Ad tech’s biggest question marks going into 2018
As expected, the ad tech industry continued to experience monumental changes in 2017. A year ago, ad blocking seemed like the biggest question mark. As we kick off 2018, ad tech’s problems have multiplied. Here are some of the things to pay attention to this year:
How will Google’s ad filter affect publishers?
A year ago, publishers were concerned with AdBlock Plus and other 3rd party ad blockers. Now everyone has to deal with Chrome’s ad filter beginning on Feb. 15.
Will Facebook & Google continue to grow their lion’s share of the market?
Facebook and Google continue to take ad dollars away from publishers due to a lack of trust in publisher inventory and a superior user experience. Will the election issues begin to hurt FB? Will the brand safety problems on Youtube hurt begin to spurn Google? So far, it hasn’t.
Will Amazon be able to take on Facebook & Google?
Amazon seems to dominate any market they decide to invest in, and should ad tech be any different? The big value-add for Amazon here: buyer intent data.
Have advertisers lost trust in ad tech and publishers?
Ad fraud and brand safety issues put a big stain on ad tech in 2017. It seems like we get a new ad fraud story every week. Here are a few:
The sad thing is that a number of the companies listed in these stories were thought of as “reputable.” They know what’s happening, yet they do nothing because they’re so incredibly desperate for short-term revenue. Many publishers and ad tech companies are dying, and they’re doing anything to survive, including buying sketchy traffic and destroying their user experience. Combine this with the fact that ad fraud is pretty easy to pull off, and you have a huge problem on your hands.
Will industry adjustments (e.g. Ads.txt) turn things around?
The IAB has kicked off a number of initiatives to address problems facing the ad tech ecosystem:
- Ads.txt (check out our ads.txt validation tools)
- Ads.cert
- LEAN
Will any of these efforts pay off in 2018?
Will agencies go all in on programmatic?
Many agencies are beginning to go completely self-service with DSPs like The Trade Desk (one of the only successful ad tech IPOs going these days) and MediaMath. Direct deals with publishers are dwindling. How will this affect both agencies and pubs?
Has industry talent moved on?
Have the industry challenges, consolidation, and dwindling bottom lines caused the best ad tech talent to jump ship? If so, is ad tech doomed?
It’s tough to put a positive slant on ad tech in 2018, but there is certainly one bright spot: Digital ad revenue surpassed TV revenue for the first time ever at over $80 billion. So cheers to 2018! Ad tech is certainly in for an interesting year.
