Even when online advertising was a largely manual process, it did work, although the process was not without its fair share of pitfalls.
Notably, it was very slow and tedious. That, and the fact that your ads could be viewed by all resulted in a low conversion rate, which made it more expensive. Additionally, unlike programmatic media buying, brands were unable to benefit from the split-second display of adverts to specific individuals, preventing them from making money when the opportunity arose.
Through the use of AI and machine learning, programmatic web advertising has been able to overcome these obstacles. As a result, companies can advertise faster, more accurately and for far much cheaper, resulting in higher conversions and better ROI, and in the process, sounding the death knell for traditional marketing methods.