Ad Networks Come For Your Digital Wallet

Jun 4

It's beyond a joke at this point that everything is an ad network. Clearly, every company has some degree of commerce-related or even commerce-adjacent data, and has realized how valuable that is to the right advertiser.

But I'm afraid we might be venturing into dangerous territory. This week came the news that PayPal is getting into the ad business, which on one level makes perfect sense - they know all kinds of information on what people buy and when. PayPal's move comes on the heels of last months below-the-radar move by Chase to roll out its own ad business for similar reasons.

On the other hand - it's one thing to show people ads for athleisure brands on Target.com when they search for yoga pants, but using people's personal finance and/or purchase history to power an ad business?

Yes, this first party data, and I'm assuming the right anonymizing and clean room maneuvering, is happening behind the scenes. Yet doesn't this move by financial institutions seem way out of step with the broader push toward privacy?

I often wonder if regulators could go after the Walmarts of the world for violating laws such as GDPR - do people know they are signing up to power ad networks when they create accounts to get toilet paper delivered? What happens when lawmakers get wind of banks using data in this fashion?

To be fair, it will take U.S. regulators 10 years to find out what retail media even is. Until then, expect brands to keep upping their spend.

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