Dive Brief:
- Seeing a need to clear the air, the Interactive Advertising Bureau has released a white paper in an effort to clarify the different levels of automation involved in programmatic video advertising.
- “A programmatic video solution for linear TV may not have the same features as a programmatic solution for mobile or desktop video and a programmatic solution on OTT may differ from the rest of the video platforms entirely," Anna Bager, SVP mobile and video at IAB, said in a blog post.
- The white paper includes a chart that clearly defines the differences in programmatic video automation on different platforms including: desktop video, mobile video, over-the-top, linear TV.
Dive Insight:
The programmatic video stakes are high, with eMarketer estimating that it will make up more than half of all U.S.-based digital video revenue this year. The paper serves as a counterpoint to the idea of programmatic as a single entity, she said; instead, it consists of different levels of automation depending on the “specific monetization architecture” used by each platform.
Desktop video, for example, has the highest level of automation (on a scale of one through five) across most categories: targeting, transacting, creative delivery, reporting and inventory availability. Mobile video has second-most automation, reaching the highest level in targeting and level four across the remaining categories, including forecasting. Linear TV has the lowest programmatic video automation, reaching level three in forecasting and only level two in the remaining categories.
“Over time, as programmatic video matures, we expect there will be fewer and fewer differences between platforms from a targeting, forecasting, and transactional perspective and, in the future, the term ‘programmatic’ may not even be necessary,” wrote Bager. “It will simply be video, bought and sold in screen-agnostic fashion, informed by data with automation at its core. Until then, IAB and the Programmatic Video Working Group hope that this paper will help reduce confusion in the marketplace and serve as a framework for decision making for buyers and sellers.”