IAB Europe is launching a new Legal Committee, open to all IAB Europe Members, to bring together legal professionals, and work to provide expert analysis on legislation, court rulings and enforcement decisions impacting digital marketing and advertising. The Committee will seek to develop consensus-based interpretations of the law, and provide compliance guidance on issues such as consent, legitimate interest, pseudonymisation and data subject rights.
In addition, the group will pursue close collaboration with other IAB Europe Committees, Working Groups and Task forces, with a double objective. Firstly, the latter can submit requests for opinions, enlisting the Legal Committee to provide legal expertise and assistance in the comprehension of relevant legal texts and jurisprudence where necessary. Secondly, the Legal Committee will partner with the Education and Training committee in developing IAB Europe’s legal and compliance training programme, aimed at providing specialised privacy and data protection compliance training to industry professionals.
IAB Europe’s Legal Committee is expected to hold its first meeting in the second half of October 2019. Members can register their interest in joining this new committee here or contact Filip Sedefov (sedefov@iabeurope.eu) for more information.
Author: Alwin Viereck, Head of Programmatic Advertising and Ad Management, United Internet Media
In my last blog post, I outlined the challenges to maintain identity in a programmatic first ecosystem and in this blog I will cover what building blocks for solutions exist. There is, in my opinion, currently five key areas of work:
For this blog, I will focus on the first two.
As we understood, IDs are as good as their survival (=persistence/storage time) in the ecosystem they are maintained in, their interoperability (multi-device capability) and their pervasiveness/scalability (can everybody generate or read/match them) they offer. For clarity it is important to cluster the existing solutions. In general, the solutions are:
Partial market overview:
Based on different types of identifiers mentioned, the advertising industry has started to develop advertising ID initiatives such as the IAB DigiTrust[2] or the Advertising ID Consortium[3] to define frameworks with the aim to be used throughout the programmatic landscape for “unification”. In this context vendor specific solutions such as ID5[4] or TradeDesk (Unified ID)[5] have also started to gain ground.
Beyond that, login alliances such as netID[6] or verimi[7] progress as alternatives market players with logins such as Google or Facebook, for the programmatic advertising ecosystem as persistent, not cookie reliant solutions for unified identity frameworks.
In case these frameworks manage to gain scale, they will bridge the loss of identify as we face it today and lead us to a real post cookie era solution landscape.
The supply side has widely started to use prebid[8] as a standard header bidding solution. A very interesting feature called the User ID Module[9] has been released by prebid.org with its version prebidJS 2.10. Quotation: The User ID module supports multiple ways of establishing pseudonymous IDs for users, which is an important way of increasing the value of header bidding. Instead of having several exchanges sync IDs with dozens of demand sources, a publisher can choose to integrate with one of these ID schemes […]”. This development will force the standardisation of supply side vendor connectors to transfer “unified” identifiers into the programmatic ecosystem.
You may have asked yourself how server-to-server bidding is connected with persistent identity. Well, the availability of persistent identity provides a dramatic change in the way bidding is executed. While today the vast majority of bidding is client-side, a reliable identifier will provide us with the bases of going server-side with the bidding process.
Google with EBDA (Exchange Bidding Dynamic Allocation) and Amazon with TAM (Transparent Ad Marketplace) have shown ground for server-to-server solutions. A widely accepted persistent identifier for the open internet would mean, that prebid server or other alternatives to given walled garden solutions can come into place.
With a move to the server-side, the majority of third party scripts involved in bidding, tracking and profiling would disappear from websites resulting in an increase of usability due to reduction of loading times, a dramatic reduction of timeouts due to real parallelisation/threading on server-side, reduction of latency problems caused by a high number of script calls used for bidding and cookies syncing and finally also an independence of the header bidding process from browser gatekeeping.
In a persistent ID driven programmatic world, which runs bidding processes on the server-side, we are left with ad delivery to be solved properly in the future to avoid bad user experience, ad blocking or other gatekeeping through browsers we face. That’s where the third building block for solutions “first party ad delivery” comes into play. But this might be a topic for a later post.
[1] https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universally_Unique_Identifier
[2] https://www.digitru.st/
[3] https://www.adidentity.org/
[5] https://www.thetradedesk.com/industry-initiatives/unified-id-solution
[9] https://prebid.org/dev-docs/modules/userId.html
In the absence of a strong digitally oriented formal education system, training needs to be focused on the next generations of talent if we wish to close the skill gap
19 September 2019, Brussels. IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the launch of its annual Human Capital in the Digital Environment report. Developed under the guidance of the IAB Europe Education & Training Committee, the survey findings uncovered a series of critical areas of the digital training and human capital in the online ecosystem, ranging from the primary training needs of both employers and candidates, to the challenges faced by the two groups when filling positions in the industry.
75 percent of respondents cited the shortage of eligible candidates as the primary challenge they face when recruiting. This is reported across Europe relatively uniformly: 71 percent of employers in CEE and SE countries cite this shortage, a percentage which rises to 78 for respondents from Northern and Western Europe.
Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe remarked that “The findings of the Human Capital in the Digital Environment report once again reinforce the acute need in the industry for better and more sustained efforts in training and education. It is a call for closer cooperation and cross-support between all players to develop European programmes which help close the skill gap and ensure a thriving digital ecosystem.
Students and recent graduates are the future in more ways than one. They are the solution for the current shortage of digital talent and the key for a more efficient industry moving forward. While in the short-term there is not much that we, as an industry, can do to reshape education systems across Europe to better cater to a digitised world, we can - and must - support students by raising their awareness of the opportunities digital presents and the skills needed to capitalise on them.”
The majority of respondents cited programmatic (59 percent) and analytics (51 percent) as the most highly-desired skills by recruiters, for both candidates applying for a position, but also existing staff transitioning into a new role. 55 percent of respondents see programmatic as vital in the recruitment process, whilst 51 percent are interested in receiving training on this topic. In terms of analytics, 51 percent of responders see this as the main skill to have when seeking a job in digital advertising and marketing, whilst 46 percent would like to receive further training in it. A slight dissonance occurs when it comes to emerging technologies, with 48 percent of candidates marking this as a topic they would like to be trained in, though only 35 percent of employers have cited it as a skill they are interested in candidates possessing. Social media advertising skills are also in high-demand, according to 44 percent of HR and training experts.
Employers and candidates, the Human Capital in the Digital Environment 2019 Report shows, are aligned in terms of priorities. Candidates are more than willing to receive training and it is our mission as an industry to support them in their efforts. A wider range of programmes, covering not only fundamentals but also specialisations from within programmatic or analytics will help offset the skill gap and increase efficiency in digital advertising.
The IAB Europe Education and Training Committee will continue to support private and national initiatives that work to close the skill gap. It will step up efforts to leverage its Endorsement Programme and develop courses in concert with the other IAB Europe committees and leading experts in the market”, said Neslihan Olcay, CEO, Wavemaker Turkey, and Chair of the IAB Europe Education & Training Committee.
The findings of the report lead to the conclusion that responders have flagged for two consecutive years now: in many countries the formal education system is simply not adapted to today’s digital rigours. Future professionals in digital advertising, particularly the few who come from disciplines not directly tied to this field, find themselves in need of general training, whereas the industry relies heavily on very specialised skill sets. Students from fields such as software engineering, economics, mathematics, computer sciences, are not immediately aware of the opportunities presented by digital advertising and therefore the pool of potential candidates is lower than it could be, which is a determining factor for the shortage of talent cited in this report.
The IAB Europe Education & training Committee will continue to take steps to support the efforts of its National and Corporate members, through guidance, insight and visibility opportunities, alongside a more consistent library of training resources.
Download the full report here
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About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of National IABs and media, technology and marketing companies, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market. For further information please visit IAB Europe.
For more information, please contact:
Alex Macarescu, IAB Europe (macarescu@iabeurope.eu)
Helen Mussard, IAB Europe (mussard@iabeurope.eu)
TOTAL PROGRAMMATIC REVENUE GREW BY 33 PERCENT IN 2018 TO €16.7BN
ADOPTION OF ADS.TXT STILL LOW AMONGST BUY-SIDE, DESPITE HIGH PUBLISHER ADOPTION & ONGOING AD-FRAUD CONCERNS
11th September 2019, Cologne: IAB Europe, the leading European-level industry association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem, today announced the launch of its annual ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report, alongside its programmatic market-sizing research. Now in its fifth year, the report is the most comprehensive analysis of the European programmatic landscape, covering strategies and adoption trends, drivers of and barriers to growth, and forecasts for the future for 31 markets.
The latest research reveals that programmatic revenue grew by 33 percent in 2018, topping €16.7bn, with more than 70 percent of display and more than 50 percent of video now traded via programmatic methods. Social media buying dominates programmatic, but when this medium is removed the market saw impressive growth of 26.6 percent, to a total of €5.5bn.
Key findings in the ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report include:
Announcing the report, Townsend Feehan, CEO, IAB Europe said, “The programmatic industry is experiencing a period of rapid transformation, to ensure it continues to provide a safe environment for advertisers, a positive experience for consumers and addresses the demands made by new regulation throughout the world. In the context of this evolution, it is encouraging to see the majority of stakeholders expecting an increase in programmatic investments of up to 80 percent over the next 12 months. In particular, we expect digital out-of-home, audio and connected TV to be areas of growth. It is clear however that talent, the low buy-side adoption of ads.txt, and supply chain transparency remain impediments to this growth and these are areas we will be addressing with our members.”
A key finding within the report is that whilst many of the challenges the industry has faced - particularly around ad fraud and brand safety - remain an ongoing concern, the buy-side has not yet adopted ads.txt and the mobile-specific apps-ads.txt in significant numbers. Only 6 percent of advertisers and 26 percent of agencies are buying the majority of their inventory ads.txt verified.
Amongst publishers, ads.txt adoption is much higher, with 56 percent of them selling the majority of their inventory with an ads.txt file attached. This suggests that the ads.txt inventory exists but more buyer education and adoption is required.
Commenting on this insight, David Goddard, VP Global Programmatic Strategy, BBC Global News, said, “I hope the release of this year’s ‘Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising’ report will be the catalyst for greater levels of app-ads.txt adoption for publishers, increasing the volume of inventory that is verified, whilst increasing buy-side awareness of this simple, yet effective tool to tackle transparency and quality concerns.”
The study also reveals a clear shift to hybrid models for programmatic trading as the number of advertisers with in-house operations overtakes the number outsourcing to an agency, alongside an increase in the number using external consultancies. Advertisers using consultancies for programmatic buying grew to 7 percent in 2019, from zero percent reported in 2018. In addition, 52 percent of advertisers cite that they are considering taking programmatic in-house in the next 12 months whilst 50 percent claim they plan to use an external consultancy.
Download the reports below
IAB Europe Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising Report 2019
IAB Europe European Programmatic Ad Spent Report 2018
EDITOR NOTES
Now in its fifth year, the Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising study has become an industry benchmark to show how programmatic advertising attitudes, adoption and strategies are evolving. The survey attracted respondents who command significant volumes of advertising supply and demand. Over 70 percent of the respondents across advertisers, agencies and publishers manage annual advertising budgets of €1m or above. For the first time, IAB Europe surveyed ad tech vendors in the 2019 study. The survey asked about the following areas: How much programmatic is used for different formats (display, mobile and video); drivers and barriers to programmatic investment; operational models used for programmatic; measurement and data strategy; the future of programmatic investment.
The report, written by industry experts from IAB Europe’s membership, forms part of a comprehensive programme of pan- European educational and guidance outputs published by the IAB Europe Programmatic Trading Committee.
The IAB Europe 2018 Programmatic Market Sizing numbers distinguish between programmatic including social and platform self-serve; and programmatic as inventory traded using OpenRTB only. This is due to varying national market measurement practices and the need to provide a harmonised European number.
About IAB Europe
IAB Europe is the European-level association for the digital marketing and advertising ecosystem. Through its membership of National IABs and media, technology and marketing companies, its mission is to lead political representation and promote industry collaboration to deliver frameworks, standards and industry programmes that enable business to thrive in the European market. For further information please visit https://www.stg-iabeurope-iabeuropeold.kinsta.cloud/
For more information, please contact:
Marie-Clare Puffett, IAB Europe (puffett@iabeurope.eu / +44 7973 836 917)
Helen Mussard, IAB Europe (helen@iabeurope.eu / +44 7399 919 594)
Victoria Johnson, Too Many Dreams (victoria@toomanydreams.ltd / +44 7939 594 637)
Stephen Jenkins, Too Many Dreams (stephen@toomanydreams.ltd / +44 7957 803 685)
