“Change” may not have made Merriam-Webster’s 2020 Word of the Year, but it was tops for digital advertising. In addition to the upheaval of a global pandemic, digital advertising faced a series of serious challenges. From Google Chrome’s third-party cookie phaseout announcement to mounting privacy regulations to rapidly changing consumer habits, confusion reigned. 

Though digital advertising is no stranger to innovation and agility, we were curious how marketers and publishers were faring amidst so much uncertainty. What exactly did the future of advertising, beyond the cookie, mean and how were its primary stakeholders preparing? 

Lotame set out to answer these questions and more with our global survey of over 1,000 marketers and publishers. We asked what keeps them up at night; how they will pivot investments; and what the future of digital advertising should look like. Results showed similar trends region to region, indicating marketers and publishers the world over are grappling with the same issues. Not surprisingly, marketers and publishers overwhelmingly agreed the future depends on a connected ecosystem that supports diverse, ad-supported content across the open web. But when asked how to get there, they diverged. 

As we’ve seen in digital advertising’s past, ingenuity has transformed seemingly insurmountable challenges into a wellspring of opportunities. Communication and collaboration across and within the industry can create a future of advertising that drives growth and value for all while doing the right thing by consumers. In that spirit, we present our global survey findings to inform, inspire, and educate both sides of the table on what each needs, wants, and hopes for the future of our industry.