Working with agencies may be a better move for those companies lacking employees with knowledge of blockchain and programmatic technologies. Agencies often can optimize media spend and negotiate better rates, because they understand the processes better than the brand, giving them leverage in the negotiations.

It's easy to hear the enthusiasm in the voice of John Bates, director of product marketing at Adobe Analytics Cloud, when talking about blockchain technology, despite numerous challenges. Blockchain technology aims to automated the entire media supply chain, from creatives to contracts. Bates says the industry will shift away from focusing on the underlying technology and toward business process and applications that solve real world problems. He spoke with Data & Programmatic Insider to talk about some of the changes and challenges the advertising industry should expect to see in 2018.

Developers at Lotame, an exchange for third-party data for the advertising industry, think they have found a way to make data more precise using AI. They call the strategy Precision Audiences, and even guarantee performance. Well, sort of.

The National Football League (NFL) does not seem to resonate well with younger viewers, which means advertisers could be losing out on reaching their strongest lifelong audience, according to Lotame data released Monday.