âWalmart could face pushback if it is favoring its O&O Vizio TVs at the expense of all other TV makers,â Benes said. âPushing Vizio TVs would grow the ad business but doing so is anticompetitive.â
Additionally, Ashwin Navin, Samba TV co-founder and CEO, noted that there could be some unexpected consequences for marketers relying on Vizio data.
âThis is a positive move for Walmart and Vizio, but will undoubtedly shake up the space for advertisers currently relying on Vizioâs raw viewership data as part of their advertising or measurement stack,â Navin said.
Still, industry experts, such as Oz Etzioni, CEO of ad-tech company Clinch, are calling the announcement a âsmart and logical move.â
âTheir already massive global footprint and treasure trove of first-party data, combined with CTV/OTT channel ownership, will offer advertisers a quite compelling package, and more seamless opportunities to activate audiences at scale in a true omnichannel fashion,â Etzioni said. âEstablishing such a vast and holistic ecosystem will lend itself to seamless opportunities for advertisers to reach their audience in an increasingly relevant and personalized way.â
Ultimately, retail media and CTV are becoming more closely linked, which can be seen with Amazonâs recent expansion of streaming ads. And Walmartâs move is just the latest step.
However, regardless of promises of innovation in the shoppable TV advertising space and more retailers having full-funnel capabilities, Benes cautions that big changes wonât come anytime soon.
âDespite the promises of shoppability revolutionizing TV, most of the ads are gonna look like traditional TV ads for the foreseeable future,â Benes said.
