Commentary

Despite Its Oxymoronic Nature, 'Programmatic Native' Is A Conversation We're Having

It even has its own panel here at OMMA RTB in New York.

When event emcee MediaPost’s Steve Smith introduced the panel, he said his first reaction to the term “programmatic native” was something along the lines of: “Well, there’s an oxymoron if I’ve ever heard one.”

I have yet to make up my mind on the subject, but it’s certainly an interesting one. One reason it’s so interesting is because there are two different camps with a very clear line drawn between them.

One the one hand, you have companies like Bidtellect banking on a marriage between native and programmatic.

On the other hand, you have people, like the one I just had a conversation with, that scoff at the idea of native programmatic ever being able to scale.

Panel moderator Gordon McLeod asked if marketers are actually asking for this marriage, or if there is some sort of ghost-demand. He asked: “Is there demand in the sense you are saying, ‘We've got to get all over this!’?”

Roy Chung, director of research and development of VivaKi, said it’s still early days, and while some already have “blown-out strategies” revolving around programmatic-native, he believes they are in the minority.

At the same time, Chung believes “it’s going to grow very quickly this year." How quickly? Chung said he thinks it will be a nine-figure market as soon as 2014.

The only issue with that -- and, actually, the major issue with the entire conversation -- is that the industry doesn't agree on what's "native" and what's not.

2 comments about "Despite Its Oxymoronic Nature, 'Programmatic Native' Is A Conversation We're Having".
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  1. Mike Einstein from the Brothers Einstein, February 21, 2014 at 11 a.m.

    Got the moronic part right.

  2. Anni Paul from BoscoSystems, February 21, 2014 at 5:16 p.m.

    I think the bigger discussion perhaps is taking place on the subject of mobile RTB... http://www.airpush.com/what-is-mobile-rtb-and-why-should-i-care/

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