As ExchangeWire prepares for its fourth annual Ad Trader Conference, hosted in Germany, market sources here have told this publication that tier one broadcasters in Europe’s economic powerhouse are poised to embrace trading with programmatic players, potentially channeling lucrative brand advertising budgets via the ad tech sector.

The initial hesitancy of German media owners to embrace programmatic media trading is a trend well documented on this publication (market sources here say they have adopted a ‘wait and see’ approach); that plus the stringent privacy protocols here are largely regarded as having stunted a potential goldmine for the ad tech industry.

But after months of probing ‘What is the reality of the German ad tech sector?’, several sources have disclosed to ExchangeWire that major media owners in the broadcasting space here are preparing a series of experiments, which could potentially pave the way for a boon for the programmatic sector here.

Previously, there had been little or no ‘revenue incentive’ for publishers to sell media programmatically, as there was little or no unsold inventory (such was the nature of historic media trading practises in Germany) but the technological capabilities are now in place to assuage both their concerns over ‘data leakage’, which could negatively impact both their commercial and privacy interests.

Some of the large sales houses in Germany are also beginning to experiment with private marketplaces, with additional sources claiming they’ll go programmatic on video first of all.

Interest in this space is palpable, with the sold out Ad Trader event discussing programmatic video extensively, where Yoav Arnstein, LiveRail general manager for Europe, is scheduled to share his opinions on how to realise the potential of the sector, followed by a similarly-themed panel discussion with participants from Vivaki and SmartX.

A full schedule of the Ad Trader agenda can be seen here.

Those interested in sharing in ideas and thoughts of attendants can join in on the discussion on Twitter using the hashtag #adtrad14.