As digital ad companies build
their “ad tech stacks” -- with some advertisers building in-house tech stacks of their own -- the number of toolsets used for a data-driven marketing campaign continues to rise.
Over half of marketers are using 5-10 different toolsets, while one-fourth are using 11-20 different technologies. Nearly 10% of marketers use a towering 31 or more technologies for programmatic
campaigns.
On average, marketers use about a dozen different technologies in their “ad tech stack.” The data comes from research conducted by the Winterberry Group in conjunction with the IAB.
“I see clients
with multiple DSPs for retargeting, dual tag management technologies across their various owned properties and sometimes two Web analytics solutions,” a global media agency’s chief
analytics officer is quoted as saying in the reported. “It’s a hot mess and the reason is because the organizations are internally distorted; they’re too soloed to leverage
technology to its optimal ability so they engage with whatever their group needs. This is especially true for multinational, franchise organizations.”
The “best-of-breed”
versus “suite” approach has been highlighted before. Technologies focused on one area are
also referred to as “point solutions” and have fed the notion of “fragmentation” not just among consumers, but among marketing technologies as well.
It’s Rube Goldberg machines stacked on topped of Rube Goldberg machines.