A new study — “ANA Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study” — estimated that marketers could save at least $13 billion by improving programmatic practices.
The
majority of an ad's target audience -- 95% -- could more effectively be reached by a selective approach. In short, media buys on a few hundred vs. thousands of sites.
It also cited ad
buys at click-bait sites as hugely wasteful.
The study was released at the same time as the Cannes Lions Festival.
“Made For Advertising” publishers commanded 15% of
programmatic ad spend and accounted for a “startling” 21% of impressions tracked by the study. MFA inventory was also found to carry 26% higher carbon emissions.
The ANA’s
report was termed a "first look," more detailed findings will be issued later this year. Quality and pricing will be more closely analyzed.
The ad trade group also recommended brands have
greater direct contracts with ad-tech vendors to address what it terms “information asymmetry.”
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While the ANA believes it could save programmatic marketers billions in media
spending, some suggestions, such as dropping third-party agencies, may not be practical. In-housing programmatic efforts are costly and
time-consuming.
Initially, 67 ANA member companies volunteered to participate in the research. Only 21 did so, due to various issues, including legal
ones. The study surveyed $123 million in ad spending, representing about 35.5 billion impressions, between September 2022 and January 2023.