The One Advertising Problem Blockchain Can Actually Solve

The morning after a night out, I tend to lay on my sofa and play games on my iPhone. These days, Fishing Master is my go-to game. I often get hit with ads for other games, especially Deer Hunter. Last week, I finally gave in and decided to install and try it out. The sheer authenticity of the game is both exhilarating and a bit guilt inducing.

My friends not in the tech business often ask why Fishing Master would allow another game (in this case Deer Hunter) to advertise in their game.

For the uninitiated, it is very counterintuitive.

However, advertisers (Deer Hunter) pay publishers (in this case Fishing Master) for delivering a new user or what we call an “install” all the time.

Sometimes these fees can be as high as $4 per install. So, for publishers looking to make a profit, it’s worth it.

Most would assume that Deer Hunter would pay Fishing Master for delivering me as a player. However, that’s far too simple and logical for the highly distorted digital advertising world that has evolved today.

In all likelihood, Facebook is given credit for the install. You see, Facebook has something they call a 28 day look-back on clicks and 24 hours on views.

So, if I clicked on a Deer Hunter ad within the last 28 days, or if I saw the Deer Hunter ad on Facebook or one of the many apps in their network, they will assume credit for it. To make matters worse, Facebook doesn’t share the data necessary to facilitate a reconciliation process. They operate as a “Walled Garden”.

In other words, no data gets in and no data gets out. You must simply accept their word. And obviously, everybody should trust Facebook these days (sarcasm intended).

On top of Fishing Master and Facebook, there could be a host of other ad networks trying to claim that install. Once again, their data lives in a silo separate from other ad networks. And they each have their own rules for how they define an “install”.

There is clearly a flaw in the current system. And in fact, if one digs deeper there are other pitfalls. What happens if Fishing Master is on the Facebook network? Does Facebook attribute to Fishing Master or does it attribute to Instagram where I saw but ignored the ad a few hours ago? You could see where all the conflicts rise when everyone is operating with zero transparency.

In the end, both advertisers and publishers lose. Advertisers lose because they don’t have any insight into where their consumers are actually coming from and are therefore unable to optimize their ad spend. Publishers lose because they often don’t get the credit they deserve for delivering a consumer.

The blockchain presents a truly unique opportunity for the industry that I love but also get frustrated by. We don’t need to build an entire new system or create new networks. The technology that serves as the backbone and the networks we’ve established are great at what they do.

The missing piece is reliable, transparent data.

And that’s what the blockchain was designed for. By simply placing marketing analytics data on the blockchain, we have an opportunity to reconcile (I like to call de-dupe) the install issues. We can apply a universal definition of an install and finally see exactly where consumers are coming from.