The Evolving Landscape of Ad Serving in 2024 and Beyond

Ad Serving's Revenue Surge

The digital marketing realm is in constant flux, and ad serving has become a crucial element for success. In 2024, a whopping 63% of brands and agencies anticipated ad serving to generate a substantial 41% or more of their overall revenue. This represents a significant leap from 2023, when only 16% achieved such figures. With U.S. digital ad spending projected to exceed $300 billion in 2024, this upward trend shows no sign of slowing.

Roger Vasquez, VP of Technology Solutions at Clinch, highlights the growing importance of creative ad servers: “As individual markets increasingly expect personalized messages, advertisers who don’t want to manage the media breakouts are finding immense value in creative ad servers because of their control, speed and efficiency. With dynamic creative optimization, those messages can be generated and decisioned from one platform.”

Investing in the Future: Ad Server Tech and DCO

Recognizing the power of ad serving, brands and agencies are strategically investing in technology and resources. Approximately two-thirds of respondents dedicate at least 21% of their budget to ad server technology, staff, support, and partnerships. Dynamic Creative Optimization (DCO) is another key investment area with 65% allocating at least 21% of their budget, reinforcing the focus on personalized, data-driven advertising.

Transforming Ad Server Roles and Capabilities

Modern ad servers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Key features include cross-device ad serving (76%), third-party integrations (71%), and creative performance optimization (67%). Beyond the primary ad server, a diverse range of platforms like DCO platforms (56%), ad performance analytics platforms (56%), and creative management platforms (56%) are utilized, creating a complex and interconnected advertising ecosystem.

“The proliferation of devices has been touted for years, and with DCO ad serving, advertisers can deliver cohesive messaging across devices and channels,” says Vasquez. “The technology is finally there to make online ad experiences better, so it’s incumbent on advertisers to take advantage of it.”

Real-world examples, like RE/MAX's partnership with Tombras and Clinch, showcase how DCO is empowering personalized creative and driving engagement.

Dominant Placements: Display, Search, and Social

Search, display, and social media reign supreme in ad serving strategies. Nearly 9 in 10 respondents serve ads on Google Ads, with social platforms (Facebook, TikTok, YouTube) following closely behind at 86%. Programmatic advertising (74%) rounds out the top three, while emerging channels like Amazon Advertising (66%), digital out-of-home (64%), and CTV/OTT (51%) gain traction.

Diversifying Social Spend

While social media remains a powerhouse, advertisers are diversifying their investments. Although 86% serve ads on social platforms, spending is distributed across various channels, reflecting the dynamic social media landscape. Interestingly, some platforms, like X, Snapchat, Pinterest, and even TikTok, see limited investment from a portion of respondents.

Marissa Corvallis, VP, Director of Performance Strategy at Canvas Worldwide, emphasizes the strategic choice advertisers face: "Platforms like Meta and TikTok are really successful at cost-effectively driving performance and conversion actions… while other platforms like Reddit or Pinterest provide unique opportunities for audience engagement and brand awareness." Adaptability, according to Corvallis, is crucial in navigating the evolving social media landscape.

Ad Serving Team Dynamics

Ad operations teams primarily lead ad serving efforts (66%). However, a collaborative approach is essential. Strategic planning and optimization teams (62%), data analytics teams (55%), creative teams (35%), and marketing teams (32%) all play significant roles, highlighting the interconnected nature of modern advertising operations.

Jessica Hondolero, VP of Creative Solutions at Clinch notes, “The lines between teams handling ad-serving responsibilities are blurring due to the need for cross-functional collaboration… Integrated platforms, automation and programmatic advertising require advertisers, media and creative agencies to work together.”

Data: The Foundation of Ad Serving Performance

Data fuels effective ad serving. First-party or CRM data leads the pack (75%) as the most impactful data type, followed by contextual data, third-party audiences, and user ad engagement data (all at 59%). This signifies a shift towards prioritizing owned data and understanding user context.

The story of Josh Cellars wine exemplifies this trend, showcasing how brands are actively expanding their first-party data collection to enhance targeting and personalization.

Measuring Success in a Data-Driven World

Click-through rate (60%) and conversion rate (60%) remain the most critical metrics for measuring ad-serving success. Cost-per-acquisition (49%), cost-per-click (49%), and engagement metrics (48%) also hold significant weight. However, the importance of specific metrics can vary depending on the ad channel.

AI: Unlocking Deeper Ad Serving Insights

AI, especially generative AI, is transforming ad serving. A significant majority of respondents are either leveraging or exploring generative AI for analytics and reporting (73%), campaign optimization (71%), and creative strategy planning (67%). This showcases the growing reliance on AI for data analysis, decision-making, and creative development.

Navigating Challenges and Embracing Opportunities

Despite Google's delay in deprecating third-party cookies, identity resolution remains a primary challenge (67%), alongside cross-device tracking (64%) and budget constraints (60%). To overcome these hurdles, brands and agencies are prioritizing audience segmentation (74%), conversion rate optimization (60%), and DCO (54%).

Charel MacIntosh, Head of Business Development and Strategic Partnerships at Clinch, stresses the importance of agility and flexibility: “When it comes to privacy compliance, brands need an ad server to be agnostic to support the identity currencies and crosswalks they use today, as well as the various vendors they may work with tomorrow.”

Building the Campaign Strategy Toolkit

Building a robust campaign strategy requires a diverse toolkit. While Excel remains a staple (72%), dedicated decision-tree tools (67%) and ad-serving platforms themselves (66%) are also frequently used, demonstrating a blend of traditional and specialized tools.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Ad Serving

Brands and agencies are preparing for a future shaped by constrained budgets (57%), team growth/restructuring, and technological innovation. Predictive modeling and forecasting (73%), real-time updates (68%), generative AI (67%), and data integration (66%) are among the most sought-after features for enhancing ad serving capabilities.

“Hopefully, this year the generative AI features that everyone has touted will be fully functional and lead to the next phase of refinement and development,” says Vasquez. “The tools that help make the end-to-end faster but keep humans in control seem most exciting.”

The future of ad serving hinges on embracing agility, cross-channel strategies, data integration, and DCO. Balancing efficiency and creativity will be crucial for unlocking success in the ever-evolving digital advertising landscape.