ANA Provides "First Look" at In-Depth Programmatic Media Transparency Study

That is one of the key insights contained in the ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study that provides quotfirst lookquot findings intended to accelerate the ongoing industry discussion on transparency and productivity in the programmatic media supply chain It is the first segment of a twopart report the followup will be released in the next few months and will address additional issues including ad quality pricing viewability measurability and ad fraudThe study39s primary conclusion is that the 88 billion open web programmatic media ecosystem is riddled with as much as 20 billion in waste a figure that represents 23 percent of the total open web programmatic media investment by marketers One of the key reasons is that incentives driving advertiser behavior are often misaligned with the goals of their marketing campaigns the report saidquotAdvertisers prioritize cost over value sometimes to their own detrimentquot the report stated quotThey chase cheap CPMs The primary incentive driving programmatic media buying behavior is costamp8212getting the most impressions for every dollar On its face this might seem like a sensible incentive However in the media world not all inventory and not all impressions are equal Common sense should tell buyers that not all 39cheap39 inventory is 39quality39 inventoryquotADDITIONAL KEY FINDINGSData Access is Lacking Resulting in Transparency Issues Leading to Inefficiencies and Waste While brands appear to have more access to data today than previously data gaps and lack of transparency still plague the programmatic space The most common explanation is simple if brands don39t own their supply contracts attached with specific data rights then they are blocking themselves from turning data into valuable information to maximize transparencyMore Waste amp8212 The Average Campaign Ran on 44000 Websites The report said it was quotdeeply concerningquot that the average number of websites for survey respondents was 44000 toplevel domains quotAdvertisers can reach a high percentage of target audiences using a few hundred websitesquot the report said cautioning that quotcare must be taken however to ensure any reduction does not disadvantage small or minorityowned or minoritytargeted service providersquotInformation Asymmetry Leads to Inefficient and Unproductive Media Investment Decision Making amp8212 Resulting in Substantial Waste The study defined information asymmetry as quotan imbalance in the nature and quality of information possessed by different parties in a transactionquot There is evidence of information asymmetry in cases where sellers typically have more or better information than buyers causing buyers to overpay for inventory The report called information asymmetry quota roadblock that makes transparency difficult to achieve and instead serves to perpetuate a system that is opaque confusing and potentially inefficientquotMade for Advertising MFA Websites Represent 21 percent of Impressions amp8212 Indicating Advertisers are Not in Control of Media Placement Decisions MFA websites comprised a startling 21 percent of study impressions and 15 percent of ad spend MFA sites usually feature lowquality content such as fake news conspiracy theories or spammy links and may use tactics such as popup ads autoplay videos or intrusive ads to maximize ad revenue for the site ownerFIVE STEPS TO ACHIEVING EFFICIENCY GAINSAdvertisers must become far more responsible and provide more active stewardship of their media investments Advertisers need to quotlean inquot and be more active stewards of their media investments rather than delegating that entirely to their agenciesMarketers need direct data access contracts with all primary supply chain partners Transparency maximization and data access rights go handinhand Consider having direct contracts with all primary supply chain partners amp8211 DSPs SSPs and Ad Verification vendorsConstruct agency partnerships that provide complete access to data and full transparency of websites purchased on media buys know the difference between agent and principal It39s important for advertisers to know when their agency is acting as their agent and when the agency is acting as principal If an agency is acting as a principal it does not need to act in the best interests of the marketer unless contractually required to do so Nor is it legally obligated to be transparent unless contractually required to do soPrioritize quality media buys Cheap CPM buys can lead to nonviewablenon measurable media purchases Advertisers need to better balance their pursuit of lowcost inventory in programmatic with ad quality amp8212 meaning viewable fraud free and brand safeDemand that quotMade for Advertisingquot websites be excluded from a media buy unless they are specifically wanted or needed Advertisers should determine if MFA sites fit with their brand suitability standards for content and user experience and clarify their tolerance for the inclusion of MFA inventory in their campaignsMETHODOLOGYTwentyone 21 ANA member companies participated in this project The data analyzed in this report is based on loglevel data LLD LLD is the detailed record of everything about an impression obtained from the tech vendor The study was conducted between September 2022 and January 2023 covering 123 million in ad spending resulting in 355 billion impressions The study focused on the open web programmatic market and used log data and combined other data sets to understand ad impression quality making it or not to consumers The lion39s share of impressions from an ad placement perspective were classic banner and video ads served on sites and appsThe full quotFirst Lookquot report can be accessed hereClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet

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ANA Provides "First Look" at In-Depth Programmatic Media Transparency Study

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ANA Provides "First Look" at In-Depth Programmatic Media Transparency Study

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