If 2014 was the year that we talked about wasted ad spend on fraud – and we did – then some experts believe 2015 will bring more conversation about the wasted ad spend on inefficiencies in the supply chain.
“2014 kept the momentum going in discussion surrounding the safety of the supply chain. We will see more focus in 2015 on automated direct in programmatic, and we’ll see companies’ M&A strategies follow suit – with newly acquired units allowing them to now be in direct relationships with sellers,” said Scott Cunningham, Vice President of Technology and Ad Operations, IAB.
Ultimately, said Cunningham, these marketplace shifts will require that compliance programs have a bigger role to play in the name of transparency.
That could also impact viewability. One MediaMath exec believes viewability will become a big component in campaign measurement.
“As marketers continue to leverage viewability as a key campaign performance metric, they should consider moving away from a simple “Percent of Impression” model to a Cost-per-Viewable-Impression (CPVI) approach,” said Jenn Vlahavas, Vice President of Account Strategy with MediaMath. “A partner that measures at 45% viewable at a $3 eCPM provides a greater value to a marketer than a partner that drives 65% at a $7 CPM. As the measurement landscape grows, we need to ensure we’re examining the metrics in a way that truly measures the impact of marketing dollars.”
Finally, experts believe we will start to see a blurring of the lines between direct media buying and real time bidding. More from the experts later this week, including a look at video and mobile.