The programmatic trend to watch

These transactions are merging with direct sales

Vendors must adjust to the changing digital landscape

Technology is bringing media buying and planning strategies closer together

The benefits for direct-to-consumer teams

Ad buyers want less friction in determining ad rates

Music platforms are getting serious about their ad tech stacks

Advertisers are weary of higher bills with first-price bidding

A smart approach to the growing trend

Transparency isn't keeping them in open markets

They have high expectations

New strategies are needed for programmatic bidding

What's different about mobile header bidding compared with previous programmatic selling that occurred in apps? Mobile app exchanges have sold inventory programmatically for quite some time. What’s different is that there’s a call to action for every type of demand source—including exchanges and ad networks, which are popular in the app world—to buy inventory in real time.

Because RTB 3.0 is not backward compatible with previous specs, how will programmatic platforms utilize the new spec if the other vendors they work with don’t? The exchanges are going to have to offer 3.0 and 2.0 both for the foreseeable future and try to encourage buyers that there’s enough value in 3.0 to upgrade.

Data and audiences have always been important for brands’ programmatic advertising.

For the individual, we could use tactics like digital programmatic and work with certain publishers that can target individual user IDs across devices. We’re also really excited about the advantages in audience-first buying and planning that programmatic offers. What kinds of differences are you seeing between the creative built for individuals vs. households?

Ken Tran, director of performance media at Ubisoft, spoke with eMarketer’s Ross Benes about how the video game company grew its programmatic operation and took more control over the way it purchases ad inventory. Has your programmatic operation grown in recent years? Yes, it has. We had two people on programmatic in 2016. Now we have about 18.

How is your approach to programmatic advertising different compared with the typical marketer? We leverage programmatic advertising for audience targeting. Everything we do is aimed at finding a client's target voters, constituents, members, etc., and serving them digital ads through programmatic channels. But with political advertising, there is a definite end: Election Day.

The vast amount of data that pumps through programmatic pipes can overwhelm publishers, but those willing to sift through the weeds may find some hidden lead generation gems. Erik Requidan, vice president of sales and programmatic strategy at Intermarkets, spoke with eMarketer’s Ross Benes about how publishers can use their programmatic auction data to strike deals with advertisers.

Scott Rosenberg, senior vice president and general manager of platform at Roku, spoke with eMarketer’s Ross Benes about how the digital video company approaches programmatic ad selling. Roku recently set up its own ad marketplace. How does that work when advertisers want to buy those video ads programmatically? The marketplace is built on a programmatic stack.

Max Jaffe, programmatic practice lead at ad buying firm GroupM, spoke to eMarketer’s Ross Benes about how programmatic advertisers are creating more direct routes to the publishers they buy inventory from. Why do you use SPO? We want to consolidate our efforts and have many more in-depth conversations with a smaller landscape of providers out there.