Held in Milan on 23-24 May 2018, IAB Europe’s annual conference Interact was a great opportunity to interview John Montgomery, Global VP Brand Safety at GroupM about the challenges and the opportunities of safeguarding brand safety.
Interview with John is available here.
nHeld in Milan on 23-24 May 2018, IAB Europe’s annual conference Interact was a great opportunity to interview Wilfried Schobeiri, Chief Technology Officer at MediaMath about IAB Europe’s Transparency & Consent Framework.
Watch the video here.
Held in Milan on 23-24 May 2018, IAB Europe’s annual conference Interact was a great opportunity to interview Somer Simpson, Head of product & growth at Quantcast about IAB Europe’s Transparency & Consent Framework.
Watch the interview here.
Held in Milan on 23-24 May 2018, IAB Europe’s annual conference Interact was a great opportunity to interview Evgeny Morozov, Author & Researcher about his take on the current digital economy and on the current digital landscape.
Watch the interview here.
On 25 June, IAB Europe became a signatory to the Memorandum of Understanding on Online Advertising and IP Infringement (“the MoU” or “the Memorandum”). I feel privileged that I was able to sign not just on behalf of IAB Europe, but also four of our national associations (IAB UK, IAB Italy, IAB Poland, and IAB Slovakia). Several IAB Europe corporate members will also be signatories to the Memorandum – and a majority of the members involved were in favour of IAB Europe’s support for it.
The MoU has the goal of reducing the placement of advertising on websites which blatantly infringe copyright or sell counterfeit goods on a commercial scale. The hope is that by reducing the viability of online advertising as a source of revenue for these sites, there will be less commercial incentive for hosting copyright infringing content. From an advertiser’s point of view, it’s also important that their brand image is not damaged by appearing on the wrong types of website. This is nothing new, and advertisers have already been protecting their brands with the use of brand safety tools.
Thus, there are both regulatory and commercial incentives for making this MoU a success – so how do we get there? As this blog’s title suggests – this is not the end of the process, despite years of negotiations on the text – this is the beginning. The MoU’s first 12 months will be an assessment period, during which time the European Commission will undertake to commission independent studies into the existence of advertising on commercial-scale IP infringing sites. At the same time, signatories to the MoU will be checking in quarterly to demonstrate the measures they’ve taken to limit ads appearing on infringing sites, and how effective they estimate them.
As a trade association, our role will be to educate our members on the importance of the MoU and to encourage adoption after the assessment period. IAB Europe’s members who are interested in signing on after the assessment period are also able to join our delegation to the quarterly meetings – and action can always be undertaken on an individual basis. We are looking forward to getting started and seeing some positive results!
Download the Memorandum of Understanding below.
By Estelle Reale, Marketing Director Sublime Skinz
If the industry’s ultimate goal is to create relevant and engaging advertising experiences that drive results, then a priority must also be to precisely gauge whether campaigns are doing this, or not. And this is why the IAB Europe’s Digital Brand Advertising and Measurement survey has become a crucial barometer of where evaluation focus is now and what direction it must take next. The following blog explores some of the highlights covered in the report based on the survey.
This year’s report demonstrates that advertisers, agencies, and publishers appreciate the need to align KPIs with growing trends; including rising multi-media consumption and ad quality concerns. But, when it comes to accurately assessing the impact ads make, there is still a gap between knowing what we should be tracking and putting those metrics into action.
Let’s take a closer look at the current state of digital measurement.
Making ads memorable matters
If brands want to stand out against competitors, ads must leave a positive and lasting impression; particularly as consumers’ preferences to avoid trawling through endless retail options means 90% of purchase decisions are now made via subconscious shortcuts. Consequently, it’s no surprise that brand awareness is not only cited as a vital KPI for 88% of stakeholders, but also already used by most. On average, 64% currently measure brand awareness and, among advertisers and agencies, adoption is even higher at 78% and 74% respectively.
Growing focus on safety, viewability, and versatility
Recent ad misplacement issues and rising fraud costs — set to absorb £8 billion of display spend by 2021 — have put brand safety and ad verification firmly in the industry spotlight. And results reveal advertisers, agencies, and publishers alike are keen to ensure these values are assessed, with an overall 84% listing them as priorities.
Similarly, it looks as though increasing demands for transparency are fuelling determination to ascertain whether ads have the chance to be seen and make an impact, not just whether they are delivered. Over the last 12 months, the number of stakeholders who acknowledge the need to measure viewable rather than served impressions has climbed from 81% to 84%, and interest in the way ads are served is low, resting at 56% in total.
And finally, with the average consumer owning between three and four devices and regularly switching between them to view content, better cross-media evaluation is starting to become a prime necessity. More than 80% of stakeholders believe a better understanding of how different channels work in combination, not isolation, is imperative for driving advertising spend. Evidently, creating the right, unified media mix is now integral to produce effective and engaging experiences.
Looking ahead: closing measurement gaps
Overall, the results paint a picture of an industry where major players are responding to constant evolution in audience behaviour and the advertising ecosystem. But discrepancies between desired KPIs and actual KPIs show measurement still has some way to go.
Many metrics related to ad impact — such as purchase intent (88%), sales (79%), and uplift in direct site visits (77%) — ranked highly as important measures. Yet figures for deployment of these KPIs are far lower, with all measured by less than half of stakeholders. Indeed, even viewability is presently tracked by just 48% of agencies, advertisers, and publishers.
The good news, however, is that we have a defined path of future progress. Clearly, most stakeholders understand which KPIs are critical to achieve the holistic view of performance needed to better inform digital spend and campaign optimisation — and it’s encouraging to see many metrics are already in place. The next step is to complete the set.
Of course, large-scale measurement adoption won’t be a simple task. Inevitably, some time and resources will be required to employ technologies that can verify media quality, track viewability, and trace cross-media ad responses. There may also be a necessity for knowledge sharing and collaboration to use tools effectively. But there is little doubt such efforts will be worthwhile and even essential to power the industry’s collective sustainability and success.
Access the IAB Europe Digital Brand Advertising and Measurement Report here.
IAB Europe’s flagship conference, Interact 2018 took place in Milan at the end of last month. Taking part were over 600 senior executives and professionals in digital advertising spanning the breadth of Europe and indeed the industry. Advertisers, ad agencies, measurement companies, data and ad technology suppliers, media owners and policymakers took part in debating, discussing and brainstorming ideas for the hottest (and thorniest) topics from the field of digital.
One such area of interest was the professional development of current and future generations of employees in digital, a discussion which coalesced into a dedicated panel, entitled Optimising the human, re-engineering roles for the new digital ecosystem.
Hossein Houssaini, Global Head Programmatic Solutions, Havas Group and Ken Brook, CEO and Founder, MetaX, were joined by Richard Dunmall, President, MiQ. The panel was moderated by Neslihan Olcay, CEO of Wavemaker Turkey and Chair of the IAB Europe Education and Training Committee. Together they explored the talent development strategies that are securing a role for intuition, empathy and humanity in the media supply chain.
An undeniable fact of todays’ digital advertising landscape is that technology develops at breakneck speed with organisations being left to constantly play a chasing game when it comes to having a full complement of employees up to scratch with the latest innovations in the field. This issue is compounded by what Ken Brooks identifies as a propensity of many organisations to become entrenched and slow to adopt new technologies, be they AI or blockchain. Therefore, when it comes to keeping up with innovation, training efforts have to contend on the one hand with external challenges – the pace of said innovation, and internal hurdles – the reluctance to take the leap and embrace the new.
This generates a sense of discomfort when it comes to the digital acumen of employees in many organisations. For one, leaders feel uncomfortable because they believe their employees don’t have sufficient command of the latest technological breakthroughs. What’s more, they live with the uneasiness of having to step out of the comfort zone and integrate revolutionary technologies which require training, and an investment of finances and time. Struggling with the uncomfortableness that the pace of innovation in the field of digital advertising generates is counterproductive, however. Richard Dunmall crystalized the idea that leaders need to accept, nay, embrace this reality in one brief statement: "We need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable."
Accepting the fact that an organisation’s human resource will perhaps never be fully up to date with all emergent and revolutionary technologies at any given point in time does not mean that efforts should not be made to keep abreast of the innovation wave. In fact, according to the same Richard Dunmall, his company, MiQ made significant investments in the training and education of their employees. This particular sentiment, of how critical training your staffers is, was echoed by the other panellists.
While acquiescing that, from a knowledge standpoint, keeping up with innovation in the field of digital is a monumental endeavour, Hossein Houssaini talked about the efforts undertaken at Havas to offset the skill gap and keep on the bleeding edge of training in digital. Their dedicated programmatic platform saw “over 15,000 enrolments and in excess of 6,000 certificates in programmatic being issued,” he said. This quick response to what was once a ground-breaking technology – and whose various offshoots are still revolutionising the industry today – is a key point in tackling the training and education of human resources. According to the Havas executive, the most important skill the industry lacks, however, is “the transparency regarding what you know and finding solutions to cover what you do not.” The MetaX CEO, Ken Brooks, also believes that “being honest with our partners” and upfront about what we can and can not do is a vital skill that needs to be injected into the ecosystem, alongside the technological proficiencies required for the smooth operation of any given organisation.
Further along this train of thought covering those skills which are intrinsic to a well-rounded and mature industry was the observation of the MiQ President who noted that emotional intelligence is perhaps the skill most direly needed in the industry today. This generated a reaction from another high-profile executive in the audience, Andrew Buckman, MD EMEA, Sublime Skinz, who applauded the fact that this particular skill was identified as key component of a well-functioning ecosystem and who called for a closer collaboration within the industry in a bid to overcome the challenges posed by the pace of technological breakthrough.
The formula for success, therefore, seems straightforward enough: identify the most pressing training needs and act on them swiftly; accept any shortcomings generated by the blazing pace of innovation, be open and upfront about them, and take steps to address them; instil and train emotional intelligence in your employees. Always the optimist, Hossein Houssaini concluded on an even more positive note: “The industry says we don’t have enough talent. We do; we just need to find it!”
Since the announcement of the European Commission’s ePrivacy Regulation proposal, IAB Europe has been working together with other associations representing stakeholders in the advertising ecosystem, to explore the likely impact on Europe’s economy and competitiveness, the freedom of the press and the experience of the internet. We’ve also been reaching out to industry experts to help demystify the way that digital advertising uses data, and clear up misconceptions about how it impacts on citizens.
In September 2017, we released in-depth research conducted by the agencies IHS Markit and GfK. This explored the importance of data to digital advertising and the EU economy, and how Europeans’ experience of the internet would change under the proposed regulation. It revealed how digital advertising contributes €526 billion to the EU economy each year, and how a large majority of Europeans would use the internet much less if websites were forced to switch to a subscription model as a result of data-driven advertising disappearing.
We know though, that numbers can never tell the whole story where a change as sweeping and significant as the ePrivacy Regulation proposal is concerned. That’s why we’ve spent the months since September reaching out to both digital advertising stakeholders and internet users themselves, to talk more about the role that digital advertising and data play in their lives.
We’ve used this fact-finding journey to create five short documentary films each addressing different questions that arise from the proposed ePrivacy Regulation. These are available to view on the IAB Europe’s dedicated research site, www.datadrivenadvertising.eu
Filmed on location across Eastern, Central and Western Europe, our videos focus on five key areas that need to be considered for a careful and coherent approach to ePrivacy:
In making these films we uncovered a range of different views about the use of data for digital advertising, including very real concerns that people have over their privacy being protected. We also found significant misunderstanding about the type of data that online advertising industry uses, and a serious gap between the type of privacy protection that people want and the type of privacy protection that the proposed regulation will provide.
IAB Europe believes that the measures the European Parliament takes to protect people’s privacy must be based on facts not myths. Since the launch of our initial research findings, we have continued to provide European policymakers, and most recently the Bulgarian Presidency with data and analysis on the likely impact of the regulation, and meaningful feedback from relevant specialists.
Among others, we are encouraged by the Bulgarian Presidency’s recent introduction of the long overdue security and fraud prevention exemption for online services in ePrivacy Regulation text. The industry requires flexibility to justify data processing in situations where relying on the consent of the user is not possible, feasible, or preferable.
We also recognise and welcome the Council’s clarification that access to an online service may be made conditional on users accepting that their personal data will be lawfully processed to deliver interest-based advertising in full compliance with the GDPR. It is a critical requirement that allows the existing ad-supported internet to continue functioning and flourishing. Any future ePrivacy Regulation must leave European publishers free to determine the optimal business model for their online content and services. Preventing the media from monetising their content through the data-driven advertising model, will result in less investment in quality, independent journalism and content, and eventually disproportionately affect the European citizenry and economy more broadly.
Appreciating the progress made so far, further improvements are yet necessary as we are seeking for the ePrivacy to embrace the GDPR’s principles-based approach. We stand ready to support the Council and the upcoming Austrian Presidency in their efforts to produce a coherent and considered final regulation, and these films are part of this effort. They help to demystify the digital advertising industry and bring much-needed clarity to the question of how data is used. They also show how EU citizens would have their choices and their experience of the internet severely curtailed by the unintended consequences of the wrong approach.
Visit www.datadrivenadvertising.eu to watch the films and explore our in-depth research into the role that data plays in the EU economy.
Watch the videos:
First video here.
Second video here.
Third video here.
Fourth video here.
Fifth video here.
Join this webinar to gain insight into the results of the AdEx Benchmark 2017 report, the definitive guide to the state of the European digital advertising market, including trends, formats and cross-market comparisons.
The European Digital Advertising market has doubled in size in 5 years reaching €48bn in 2017 compared with €24.8bn in 2012. The market grew by 13.2% in 2017, driven by strong growth in social, mobile and video investment. This webinar will dive deeper into trends, formats and market by market growth across Europe.
Daniel Knapp, Executive Director TMT at IHS Markit, IAB Europe’s research partner, will present the key findings of the AdEx Benchmark report.
The presentation of results will be followed by a panel discussion between industry leaders commenting on the findings and their perspectives on future trends.
Panelists:
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| Daniel Knapp, Executive Director TMT, IHS Markit | Kristiana Carlet Stagno, VP of EMEA Partner Markets and Nordics, Oath | Tyson Pearcey, Head of Strategic Partnerships, NewBase | Stevan Randjelovic, Brand Safety Manager, GroupM |
Attend this Webinar to find out more about:
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.
Digital video advertising investment on mobile has overtaken desktop according to both advertisers and agencies in the second annual IAB Europe Attitudes to Digital Video Advertising research. Investment in digital video has increased across all devices but mobile and connected TV standout as the key drivers.
IAB Europe hosted a webinar to dive deeper into the findings of the report including the current digital video adoption, drivers, challenges and strategies of both buy and sell-side stakeholders.
Speakers:
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| Ben Geach (presenter) Director Global Product Strategy Oracle |
Caroline Hugonenc VP Research Teads |
Paul Astbury Head of Specialist Sales Integral Ad Science |
Melissa Roberts Head of Video Market Development EMEA AppNexus |
We are also surveying the industry about the current drivers and concerns that are impacting programmatic investment – take part here.
Watch the recording and download the presentation below:
Today, IAB Tech Lab and IAB Europe released the Transparency and Consent Framework’s Mobile In-app Specifications as a final version ready for widespread industry adoption. No significant changes were made to the specs in the process of finalization. Tech Lab’s GDPR Mobile Subgroup reviewed the specifications and public comments, considering their own implementation strategies in applying the Framework for in-app.
Early adopters of the mobile specs should be sure that their implementation complies with the final mobile in-app specifications and adheres to the Framework policies.
Released for public comment at the same time earlier this quarter, pubvendors.json will also be finalized in the coming weeks. Pubvendors.json provides granular controls to publishers, allowing them to whitelist vendors, addressing publisher liability concerns, and the ability for publishers to express if they support a vendor using Legitimate Interest as a legal basis. For mobile app inventory use of pubvendors.json, please review the Mobile Guidance for Ads.txt out for public comment until July 6th.
The Transparency and Consent Framework has over 350 registered vendors on the Global Vendor List, over 100 registered CMPs (Consent Management Providers), and potentially tens of thousands of publishers. This rapid adoption will be strengthened with the addition of finalized mobile in-app specifications.
General questions on the Framework can be sent to feedback@advertisingconsent.eu, and technical questions can be sent to transparencyframework@iabtechlab.com
To join the Transparency & Consent Framework, register here: https://register.consensu.org/
IAB Europe aims to understand the current drivers and concerns that are impacting programmatic investment in its latest Attitudes to Programmatic Advertising survey. Assessing the current adoption of and attitudes towards programmatic advertising from both buy and sell-side stakeholders is important to elevate industry understanding and identify areas for guidance.
The survey asks about:
Take the survey here.
The survey should take no longer than 15 minutes and will close on Friday 22 June. Please pass on the survey link to any relevant colleagues. All responses will be treated in the strictest confidence. All participants will receive a copy of the report.
