Tech, retail, and streaming companies to make stronger play for digital ad dollars in 2023

The trend: As recession fears and Apple’s privacy changes pressure Meta and Google, an up-and-coming group of digital ad players is looking to garner more of the tens of billions of dollars at stake in the industry.

• These go-getters—which include Amazon, Apple, Instacart, Microsoft, Netflix, TikTok, and Walmart—are not advertising companies at their core. But they have loyal and large consumer followings, valuable first-party data, and the financial wherewithal to compete for US digital ad market share.

In 2023, these companies will outperform Meta and Google when it comes to ad revenue growth.

The one constant: Here are some shifts underway in digital ad spending:

• Tech giants’ ad ambitions show. Apple is ramping up its mobile search business—at Meta’s expense—and getting into streaming TV ads. Microsoft has quietly laid a foundation for the future of digital advertising with assets in search (Bing), social (LinkedIn), gaming (Xbox), retail media (PromoteIQ), and ad tech (Xandr).
• Ecommerce giants power the retail media boom. Amazon drove—and now dominates—digital advertising’s third wave with a powerful combination of search, display, and streaming TV ads. Walmart and Instacart are replicating this as they scale their retail media businesses.
• Streamers embrace ads. Netflix and Disney+ recently unveiled their own ad-supported tiers. Spotify ads are beginning to scale.

Where the growth is: Among retail media networks, the top revenue gainers will be Walmart (up 42%) and Instacart (up 41%), while Amazon will attract the most net new ad revenues in 2023 at $5.48 billion.

Go further: To learn about more changes in store across social media and commerce in the year ahead, read our report, Top 8 Trends to Watch for 2023.