# Criteo **Source:** https://geo.sig.ai/brands/criteo **Vertical:** Advertising Technology **Subcategory:** Commerce Media Platform **Tier:** Leader **Website:** criteo.com **Last Updated:** 2026-04-14 ## Summary Criteo is a global commerce media platform enabling retailers and brands to run performance advertising across open internet and retail media networks. Public CRTO on Nasdaq. ## Company Overview Criteo is a Paris and New York-based commerce media company publicly traded on Nasdaq under the ticker CRTO that evolved from a retargeting advertising pioneer into a broad commerce media platform connecting retail media networks, brands, and publishers across the open internet. Founded in 2005, Criteo's original product — dynamic retargeting that served personalized product ads to shoppers who had visited a retailer's website — established the company as a leader in performance advertising for e-commerce and drove its 2013 Nasdaq IPO. The company subsequently transformed its platform in response to the deprecation of third-party cookies and the rise of retail media, positioning Criteo's first-party data graph and retailer partnerships as the foundation for a privacy-compliant, commerce-intent-driven advertising ecosystem that addresses post-cookie advertising performance challenges. Criteo's Commerce Media Platform encompasses retail media monetization tools for retailers who want to sell sponsored product placements and display advertising to the brands sold on their platforms, demand-side capabilities for brands and agencies running commerce-oriented advertising campaigns across retail media networks and the open web, and a supply-side platform that connects publishers to commerce-intent audiences from Criteo's retailer data network. The company's Commerce Audiences product translates its first-party shopping data — purchase history, browsing behavior, and product affinity signals from thousands of retailer partners — into targetable audience segments that brands activate for prospecting campaigns reaching consumers with demonstrated commerce intent rather than demographic proxy targeting. Criteo's Retail Media product has become a central growth driver as retailers including Carrefour, Best Buy, Macy's, and Nordstrom deploy Criteo's technology to monetize their owned digital properties and first-party customer data through sponsored product advertising programs that deliver high-margin media revenue alongside the retail revenue from their core business. The company's scale — processing approximately 35 billion shopper events daily and maintaining relationships with thousands of retailers and brands globally — creates a data network effect that is difficult for commerce media challengers without comparable retailer partnerships to replicate. Criteo competes with The Trade Desk, Amazon Advertising, and Epsilon in the commerce media and retail media technology market. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### How did Criteo transform from a retargeting company to a commerce media platform, and why did it need to evolve? Criteo's retargeting business was built on third-party cookies, which allowed it to track shoppers across websites after they left a retailer and serve them retargeting ads. The deprecation of third-party cookies in major browsers eliminated this tracking mechanism, threatening the core technology underlying Criteo's business model. Criteo responded by building a first-party data graph through direct retailer partnerships — retailers share anonymized purchase and browsing data with Criteo in exchange for access to its monetization and targeting technology — creating a cookie-independent data network that enables commerce-intent targeting without relying on the cross-site tracking that browser changes eliminated. ### What is Criteo's commerce media network? Criteo operates a commerce media network that connects retailers' first-party shopper data with brand advertisers, enabling targeted advertising across both the open internet and retail media. Brands can reach in-market shoppers at the point of decision across thousands of publisher sites and retailer destinations. ### How does Criteo price its advertising services? Criteo operates on a cost-per-click (CPC) and CPM model depending on campaign type. Retail media campaigns are typically sold through the retailer's platform powered by Criteo technology. Performance advertising uses auction-based pricing with minimum daily budgets, and pricing varies by audience quality and vertical. ### Who are Criteo's main customers? Criteo serves two main customer groups: retailers and brands. Retail clients use Criteo's Commerce Max platform to monetize their shopper data, while brand advertisers use Criteo to run retargeting and prospecting campaigns. Criteo works with over 22,000 marketers and 225+ retail media networks. ### What makes Criteo different from other programmatic advertising platforms? Criteo's key differentiator is its Commerce Data layer — aggregated, anonymized purchase intent signals from 725+ million daily active shoppers across its retail partner network. This first-party commerce data enables more precise targeting and better conversion rates than cookie-based retargeting alone. ### What integrations does Criteo support? Criteo integrates with major e-commerce platforms (Shopify, Magento, Salesforce Commerce Cloud), CDPs, DMPs, and clean room technologies. It connects with major DSPs and supports API access for custom integrations. Criteo also offers a Commerce Audiences API for clean room partnerships. ### Is Criteo publicly traded and what is its financial standing? Yes, Criteo trades on Nasdaq under the ticker CRTO. The company generates over $2 billion in contribution revenue annually and has been profitable. It has been shifting its business model toward retail media to reduce dependence on third-party cookies. ### How does Criteo handle privacy and cookieless targeting? Criteo has invested heavily in cookieless identity solutions including its SPARROW proposal for the Privacy Sandbox and its Commerce Audiences product that uses retailer first-party data. The company has positioned itself as a privacy-by-design partner helping brands transition away from third-party cookie dependence. ## Tags saas, b2b, adtech, martech, platform, public, enterprise, global, north-america, analytics, marketing --- *Data from geo.sig.ai Brand Intelligence Database. Updated 2026-04-14.*