As a company that grew up on Dmexco, we took our first “baby steps” at the startup village just two years ago, with a unique approach to adtech solutions and a passionate team eager to tell our story. We met with industry players that travelled to Dmexco from the US, Latin America, Australia, China, and of course, all over Europe, all collaborating to build a better and more efficient ecosystem. After an exciting and busy 2 days, we returned filled with the promise of an explosive year to come.

Only one year later, having matured to three global offices including New York and Berlin, hundreds of customers across the globe and an innovative technology offering that succeeded in keeping our customers ahead of the industry curve, we returned to Dmexco, this time at the grown-ups table in Hall 7. Dmexco once again succeeded in living up its name as a leading global event, the place to connets with leading international companies in the industry as well as up and coming startups and promising newcomers. We met with publishers, advertisers and tech partners from all ends of the world, all looking to gain their competitive edge in the frantically changing adtech ecosystem with the right technology. Dmexco 2017 could easily have served as an accurate depiction of the industry map, with all the relevant players on site.

Cedato arrived at Dmexco 2018, a shrewd industry tech leader with an impressive growth history, a loyal customer base and new cutting edge technology innovations leading the way into the next phase of the video adtech ecosystem. This year we had the luxury of hand-picking meetings and prospects, opening the door to long term strategic relationships with the toughest and strongest in the global playing field. It was surprising however to see that many smaller companies did not attend this year. With industry consolidation, GDPR’s effect and perhaps even a strategic move by Dmexco organizers, the event seems to have taken on a different focus this year. German and European companies strongly outnumbered international companies. Mostly the largest and strongest international companies maintained a presence this year.

Looking forward to 2019, we have to wonder what role Dmexco will play for the international adtech industry as a whole. It was evident to all who participated in this year’s event that there has been a significant shift in the focus from one of the largest global industry events to more of a local European focus. Whether planned, GDPR motivated, or just the natural course of the shifting ecosystem, there are many speculations as to what face of Dmexco we will meet in 2019 and how relevant it will be for companies operating globally.