The news: Criteo is making major moves in the retail media space, rolling out its auction-based display technology globally while partnering with marketplace platform Mirakl to expand self-service ad access for third-party sellers.

• The auction system replaces traditional fixed-price models with dynamic, real-time bidding—giving advertisers more control over spend and performance. Adoption is already underway across the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific, with some retailers moving fully to auctions in weeks.
• The Mirakl integration allows over 100,000 third-party sellers across 450+ marketplaces to launch and manage ad campaigns directly through Criteo’s platform. These sellers often outspend first-party brands—on Amazon, third-party sellers spend 127% more on ads—making them a valuable but underused ad segment.

Together, these moves aim to modernize retail media buying and selling across both enterprise retailers and smaller marketplace vendors.

Why it matters: Retail media is growing fast, but most retailers lag behind in ad tech infrastructure, creating an opening for players like Criteo and Topsort.

• Unlike Amazon and Walmart’s self-serve auctions, many retailers still use manual, insertion-order systems—limiting flexibility and results. Criteo’s auction platform solves this with demand-based dynamic pricing.
• It also improves operational efficiency, allowing agencies and brands to optimize campaigns in real time rather than waiting on post-campaign reports. “The majority of retailers are still operating in a more traditional fixed price, I/O based, managed services approach,” Criteo retail media head Melanie Zimmermann told EMARKETER in a recent interview.
• Meanwhile, the Mirakl partnership opens a new revenue stream for retailers by activating small seller spend—without requiring additional tech builds. These sellers often lack agency support, so Criteo’s automated and AI-driven tools can help them launch effective campaigns independently.

Our take: By addressing legacy tech on the enterprise side and underutilized ad dollars from third-party sellers, Criteo is offering a rare full-spectrum solution—bridging major gaps in retail media.

The firm also solves a key challenge for brands running cross-retail campaigns by offering consistent attribution and reporting. Integration with tools like Google Ad Manager boosts reach. As Zimmermann puts it, retailers have been "grading their own homework," which erodes trust with brands seeking real-time optimization—not just end-of-campaign summaries.

Retailers need to move beyond static pricing and closed measurement loops if they want to compete with Amazon’s ad engine. Criteo’s dual approach—enterprise auction plus long-tail automation—could help accelerate that shift.

With adoption already underway and fill rates for many networks still low, there’s real upside. If Criteo can deliver performance and scale while simplifying operations for retailers and sellers alike, it stands to gain ground as a go-to retail media partner.