The digital advertising world is entering a reset. As privacy laws tighten, cookies vanish, and platform fees rise, companies are reclaiming control. Avenga's Pedro Carrascosa reveals why 2026 will be the year of the custom adtech renaissance - a shift toward building and owning adtech infrastructure.
For more than a decade, we’ve all seen how big brands, publishers, and media companies have relied on big adtech vendors to power their digital advertising. And it worked, until it didn’t.
Today, we see the industry in the middle of a reset. High fees, lack of transparency, shrinking margins, and privacy regulations have made many organizations rethink their dependence on the feared ‘black box’ platforms.
Now the pendulum is swinging back. 2026 is shaping up to be the year of the custom adtech renaissance. A period where telcos, media networks, and technology companies are starting to build and own their own adtech infrastructure.
As McKinsey puts it in its 2025 Technology Trends Outlook, “Tech differentiation is shifting from media strategy to infrastructure control — the companies that own their adtech stack will define the next phase of digital monetization.”
What's behind the renaissance?
1. Privacy and regulation: Data protection laws like GDPR in Europe and CCPA in the US have made it clear: businesses need to own and control their data. For telcos and media companies sitting on huge customer datasets, this creates both responsibility and opportunity. The winners will be those who can activate that data in a privacy-by-design way.
2. The cookieless economy: With third-party cookies disappearing, organizations can no longer rely on external data brokers or tracking systems. Instead, they need to build first-party data ecosystems, integrate clean rooms, and design custom identity frameworks that connect with their subscribers, viewers, and users directly.
3. Platform dependence fatigue: Working through global walled gardens like Google, Meta, Amazon give reach, but at the cost of control and transparency. Marketers and publishers increasingly want to know where their budgets really go and how their audiences are monetized. Owning your tech stack means owning your economics.
4. AI and customization: The rise of AI is pushing the need for bespoke adtech infrastructure. Off-the-shelf platforms can’t adapt quickly enough. Building your own systems allows you to plug in your data, your models, and your algorithms, which means you can evolve on your own terms.
According to Gartner’s 2025 Digital Commerce Hype Cycle: 'Inhouse adtech modernization' is now one of the top strategic initiatives for large media and telecom groups seeking margin control and faster innovation.
What “owning the stack” really means
When we talk about owning the stack, we don’t mean rebuilding Google from scratch. It’s about owning the critical layers that give you control over data, decisions, and outcomes.
First, the data layer, where companies collect and unify first-party information from CRM systems, subscribers, and user behavior into a customer data platform or privacy-safe clean room.
Then comes the decision layer, which manages targeting logic, AI models, and bidding strategies (the brain of the operation, often powered by a private DSP).
The third is the delivery layer, responsible for serving ads and managing creative assets through an in-house ad server or private exchange.
And finally, the measurement layer, which ties everything together by tracking performance, attribution, and ROI. Owning these layers gives companies real control over data, transparency in performance, and the agility to innovate on their own roadmap.
This model creates independence and transparency — essential qualities in a world where data and trust define business advantage.
And this isn't just theory: it’s already happening.
- Netflix is developing its own ad-serving infrastructure to control quality and user experience
- Uber Advertising built its own adtech stack to monetize ride and delivery data, giving advertisers transparent access to high-intent audiences
- Retail giants like Tesco, Carrefour, and Walmart are transforming into full-fledged adtech players through their own retail media networks
- European telcos such as Deutsche Telekom and Orange are investing in identity frameworks and privacy-safe ad networks build on subscriber data
These aren't isolated projects. They're clear signs that the next generation of digital monetization will be owned, not outsourced.
The business value behind ownership
For TMT companies, building a custom adtech stack is far more than a technical upgrade — it’s a strategic move toward control, transparency, and innovation. Owning the stack means owning the full data flow, from audience segmentation to campaign performance, transforming data into a monetization asset rather than a dependency.
It removes the opacity of third-party platforms, gives companies freedom to innovate at their own pace, and embeds privacy and compliance from the ground up. As Gartner notes, “The new competitive advantage in digital media isn’t access — it’s ownership.”
Final words
Building your own AdTech stack in 2026 isn’t just a nice-to-have — it’s a strategic advantage. It gives you greater control, clearer insights, and the flexibility to adapt as the digital landscape evolves. Ultimately, owning your technology means owning your outcomes, which translates into delivering value that matters.
