources using large language models. Their expansion into browser development represents a natural evolution of their strategy to understand and enhance how people interact with information online.
This strategy mirrors what made Chrome so valuable to Google's advertising empire, but with an AI-native approach. Perplexity can leverage its understanding of natural language to interpret browsing behaviour in more nuanced ways than traditional tracking. When users search, browse, and interact, Perplexity can build increasingly sophisticated profiles to power what CEO Srinivas calls their "discover feed"—essentially an AI-curated content and advertising delivery system.
The timing couldn't be more significant. As regulatory pressure mounts on Google, with potential forced divestiture of Chrome, we're witnessing a reshuffling of the digital advertising landscape. Perplexity's willingness to potentially acquire Chrome shows they understand the strategic value of owning the gateway to the web. For retailers and brands, this development signals yet another evolution in the increasingly complex advertising ecosystem.
Connected TV platforms, retail media networks, and now AI-native browsers are all competing to become the definitive channels for reaching consumers. The distinction between content and commerce continues to blur as these platforms use data to create seamless paths from discovery to purchase.
Perplexity's approach is particularly notable because it combines the depth of understanding from conversational AI with the breadth of web browsing data - potentially offering advertisers unprecedented targeting precision while presenting consumers with a more personalised discovery experience.
As these AI companies position themselves as advertising platforms, we're seeing the next generation of shoppable media taking shape - one where content, context, and commerce are increasingly integrated through intelligent systems that understand not just what consumers are explicitly searching for, but what they might want before they even know it themselves.
Producer of Peaky Blinders and Big Brother ‘drafts bid’ for ITV
The Guardian
Why It Matters:
The production powerhouse behind Peaky Blinders and Big Brother may be preparing its boldest move yet: a takeover of ITV - or at least its prized content engine, ITV Studios.
Banijay Group is reportedly in early-stage talks with ITV, weighing whether to acquire the whole company or just the studio arm that fuels global hits like Love Island, Fool Me Once, and Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
For ITV, this moment could mark either a strategic reset or a surrender of its most valuable asset.Let’s be clear: ITV Studios is ITV’s growth engine. While the broadcaster’s linear TV business faces mounting headwinds - from declining ad revenue to relentless streaming competition, its studio arm is thriving, responsible for a double-digit profit bump in 2024. Analysts say ITV Studios alone could be worth as much as ITV’s entire £3bn market cap.
A full acquisition would hand Banijay control of ITVX, the broadcaster’s digital streaming bet, and its terrestrial channels, placing major swaths of UK broadcast infrastructure under foreign ownership. Expect serious political and regulatory scrutiny if this goes beyond whispers.
But even a partial deal could reshape the playing field. If Banijay scoops up ITV Studios, ITV would be left with a hollowed-out brand and limited international clout - just as global scale becomes essential in the arms race for content.If this deal moves forward, it wouldn’t just be a financial reshuffle - it could create Europe’s largest production force.
Banijay’s 195,000-hour catalogue merged with ITV Studios’ 90,000 hours would supercharge their leverage with streamers like Netflix and Disney+, while tightening the screws on UK independents already struggling with budget cuts and stalled commissions.
This comes amid wider industry consolidation: RedBird IMI (owner of All3Media) and other heavyweight bidders are circling, too. The race to own premium content is heating up - and it’s global.
This is about more than just a corporate merger. It’s a bellwether moment for UK media. If ITV sheds its studios, it risks losing creative independence and long-term viability. If Banijay succeeds, it cements its position as a continental kingmaker - redefining how content is created, financed, and distributed across Europe.
Either way, the UK broadcast industry faces a future where local control shrinks and global competition tightens.
Media usage poised to dip in 2025: Here’s what the numbers say
Marketing Dive
Why It Matters:
Have we reached Peak Media?
PQ Media recently released media forecast suggests that the forecasted 0.3% decline in global media consumption for 2025 marks a significant turning point in consumer media behaviour. After decades of consistent growth fueled by technological innovation and platform proliferation, we're seeing signs that media consumption has potentially peaked, especially in developed markets.
What makes this shift particularly consequential is the parallel transformation in content preference revealed in Deloitte's 19th annual digital media trends survey from a few weeks ago.. Not only is overall consumption plateauing, but the type of content capturing audience attention is fundamentally changing. Traditional premium content from major studios is increasingly losing ground to creator-driven content, especially among younger demographics.
PQ Media's forecast points to several factors driving the consumption decline, including fewer global events in 2025 (such as the Olympics or consequential elections), economic pressures, and market maturation. For the content and advertising ecosystem, these shifts represent a fundamental recalibration. The AI-powered recommendation engines of social platforms are creating personalized content experiences that traditional media struggles to match.
Also interesting is the introduction of "ai-Gen" demographic – those born between 2025 -2039 who will grow up entirely immersed in AI-integrated media environments – further underscores this transformation. For these future consumers, creator-driven content recommended by sophisticated algorithms will likely be their primary media experience from birth.
For retailers and brands investing in connected TV and shoppable commerce, this presents both challenges and opportunities. While TV (including streaming) remains the most-used channel at 28.07 hours weekly, the creator economy is increasingly driving purchase decisions. As Deloitte found, younger audiences consider ads and product reviews on social media more influential and trustworthy than traditional advertising.
This convergence of plateauing consumption and shifting content preferences signals that the future of successful commerce will increasingly rely on authentic creator partnerships rather than traditional premium content sponsorships. Brands that can effectively blend commerce with creator-driven content, delivered through personalised, AI-powered experiences, will be best positioned to capture consumer attention and drive conversions in an increasingly competitive media landscape.
As content, commerce, and technology continue to blur together, both studies suggest we're entering a new era where value perception, personal connection, and algorithmic personalisation will determine winners and losers in the battle for consumer attention and spending.
Meet the adtech startup trying to reintroduce music fans and online publishers
The Drum
Why It Matters:
Into-It's launch marks a potential inflection point in the evolution of digital advertising, attempting to solve multiple problems that have plagued the industry for years.
The browser extension, which has gone live with The Guardian and The Independent as launch partners, allows users to replace approximately 75% of standard banner ads with personalised notifications about musicians they've chosen to follow.
This represents a fundamental shift from surveillance-based advertising to intention-based marketing - users aren't tracked across the web; they simply declare what they care about.
Founded by former music journalist and ad agency founder Lee Henshaw , Into-It is trying to repair what was once a thriving relationship between music promotion and premium publishers. As Henshaw notes, music industry ad budgets that once heavily favoured quality news brands have virtually disappeared in the social media era, damaging both publishers' revenues and artists' ability to connect meaningfully with fans. The concept is built on Doc Searls' "Intention Economy" philosophy, inverting the traditional power dynamic of digital advertising.
Rather than users being the product, they become market-makers whose expressed desires drive brand engagement. This creates a clearer value exchange where, as Henshaw puts it, "we reveal the thing we intend to buy and the market competes to sell us that.
"For publishers like The Independent, whose commercial director Oli Wheatley calls it "a clever digital version of direct mail," Into-It offers access to a "sleeping giant vertical" that has been dormant since social platforms began dominating music promotion. For the music industry, represented at launch by partners including Domino Records and Marathon Music Group, it provides more efficient and effective promotion directly to interested fans.
While currently focused on music, Henshaw envisions expanding across entertainment (film, TV, theatre) and eventually to other passion points like fashion and travel. If successful, Into-It could pioneer an entirely new "intent tech" category that reshapes how brands and consumers interact online, potentially addressing what music industry veteran Sean Adams calls a "frayed and broken" advertising ecosystem that currently fails most artists and publishers.
