The world of digital advertising has a history of opaqueness, stemming from the early days of ad networks. Ad networks acted as brokers between advertisers and publishers. Being in such a position allowed them to be as transparent or “non-transparent” as they wished.
This resulted in extremely high margins (50 percent to 60 percent or higher) and limited reporting available to either advertiser or publisher. So while ad networks helped in the execution of large-scale media buying, they lacked transparency and were considered “black boxes,” hindering marketers.
