As we head into the final months of the year, Opera Ads looks back at DMEXCO 2025. Our fourth year exhibiting, the conference was another great opportunity for the digital marketing and technology industry to come together. It was encouraging to see the ecosystem continue to mature, with more focused conversations around CTV, retail media, and AI. Taking stock of what he observed, our VP of Adtech, Marcio de Barros, shared some insights in a recent interview.

Which trends from this year’s DMEXCO did you find most exciting?

Similar to last year, retail media and AI were among the main topics of discussion. What stood out this time was seeing how companies are beginning to apply these technologies in more practical and effective ways – from generative tools that enhance creativity to more advanced audience segmentation that improves targeting and campaign performance.

How is digital advertising changing, and what is Opera doing to remain ahead of the curve?

Digital advertising is always evolving, and so adtech has to evolve along with it. AI is changing the technologies we use, so we are continuously on the omnichannel lookout to harness that power. In every area, from AI to retail media and gaming, we’re partnering with the vast majority of Tier 1 players as well as new creative emerging players – both on the demand and the supply side – to stay ahead of the curve. 

Where do you see the impact of AI, and how is that presenting new opportunities for online marketing?

Opera Ads offers both a demand side platform and a supply side platform, and we see AI playing a central role in both. On the demand side, we are closely monitoring developments around AI-generated creatives. On the supply side, we’re exploring how machine learning and AI could help optimize revenue and grow partnerships, creating smarter and more efficient opportunities across the ecosystem.

Is the industry finally getting on top of ad fraud, and what specific steps is Opera taking to protect advertisers’ revenue?

Protecting partners’ revenue is our top priority. We’ve integrated tools like DoubleVerify, Pixalate and GeoEdge for quality control and also built a marketplace quality team to focus full time on keeping campaigns running on safe and transparent properties. 

Of course ad fraud is always a hot topic in adtech; it’s a continuous battle, as the nature of fraud keeps evolving and changing. Opera Ads is listed as one of the 34 platinum members of TAG, along with the largest adtech companies. Together with our strategic partners, we are continuously adopting all the best practices to eliminate any potential malvertising threats.

How has CTV advertising evolved since last year’s event and how has Opera Ads adapted to this evolving landscape? 

CTV was once again one of the main talking points at this year’s DMEXCO, showing how the industry keeps moving from traditional media toward streaming. CTV advertising keeps gaining momentum, and we’ve seen strong traction toward the end of Q3 likely tied to the upcoming shopping Q4 season. Opera Ads offers a wide range of CTV inventory as we continue to strengthen our retail and e-commerce vertical landscape.

From being one of the hottest topics at last year’s DMEXCO, ad curation has evolved into an essential industry practice for leveraging first-party data to deliver high-quality results. How has ad curation become part of the services offered by Opera Ads?

In early Q1 we launched our own curated audience offerings, combining premium inventory with segmented, intent-based audiences built from high-quality user and bidstream signals. The results have been very promising: for example, a global travel brand leveraged our curated deals to reach travel intent users, surpassing viewability and CTR benchmarks while significantly reducing bounce rates.

As the industry continues to evolve, Opera Ads remains focused on driving innovation and building a more transparent, high-performing, and forward-thinking advertising ecosystem.

AdtechDMEXCOInnovationOpera AdsTrends

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