Novice surfers are taught to catch waves only after they’ve broken. In advertising, however, waiting until then can cost you money, ROAS, and share of market.

That’s why the time is now to understand the third wave of digital advertising.

The first wave of digital advertising was search, which gathered strength after the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. The second wave, social media advertising, began with ads on Facebook and LinkedIn circa 2006 before gaining strength several years later.

And now the third wave is approaching: Consumer-centric advertising that incorporates personalization at or near the point of sale and with a renewed emphasis on zero- and first-party data.

At the crest of this wave is commerce media; eMarketer anticipates more than $140 billion in retail media ad spend worldwide in 2024, accounting for a fifth of all digital ad spending and up nearly 22% from 2023.

Many consider Amazon’s introduction of its programmatic ad solution in 2012 to have been …