Data, user consent, Brand Safety and of course artificial intelligence: Digital media and advertising must currently deal with numerous different topics. In addition, there is the basic market situation that was like a roller coaster ride in recent years – and will probably continue to be challenging. Numerous publishers: Inside Austria’s No. 1 online media network, the Cope Publisher Day were invited to share and discuss valuable insights and findings on the hottest topics of the online media market. Marion Stelzer-Zöchbauer, managing director of the Cope Content Performance Group, showed a review of the successful collaboration 2024 as well as the current developments and challenges.
Rollercoaster oder „The State of Advertising“
The digital advertising market in Europe has been on a roller coaster with some highs and lows in recent years. “Every euro that is issued in digital advertising now has to do more,” emphasized Daniel Knapp. The Chief Economist des IAB Europe Illuminated the status quo of the media and advertising market at the publisher Day in 2025. Even if the digital advertising expenditure in Europe has been increasing continuously for years, not all media and providers benefit: inside the same growth. While retail media, CTV, digital outer advertising as well as social and AI products of foreign providers: Inside, the world of publishers: inside and also the linear TV faces challenges. A picture that also applies to Austria: the big winners and dominators on the market remain the US platforms. Knapps Recommendation: Publisher: Inside, AI tools and automation should take advantage of even more so-called “outcome” products that really deposit the company’s goals of the advertisers. In the future, customer centering is the undisputed focus of the advertisers: inside, as a comprehensive analysis of the quarterly reports of the 800 most valuable companies worldwide showed. Also Styria Media Group board member Herwig Langanger and Kleine Zeitung Managing Director Xenia Daum In this regard, propagated the need to establish a domestic alternative to the dominance of the American tech giants Alphabet, Meta & Co. at the digital advertising market.
Consent, a marathon run with hurdles
Free and abundant access to the Third-Party data was the basis for the adtech industry and digital advertising for over 20 years. Google does not actively operate their abolition, but the user Choice is severely restricted any addressability. First-party data are thus more relevant-for publishers: inside and also for advertisers-in order to be able to address the desired target group efficiently. The basis for collecting and using data is of course the consent of the users: inside. “The consent is therefore no longer just a load, it is firmly part of the value chain of a company,” stroked Carl-Michael Drack, Head of Sport Publishing & Platforms bei skysportaustria.at, out. He presented Abopur as a best practice, how Skysportustria was able to increase the Consent Rate by 15 percent in the first quarter after the changeover. “A successful data strategy begins at the CONSENT,” too Frank Hofmann, Team Lead Customer Success bei Didomia French specialist in consent management, in the same notch. He emphasized: “Consent is not a sprint, but a marathon run with hurdles. It takes close cooperation between the legal department, marketing and technology.” Hofmann presented global trends in consent management at the Cope Publisher Day. For example, Pay-OR-OKAY models with an increasing granulation of the selection for users are: inside. To increase the opt-in-rate, companies should pay attention to the format and personalization. Further measures would be to establish a uniform consent across all domains and devices. An example: The consent for the website would also apply to the app. The fact that the connection of adtech know-how, sales and right-wing expertise would be increasingly important Markus Lauscher, Head of Ad Technology & Strategy out of.
Headlines instead of hastelines
Another topic was Brand Safety. Andreas Noack from Axel Springer’s marketer Media Impact To do this, brought a case in which he showed how renowned news portals in the Media Impact portfolio were categorized incorrectly in the programmatic booking process of online advertising, making it massively lost in advertising revenue and which countermeasures were set. He also presented the B2B campaign “Headlines instead of hastelines-who ensures safe advertising environment?” The message: Even if it is so -called “Bad News”, that is, strongly negative topics such as war: “It is well -researched journalism of trustworthy media houses that are read by humans”; This is in a blatant contrast to Made-for-Advertising sites, content farms or uncontrollable user-generated content. Pierre Greber, Chief Client Officer der COPEIn the course of this, several advertising effects also presented the evidence that “that users: inside advertising in news environment gives twice as much trust as in entertainment media”.
Can AI strengthen the Brand Safety?
In a panel with Andreas Noack, Tim Geenen von Rayn.io and Max Sommeregger von taboola It was also discussed whether and how the use of AI can strengthen the Brand Safety. In principle, the discussion agreed that when using tools (verification tools, DSPS, etc.), they have to be deeply familiar with them and its functions in order to comply with Brand Safety. This is the only way to categorize the ad-bookings correctly and in a targeted manner. On the other hand, when it comes to whether artificial intelligence is the right means of choice to avoid human mistakes. The strongest AI supporter was Tim Geenen, co-founder of Rayn.io. The Dutch company uses artificial intelligence, among other things, to form bookable personas from existing content for advertisers. One possibility for publishers: inside, in order to get more out of content when monetization.
Range, target group address, cross-device-what Big Tech can do can also do regional quality media. In contrast to the US corporations, they offer independence from platform algorithms, transparency through direct control and brand safety. “Advertising appears in high -quality environments that ensure that users: they perceive and also remember better,” so Maresa Wolkenstein, Head of Research & Development at Cope Group. “From awareness to Loyalty, the entire advertising funnel can be mapped and we are one of the few providers who uses a European tech stack.”
The next Cope publisher Day will take place in spring 2026.
Until then, please follow us: News & Events and blog articles on marketing and digital topics are always dividing copegroup.com as well as in our social media channels.
COPE Content Performance Group (Cope) is Austria’s number 1 in content marketing. We design, create and market content for social media, magazines, websites and the Cope network-the largest media network in Austria with more than 100 online media. We focus on hands-on mentality. No frills, only clear communication for marketing & sales. Less talk, do more. We think implementation -oriented and successfully bring every project to the end. Our team consists of almost 100 experts from 12 countries. #handsononly copegroup.com.