Criteo's Strategies for Success in a Cookie-less Advertising Industry
2023-07-30
Criteo, a leading advertising company, recently held an earnings call meeting to discuss their financial performance and address investor concerns. During the meeting, the company emphasized their focus on scaling their first-party media network and adapting to a cookie-less environment, which proved to be the most interesting and crucial topic of discussion.
To tackle the challenges posed by the impending demise of third-party cookies, Criteo has implemented several strategies. They have expanded their direct supply strategy by leveraging hashed emails as persistent IDs, partnering with publishers like slate.com, CafeMedia, and A360media. This direct integration has allowed Criteo to collect 10 times more hashed emails compared to other industry IDs, giving them a significant advantage in terms of first-party data.
In addition, Criteo has fully integrated their supply capabilities with IPONWEB's capabilities, creating their commerce grid supply side platform (SSP). This integration aims to enhance their first-party data matching and overall performance in the advertising industry. By combining forces with IPONWEB, Criteo is positioning themselves as a leader in the cookie-less future.
Collaboration has also been a key focus for Criteo, as they have been working closely with Google, a major partner in the privacy space. This partnership allows Criteo to stay updated on the latest developments and best practices in privacy, ensuring compliance and effective navigation of the evolving privacy landscape.
Looking ahead, Criteo remains cautious about the market outlook for Q2 2023 due to a slower macro environment and conservative ad budgets. However, they expect growth in Q2 contribution ex-TAC, with a low single-digit organic decline but inorganic growth from IPONWEB. Retail media and commerce audiences are expected to continue showing robust growth. Forex changes may have a negative impact on contribution ex-TAC, and adjusted EBITDA is expected to be low, reflecting Q2 seasonality and dilution from IPONWEB. Despite these challenges, the company remains committed to driving shareholder value and has a resilient business model.
Criteo's plans for product and service expansion include cross-selling and utilizing retailer data for retargeting opportunities. They aim to help retailers find audiences off-site, qualify them, and target sponsored recommendations to them better on-site. The company has set up selling teams to facilitate cross-selling and offers a single platform for clients to access multiple services and data for measurement and optimization. They have also expanded their partnership with Shopify and are exploring the possibility of combining their commerce audiences with Shopify's own audience product.
During the meeting, Criteo highlighted the presence of key participants, including Melanie Dambre - Director, Investor Relations, Megan Clarken - Chief Executive Officer, Sarah Glickman - Chief Financial Officer, and various analysts from financial institutions such as Stifel Financial Corp., Citi, Morgan Stanley, and more. This indicates the importance of the call in discussing the company's financial performance and providing insights to investors and stakeholders.
In conclusion, Criteo's focus on scaling their first-party media network and adapting to a cookie-less environment was the highlight of their recent earnings call meeting. Their efforts to leverage hashed emails, partner with publishers, integrate with IPONWEB, and collaborate with Google demonstrate their commitment to staying ahead in the advertising industry and ensuring continued success. Despite cautious market outlook, Criteo remains determined to drive growth and deliver value to their shareholders.