The agenda in the world of digital advertising has been altered with the fall of MediaMath and recently with the Youtube scandal. Many wonder what led to the bankruptcy of MediaMath, its business model, wrong decisions by its board of directors, or simply that most DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) have become basic products that do not add value or real solutions for buyers.
In my opinion, it’s a combination of all three. MediaMath was a leading platform in the market (the second largest DSP after Google), but it didn’t seek to solve or facilitate the work of its end users, the buyers. In addition, they made the wrong acquisition or merger decisions over time and were unable to bring anything new to the ecosystem due to standardization in technology.
Recently something related to YouTube came to light. Long story short, Analytics revealed that Youtube misled almost 1000 advertisers in the last three years. How did they do it? They charged advertisers premiums to show their premium ads in secure environments and high-quality content. However, in reality, these ads were routinely displayed on the worst sites, generating a large number of useless impressions and threatening the image of the brand.
It’s nothing new to read or hear digital advertisers worry about their ads not showing or appearing on low-quality websites, apps, videos, online games, or content that could damage the brand. It would be unthinkable that in digital outdoor advertising (DOOH), an advertiser buys a space on a screen and shows it in a completely different place.
In the face of Programmatic’s almost obsessive efforts to improve transparency, ensure quality sites, and brand-relevant inventory, the DOOH industry has a tremendous opportunity to capture these budgets, be relevant in advertising, and ultimately position itself as a powerful and transparent medium. Retail has found a significant source of income that can reach important figures by the end of the year, with an even better outlook for next year.
Finally, digital communication experts understand the importance of “talking” to the consumer at the time of purchase, and more and more physical outlets are allowing them to do so using technology. But it doesn’t stop there, fraud revelations in other digital media continue to create opportunities for growth in DOOH.
Are media owners prepared to absorb, manage, and add value to this supply chain? Multiple tools can help outdoor media owners to promote their inventory, without losing control or falling into the lack of transparency that advertisers demand. The next few months will be crucial to finally see the great incorporation of DOOH into the digital communication ecosystem.
