Allison Schiff, AdExchanger

If you have even a passing interest in ad tech or developments in the digital world, it is highly likely that at some point, you will have come across Allison Schiff’s work. As a senior editor for AdExchanger, Schiff covers mobile, Facebook, privacy, measurement, cross-device, and the app economy - all huge topics that have a profound impact on our daily lives. Many in our industry look to Schiff for her clear-eyed assessments of the latest news and trends, so it was truly a pleasure to sit down with her on the latest episode of Hidden Layers for a wide-ranging, thought-provoking discussion on all things marketing.   We of course had to talk about the biggest development in digital advertising currently: the impending elimination of third-party cookies from web browsers, and whether advertisers will be able to successfully replace them with an alternative ID system or adopt a contextual model instead. As Schiff notes, “the cookie is definitely crumbling” as advertisers scramble to find alternatives and vendors selling so-called “cookieless solutions” jockey for attention.    We also debate what effect the growing drive by publishers to take control over their first-party data will have for the way that digital advertising is conducted in the future, and whether this will reduce advertisers’ reliance on Google, Facebook, and the other big walled gardens. Of course, no episode of Hidden Layers would be complete without a mention of deep learning - and this one is no different, as Schiff and I discuss how artificial intelligence is transforming the industry.