GDPR Will Drive A Coach And Horses Through The Online Advertising Ecosystem

Mark Bembridge

December 19, 2017

Smartology Explores Digital Advertising Industry Trends For 2018

GDPR, advertiser-agency relationships, YouTube and programmatic native trading will all be in the spotlight in 2018 believes Smartology. The contextual digital advertising company has the following insight for the year ahead:

GDPR will change how companies sell to users

GDPR will drive a coach and horses through the online marketing and advertising ecosystem, which has been too dependent on third party cookie based tracking to date. Effectively it ensures the consumer has to give companies explicit consent to use their data and will change the way companies market and sell to users. Within the advertising industry, companies relying on user data for targeting ads, retargeting and capturing user data for lead generation will be most affected. However, companies that use more transparent methods to engage users will find greater traction.

Small specialist agencies will support in-house teams

The numerous scandals to hit the advertising industry in 2017 have led to companies refocusing on where their ads appear and demanding transparency from partners, especially within automated buying. The trend for companies bringing their media buying in-house looks set to continue, with the future of the current agency model coming under increasing pressure. Smaller, more specialist agencies that support in-house teams ensure brands have more control on how their budgets are being spent and where their ads appear. Sophisticated advertisers will be using more metrics, with post-click analysis giving them a fuller picture of dwell time, on site interaction, outcomes and user value.

YouTube risks ‘News of the World moment’

Following the YouTube brand safety issues, brands moved back to advertising on platforms where content is curated by humans, rather than algorithms; ITV, Channel 4 and Sky have reported recent jumps in ad revenue for the video-on-demand platforms. YouTube now faces a potential ‘News of the World moment’ as advertisers tire of repeated transgressions and pull their ads altogether. This is reinforced because news organisations and broadcasters have plenty of inventory to offer as well as a vested interest in exposing YouTube’s problems.

Native ad exchanges will fuel growth in native programmatic

Premium publishers will continue to strengthen their advertising business with native units that provide new revenue streams. Native programmatic combines the benefits of native branded content with automated buying; the increasing advent of native ad exchanges such as Triplelift and the ability to buy native inventory through more established exchanges such as AdX will bring about further growth of automated trading of native inventory in 2018.

Mark Bembridge, CEO at Smartology: “Smartology straddles the worlds of media owners, agencies and advertisers, so has a unique perspective on current and future trends in the market. 2017 has seen digital advertising suffer severe growing pains and these are unlikely to disappear in the near future. However, they are paving the way for a more transparent, effective and robust industry, that will better serve the needs of advertisers, publishers and consumers.”