Dive Brief:
- The New York Times opened its video inventory to programmatic ad buyers for desktop and mobile web with mobile in-app on the way, per Adexchanger.
- “Our video inventory is at a premium. As programmatic grows, it’s important to keep the transaction really clean,” Rachael Savage, VP of ad ops and platform strategy, told Adexchagner. “We are thinking about programmatic as a means of transaction, not necessarily as a way to differentiate the inventory.”
- The Times added programmatic video in response to feedback from advertisers preferring the automated transaction and its ad sales team is advising buyers to conduct programmatic reserve buys for high volume times like Q4 when video inventory sells out.
Dive Insight:
The New York Times’ move is in reaction to a marketplace where video ads are increasingly important while also preparing for the expected ongoing growth in programmatic. For the Times, it’s important to stay on top of the latest developments in the video ad space as competition for ad dollars isn’t limited to just other online publishers and includes quickly growing social media platforms.
TV also continues to protect its long-dominant role in video. Recent research from BIA/Kelsey forecasted local video advertising spending will reach $37.6 billion by 2021, up from $32.6 billion in 2016, with most of the growth coming from digital video and local TV. Interestingly, the report pointed out that digital growth could be negatively impacted by programmatic linear video.
There is a struggle for video ad dollars between linear TV and digital with eyeballs and dollars moving toward digital, but technology — like programmatic buying, targeting and measurement — making its way toward linear TV, a development that increases the attractiveness of keeping video ad budgets in TV for marketers.