Azerion today announced the integration of Global Data Resources into Hawk DSP, providing advertisers with privacy-compliant geo-demographic targeting across 13 European markets. The integration enables both Azerion teams and external clients using HawkSaaS to access GDR's audience taxonomy directly during campaign creation without relying on cookies or user identifiers.

According to the announcement, the partnership strengthens Hawk DSP's audience targeting capabilities with what the company characterizes as one of the industry's most advanced geo-demographic datasets. The system targets geographic clusters and neighborhood-level patterns rather than individuals, eliminating personal data collection entirely.

GDR operates as a geo-intelligence provider that works with data partners and national statistical offices to build audience segments based on lifestyle, life phases, household characteristics, income, savings, and consumer interests. The company's approach focuses exclusively on geographical patterns, ensuring no personal data collection occurs and no reliance on cookies or user IDs exists.

The integration makes GDR segments available across Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. This geographic expansion provides advertisers with broad European reach supported by what the announcement describes as deep consumer insights.

Technical implementation for privacy-first environments

The privacy-first architecture aligns with regulatory requirements as European authorities continue scrutinizing data protection practices. Unlike traditional audience data providers that track individuals across sites, GDR's methodology targets geographic areas, maintaining compatibility across demand-side platforms, supply-side platforms, social platforms, and omnichannel environments.

The ID-free activation framework allows marketers to reach the same audience across multiple ecosystems without compromising privacy. This approach addresses growing concerns about tracking practices while maintaining targeting effectiveness.

Because GDR segments target geographic areas rather than individuals, the integration proves particularly suited for channels including digital out-of-home, connected TV, audio, mobile, display, and gaming environments. DOOH advertising has experienced sustained growth as programmatic capabilities bring automated buying to outdoor formats, with advertisers expanding DOOH spending 118% year-on-year during the first quarter of 2025.

The system enables cross-platform campaigns, providing consistent audience activation across devices and formats. Connected television advertising spending approached $33.35 billion in 2025, with 72% of marketers planning increased programmatic investment according to industry forecasts.

Historical context and rebrand from Nordic Data Resources

The collaboration builds on established performance history. Under its previous name Nordic Data Resources, GDR provided widely used and best-performing data segments within Azerion's Delta platform, particularly across Nordic markets. Following the company's rebrand to Global Data Resources and its expansion beyond Nordic borders, this integration represents what the announcement characterizes as a significant milestone.

Edouard Petitjean, DSP Sales Director Europe at Azerion, stated that integrating GDR's advanced geo-demographic data into Hawk DSP "marks a major step forward in delivering privacy-first, precise audience targeting across Europe." According to Petitjean, the partnership enhances capabilities to offer clients location-based insights without compromising user privacy, aligning with regulatory landscapes and the industry's move away from individual-level tracking.

Gunar Kihl, Chief Operating Officer at Global Data Resources, stated that the long-standing collaboration with Azerion has consistently shown what's possible when technology and privacy-first data work together. According to Kihl, bringing GDR's geo-demographic segments into Hawk DSP allows advertisers to activate meaningful audience insights at scale while respecting consumers and supporting the industry's shift toward ID-free solutions.

Azerion's programmatic infrastructure expansion

Azerion has systematically expanded its programmatic capabilities throughout 2024 and 2025. The company integrated smartclip's supply-side platform in January 2025, expanding access to premium CTV and audio inventory across European markets through RTL AdAlliance's portfolio.

Azerion partnered with Captify in July 2024 to expand cookieless audience solutions in France and Italy, integrating search-powered targeting based on open web search data. That collaboration addressed the growing need for privacy-compliant advertising solutions as third-party cookie deprecation approached.

The platform maintains partnerships with supply-side platforms including those using telco-powered consent systems, positioning it within the broader shift toward first-party data solutions that emerged throughout 2025.

Azerion acquired Goldbach Austria in November 2024, strengthening its position in DACH region digital advertising markets. The merger combined Azerion's proprietary technology with Goldbach's established presence across television, online, mobile, and digital out-of-home advertising channels.

Privacy regulatory context driving adoption

The integration arrives as European privacy regulations continue evolving. The European Commission proposed major GDPR changes in November 2025 that would fundamentally alter how organizations process personal data, particularly concerning artificial intelligence development and individual privacy rights enforcement.

Germany submitted comprehensive GDPR reform proposals in October 2025, requesting immediate amendments including changes to consent hierarchies, information requirements, breach notification deadlines, access rights, and sensitive data protections.

Alternative identity solutions have gained traction as traditional identification methods face increasing limitations. Ad Alliance partnered with Utiq for cookieless targeting in Germany in September 2025, deploying telecommunications-powered identifier solutions across RTL Deutschland's digital properties.

Research analyzing over 2,000 advertisers found that Privacy Sandbox recovered 46.3% of lost ad clicks and 43.5% of lost click-through conversions compared to cookieless scenarios. When adjusted for advertising expenditure, privacy-enhanced approaches achieved 86.4% of traditional retargeting efficiency.

Studies indicate cookieless ad inventory sells at approximately 40% lower value, though alternative solutions for selling ad space have shown maturation. Industry analysis suggests that privacy-first approaches deliver competitive advantages through enhanced user trust and regulatory alignment.

Geographic targeting without individual tracking

GDR's approach differs fundamentally from behavioral targeting methods that dominated programmatic advertising during the third-party cookie era. The system analyzes neighborhood-level demographic patterns, lifestyle indicators, and household characteristics without creating profiles of individual consumers.

This methodology addresses specific concerns raised by data protection authorities across European markets. French regulators updated cookie exemption rules in July 2025, establishing frameworks for audience measurement that emphasize data minimization, anonymization, and prohibition of cross-site tracking.

The geographic clustering approach enables advertisers to reach audiences based on location-correlated attributes while maintaining compliance with stringent privacy requirements. For channels like digital out-of-home where individual tracking proves impractical, geo-demographic targeting provides relevant audience insights without requiring personal identifiers.

Demand-side platform competitive landscape

The integration positions Hawk DSP within an increasingly competitive European programmatic advertising market. Amazon DSP expanded in-market audiences to 32 countries in November 2025 with unified targeting definitions, adding Belgium, Egypt, South Africa, and Poland to its existing roster.

Yahoo DSP announced agentic AI capabilities in January 2026, marking one of the first implementations where artificial intelligence agents can autonomously execute campaign operations rather than simply providing recommendations. That launch transformed Yahoo's platform from a tool requiring constant human oversight into a system where AI agents continuously monitor and execute corrective actions.

Amazon introduced AI targeting for DSP campaigns in November 2025, introducing artificial intelligence-driven audience segment recommendations that eliminate hours of manual targeting configuration. The feature enables advertisers to define campaign objectives through natural language descriptions or document uploads.

Microsoft announced in May 2025 it would discontinue its demand-side platform Microsoft Invest effective February 28, 2026, opting to focus on AI-driven advertising solutions. That closure eliminated a platform known for transparency and relatively low take rates from the competitive landscape.

Market structure and competitive positioning

Founded in 2014, Azerion trades on Euronext Amsterdam under ticker AZRN. The company operates as what it characterizes as one of Europe's largest digital advertising and entertainment media platforms, bringing global scaled audiences to advertisers through proprietary technology.

Azerion maintains operations across 26 cities globally, with headquarters in Amsterdam reflecting its European origins. The company's listing on Euronext indicates its position in European financial markets.

Founded in 2013 by digital advertising experts Hakim Metmer and Renaud Biet, Hawk established its research and development center in Montpellier in 2014, staffed by 45 engineers. This technical foundation supported their 2018 launch of a self-service DSP platform.

In 2020, Hawk expanded its platform capabilities to include digital audio and in-game inventories, following earlier integrations with mobile, DOOH, and CTV formats. This technical progression demonstrates the platform's evolution toward comprehensive omnichannel capabilities.

GDR operates as a geo-intelligence and targeting company covering almost 2.5 billion people across 37 global markets. The company's services include geo-intelligent targeting, lifestyle-based audience segmentation, market analysis, and ID-free activation across display, video, social, DOOH, and CTV formats.

Implications for European programmatic advertising

The integration addresses fundamental challenges facing digital advertisers as traditional identification methods become unreliable. Browser restrictions on Safari and Firefox, combined with regulatory pressure across European markets, have reduced the effectiveness of third-party cookie targeting while increasing demand for privacy-compliant alternatives.

Search budgets have begun shifting toward alternative digital channels including paid social, audio, CTV, and DOOH, according to December 2025 analysis from Intentsify. Generative AI tools are placing sustained pressure on traditional search advertising, prompting marketers to diversify channel investments.

Google implemented new requirements for CTV and DOOH inventory in May 2025, establishing technical parameters publishers must include in ad requests for programmatic monetization. Those requirements included mandatory screen location parameters and session identifiers specifically for DOOH implementations.

The technical development occurs within broader market consolidation trends. Adform acquired Splicky in December 2025, adding DOOH capabilities and 200 clients to strengthen its position in DACH programmatic markets. That transaction demonstrated ongoing restructuring as companies seek sustainable positions in competitive markets dominated by large global operators.

Political advertising infrastructure differentiation

Azerion announced in November 2025 its commitment to continue hosting political advertising across the European Union under comprehensive transparency and compliance frameworks. That decision positioned Azerion as one of few major platforms maintaining political ad services after Google and Meta withdrew from the market citing operational complexity.

According to that announcement, Azerion operates political advertising services under requirements established by European Union Regulation 2024/900 on the Transparency and Targeting of Political Advertising. The platform committed to verifying advertiser identity, confirming legal eligibility, and applying internal compliance review processes.

The company emphasized it would not use targeting of political ads or personal data that might raise concerns about manipulation, allowing only its own contextual targeting consistent with EU guidance and internal policy. That approach aligns with the geo-demographic methodology now enhanced through GDR integration.

Timeline

Summary

Who: Azerion, a European digital advertising platform trading on Euronext Amsterdam under ticker AZRN, announced the integration in partnership with Global Data Resources, a geo-intelligence provider covering almost 2.5 billion people across 37 global markets. Edouard Petitjean, DSP Sales Director Europe at Azerion, and Gunar Kihl, Chief Operating Officer at GDR, provided statements about the partnership.

What: The integration adds GDR's geo-demographic datasets into Hawk DSP, enabling privacy-compliant audience targeting based on geographic clusters and neighborhood-level patterns without collecting personal data, using cookies, or relying on user IDs. The system targets audiences based on lifestyle, life phases, household characteristics, income, savings, and consumer interests through location-correlated attributes across demand-side platforms, supply-side platforms, social platforms, and omnichannel environments.

When: Azerion announced the integration today, January 29, 2026. The collaboration builds on historical performance under GDR's previous name Nordic Data Resources, which provided widely used data segments within Azerion's Delta platform. The integration arrives as GDR completes its rebrand and European expansion beyond Nordic markets.

Where: The GDR segments become available across 13 European markets within Hawk DSP: Austria, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The integration applies to both Azerion teams and external clients accessing the platform via HawkSaaS, with particular suitability for DOOH, CTV, audio, mobile, display, and gaming environments including Nordic gaming markets.

Why: The integration matters for the marketing community because it provides privacy-compliant targeting capabilities as traditional identification methods face regulatory pressure and technical restrictions across European markets. The announcement occurs as browser restrictions on Safari and Firefox reduce third-party cookie effectiveness, search budgets shift toward alternative digital channels including CTV and DOOH, and European authorities continue scrutinizing data protection practices through GDPR enforcement and proposed regulatory amendments. The geo-demographic approach enables advertisers to maintain targeting effectiveness without personal data collection, addressing fundamental challenges in digital advertising's transition toward privacy-first environments while supporting channel growth in programmatic DOOH, CTV, and audio formats that experienced strong expansion throughout 2025.

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