Another day, another digital dumpster fire. If you’re in ad tech, you’ve probably been bracing for the so-called “Cookiepocalypse” longer than you’ve been waiting for your Uber driver who’s “just two minutes away” but somehow still hasn’t left his parking spot.

💀 Let’s be honest: the entire ad-tech ecosystem has the structural integrity of a Jenga tower in an earthquake. Every time Google sneezes, half the industry falls over, clutching their programmatic pearls. And yet, here we are, again, watching companies act surprised—like a goldfish seeing its own reflection for the first time.

😤 But not Lizzie Chapman. The VP of Partnerships at NextRoll isn’t waiting around for Google’s next vague deadline extension. She’s on a mission to build something future-proof, not just slap some buzzwords on a deck and hope for the best.

🛠️ Here’s what she’s tackling:
✅ How to keep a DSP standing when third-party cookies collapse faster than a stale biscotti.
✅ Why AI isn’t magic dust—it’s just an expensive way to automate bad decisions if used wrong.
✅ The real reason company culture matters (hint: it’s not the kombucha on tap).

🚀 If you’re still hoping for some miracle workaround to keep the old way of doing things alive, good luck with that. The industry has changed, and survival isn’t about who had the biggest Martech stack in 2019. It’s about who can adapt—fast.

📌 Why this matters: The rules have changed. The adaptable will thrive. The rest? Well… there’s always room in the ad-tech graveyard.

🎤 Now, let’s hear from Lizzie. Spoiler: She’s not here to sugarcoat anything.

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At this point, third-party cookies have been "dying" longer than Mick Jagger has been on his last tour. The industry has had, what, five years of Google’s waffling, a parade of privacy updates, and enough warning signs to make even the most reckless DSP consider a backup plan. And yet, somehow, there are still companies standing around like deer in the headlights, praying that Google pulls another last-minute deadline extension.

Spoiler: That’s not a strategy.

And Lizzie Chapman knows it. While plenty of ad-tech execs are still nursing their Privacy Sandbox panic attacks, Chapman, the VP of Partnerships at NextRoll, is treating it like what it actually is: an opportunity to build something better—instead of just rebranding old tricks with shinier acronyms.

“This is not the first industry change,” she tells me, sounding impressively unfazed for someone working in an industry that’s constantly on the brink of chaos. “We’ve been through GDPR, CCPA, Safari killing cookies, ATT with Apple. And guess what? We always figure it out.”

That, right there, is the difference between companies that survive and companies that become cautionary tales in ad-tech postmortems. Some DSPs are hoping that if they ignore the problem long enough, it will go away. Chapman is actually doing something about it.

Let’s be clear: hoping that alternative IDs will swoop in and save the day is like hoping your landlord forgets about rent. It’s cute, but ultimately, reality comes knocking.

NextRoll isn’t waiting around for some miracle fix. Instead, they’re stacking strategies like a survivalist prepping for the apocalypse—because if you lean on just one, you might as well hand Google the keys to your business now.

So what does NextRoll’s future-proofing playbook actually look like?

✔ Building proprietary solutions (contextual targeting that doesn’t suck—unlike, say, Google’s Topics API).
✔ Investing in CTV (because IDs still exist there—for now—but also because people actually watch it).
✔ Testing alternative identifiers (but treating them like a side dish, not the main course).
✔ Going all-in on Privacy Sandbox (not because they love it, but because ignoring it is like ignoring gravity).

And here’s the kicker: NextRoll isn’t just spitballing ideas in a conference room full of overpriced consultants. They’re actually testing this stuff—directly with W3C, Chrome’s Privacy Sandbox team, and as grantee testers for the CMA. Translation? They’re in the room where it happens while most DSPs are still trying to figure out how to spell FLoC.

Ad tech executives love saying "AI" almost as much as they love their Patagonia vests and LinkedIn thought-leader posts. But let’s be honest: most of what gets labeled as “AI” in this industry is just fancy automation with better PR.

Chapman, to her credit, isn’t drinking the AI Kool-Aid without asking what’s in it. “Predictive AI has been the bedrock of programmatic advertising for a very long time,” she points out. “This isn’t some new thing—we’re just seeing more companies realize how much of a mess they’ve made without it.”

Translation? AI isn’t a magic wand—it’s just another tool. If you feed it garbage, it will serve you algorithmic garbage, just with more confidence.

At NextRoll, AI isn’t a branding gimmick—it’s actually being put to work:
🚀 Optimizing bids, creatives, and audience segments in real-time (instead of just making pretty dashboards).
🚀 Building an entirely new bidder within Privacy Sandbox (because adapting isn’t optional).
🚀 Running NextRoll’s B2B insights engine (a data powerhouse that actually makes sense of first-party and intent data).

It’s the difference between using AI to sound smart and using it to actually make smarter decisions. And if you’re still hoping AI alone will fix your post-cookie problems, well… you probably believe blockchain was going to fix everything too.

Silicon Valley has spent the last two decades trying to convince us that culture is about kombucha on tap, unlimited PTO no one actually takes, and executives who say “we’re a family” while quietly laying people off over Slack.

Chapman? She’s not buying it.

“People and culture drive success,” she says. And no, not in the corporate-speak, DEI-panel kind of way—but in the actual “if your team hates working for you, your company is doomed” kind of way.

NextRoll’s not-so-secret weapon? A company culture that doesn’t feel like a beige corporate dystopia:

🐵 The Monkey: A core value of “taking the work seriously, but not ourselves.” Because nobody wants to work in a humorless hellscape.
🌊 The Jellyfish: Radical transparency, including a company-wide “Jellyfish Board” where employees can anonymously ask leadership actual tough questions.

No, it’s not just another corporate mascot-fueled branding exercise. It’s why people actually want to work there—and stay. Because when the industry is in chaos, the last thing you want is a team full of people secretly updating their LinkedIn résumés.

I like to throw my guests an existential crisis now and then, so I asked Chapman:

🎤 “If you were stranded on a desert island—no Wi-Fi, no dashboards, and ‘DSP’ now stands for ‘Desolate Sandbar Platform’—who would you bring?”

Her picks?
✔ Her wife.
✔ Her cousin Matt (because, and I quote, “he’s handy”).
✔ Her dog Nelson (the good dog, not the chaotic one).
✔ Her ski patrol director (for, you know, survival).
✔ Her friend Heidi (who is, crucially, a therapist).

A practical crew, honestly. No “I’d bring Elon Musk because he’d build a rocket” nonsense—just teamwork, survival skills, and emotional support. Which, now that I think about it, is exactly how she leads NextRoll.

Chapman’s been in tech for 17 years, which means she’s seen the full spectrum of how companies treat women in leadership:

🚫 Getting passed over for promotions because “she just had a baby.”
🚫 Being tokenized for the sake of looking progressive.
🚫 Sitting in rooms where men still talk over her like it’s a sport.

She’s not interested in “diversity” as a checkbox—she’s interested in getting more women into leadership because it actually makes companies better.

“Women are good leaders. They’re collaborative, they operate well in crisis, and they bring diversity of thought that’s often missing at the top,” she says.

And here’s the reality: Companies that don’t make room for women, especially in tech and partnerships, are setting themselves up for failure. Because the companies that do? They’re the ones actually building the future.

If you’re still waiting for a “perfect” solution to the post-cookie world, here’s some free advice: Get over it.

Chapman and NextRoll aren’t waiting. They’re adapting. They’re experimenting. They’re actually doing the work.

Because in ad tech, the companies that survive aren’t the ones hoping for a miracle. They’re the ones willing to build something better.

As digital advertising shifts away from third-party cookies, demand-side platforms (DSPs) face a critical test: adapt or risk obsolescence. While some platforms have proactively restructured their operations to align with new privacy standards, others have struggled to keep pace. The divergence in strategies underscores the broader transformation in programmatic advertising.

NextRoll, a leading DSP, has positioned itself at the forefront of this transition by implementing a multi-pronged strategy:

The transition has not been as smooth for all players. Several DSPs have encountered difficulties due to:

NextRoll’s strategy exemplifies how DSPs can remain competitive in an evolving regulatory and technological landscape:

The phase-out of third-party cookies, combined with increased regulatory scrutiny, has forced DSPs to rethink their core models. Those that have proactively invested in alternative data strategies and machine learning enhancements are better positioned for long-term success. NextRoll’s evolution highlights the necessity of a multi-faceted approach—one that balances privacy compliance with performance-driven advertising. For DSPs that fail to adapt, the path forward is increasingly uncertain.

The DSP landscape is going through a shakeout that looks a lot like a survival-of-the-fittest drama—except the ones getting eaten don’t even get a closing monologue. With the third-party cookie crumbling and privacy standards tightening like a noose, only the most adaptable players are thriving.

Publicis is making a power play, acquiring Lotame to bulk up its data empire, while Madhive is doubling down on local CTV with its Frequence acquisition. Meanwhile, the smaller DSPs that couldn’t pivot fast enough? They’re vanishing, proving that in the world of adtech, you either evolve or you die.

Publicis Groupe just finalized its acquisition of Lotame, a data and identity technology firm, in a move that screams consolidation. The reason? Publicis is on a mission to own the identity-driven marketing future, and Lotame’s Panorama ID—a privacy-first alternative to third-party cookies—fits neatly into that strategy.

Arthur Sadoun, CEO of Publicis Groupe, made it clear:
"By connecting Lotame to Epsilon, we're reinforcing our industry-leading identity graph, giving clients the unique competitive advantage of seeing and engaging with 91% of all adults who use the internet, safely and transparently."

Translation? They now own a staggering 4 billion consumer profiles, covering nearly the entire internet-using adult population. That’s some serious ad-tech real estate.

So how does Publicis plan to integrate Lotame’s data assets? Simple—by plugging them into its Epsilon division and Core AI, the AI-driven operating system it rolled out in 2024. Here’s what that means in practice:

🔹 Lotame will live under Epsilon, strengthening Publicis’ already dominant identity graph. Lotame brings in 1.6 billion unique IDs sourced from 100+ data providers, giving Publicis a near-total view of digital consumers.

🔹 Better interoperability—Epsilon’s “identity spine” will now sync seamlessly with first-party data, publisher data, and other third-party partnerships, making it easier for advertisers to execute privacy-compliant, scalable audience targeting.

🔹 Regional expansion—Publicis now has a foothold in APAC, the Middle East, and Africa, thanks to Lotame’s presence in 109 countries.

🔹 Core AI gets an upgrade—Lotame’s massive dataset will train Core AI, Publicis’ artificial intelligence platform, making it more precise at media planning, predictive analytics, and hyper-personalized ad campaigns.

And don’t expect a messy merger. Lotame’s founder and CEO, Andy Monfried, is staying on board, ensuring continuity as the companies integrate their data stacks. A full de-duplication process is underway to merge the datasets smoothly, with everything set to be finalized by mid-2025.

This acquisition isn’t just about beefing up data. It’s about making sure Publicis can compete in a post-cookie world where identity solutions are the new oil.

While Publicis is busy fortifying its data fortress, Madhive is carving out its own niche—local CTV dominance.

Madhive, already a major force in programmatic TV advertising, acquired Frequence, an omnichannel ad sales enablement platform. The goal? To own the local CTV market, where linear TV’s decline is opening up a gold rush for programmatic ad buyers.

Madhive’s strategy makes sense. As local broadcasters lose traditional ad revenue, they need sophisticated programmatic solutions to monetize digital inventory. Frequence brings automation tools to streamline that process, making it easier for local media companies to compete in the CTV ad game.

With CTV spending projected to hit $40 billion by 2026, this acquisition is a clear signal: Madhive wants to be the go-to DSP for local advertisers looking to transition to streaming.

While the big players are consolidating power, smaller DSPs are dropping like flies.

The reasons are obvious:

⚠️ They can’t handle Google’s Privacy Sandbox. Many smaller DSPs lack the resources to integrate Google’s ever-changing privacy APIs, putting them at a disadvantage.

⚠️ They can’t afford to build alternative ID solutions. As the industry shifts toward first-party data and universal IDs, DSPs without deep pockets simply can’t keep up.

⚠️ They can’t compete on scale. When Publicis owns 4 billion consumer profiles and The Trade Desk is pushing its UID2 identity framework, what chance does a small, independent DSP have?

This trend isn’t slowing down. Expect more acquisitions, more closures, and more consolidation as only the largest, best-equipped ad-tech firms survive the privacy-driven shakeout.

With Publicis securing its identity data dominance and Madhive tightening its grip on local CTV, the industry is splitting into haves and have-nots.

✅ The Trade Desk is still the king of independent DSPs, pushing its Unified ID 2.0 as the post-cookie alternative to Google’s ecosystem.

✅ Google continues to force the industry into its Privacy Sandbox, ensuring it maintains control over ad targeting in Chrome.

❌ Mid-tier DSPs that haven’t built out their own ID solutions or diversified into CTV? They’re on borrowed time.

This isn’t just a shakeout. It’s a restructuring of adtech’s power dynamics—and only the biggest, best-funded players will make it to the other side.