The Coronavirus Crisis Has Torn Open the Pandora’s Box of Ad Tech

Hope still springs eternal—for those who can weather the initial pain

The economic impact of the coronavirus crisis on the advertising industry has laid bare the ugly truth of ad tech: that many in the ad-tech ecosystem were media resellers, despite positioning themselves as tech companies. We all know why this is: Tech is bankable—media not so much.

The fragility of this wishful thinking was exposed when Teads literally cited an “act of god” (or, rather, its business equivalent force majeure) upon reneging on earlier payment guarantees to publishers; same with GumGum proposing extended payment terms.

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