More than 89% of digital media experts endorsed multiple benefits of using QPO over SPO

Integral Ad Science, a global leader in digital media quality, released its latest research, Constructing Your Quality Path. The report unveils how media experts use supply path optimization (SPO) in their digital marketing strategies and how they expect media quality to impact the future of SPO, making quality path optimization (QPO) even more relevant for purchasing high quality inventory at the most efficient cost.

“Advertisers are pushing for greater transparency into their programmatic buys and want to ensure that they are getting quality inventory from their ad spend,” said Yannis Dosios, Chief Commercial Officer, IAS.  “Widening access to programmatic has caused the same ad inventory to be offered through multiple paths, resulting in increased complexity for advertisers. This is where Quality Path Optimization (QPO) comes in.”

Programmatic advertising is growing exponentially — but the purchasing experience is getting more complex. IAS research found that industry experts cite media quality threats as the main challenge in programmatic advertising, with increased brand risk, ad fraud, and lack of transparency topping the list. With media professionals combating pressure to maximize their advertising spend and impact, it’s become critical to place SPO and media quality at the forefront of digital advertising strategies.

IAS surveyed digital media experts from brands, media agencies, and creative agencies.

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The research revealed the following findings:

Media experts understand the importance of introducing media quality in path optimization strategies

• 93% of media experts believe quality spend by supply-side platform (SSP) is important for evaluating supply path performance
• 91% of media experts believe qCPM is important for evaluating supply path performance
• 53% of media experts think it’s important to know how much ad spend is devoted to low-quality media

Visibility into media quality and cost facilitates understanding of SSP performance and path optimization decisions

• 69% of media experts consider quality spend when making path optimization decisions
• 53% of media experts think adding media quality to cost metrics tells a more comprehensible story
• Adding quality metrics lifted media experts’ confidence in path optimization decisions by 12 percentage points

Industry partners can help increase SPO adoption through centralized data, education, and insight automation 

• 53% of media experts would benefit from third-party platforms centralizing DSP data sharing
• 52% of media experts would benefit from more guidance for how to interpret performance metrics
• 49% of media experts would benefit from more automation for using insights through pre-big segments/optimization

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