2 tech industry predictions for 2022
2021 witnessed numerous changes brought by the uncertainty and social reckoning of 2020. With rapid online migration, new business opportunities were born and digital advertising became more crucial than ever before. Here’s what I think will come from these changes in 2022.
Digital ads will become omnipresent
With worldwide ad spending reaching $780.59 billion, 2021 was a record year for growth in advertising than anticipated.
The massive growth happened partly because ad spending waned in 2020 and business uncertainties spread by COVID-19. It also happened because digital ads have unleashed entrepreneurship. The Cost-effectiveness of digital ads enabled small businesses to share their products with consumers globally. Strong privacy changes are pushing social networks to transition. Advertisers are looking for alternative channels to scale as Apple’s IDFA, and other initiatives are making it harder for social networks to offer to target the way they used to.
My prediction is that eventually, all businesses with mass reach will create an additional revenue stream by showing ads. I’m talking about everyone — all streamers, all automobile companies, telemedicine applications, pharmaceutical technologies, real estate platforms and finance platforms. We are already witnessing advertising disruption across industries. Bumble now sells clothing to consumers to wear on their first date.
I suspect over the course of time, OTT platforms will show ads in some markets, Automobile companies will show ads in the car and consumers will witness this change in any service they use that has meaningful scale. User experience will become very important. The ads will need to be relevant and useful, rather than interruptive and harmful.
Contextual signals to become the new norm
Consumers are now more aware — they demand a personalized online experience without sharing personal information with technology companies. Privacy is important to consumers, and everybody cares and demands it. People don’t want tech companies to know who they are or where they go and people are going to get what they want.
The digital world has witnessed many changes in the last few years, from the internet leaders and government bodies in a major move to protect the identity of users. GDPR, CCPA, IDFA, and the impending cookieless world are paving the way to consumers’ privacy.
To personalize the online experience while maintaining the privacy of the users, technology companies will shift to harness contextual signals and implied signals. For instance, Amazon says “people who buy this product also bought this,” by contextualizing consumers’ situation or the context of the product they are considering. We will see a lot more of that, versus “tell me who you are, and I’ll tell you what you need.”
I’m optimistic about our industry’s opportunity to grow and change for the better in 2022. Whether it’s diversifying ad space for advertisers, or the internet with better privacy, 2022 will be a year of positive change.
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About the author :
Adam Singolda, Founder & CEO, Taboola