Throughout Criteo’s first quarter earnings name in Could—and the primary for newly-appointed chief government officer Michael Komasinski—the corporate was nonetheless reeling from two massive consumer losses that may value the corporate $100 million in income over the following yr.

Goal’s retail media enterprise Roundel introduced advert gross sales in home sooner than Criteo anticipated, and Uber Eats moved its U.S. ad business over to Instacart’s Carrot Adverts platform.

Within the months since, retail media insiders have seen these losses as proof that Criteo’s reign because the dominant retail media tech participant is perhaps ending. Rivals like Kevel, Koddi, Moloco, and others are aggressively competing in opposition to Criteo for retail media wins, boasting extra nimble and up-to-date tech, sources mentioned.

That put Criteo in a two-front conflict: combating for its enterprise as giant retail purchasers sought to convey their operations in home, whereas smaller retailers are susceptible to being wooed by upstart adtech corporations. “It’s positively a menace to Criteo,” one company government informed ADWEEK.

Nonetheless, Criteo seems to be holding robust. The corporate posted better-than-expected earnings on July 30, boosting its end-of-year outlook. It reported a 112% retention fee for its retailer purchasers. And whereas Roundel and Uber Eats appear to be massive losses on the floor, Criteo actually solely misplaced a part of these companies, not your complete account.

“Smaller corporations coming in [is] only a proof level that this can be a place to be and that and that it’s an enormous market and that there’s alternative,” Komasinski informed ADWEEK.

However the firm isn’t out of the woods but. It should proceed to innovate quick sufficient to maintain its opponents from chiseling away at its roster of over 200 retail purchasers whereas adapting to generative AI that’s revolutionizing the best way folks discover and purchase merchandise.

“Criteo is going through rising competitors that’s preserving it sincere and driving it to innovate,” Andrew Lipsman, unbiased retail media analyst, informed ADWEEK. “Nevertheless it’s not straightforward to dislodge.”

Criteo rivals tout flexibility and cutting-edge tech

Retail media remains to be one of many fastest-growing segments of the advert business. U.S. advertisers alone purchased $52 billion in retail media final yr and are anticipated to purchase $98 billion by 2028, in keeping with Emarketer.

However as advertisers sink in additional {dollars}, they’re additionally demanding extra options: higher measurement to show out the funding, extra programmatic capabilities, and simpler methods to purchase throughout many retailers without delay.