ANA study: $20 billion ad spend lost on clickbait websites
This week the ANA released their Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency study, shedding light on some of the most significant challenges faced by advertisers today such as information asymmetry, limited data access, and misaligned incentives, resulting in significant wasteful spending.
The study highlights that 15% of ad spend and 21% of impressions appeared on sites “made only for advertising.” In a $88B industry, that equates to 13B dollars of ad investment spent on suspect clickbait inventory. ANA is confident that as they follow up with the complete report they will find that the total opportunity to drive efficiency gains for open web programmatic advertising is close to $20B in ad spend.
The pursuit of cheaper CPMs can come at a huge cost for advertisers, leaving billions in potential revenue on the table. The ANA advises advertisers to actively shape their digital advertising strategies for the future by:
- “Leaning in” and directly managing their media investments “rather than delegating that entirely to agencies.”
- Asking for “direct data access to contracts with all primary supply chain partners”
- Constructing agency partnerships that “provide complete access to data and full transparency of websites purchased on media buys”
- Prioritizing “quality media buys” that are most importantly contextual but also viewable, fraud free, and brand safe
- Streamlining the number of websites they advertise on. By streamlining the number of websites used, Advertisers can reach a high percentage of high quality audiences that are most relevant to their business.
- Partnering with vendors that offer clear quality metrics and data transparency
At Rokt, we’ve spent over a decade investing in research and development so that our solutions consistently deliver long-term, sustainable value and outcomes for our advertisers. Our Ads solution enables advertisers to feature relevant ad campaigns on premium ecommerce sites to acquire new customers at scale and connect with customers in the buying mindset. Over 10 years we have proven that our wall garden marketplace with closed loop attribution will continue to drive greater efficiency gains against traditional digital advertising including programmatic.
Know where your brand is showing up
Knowing where your brand appears is crucial. According to the study, advertisers run campaigns on an average of 44K websites in pursuit of lower CPMs. However, this pursuit for more vs. quality often leads to a risk of fraud, poor visibility, and compromised brand safety. By playing an active role in the programmatic buying process, Advertisers can prioritize quality media buys that result in relevant and positive outcomes.
With Rokt Ads, we empower advertisers with the tools and support they need to effectively monitor and control their campaign performance and spend. Through our customizable dashboards and advanced tools, advertisers gain a close view of their campaigns, allowing them to make informed decisions for quality outcomes.
In addition to the transparent view into campaign performance, Rokt provides each advertiser with a dedicated account team that diligently manages campaigns from end-to-end. The Rokt team is committed to optimizing campaigns to meet downstream key performance indicators (KPIs) like cost per acquisition (CPA). With their expertise and industry knowledge, advertisers can rely on our campaign managers for valuable insights and guidance.
Ensure data security
Don’t be in the dark when it comes to your ad performance. According to the study “While brands appear to have more access to data today, data gaps and lack of transparency still plague the programmatic space” While data has become more readily available over the past decade, the continued hurdles to get access hinders advertisers from making informed, data-driven decisions to optimize their advertising outcomes.
At Rokt, we serve as a trusted intermediary between brands and advertisers. By eliminating the need for multiple programmatic technology providers, Rokt ensures data protection within a secure environment. Both brands and advertisers integrate their first-party data with Rokt, minimizing the risks of data leaks and hidden costs that arise from numerous intermediaries. Our transparent approach guarantees an optimal customer experience and enables brands and advertisers to achieve their acquisition goals with confidence.
Promote transparency in information asymmetry
What’s the 411 on information asymmetry? According to the study Information asymmetry is “a serious issue for advertisers, leading to inefficient and unproductive media investment decision making” The imbalance in the quality of information possessed by the various parties involved in a transaction leads to substantial waste in ad investment. With lack of transparency and informed decision making, Advertisers tend to overpay for low quality inventory leading to more waste than optimized results.
Transparency is at the core of Rokt’s solutions. Both brands and advertisers leverage their first-party data in tandem with advanced machine learning, leading to the best possible customer experience. With 100% verified audiences and outcomes driven by first-party data, offers are optimized to individuals to show the most relevant offer to the right shopper when they are shopping and most engaged during the transaction flow. To ensure that brands are getting the most out of their ads, Rokt runs on a CPC model, meaning that advertisers only pay for performance.
Align incentives to goals for better results
According to the study “the primary incentive driving programmatic media buying behavior is cost — getting the most impressions for every dollar”. While this may seem like a great incentive initially, it often results with buying strategies being misaligned with long term goals. More isn’t always better and cheap often does not result in quality.
With Rokt, Advertisers leverage their own first-party data alongside our suite of tools to deliver customer relevancy or acquisition goals across re-engagement, win-back, and upsell acquisition campaigns. Our sophisticated and unique targeting capabilities enable brands to better reach their desired audience and have more control over who their offers are delivered to. With our easy to deploy model, brands can continually test and discover new audiences and optimize their offers. Whether you’re launching a new campaign or looking to optimize the success of a current campaign, the first-party difference of Rokt’s technology allows you to test and learn at scale.
In light of the ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency study, Rokt remains dedicated to addressing advertisers’ challenges and providing effective solutions. By prioritizing transparency and quality audiences, Rokt’s closed, trusted technology allows advertisers to drive long-term growth for their business. With third-party cookies on their way out and billions of dollars of inefficiencies, programmatic has significant challenges that lie ahead. With Rokt’s technology, advertisers can ensure they have a trusted partner that provides the transparency and quality they need to succeed in today’s competitive marketplace.
Learn more about how Rokt Ads can help your business here. If you’re interested in learning more about how Rokt can impact your business, talk to an expert.