Bots, fraud and particularly brand safety—given YouTube’s recent controversies—are among the reasons “programmatic advertising” has become a dirty term in some marketers’ minds. Yet, there appears to be an acceleration toward direct programmatic (or “premium” in the parlance of some industry players) that shows the marketplace may be adapting with more urgency than in the past.
Typically speaking, real-time bidding—an impressions-focused form of programmatic that can often lead to brands either appearing alongside questionable content or, worse, falling victim to ad fraud—is on the decline, eMarketer reported this week.