When it comes to programmatic advertising, marketers have split feelings.

Between January and March, Nielsen surveyed 3,000 US marketing executives on the effectiveness of certain media channels. About half of them called programmatic extremely or very effective.

The surveyed marketers were most satisfied with social and search, with 69% of respondents rating each type of marketing as extremely or very effective. However, programmatic fared better than several other media channels. For instance, only about one-fifth of respondents found print to be as effective.

While programmatic makes ad buying more seamless for marketers, it is still plagued by hidden fees and ad fraud. Its complexity also makes it difficult for many people to grasp. That’s why a large percentage of marketers delegate their programmatic work to someone else.

In a March survey of 120 CMOs worldwide by marketing consulting firm NewBase, 43% of respondents said they outsource their programmatic efforts. No other marketing function had an outsource rate that high.