Dive Brief:

• Google is making a bigger push into the booming retail media business through a tie-up with Criteo, according to a press release. This is the search giant’s first partnership focused on onsite retail media.
• Criteo’s integration with Google Search Ads 360 is entering a beta test in the Americas, with plans to eventually scale the program globally. Retailers using Criteo can opt into receiving demand from Google Search Ads 360, potentially broadening the field of brands that advertise on their networks.
• Google and Criteo will work to provide unified measurement for retailers that want to demonstrate they’re driving incremental impact for advertisers. The two companies said their team up aims to level the playing field in a retail media category where “just a few dominant players” control spend.

Dive Insight:

Google is making a more significant bet on retail media through the pact with Criteo, a connected commerce platform wielding a network of over 200 global retailers. The partnership is oriented around onsite advertising, or sponsored product and search ads that appear on media assets the retailer owns, namely a website. 

Onsite has remained the bread-and-butter offering for retail media even as the segment expands into other channels like offsite and in-store advertising. Retailers using Criteo can now drive more demand through Google Search Ads 360, an industry behemoth, and potentially attract a wider base of advertisers that are interested in experimenting with retail media. Retail media spend has largely come from areas like consumer packaged goods, though more networks are chasing nonendemic advertisers to grow revenue. 

Google is the world’s largest digital ad platform, raking in $54.2 billion from search in Q2 alone. But the company has not, to date, been as formidable a force in retail media, even as the channel has become one of the fastest-growing in advertising. Working with a player like Criteo could change that, and the search integration was described as just the “first phase” of a deeper collaboration.

Amazon, now the third-largest player in digital, has owned much of the retail media conversation, with its share of the market large enough to essentially put the e-commerce giant in its own category. Amazon raked in about $15.7 billion from advertising in Q2 while ad-tech offerings like its demand-side platform have become more widely adopted, giving Google greater competition. 

Total U.S. ad spend on retail media is forecast to increase 20% to $62.35 billion this year. While the channel’s rate of growth is slowing down, it will make up about a fifth of total digital spend by 2027. Google and Criteo are framing their deal as a way to level the playing field for retailers while giving brands the confidence to invest in those platforms thanks to superior technology and measurement sophistication.  

“We’re excited to welcome Google as one of our largest retail media partners, bringing scaled brand advertising to retailers on the Criteo platform,” said Sherry Smith, president of retail media at Criteo, in a statement. “By connecting more brands to our global retail network and deepening investments from existing ones, we’re helping retailers grow their media programs and maximize the value of their ad inventory while enabling advertisers to reach high-intent shoppers.”