Navigating the Programmatic Space: Insights from the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit

Lee Junkin, Platform Media Supervisor
Katie Coughlin, Media Supervisor  

In an era marked by rapid technological advancements and an ever-evolving landscape, the importance of conferences in fostering innovation, collaboration, and knowledge exchange cannot be overstated. 

Recently we had the opportunity to attend the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit in New Orleans, Louisiana, where marketing leaders dove into the pain points and solutions facing the market. 

In this blog, we’ll shed light on some collaborative discussions that addressed the complexities within the programmatic landscape, from removing the bias in programmatic, to invalid traffic, and how new technologies are helping to solve old problems. 

Removing the Bias in Programmatic

Bias may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of programmatic media, but Kerel Cooper, President of Advertising at Group Black, made it clear that it’s been a lingering issue in the space.

Programmatic media platforms are automated to push spend to buy ad space on websites, podcasts, CTV channels, etc., but only the developers know exactly how these systems optimize. Cooper explained how certain minority-owned sites and publishers face “legacy barriers” that prevent ads from being shown on crucial ad space and, in turn, limit the profits of said publishers. These sites may have been mischaracterized as gossip or political sites when they should have been characterized as entertainment, which affects the formulas that drive potential ad revenue. 

AI, a hot topic from the conference, is one potential solution to explore. Rather than relying on traditional keywords to determine the site relevance, AI is able to scan and determine what the content on the page actually is. 

This discussion allowed us to reflect on where our media dollars are going during a programmatic buy. We pride ourselves on getting our client’s media onto the most premium and relevant content in the programmatic space, but we must also make sure we are not missing out on prime inventory that has been excluded through historical bias.  

Safeguarding Programmatic Against “Made for Advertising” (MFA) Sites 

Throughout the conference, MFA sites were another hot topic of conversation. MFA’s are websites specifically created for the purpose of generating revenue through advertising, often using fraudulent methods. While we are integrated with multiple ad quality partners, we heard from many speakers who have turned to AI technologies to crawl inventory reports to find, and block, MFA sites. These discussions served as a reminder to always be looking into new technologies and strategies to ensure we are maximizing the efficiencies of programmatic buys.

In conclusion, the discussions we were a part of during last week’s summit have heightened our awareness and further fueled our commitment to leveraging innovative solutions to navigate this ever-evolving landscape. It’s clear that ongoing collaboration and exploration of cutting-edge technologies are essential to safeguarding programmatic investments and ensuring they align with our commitment to delivering premium, relevant content to our clients.