On April 29 and 30, StackAdapt attended Programmatic I/O in San Francisco. For only 2 days, it was absolutely jam-packed with great ad tech insight and information. Based on the conversations I had and the sessions I attended, I had some key takeaways I wanted to share.
1. Everyone wants to get into TV
It has become clear to me that this is the next frontier. There are some challenges that exist, such as supply being fragmented and verification requiring a lot more work. One thing is for sure, TV advertising is now more accessible than ever, and everyone wants a piece of the pie. It was particularly exciting to see how many people expect it to transact programmatically. At StackAdapt, we released connected TV targeting in the platform, and this will remain a big focus for us in 2019.
2. Machine Learning is spreading
More people are recognizing the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Traditional button-pushing, lever-pulling DSPs are slowing being replaced by automated, smart platforms that do the heavy lifting of optimizing campaigns. More advertisers are becoming aware of this, and as a result are turning their focus to the accuracy and dependability of the AI in their platforms. Anticipating this trend, my Co-Founder, Yang Han presented Are Your Campaigns Really Using AI? 10 Questions to Ask Your DSP, in hopes of inspiring more agencies to know exactly what they’re getting into when leveraging AI.
3. In-housing is a hot topic…Again.
Interestingly though, everyone now recognizes that only very few companies can actually cut agency ties entirely. Many media buying and programmatic capabilities could be brought in-house, however there is still a use case for the brand-agency relationship. After listening to a number of case studies, it’s apparent that this in-housing trend is actually very expensive. The only companies that find it feasible to make this switch are the incredibly large ones, with access to lots of funding and the ability to actually hire and maintain entire programmatic buying teams. Yes, the traditional agency business is under pressure, but not all hope is lost for them. Market changes are constantly opening up many new opportunities in programmatic, creative, data, and consulting services—so there is still lots of room to grow.
These takeaways were those that stuck with me and I think they will continue to be interesting topics of discussion for all of us involved with programmatic advertising.
I can’t wait for the next #PROGIO!
