programmatic ads

Programmatic buying is the hot thing in media now. In its simplest terms, programmatic is anything that involves replacing manual buying procedures in media with automated ones. Spending on programmatic will rise from $3.3 billion this year to more than $9 billion in 2018, according to eMarketer, but there are still many in media who have reservations about it. Three Kelly Scott Madison execs discuss how programmatic buying can benefit clients, what media people still misunderstand about it, and how sellers could make it easier.

Magna Global has agreed to buy some digital video ad inventory from ABC this summer using a new level of data-driven targeting and automated purchasing, an eight-week test that marks ABC’s first programmatic sales of digital video.

“Programmatic” has become a big buzzword this year, permeating through the recent ARF Audience Measurement conference and taking over a panel at the recent Consumer 360 conference in San Antonio. So what does it mean for marketers and how can technology help with challenges like delivering automated, real-time analytic?

ABC has hired Mike Dean as its first head of programmatic and data-driven ad sales. In this new role, Dean will be responsible for driving ABC’s programmatic and data-driven ad sales strategy.

Google’s private programmatic exchanges can now book premium ad space like mastheads for brands. It is working with ABC to promote the new show Rising Star using an exchange that only places ads in prominent positions, ones that are not typically associated with automated buying.

Two points of view on the developing view of television — a vision that doesn’t care which show a viewer is tuned to but only who that viewer is.

ABC plans to begin testing a new level of data-driven ad sales for its online video inventory this summer, according to the network, in the latest step by TV networks toward programmatic ad selling and buying.

Andy Lobred, Media General’s VP of digital media, is on a mission to boost digital to 10% of his company’s overall revenue. His solution: Staffing stations with digital-only sellers and diversifying digital products. In an interview with NetNewsCheck, Lobred explains how he holds on to effective digital sellers, weighs in on programmatic buying and talks about expanding digital marketing services business into all of its markets.

Automated, or programmatic, systems allow agencies to purchase advertising directly online, either eliminating sales people or limiting their role. In some instances, the systems involve an auction with buyers bidding for time. Such systems are commonplace in digital media, but they had far less success in the broadcast spot market. Now, however, some station groups are seeing the possibilities. This is Part II of a four-part series. Part I on what TV stations are doing to integrate digital ad selling into their sales processes appeared Tuesday; Part III, on Thursday, will focus on improving digital sales operations; and Part IV, on Friday, will offer a case study of a successful digital sales effort and the lessons it offers for broadcasters and newspapers alike.

News Corp. announced plans to launch a global programmatic ad exchange that will let advertisers buy across its more than 50 online and mobile products including WSJ.com, Times.co.uk and NYPost.com.