Programmatic video advertising refers to the practice of buying ad inventory with specific prerequisites using automated, complex algorithms, usually working with programmatic media buying software.
The list of prerequisites, required from an advertiser includes:
- Ad budget
- Audience targeting specs
- Video ad creatives
Benefits of Programmatic Video Advertising
One of the most obvious benefits of programmatic video advertising is that it helps streamline the media buying process, hence increases its efficiency.
More importantly, it provides advertisers with a much greater pool of publisher inventory, which makes it easier to ensure that each video ad impression bought is well-targeted and highly-relevant.
Having an ability to deliver relevant video ads to the right audience in the right context, undoubtedly, drives higher VTRs, while lowering the cost per acquisition.
Challenges of Programmatic Video Advertising
- Video Ad fraud
The volume of video ad fraud in the programmatic segment is comparatively higher, than in direct deals, which is why advertisers need to be cautious and apply brand safety practices to ensure their acquiring the high-quality ad inventory, both viewable and fraud-free.
- Ad Adjacency Risks
Partnering with multiple video ad networks and programmatic ad exchanges in one’s media buying practices makes it harder to control where exactly a particular video ad impression occurs.
In this respect, the industry-wide adoption of the ads.txt initiative is what can help mitigate risks of poor ad adjacency and achieve higher transparency across the entire supply chain.
- Reliance on Third-Party Data
Given the complex supply chain structure, marketers often need to rely on third-party reporting data, regarding their video ad campaign performance, in their programmatic ad buying practices.
In such cases, a possibly effective way to ensure the reported numbers are correct is to conduct ongoing double-checks using third-party ad verification tech solutions.