The Digital Advertising Landscape; where are we?
By: Daniel Courtenay
Tags: Mobile, Adtech, Digital Marketing, Advertising, Programmatic

Direct buys, Guaranteed and Direct Programmatic, Private Marketplaces, Data Management Platforms, Open Exchanges, Real Time Bidding, Impressions, Bid Requests, Fill Rates, ECPM, Demand Side Platforms, Supply Side Platforms, Ad Exchanges, Ad Networks, Rich Media, Native, In-stream and in-line, Display, Video, Pixels, Conversions, Acquisitions, Sales, Brand Safety, Fraud, Viewability, Premium and Run of network, Targeting, Brand Direct and Agencies, CPM and CPC’s …(phew)— just a few terms that make up today’s complex buying and selling digital media environments.

We’ve certainly come a long way, but I’m not convinced we’ve made things necessarily easier for the person simply looking to reach their desired customer. But still, through all of our efforts to make things easier we’ve managed to make the eco-system fairly complex.

We’ve certainly come a long way, but I’m not convinced we’ve made things necessarily easier for the person simply looking to reach their desired customer. Sure, there are a number of technologies that have the ability to do this well and there are a number of platforms whose sole purpose is to aid us in reaching these users effectively and efficiently, but still, through all of our efforts to make things easier we’ve managed to make the eco-system complex.

Take print for example — all we have to do is call the publication, get a rate card, decide what we like, send our artwork across and voila — you’ll see your ad beautifully placed in the next edition of said publication reaching the perceived audience that publication appeals to.

With digital we’ve almost had to work backwards, and what I mean is, we’ve had to try and understand where users are browsing and how. In order to isolate them in real time, in order to get them to engage with messages, in order to get them to convert, in order to justify the medium — all the while not necessarily really understanding whether there are actually humans engaging (and not bots) where your ads are ending up (viewability) and next to which content (brand safety).

Welcome to the Private Marketplace. A premium environment where we know what content is being shared, which users are browsing and that our marketing efforts are being viewed and delivered in a place where actual users are engaging.

Welcome to the Private Marketplace. Advertisers, taking all of the above into account, have become all-the-more insistent that their campaigns are being served into brand safe, non-fraudulent and viewable environments. This works for a number of reasons and obviously makes sense: A premium environment where we know what content is being shared, which users are browsing and that our marketing efforts are being viewed and delivered in a place where actual users are engaging.

It’s as though we’ve finished a marathon in record time and missed large parts of the scenery along the way so, in order to really understand the route, we’ve had to take a few steps back and as a result are now able to run a far better race. We’re applying slightly older, more authentic thinking and applying newer technologies allowing us to do this more effectively while driving better results, eliminating wastage and, BONUS, helping protect the publisher ecosystem.

It’s an exciting time for advertisers and digital advertising in general. For the first time, in my opinion, we’re playing on an even keel with more traditional channels and for this reason should start to see even more budget move from TV, Radio and outdoor to digital.

It’s an exciting time for advertisers and digital advertising in general. For the first time, in my opinion, we’re playing on an even keel with more traditional channels and for this reason should start to see even more budget move from TV, Radio and outdoor to digital. We’re certainly seeing this at AdJoin and we’re on call to help anyone looking to advertise in digital how to do so more effectively.