Let's start at the beginning. No, not apes-checking-out-a-tall-slab beginning, but very close.
I am talking about the beginning of the internet. Back then, things were simple - there were about 5 places you could go online. And 3 of them were porn. So when digital ads began, it was not so complicated. Ad agencies called up the (non-porn) websites, gave them some money, and their ads ran on those sites. Done and done.
In today's world, things have gotten a bit more tricky. The internet is better (technically thanks to porn), but with the hyperspeed growth of the web, serving billions of ads to billions of people on millions of sites has become a nightmare. To resolve some of this complication the advertising industry is turning to automation, or to the use of computers and machine learning, to place ads more effectively. This new approach is called programmatic advertising. And it is blowing up.
So let’s look deeper at this fascinating, topsy-turvy, programmatic world:
- First, know that “programmatic” is just the ad industry’s fancy term for “automated."
- By 2017, more than 65% of all video ad placements will be programmatic.
- Programmatic happens in real-time - brands are buying ad space the moment a customer loads a site or video, hopefully based on that person’s interests etc.
Now, to break this complex and not-so-fashionable industry into an understandable relationship, I am going to use an analogy: The air travel industry.
*NOTE: We have taken some liberties with the history of flight in order to fit the analogy. If you are trying to get a detailed summary of air travel, this ain't the place.
Travel Agencies in the 70's
Let’s start with travel agencies in the 70’s. They were the masters, the keepers of the keys, the Beyonces of flights. If you wanted to fly somewhere, you called up your travel agent and asked them to find you some great flight options. They tapped into these mystical, crazy complicated data systems and found you a flight that fit your needs. That is of course if you could afford a travel agent. If you could not afford a travel agent … well, you mostly didn’t fly. Flying was for rich people who could afford high ticket prices AND the travel agent fees on top just to get the tickets in their hands.
In this analogy, travel agencies of yesteryear are the media agencies of today. Just like the travel agencies then, media agencies today keep a lot of their processes mystically complicated - they tap into the confusing world of ‘DSPs’ and ‘SSPs’ and ‘DMPs’ and ‘Exchanges’, all in order to work with the ad networks and while doing so, use enough jargon to make anyone’s head spin. So, those who can afford them simply give them money, step back, and hope they do “their magic”. Those who can’t afford a media agency, well, for the most part they do not place programmatic ads. They drive to close by “vacation spots”, if you will.
A New Idea
Like every industry, travel evolved. In 1995, Alaska Airlines changed everything. While the travel agencies could still book tickets (and sometimes for the best prices) on all the airlines, Alaska Airlines began offering online ticket sales to individuals for the first time. Suddenly all those people who could not afford a travel agent could find flights. Sure, those flights were limited to where Alaska Airlines traveled, but hell, they were flying and who doesn’t want to go to Anchorage in November?!
In our little analogy, Alaska Airlines is YouTube. YouTube changed the marketing game by allowing individuals to place video ads on their site, but only on their site. If you were Joe Schmoe, you did notneed to go through a big agency for your ad to fly on YouTube.
Things are Shifting
And again, the travel industry evolved. While Alaska was having a ball, American Airlines decided to enter the game. They had the most users - they were flying the majority of the population around in coach and now individuals could book them online too.
You guessed it, American Airlines is Facebook. Facebook, another individual ad network, has billions of users and the most website visits a day. Sure, they fly only to one location (the facebook website and app) but a lot of people are flying with them every day and they allow small businesses to directly place ads.
And that, my friends, is essentially where the travel industry was up until about a decade ago. And it is exactly where programmatic advertising is today.
Game Changer
But then, somew
here along the line, Travelocity.com came along. And just like that, booking your own flight, on any and every airline, in business and first class, to every destination imaginable was suddenly and forever available to EVERYONE. Faster than you can say “cleared for takeoff,” average Joe was managing his own flights and travel agencies were losing their stranglehold on the American consumer.
Visibl is the Travelocity of the programmatic video. Now that you can put your ad in front of anyone, anywhere, at any time; things are about to get real. Because with programmatic you are not just buying Anchorage in November, you are buying placement where only big brands could buy before. The primo destinations like Fiji and Kauai are open for business to everyone. Just like Travelocity did to air travel, Visibl has simplified the complicated video ad buying process that the big wigs use. Now instead of simply focusing on what is available on Facebook and YouTube’s networks, every business can tap into every website in this programmatic universe. All with an interface that doesn’t require crazy domain expertise to use.
Buckle up kiddos. This shit’s about to take off.
- The Visibl Team
