• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, September 29, 2024

It’s not clear that most programmatic advertisers want to reduce their carbon emissions. But some are trying. 

For instance, six brands participated in a study conducted by ANA and Scope3, including Coca-Cola, GM, Kimberly Clark, Kroger, Mars and Mondelez.

The study, Sustainability in Media Planning, notes that “1,000 ad impressions emit between 50-1,500+ grams of carbon.” And, “Every minute spent on social video consumption emits about 2.6 grams of carbon.”

But it turns out that 2% of sites targeted in programmatic campaigns drove 50% of emissions. 

The six brands in this study reduced the carbon cost (or carbon by impressions) anywhere from 3% to 36% by taking these three steps (and we quote):

1. They adopted green media products (GMPs), or private marketplaces that automatically select for low-emissions inventory.  
2. They updated inclusion lists to only target lower-emitting inventory (thus removing bad actors such as MFAs and other high-emitting, low performing options). 
3. They recognized exclusion lists to remove any identifiable bad actors.

The study recommends that brands sincerely trying to cut emissions do the following:

• Adopt tools to measure emissions
• Choose an activity-based measurement model
  
• Adopt automated green market solutions to reduce solutions
• Eliminate made-for-advertising (MFA) websites

It is not easy reducing carbon emissions. And many firms might choose not to attempt it because their customers are not interested in these values. 

But the study argues that sustainability in advertising “is an issue that affects all of us,” and that it does not harm ad performance.