What is Programmatic Ad Buying?

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Programmatic ad buying is something you’ve probably been engaged with for years. It’s so second nature to you, that you often don’t consider the process that drives it. Understanding programmatic ad buying is a big advantage to advertisers. Knowledge is power, and you should know where your traffic comes from and how you can increase the quality of your ads based on that traffic.

Programmatic ad buying is a term that encompasses all forms of automated traffic, including highly targeted and hyper-local display advertising.

The Old Ways of Media Buying

When you wanted targeted traffic in the old days, you began with a list of websites that you thought would be good candidates. You then narrowed that list down to who you wanted to work with, then negotiated to fit your budget. Most of the time, you spread your budget to various publishers , securing only a small space on several websites. That’s an awful lot of work just to test a campaign, plus you need to maintain those relationships to keep your rates low and your partners happy. That’s also not counting research, which was harder to come by.

Programmatic ad buying simplifies this process.

The Role of Ad Exchanges

The biggest change that the Web has brought to the world of media buying is the creation of ad exchanges. When you purchase from an ad exchange, you may have the option to target based on demographics like interests or gender. Ad exchanges connect you directly to consumers that want to see your banner advertising for a small fee.

Evolving Ads

This direct traffic changes how we construct ads, and makes the process granular. Ad development is now a painstaking process of testing, where each potential variable is ironed out in search of the ideal formula. Once you have targeted the right kind of user, you can begin honing your message to increase response. All in a matter of days or weeks.

The process of buying media in today’s world is done at a scale that humans are incapable of. Buying from an ad exchange opens you up to a wider array of consumers, and offers you the chance to get new customers outside of your local area.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is a passionate thought leader in the direct marketing industry. Ted Dhanik has been working in banner advertising for more than ten years, branding companies like MySpace.com. For information on display advertising, contact Ted Dhanik.

Technology and politics, a bad combination

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Huawei Technologies is the biggest Chinese company that makes telecommunication network equipment and a maker of smartphones and tablets. The U.S. government found out that its founder and the chief executive officer served in the People’s Liberation Army and provided customer information to the Chinese government. This prompted the U. S. House Permanent Select Committee in 2012 to issue a report that business dealings with Huawei pose a national security threat. Huawei claimed that the findings are without merits. However, they scaled back their activities in the Unites States since that time and instead increased its activity in Canada, our neighbor to the north.

Huawei provides Canada with 3G and 4G network equipment through Bell Canada and Telus, two of three cell phone operators in Canada. Huawei is the world’s third largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung Electronics and it is steadily increasing its smartphone sales in Canada. It has teamed up with the Canadian pop singer Katy Perry to promote her concert tour and their smartphone business, supply uniforms and equipment to amateur hockey players and soccer players, and donate hardware to remote communities to connect to the Internet. However, Canada ultimately banned them from bidding for cellular networks for the national government.

Who owns the wireless spectrum in the United States?

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According to published reports two big auctions of wireless spectrum are scheduled for November 2014 and another in 2016. Four major players dominate the wireless market in the United States. Verizon Wireless is the largest with 106 million subscribers followed by AT&T with 86 million, Sprint with 45 million and T-Mobile with almost 41 million subscribers. There are many other much smaller carriers who are struggling to survive too. Demand for spectrum comes from not just cell phones, tablets and other devices do share services. 3G and 4G mobile services as well as Internet services are putting pressure for wireless broadband. At the November 2014 auction, other players such as Dish are expected to compete for spectrum.

Currently Sprint has the highest share of the spectrum among four players. However, their ownership of 1.9 GHz and 2.5 GHz requires building more towers and they have yet to develop most of it. They have already announced that they are going to sit out of the upcoming spectrum auction in November 2014. Other three players own lower frequency spectrums that comparatively require fewer infrastructures, more specifically less towers. The planned 2016 wireless spectrum auction expected to carry more desirable spectrum.

Is Targeting Discriminatory?

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The mechanisms that marketers use have some controversial implications for users. The collection of data for the purposes of marketing has always been a practice under some scrutiny, but the Web presents new opportunities to track interactions that were not possible before. Discrimination isn’t just a matter of data collection, it’s also the improper targeting of display advertising. Both what customers see, and what they don’t see. If you’re careful, you can get around these challenges with thoughtful messaging and finely tuned targets.

Unintentional Consequences

Targeting has the wonderful benefit of putting you in touch with your audience. It hopefully increases your audience’s chances of engaging with an ad they find interesting, or at least one they are open to hearing. Where advertising fails, and becomes borderline problematic, is when that targeting is overzealous. When someone gets engaged on Facebook, it’s almost a running gag how quickly they begin seeing ads for wedding related services. The opportunity is obvious, but what’s not always apparent is the user experience. Paying close attention to what happens to the user is extremely important.

Exclusionary Targeting

What about the assumptions we make based off of the data we accumulate? Targeting based on demographic is a great way to cut costs, but it also excludes people that may or may not want to see your ads. Plus, when we exclude targets we also cut our traffic volume significantly. Quite literally, too many cuts will stall your campaigns.

Testing is the only method to get around this form of exclusionary targeting, to get at the meat of your audience.

Conclusions

The key takeaway is to break free of your bubble. Pay close attention to what your customers are actually doing, not just in Analytics. Review your landing pages, click on things, and actually look at what people see when they visit your banner advertising. The more conscious you are of their experience, the higher your chances of avoiding unsuccessful ad campaigns.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is the co-founder and CEO of engage:BDR. Through direct marketing on mobile and desktop, Ted Dhanik has helped businesses reach new market segments. Ted Dhanik offers advice through his blog, or at engage:BDR.

Drones anyone?

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The small unmanned global drone market currently estimated around $300 million. The small aerial vehicle is revolutionizing the real estate market by giving the buyers an opportunity to see prospective homes and businesses from a different angle that has not seen before.

Chinese company DJI Innovations, France based Parrot, and Germany’s Microdrones are the three main players in the drone industry. At a selling price of $1,400, many prefer DJI’s Phantom drones for its simplicity and turnkey operation capability. More than 300 retailors in two dozen countries sell DJI products. In the U.S., Amazon.com and Best Buy offer DJI products.

Safety and privacy issues are two main concerns of many. But the most pressing issue for drones is its battery life. Most of the commercial drones are able to fly for about 25 minutes before recharging its lithium ion batteries. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other state regulators are coming up with more and more regulations including licensing requirements to address concerns over commercial use of drones. This is why commercial use of drones is illegal in many U.S. states. However, some estimates that the personal use drone market in the U.S. is growing at 20 percent a year and beyond the hobby market film industry and the agricultural industry could benefits from drones.