1.
Commerce
& Digital Marketing
Outlook 2019
December 2018

2.
Digital Marketing and Commerce has continued on its strong
growth trajectory in 2018, despite going through a period of
new data regulations and constantly evolving consumer
preferences across different shopping channels.
We can expect some big shifts ahead of us in 2019 that will
keep things very interesting for digital marketers. Our direct
relationships with 19,000+ advertisers and thousands of
publishers puts Criteo in a unique position to feel the pulse of
the market and detect emerging trends — often before the
rest of the industry.
I’m pleased to share with you this report highlighting the key
trends that we believe will have a big impact on Commerce
and Digital Marketing in 2019.
Happy reading, and have a great year ahead.
2019: A Year of Digital
Marketing Revamp
Mollie Spilman
Chief Operating Officer, Criteo

3.
3 •
The 7 Big Digital Marketing Trends to Watch in 2019
Voice and visual tech
usage will grow in digital
marketing
GDPR will drive data
protection legislation globally
Walled gardens will
come under greater
scrutiny
Video ad spend will soar, driven
by private marketplaces
Brands and retailers will team
up to capitalize on
omnichannel data
Digital ad operations will move from
agencies to more in-house
AI will gain wider adoption in
digital marketing

4.
GDPR will drive data
protection legislation globally

5.
5 •
Giving Users More Control of Their Data
GDPR has gained good global support since its
introduction in Europe in May 2018. Many industry
leaders, trade bodies, and legislators are now in
favor of establishing similar privacy laws in the US
and other regions.
Marketers need to manage their audience data more
carefully and give users more choice over what
happens with their data. Reports indicate that
Google is rethinking how it collects and monetizes
data to find ways of giving users more control over
sharing (or not sharing) their personal information
and search histories.
What steps have US companies taken to comply with
the GDPR?
% of respondents, Aug 2018
Conducted a GDPR
gap assessment
Note: corporate directors of public company board respondents
Source: BDO USA, “2018 Cyber Governance Survey”, Oct 15, 2018
Implemented or
updated privacy
notices
Updates branch
notifications
policies/procedures
Increase data
privacy budget
Appointed a data
protection officer
78%
78%
43%
32%
32%

6.
Establishing Best
Practices on Data
Usage
Impact in 2019
The use of standard data management practices
globally will reinstall consumer confidence and
trust in digital marketing. This in turn will benefit
businesses that offer greater transparency and
choice to consumers.

7.
Walled gardens will come
under greater scrutiny

8.
8 •
Greater Scrutiny on Tech Giants
With a number of incidents involving data breaches,
tech giants have come under greater scrutiny
regarding how they share and protect user data, their
corporate footprints, and the taxes they pay. European
Union competition chief Margrethe Vestager imposed
a fine on Google in July 2018 and has ordered a
probe into Amazon’s use of data.
In 2019, expect Facebook, Google, and Amazon to
introduce new policies on data sharing and user
privacy. This likely will lead to these walled gardens
setting up even tighter controls on their user data and
the information they share with advertisers.
Facebook’s approval ratings among the
American Public have plunged in the past five
months
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
-10
Netfavorability(%)
Oct -17
Mar-18
Source: Axios Polls, Mar 2018 vs. Oct 2017

9.
Prioritizing Consent
Management
Impact in 2019
Walled gardens will have to find better and
clearer ways to gain user consent on how, and
for what purposes, their data will be shared
and/or used.
Greater scrutiny of their policies and operations
will likely lead to even tighter control of user
data shared by these tech giants.

10.
Video ad spend will soar, driven
by private marketplaces

11.
11 •
54%
46%
83%
17%
Apps to Take Large Share of Video Advertising Budgets
Private Marketplaces (PMPs) will win growing share of
video ad spend as marketers aim for premium inventory
and better performance by displaying video ads on high
quality sites.
On smartphones, video content is most often being
watched by users via their popular apps. That means
apps are primed to make up an increased share of video
ad spend in 2019.
Source: Pubmatic
Note: Private Marketplaces (Google calls it Programmatic Direct) refer to a ‘private
environment’ in an exchange that allows advertisers and publishers to carry private auctions,
and sign one-on-one preferred deals and guaranteed deals.
Digital Video Ad Spend, By Platform
Mobile Q2
2017
Desktop Q2
2017
Desktop Q2
2018
Mobile Q2
2018

12.
Demand Will Soar
for OTT Video
Inventory
Impact in 2019
Private Marketplaces (PMPs) will drive more video ad
spend through programmatic advertising channels.
Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) video
inventory is seeing increasing demand, and the trend
is likely to become super hot in 2019.

13.
Brands and retailers will team up to
capitalize on omnichannel data

14.
14 •
Increased Brand Appetite for Data Driven Marketing
Brands and retailers are looking for opportunities outside
of walled gardens and marketplaces. Many will start doing
so by developing their omnichannel capabilities through
collaboration and data sharing (e.g. retailers sharing
real-time POS and inventory data with brands and both
being able to access the analytics and insights to plan for
promotions and operational efficiency).
For brands, consumer insights are critical to making the
right investment decisions for their product pipeline.
Walled gardens offer very little to brands in this respect,
and collaborating with other retailers can help them
access consumer insights at scale.
Source: eMarketer, Sizmek, “Marketer’s Survey Result 2018: An Insider’s Look at Data, Walled
Gardens and Collaboration,” Oct 17, 2018
*France, Germany and UK
How do brand marketers in Western Europe*
and the US feel about data and walled
gardens?
Improving campaign
analysis is a high or
critical priority
Increasing our use of
first-party data is a high
or critical priority
Walled gardens do not
provide enough data to
effectively analyze and
measure campaigns
90%
80%
85%
75%
60%
72%
60%
67%
Walled gardens do not
provide enough insight
to make comparisons with
other channels or partners
US Western Europe*

15.
Owning the
Customer
Relationship
Impact in 2019
To avoid being overly dependent on Amazon,
Facebook, and Google, brands and retailers will
need to team up and find ways to own the customer
relationship – and the data that goes with it.

16.
AI will gain wider adoption in
digital marketing

17.
17 •
AI to Drive More Ad Spend Via Online Channels
In 2018, a number of digital marketing companies
announced their investments in artificial intelligence (AI)
to develop solutions offering advanced personalization
and better user engagement using machine learning.
AI will enable marketers to better understand their
audiences and deliver highly relevant and personalized
messaging. This trend will then drive more advertising
budget to online channels in 2019.
Source: Econsultancy, “Dream vs. Reality: The Start of Consumer-First and
Omnichannel Marketing”, in partnership with MediaMath, Sep 10, 2018.
n=260 and includes brand advertisers, ad agencies and tech vendors.
47%
45%
42%
41%
39%
38%
34%
35%
27%
30%
31%
35%
19%
20%
31%
29%
30%
27%
Audience targeting
Audience segmentation
Dynamic creative
Campaign planning and modeling
Media spend optimization
Personalized offers
Currently using Planning to use No plans to use
Are advertisers* worldwide using AI for select
digital ad tactics?
% of respondents, May 2018

18.
Companies with
Large Datasets Will
Lead in AI
Impact in 2019
In 2019 we will see companies with large data-sets
and strong computational advertising capabilities
start to take the lead in developing and offering
improved AI-based digital advertising solutions
and systems to prevent ad-fraud.

19.
Digital ad operations will move
from agencies to more in-house

20.
20 •
Digital Media Buying Will Move In-House
Cloud-based and AI solutions will enable brands
to shift their digital media buying operations from
agencies to in-house.
The current high focus and ongoing developments
surrounding the regulation of consumer data will
accelerate this trend as brands and retailers will
want to have greater ownership and control of
their user data. Additionally, bringing ad
operations in-house can lead to significant cost
savings and quicker turnaround time.
Note: among those with budget responsibility of top 15 marketing functions; numbers
may not add up to 100% due to rounding.
Source: eMarketer, NewBase, “The Evolving Marketer 2018,” March 2018
In-house vs. Outsourced Marketing Services according to
CMOs Worldwide, Jan 2018
% of respondents
In-house Outsourced Both
Marketing strategy 86% 1% 13%
Product marketing 76% 5% 20%
Customer experience 75% 7% 19%
Social media 52% 10% 38%
Data analytics 45% 13% 43%
Ad operations 45% 28% 30%
Content marketing 44% 6% 49%
Branding 43% 14% 42%
Events marketing 43% 20% 37%
Digital marketing 42% 12% 46%
Communications and PR 36% 20% 45%
Advertising 33% 36% 32%
Programmatic 32% 43% 27%
Research and insight 28% 28% 44%
Creative and design 24% 28% 49%

21.
Control Over User
Data Will Be a Huge
Priority
Impact in 2019
In an effort to have greater control over user
data and ad placement, more companies will
continue to move their ad operations, including
paid social, display, and programmatic buying,
in-house in 2019.

22.
Voice and visual tech
usage will grow in digital
marketing

23.
23 •
Younger millennials
(18-20)
Combining Relevance with Convenience
The use of visual and voice (grouped under sensory) tech
in digital marketing will become more apparent in 2019.
Text search and visuals are important when consumers
search for products. With voice search, engagement
becomes even more convenient and meaningful for both
marketers and consumers across each stage of the
purchase journey.
According to Gartner, brands that redesign their websites
to support visual and voice search and provide more
interactive and engaging experiences will see up to a
30% rise in digital commerce revenues by 2021*.
What new technologies would UK and US younger vs.
older millennial internet users be comfortable with as
part of their digital shopping experience? July 2018
% of respondents in each group
Ability to search by
image (visual search)
Shoppable content/click
to purchase (images,
videos, articles, blogs,
user-generated content
on social)
Augmented reality (try
before you buy)
62.2%
61.7%
57%
58.5%
36.8%
28.6%
24.8%
30.6%
Live chat/messaging
(digital assistants)
Older millennials (21-
34)Source: ViSenze, Aug 29, 2018, Criteo Shopper Story, UK 2017, N=1515
*Smarter with Gartner, “Top 5 Marketing Predictions for 2018”, April 2018

24.
Capitalizing on
Search-Based
Micro-Moments
Impact in 2019
Brands and retailers that take the lead in optimizing
their websites for voice and visual search will win
shoppers looking for instant information on the go.
They will be able to have more engaging and
effective interactions with consumers.

25.
25 •
Key Takeaways for Digital Marketing Success in 2019
Digital marketing will see some important technological and operational changes in 2019. Retailers and
marketers must consider the following to prepare for the new opportunities and challenges:
Find opportunities to grow
outside of walled gardens.
Tech giants will face even greater
scrutiny over their use of consumer
data and their operational policies in
2019. Retailers and brands must look
for ways to collaborate and develop
growth opportunities outside of walled
gardens while having greater control
of their customer data.
Streamline your user experiences
across devices and channels.
Machine learning and predictive analytics
will help marketers truly connect with their
shoppers in new and meaningful ways. This
will bring significant improvements in
conversion rates while reducing cart
abandonment and ad-fraud.
Find the right blend of consumer data
and advertising technology to make your
campaigns more effective.
Optimize your data strategy to create
innovative customer experiences. Personalize
your offerings at individual level to connect
with your shoppers in new and meaningful
ways. Video and voice ads will drive even
better results for your digital marketing
campaigns.

26.
Thank you

27.
This and other Criteo reports
can be found at: criteo.com/insights
criteo.com/about