The ad tech industry has seen its fair share of changes over the last decade, marked by substantial yearly shifts in the sector. 2020 was no exception, and the year lived up to its promises. Pubstack, a specialist in Publishers’ ad revenue monitoring and optimisation, interviewed 60 European top-performing publishers on what will be at stake for them during this year and shared the findings on their website.

The challenges and opportunities that await publishers can be summarised in three main points:

1. Revenue consolidation and diversification - and a particular focus on video

According to the study results, publishers will rely on different revenue sources with a strong focus on video. Along with revenue diversification, publishers will focus on better tracking the performance of each revenue stream to see if they bring a real added-value. As a result, Pubstack foresees a consolidation with regards to the use of technology. Server-side solutions, in particular, will be put to the test and will have to prove their value in 2021.

2. Building a global view of all revenue streams

The study suggests that publishers will try to calculate each user’s value for their business in the coming months. This may involve, for example, deciding to which users the subscription option should be pushed or what users will be served exclusively with ads. To be able to answer this question, uniform metrics are necessary, among other things.

3. Rethinking privacy and adapting your buyer offer

The topic of data protection must be rethought in 2021. One of the biggest challenges that are riding the privacy wave is the elimination of third-party cookies. However, according to the study, publishers are relaxed and trust the tech landscape. They want to wait and see what solutions come onto the market and how the first test results go.

The complete survey results are available for free on Pubstack’s blog here.