2017 was, perhaps, the most challenging year that digital has faced to date. However, these challenges have seen the industry pull together, with the IAB, like never before to build a sustainable future for digital advertising. With thanks to the IAB’s Display & Data Steering Group – in particular Amobee, Index Exchange, Rubicon Project, and Teads – for sharing their thoughts on what the industry can learn from 2017 and take into 2018, and beyond. The IAB’s Industry Initiatives Executive, Jonathan Markwell, has collated these industry views together on behalf of the Display & Data Steering Group, exclusively for ExchangeWire.

What were the biggest challenges faced by the digital advertising industry in 2017?

2017 proved to be an extremely turbulent year for the digital advertising industry with terms like ‘brand safety’, ‘ad fraud’, and ‘transparency’ becoming the year’s buzzwords.

The tone was set by Marc Pritchard’s speech in early 2017, giving all players in the programmatic space a clear mandate to clean up the supply chain or risk losing material budget from top brands like P&G.

Collectively, the industry needed to figure out where things had gone wrong and what needed to change. Like never before, companies had to ask themselves some tough questions about what value they were adding to the supply chain.

What has the industry done, and what can it do, to address the challenges that it faces?

As a whole, the industry has been very vocal about what needs to change and how to achieve it, which has led to constructive debate and collaboration across programmatic players and has set a positive tone for the year ahead.

The IAB Gold Standard and its principles, which are to reduce ad fraud (through Ads.txt), to improve the digital advertising experience (through the Coalition for Better Ads) and to increase brand safety (through the DTSG good practice principles), was a big step taken by the industry. Initiatives like this will make it increasingly difficult and expensive for bad actors to exist and will go a long way to help clean up the supply chain.

If we want to make sure transparency, brand safety, and fraud-free environments are guaranteed at every level, the whole industry needs to rally together. The blackbox era of programmatic is over and, overtime, absolute transparency should be seen as a hygiene factor, rather than something used to gain a competitive advantage.

How do you think 2018, and beyond, will be different from last year?

2018 will see a new challenge in the form of GDPR, due to come into effect in May. GDPR will hold all companies to a higher standard of data handling, stronger accountability, and transparency. Momentum in the UK has really picked up in the past six months, with companies progressing beyond the awareness and understanding stage to actual impact assessments and compliance.

There will also be increased pressure on the supply chain to find efficiencies. As access to ad inventory is increasingly being democratised, a key point for buyers and sellers to consider is which entities can connect buyers and sellers in the most efficient manner. Fees will, of course, play a part in this; however, infrastructure is equally important. Companies that have invested heavily in their own technology will be able to scale more effectively, automate more, and take less of a fee from the middle of the transaction.

2018 means less talk, more action, and will show true differentiation and value to marketers. Last year’s noise around how to tackle issues of ad fraud and brand safety will be cemented in action, as companies tackle the various industry challenges and commit themselves further to the cause.

And, finally, what is your reason to be positive about digital advertising in 2018?

"As brands start to focus on quality over quantity, we will continue to see a consolidation of technology partners. Those who can provide seamless, omnichannel engagement will be sure to stand out and benefit. With more streamlined processes in place, marketers will be able to assert more control and leverage tech platforms to empower their decision making and fuel their brand strategies. The result will be more efficient and effective ad spend in a safer and more transparent buying ecosystem to produce more impactful brand experiences for customers."

Mike DiNorscio, VP Platform Sales, Amobee EMEA 

"Aside from eliminating hidden fees, which is a major positive step for buyers and publishers, the issue of fraud perpetually looms over the digital ecosystem. Fortunately, the industry is collectively mobilising to address this. Ads.txt was released as a solution midway through last year as a means to combat these issues. Initiatives like this will make it increasingly difficult and expensive for bad actors, and will act as a disincentive for them to tamper with the supply chain. Further iterations of ads.txt, and other similar initiatives, will build on this first step and help to create a more secure ecosystem."

Richard Nicolson, Head of Demand, UK & Northern Europe, Index Exchange

"There has never been a better time to be in this industry. 2017 was a year for maturation, introspection, and transformation – and, in 2018, we will see the hard work the industry did to make this marketplace a clean and well-lit environment come to life. Issues like brand safety, transparency, and trust have come to the forefront; and they will really act as the guiding light for digital advertising in 2018."

James Brown, Managing Director EMEA, Rubicon Project

"There are many reasons to be positive about the digital advertising industry in 2018. After the turbulence of 2017, brands will now have zero tolerance when it comes to the issue of brand safety. We’ve already seen brands like Unilever and P&G take a stand against digital advertising that doesn’t meet their own standards. We’ll also, no doubt, see even more brands scrutinising their supply chain in the future to create a clean advertising industry standard."

Justin Taylor, Managing Director, Teads UK