Unlocking the Potential of Programmatic Direct Part 2: Buyers, Publishers, DSPs Benefit from Programmatic Direct Evolution
by Clayton Tarics
Over the years, the marriage of programmatic and direct advertising has introduced three distinct transaction channels: programmatic guaranteed, preferred access deals and private auction. Each transaction channel offers its own unique value when used independently, however, they are even more powerful when used collectively to meet the specific needs of buyers, DSPs and publishers.
Google’s efforts to create that programmatic pipeline within their own ecosystem has shown the industry that these programmatic direct channels are not just possible but, more importantly, successful and valuable for buyers and sellers.
Outside of Google’s garden, programmatic direct advertising is still in its relative infancy. This means there is still infinite potential to come together to mature these channels and improve adoption rates across the industry.
Closing the Gaps in Programmatic Direct
To make the changes most meaningful though, we need to address a couple elephants in the room:
Information gap - While the RTB protocol made it possible to easily connect supply and demand for open market and spot market transactions, it only accounts for single impression transactions happening in the moment. What it doesn’t provide for is allowing a DSP to electronically connect to a supply platform and discover inventory that might come available in the future on a guaranteed or fixed rate basis.
Scalability gap - Currently, there are too many points of friction and inefficiency (IE. transaction costs) associated with doing direct deals. Moving forward, to make this truly successful, there needs to be a level of integration and electronic automation throughout the deal development process that makes deals more scalable.
By closing these gaps, we can usher in the future of ad trading in a quality, brand-safe and privacy-safe manner. But caveat emptor: for the independent ad tech ecosystem to be successful and remain competitive, it is important that we develop industry standards that make buy-sell integrations repeatable and scalable.
Who Benefits from the Next Evolution of Programmatic Direct?
Our vision is that all parties involved in deals benefit from this next evolution of advertising:
Buyers will be able to align more directly to strong publisher brands, purchasing more committed inventory on a fixed price basis. It also gives them access to premium, high performing inventory that may not be available in the spot market.
DSPs can increase transaction value and overall volume by offering buyers more and different ways to buy.
Publishers can be a better partner to their clients, offering a broader spectrum of ways to monetize their inventory that complement their buyers’ goals and objectives.
As the erosion of user-level identity challenges established programmatic trading practices, it is time for the industry to embrace quality content, the publishers’ audience advantage, and the value of direct relationships.