• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, November 6, 2017

Adyoulike will be rolling out a dynamic creative optimization (DCO) platform in the coming weeks to increase the personalization of native advertising based on an individual's location, time of day, weather, search behavior and more.

This is more commonly done in display advertising, but Adyoulike U.S. General Manager and CRO Francis Turner says the company will bring DCO to native advertising based on programmatic technology.

In the coming weeks, the ad native unit and service will become available through a partnership with ADventori.

Some say native programmatic advertising is an oxymoron, Turner says, because of its handcrafted content, among other attributes. Programmatic is just the pipes to deliver an ad, while allowing the marketer to integrate a ton of data, he adds.

Data & Programmatic Insider caught up with Tuner to talk further.

Data & Programmatic Insider: What are some of the biggest industry trends leading into 2018?

Francis Turner: Bringing context back into play and video are two of the trends the industry will see in the coming year. We see some good executions in video. Pre-roll has been the choice for a long time, but it lacks quality in inventory.

This year, between 50% and 60% of our business will be programmatic, up from about 30% last year. The year prior, about 10%. This coming year we could be up to between 80% and 90%. It's market-driven.

Mobile ad spend topped desktop. Video ads topped display for the first time this year. Those two trends will rise.

Mobile has potential, but there's the lack of cookies in many devices and browsers.

Data & Programmatic Insider: What are your thoughts on blockchain?

Turner: It's a new technology with the potential to become disruptive. It's in its infancy, but it will find a place in ad tech. Because programmatic is real-time, it doesn't quite work with blockchain at the moment, because it's not fast enough. But as the technology matures and gets faster, we will see companies adopt it.

Data & Programmatic Insider: What's the best business advice you every received?

Turner: I was lucky to work with a very entrepreneurial guy in the early days of digital media. We built a business from two people to more than 40 with VC funding. I don't know if this is necessarily advice, rather more of an attitude, but having the ability to work with inspiring people in this industry, you can achieve everything you put your mind to if you're willing to put the hours in and work hard. You learn from people and put what you learn into practice.

Data & Programmatic Insider: Do you believe in learning from failures?

Turner: Yes... There's nothing wrong with failing. You have to test things and try. What drives me forward daily is the fear of failure, because I enjoy what I do and I want to make the best of it all. I want to succeed in everything I do. You learn from failure.

Data & Programmatic Insider: What will Adyoulike focus on in 2018?

Turner: Artificial intelligence has become so prevalent. Three years ago we started working with IBM Watson. We'll be working harder to build out that opportunity to deliver personalization and context across our platform. Video will become a big piece for use. You will see us launch several video products supported by personalization.