Buy-side ad technology firms have been well-financed by the venture capital industry while the sell-side has been less so. AdExchanger.com wondered what opportunities remain for solutions providers looking to serve the premium publisher.
We asked representatives of the publisher side of the ad ecosystem the following question:
“What solutions are still needed for today’s premium, digital publisher?”
Below, Walker Jacobs, EVP of Turner/SI Digital Ad Sales provides his ideas.
“I think there are probably a number of things. But one thing that I’ve been wishing for, for several years, and that I’ve brought up to a couple of the research companies – and has been greeted with very little enthusiasm – is we need a syndicated research company or a panel‑based research company, whether it’s Nielsen or comScore or a new entrant to the marketplace, who will start classifying types of inventory.
What I mean by that is when you’re looking at a page on the web, is that page user‑generated content, email, an instant messenger application, professionally‑produced video content? Or is it something else?
When a buyer pulls a ranker they can start to see what the ad networks consist of, and what the portals consist of and what the exchanges consist of. They can start pulling different types of rankers for different types of placements. It’s similar to the buy side’s tools that they’ve been using around ad verification and are meant to protect brands – such as DoubleVerify, AdSafe Media or those types of companies.
So, it’s seems like we’re missing a step in‑between. On the sell side of the premium publisher, it’s bizarre that the quality content that we’re producing is sometimes lumped together with [other content] when what we’re producing is fundamentally different. One’s not better or worse, it’s just different. I wish somebody would create tools for the sell-side that would help us create transparency around that value creation.”
