Four themes to watch for at CES 2025

CES 2025 will be an exciting opportunity to explore how we can work together to shape the year ahead. Here are four themes we expect to take center stage at the event.

“There is no better way to kick off the calendar year than with clients and industry peers that are excited to collaborate on new business opportunities. People come straight off the holidays energized by CES and with a pipeline of deals to work on for the coming month. In-person meetings always trump virtual calls and everyone in the industry comes together to make it a fruitful week.”

Crystal Jacques, Head of Enterprise Partnerships

1. Addressability in a signal-loss world

Addressability has become a cornerstone in AdTech as brands aim to deliver personalized experiences while navigating evolving privacy regulations and signal loss. This shift has prompted advertisers to rethink how they reach and engage audiences. In this environment, alternative identifiers such as UID2 and ID5 have gained traction, offering brands new avenues to target consumers across platforms while respecting privacy. Addressability has shifted from a straightforward tracking mechanism to a multifaceted strategy that combines identity solutions, contextual insights, and collaboration across the ecosystem.

ID Bridging and the new OpenRTB 2.6 specs

As the industry loses identity signals, it becomes increasingly difficult to identify audiences on the supply-side and make them reachable for the demand-side.

The supply-side has used the practice of ID bridging to do just that. ID bridging is the supply-side practice of connecting the dots between available signals to infer a user’s identity and communicate it to prospective buyers. This practicesparked debate, as buyers want full transparency into the use of a deterministic identifier versus an inferred one.

“The OpenRTB 2.6 specifications are a critical step forward in ensuring transparency and trust in programmatic advertising. By aligning with these standards, we empower our partners with the tools needed to navigate a cookieless future and drive measurable results.”

Michael Connolly, CEO, Sonobi

The industry needs widely accepted standards, and that’s what we believe the industry has with the IAB Tech Lab’s OpenRTB 2.6. The specifications dictate the data the supply-side needs to include in the Primary ID and Enhanced Identifier (EID) fields. In doing so, the demand-side receives more transparent information on when bids have inferred IDs and where they came from.

As authenticated signals decrease due to cookie deprecation and other consumer privacy measures, we will continue to see a rise in inferred identifiers. Experian’s industry-leading Digital Graph has long supported both authenticated and inferred identifiers, providing the ecosystem with connections that are accurate, scalable, and addressable. Experian will continue to support the industry with its identity resolution products and is very supportive of IAB’s efforts to bring transparency to the industry around the usage of identity signals.

2. Commerce media consolidation

As the world of commerce media expands beyond traditional retail media, we’re seeing a surge of networks across various verticals—financial, travel, and beyond—all competing to capture shoppers’ attention. With each company independently building its own media network, the need for strategic partnerships has never been more evident. Key players face challenges in scaling these networks and meeting growth targets due to infrastructure and funding limitations. In response, the industry is shifting toward partnerships – and potentially consolidation – to create networks that allow advertisers to reach customers across the entire shopping journey – from digital to in-store.

To succeed, commerce media networks must form strategic partnerships to enhance their data and identity capabilities and provide advertisers with a complete view of their customer.

“With annual growth in billions of dollars, the revenue potential for RMNs is massive. Organizing customer data, segmenting customers, generating insights, creating addressable audiences, and activating campaigns are all critical steps for a RMN to realize that revenue potential. RMNs should select a partner that provides the data, identity and analytical resources to create the winning formula for marketers, customers and retailers.”

Steve Zimmerman, Director of Analytics

With Experian’s expertise in data and identity solutions, commerce media networks can overcome data fragmentation, create high-quality audiences, and maximize addressability across their entire customer base. This collaborative, partner-led approach empowers retailers to utilize their first-party customer data but not be limited by in-house resources. As the commerce media space matures, those who embrace these partnerships and data-driven solutions will be well-positioned to capture the full potential of this expanding market.

3. Navigating complex privacy regulations

With privacy concerns intensifying, consumers are more conscious about data usage, and a series of state-level privacy laws are poised to take effect across the U.S. Multiple state-level laws makes compliance more challenging for marketers since no two laws are the same. While a federal privacy law remains unlikely for 2025, discussions around data ethics, compliance, and transparency will be prominent at CES, especially as a new administration assumes office.

Our privacy-forward audience solutions

Our Geo-Indexed and Contextually-Indexed Audiences help marketers reach the right consumers while prioritizing data privacy. Created without sensitive personal information, these audiences utilize geographic and contextual signals – not personal identifiers — to offer relevant targeting. These new tools provide both privacy and accuracy, giving advertisers and publishers a competitive edge.

“By embracing innovations in geo-based targeting and adhering to responsible data strategies, you can not only comply with these laws but continue to reach your intended audiences effectively.”

Jeremy Meade, VP, Marketing Data & Operations

As privacy regulations evolve, marketers need trusted allies who can provide transparent, compliant solutions. With deep roots in data protection and security, you can confidently partner with Experian as we proactively stay ahead of regulations and strictly follow all consumer privacy laws.

4. Rise of curation

As privacy regulations and signal loss reshape the AdTech ecosystem, curation can optimize programmatic campaigns by connecting advertisers with valuable audiences. This emerging trend utilizes audience, contextual, and supply chain signals to curate high-quality inventory packages for advertisers. By blending insights with inventory, curation ensures greater addressability, efficiency, and performance for both advertisers and publishers.

Supply-side platforms (SSPs) are taking a more active role in curating audiences and inventory. SSPs now collaborate with data providers to match buyer and publisher first-party data in real-time, creating curated private marketplaces (PMPs) that deliver transparency, efficiency, and improved match rates. SSPs can send deal IDs to multiple DSPs, which allows advertisers to deploy audience-based campaigns without restrictions on which DSPs or identifiers can be used.

However, curation isn’t without challenges. It can add complexity, lead to redundant buys, and even reduce publisher control over inventory. Transparency, quality benchmarks, and strategic partnerships will be critical for maximizing the benefits of curation in 2025.

Experian, in partnership with Audigent and others, is at the forefront of enabling privacy-forward curation strategies. Experian and Audigent’s combined capabilities bring together first-party publisher data, contextual signals, and advanced identity resolution to create curated PMPs that empower marketers to deliver precise, impactful campaigns.

Follow uson LinkedIn orsign up for our email newsletterfor more informative content on the latest industry insights and data-driven marketing.

What were the top themes at CES 2025?

Read our CES recap to find out.

---

Latest posts