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THE PROGRAMMATIC ECONOMY
Publisher views and attitudes towards programmatic
advertising in the Netherlands
Key findings from a qualitative-based FaR Partners
study commissioned by Improve Digital
April 2014
Commissioned by
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 All rights reserved
The Programmatic Economy
FOREWORD
Across Europe, and indeed worldwide, the digital advertising market is rapidly becoming more
automated, more data driven and interconnected.
The Netherlands has been at the forefront of this change, and is currently one of the most
developed countries in the world in terms of programmatic adoption.
But what are the current attitudes of publishers towards this opportunity and what are the
barriers to doing things differently? Are they adapting and if so how?
Improve Digital asked media consultancy FaR Partners to conduct a qualitative‐based research
study in the Netherlands to provide a market wide view of Programmatic Buying and Real Time
Advertising trading from a publisher point of view, as we feel it’s incredibly important to
understand the views of our customers and the market as a whole.
FaR Partners conducted the qualitative research through their publisher panels. Market
benchmarks and insights are aggregated, evaluated and summarised in this report.
We hope that you find the results of this survey informative, and thanks again to the main Dutch
publishers who took the time to participate. We look forward to your participation in the future.
Joelle Frijters
CEO
Improve Digital
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 The Programmatic Economy
STUDY METHODOLOGY
Panel
Interview Setting
The FaR publisher panel was developed in
conjunction with Improve Digital and is
comprised of major publishers across all of the
representative sectors in the Dutch market.
The study is comprised of face to face interviews
as the topic is both complex in nature and is yet
to have firmly established standards and market
terminology.
The publisher panel came from a representative
sample across key verticals such as print
publishers, sales networks, telco‘s, broadcast and
utility sites. Their feedback is gathered via face
to face interviews and through online surveys.
All interviews were conducted confidentially to
ensure the panellists felt comfortable and were
transparent with their feedback, viewpoint and
approach. The results were then aggregated
in order to provide a market wide view.
Panel questions combine both quantitative and
qualitative approaches in order to deliver market
benchmarks and insights. When aggregated,
these deliver a clear representation of the
market overview, or attitudes to a particular area
or discipline.
This approach has enabled FaR to deliver a
relevant study that provides a unique insight into
the current state and attitudes towards
programmatic in the Dutch market, from the
publisher perspective.
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 The Programmatic Economy
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Dutch market shows very high
use of programmatic advertising
and is advanced and confident
that programmatic will continue to
grow as an important part of the
publishers strategy.
In order for programmatic to grow
there needs to be technical
capabilities in SSPs to sell a wider
variety of High Impact Formats, as
well as video and mobile.
All publishers require control –
which can be achieved by
transparent reporting,
bid management tools and Private
Marketplaces (PMPs).
Cost savings, ease of technical
integration
and
sales/tech
support are important parts of the
SSP offering, alongside revenue
and yield.
Some publishers feel wary of
programmatic and need to learn
how to use it for their particular
purposes – education piece about
higher yield opportunities within
programmatic needed to access
these accounts.
Data is currently being appended
by half of the market, but only very
basic demographic data.
Further focus on complex data use
is needed to create a bigger scale
of programmatic.
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 The Programmatic Economy
PROGRAMMATIC ADVERTISING IS KEY PART OF STRATEGY
The Dutch market has embraced programmatic
advertising, both in adoption and in terms of its
attitudes, more so than anywhere else in Europe.
Currently 89% of the panel sell between 51% and
100% of their inventory programmatically, which is
extremely high.
Programmatic is very much seen as strategic in the
Dutch market, even those who see it as tactical
predict that it will become strategic for them in the
near future.
The vast majority still do some direct sales, but
there is an emergence of a purely programmatic
element, with SSPs and Hybrid solutions the most
common in the market at the moment.
“The fact that programmatic is
efficient, and everybody benefits
from it is what’s driving the
market. For us it’s easier to run our
sales operation, for buyers it’s
easier to buy impressions. It’s both
cost and time efficient, everybody
should be getting the right prices.”
Trading Manager, Online Publisher
The vast majority of publishers still do some direct sales, but there is an emergence of a purely programmatic element
100%
“It’s more of a technical issue than strategic, for example, we can’t sell the homepage programmatically.” 90%
Head of Automated Trading, Publisher
50%
80%
70%
60%
“It’s not a tool to monetise remnant anymore, it’s an integral part of our total sales strategy.” 40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Split between direct
sell/programmatic
Complete programmatic
management of all sales
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 Digital Trading Director, Publisher
The Programmatic Economy
KEY DRIVERS ARE STANDARD AND HIGH IMPACT FORMATS
The Dutch market is mature to the extent that
the majority of panellists stated that they sell all
digital inventory, as opposed to merely non‐
guaranteed inventory, programmatically.
What inventory is currently selected for programmatic?
“Inventory from all our sites as well as large
partner networks is sold programmatically.”
Head of Digital Trading, Digital Network
NonGuaranteed
22%
Unlike other less mature markets, some High
Impact Formats are sold programmatically as
commonly as standard formats in the
Netherlands.
Guaranteed
78%
Video, mobile and tablet are also catching up.
Which types of digital inventory do you sell programmatically? “Where possible we’ve integrated rich media. Not all formats are sold programmatically yet, mainly billboards, but we’re working on it.” Trading Director, Publisher
100%
90%
80%
“I see programmatic as a way of buying, not specific to particular formats.” 70%
60%
50%
Trading Manager, Publisher
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
Standard
display
High
impact
display
Video
Mobile
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 Tablet
The Programmatic Economy
NEED FOR FOCUS ON COMPLEX DATA CAPABILITIES
Data is another big focus as 56% append it to their
programmatic sell now, but a further 33% are
collecting data and expect to append it in the future.
Currently the majority of publishers only append
basic data including age, gender and socio‐
demographic.
“We’ve started looking into data
capabilities, sometimes advertisers
will approach us about it and if
they pay more we’ll do it, but we
haven’t been proactive in it.”
In order to charge higher prices, publishers and SSPs
need to focus on appending more complex
demographic data to their sells, selling more high
impact formats and being totally transparent in their
bid reporting to encourage confidence.
Trading Director, Publisher
The market needs to increase kinds of data used in
this way, and develop data capabilities to help
publishers collect and use it more easily.
What data is currently added to your programmatic inventory? AGE
GENDER
INTENT
INTEREST
24%
28%
SOCIO‐
DEMOGRAPHIC
18%
3%
“We append limited audience information, basically just basic demographic data.”
Head of Automated Trading, Publisher
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 21%
RETARGETING
6%
The Programmatic Economy
FURTHER EDUCATION IN THE MARKET IS NEEDED
Smaller publishers, and those with a more
traditional media background, are behind in taking
up programmatic because of lack of resources and
understanding.
“As a newspaper it’s been hard for
us to adjust, so we need the help.
We don’t have the resources to
bring it in-house because our sales
team is small, but that’s the same
reason why we will eventually
benefit from it: we won’t need a
huge sales team if we’re trading
programmatically.”
Digital Trading Manager, Publisher
In order to improve programmatic adoption within
publishers, the market needs more programmatic
education in order to make decisions. The smaller
companies need guidance as they adopt
programmatic strategically, and the larger
companies need mass education.
The elements holding the market back are the
publisher’s fear of cannibalisation as well as lack of
skill in both the buy and sell side. However, the
market expects these will be naturally overcome as
the market further matures.
What's lacking within your organisation to adopt programmatic in an optimal manner?
“Resource was always the problem until recently. The main problem now is that the company is large and the masses, including most sales people, still don’t really understand it.” “It’s mainly just skills and knowledge about how we can best implement it for our publishers.” Publisher, Publisher
Head of Digital Trading, Digital Network
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 The Programmatic Economy
DESIRE TO MANAGE PROGRAMMATIC IN‐HOUSE
The vast majority of publishers in the Netherlands
(89%) have a desire to manage their programmatic
strategies in‐house, because control is extremely
important to them. This also suggests a high level of
confidence and skills in the market.
The key features Dutch publishers require, including
Private Exchange capabilities and Bid Management
tools, amount to a high level of control – hence the
strong desire to bring management of programmatic
in‐house.
“We do everything in-house, it
was never even a choice to do
otherwise. We want the most
control over our own network.”
Digital Trading Director, Publisher
Technical integration and support rank alongside
revenue and yield upside as key factors in choosing a
programmatic partner.
What are the key SSP features that you require?
“Transparency is key, and a proactive way of working with new products like private dealing rooms.” MD, Specialist Digital Network
Rank
1
2
3
4
5
6
Features
Private exchange capability
Bid management
tools
Bid reporting
Brand protection tools
Interface ease of use
Data plug‐in
Relative importance of the reasons to work with a programmatic partner
Rank
Reasons
1
Revenue
2
Ease of technical
integration
3
Yield upside
4
Technical/ Sales support
5
Product features
6
Cost
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 “What’s most important are the technical integrations they facilitate. Support is also key. We’re very proactive and we ask a lot of questions so we need proactive help and support to find the correct solutions.” MD, Specialist Digital Network
The Programmatic Economy
FUTURE: PROGRAMMATIC TRADING ON ALL SCREENS
The Dutch market is advanced and confident that
programmatic will continue to grow.
Over a third of panellists currently get over half of
their revenue from programmatic trading, and three
quarters expect the same to be true in 12 months’
time. This reflects maturity in the market now, and
confidence in its future.
“In five years our sales force will be
more like a marketing agency
working with brands on bigger
partnerships. Everything else will be
RTB”
Furthermore, there is expectation among publishers
that the vast majority of standard formats will be sold
programmatically within five years, and that
expectation is almost as high for High Impact
Formats.
Interestingly the market also expects very high
proportions of their mobile, tablet and video to be
sold programmatically within five years, although
they are not at that point yet.
Digital Trading Director, Publisher
In order for it to grow there needs to be
technical capabilities in SSPs to sell a wider
variety of High Impact Formats, as well as video,
mobile and tablet.
Percentage of your company's digital media being traded programmatically in 5 years’ time 83%
“Everyone’s talking about mobile but no one has come up with a business model for it yet. There are yield, targeting and reporting issues. We’ve got to crack it because lots of publishers are seeing their inventory disappear onto mobile.” 82%
MD, Digital Network
87%
“It’s hard to predict video but if it works like standard and HIF formats it should reach high levels in 5 years’ time.” Digital Trading Director, Publisher
86%
86%
85%
85%
84%
84%
83%
82%
Mobile
Tablet
Video
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 The Programmatic Economy
ELEMENTS NEEDED FOR FURTHER MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Increased mobile and
capabilities within SSPs.
video
tech
and
More High Impact Formats available through
programmatic.
Further market education needed, especially
within less advanced publishers.
“Media agencies and sales houses see
challenges around users’ privacy.
Agencies will need to get used to new
workflows, and acquire new skills and
people.”
Trading Manager, Publisher
Strategy using more complex data is needed to
increase the amount and types of data
appended to programmatic sales.
Transparent reporting and more advanced bid tools to drive yield and a sense of control for publishers.
“Everyone’s talking about mobile
but no one’s come up with a
business model for it yet. There are
yield, targeting and reporting
issues. We’ve got to crack it
because lots of publishers are
seeing their inventory disappear
onto mobile.”
MD, Digital Network
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277 ABOUT IMPROVE DIGITAL
ABOUT FAR PARTNERS
Improve Digital is Europe’s leading real time supply
side platform . Founded in 2008, and now part of
PubliGroupe, Improve Digital focuses on providing
premium publishers with the technology and tools
set to monetise their inventory and audiences in a
programmatic fashion.
FaR Partners is a commercial consultancy for
media companies operating on the sell side.
FaR provides unique client benchmarks and
market wide studies that help enable FaR to
optimise a clients media assets and also to
develop new revenue streams in market.
With local teams located in NL, UK, DE and ES,
Improve Digital powers the real time advertising
revenue for over 100 publishers.
Founded in 2007 FaR helps clients across Europe
build digital media businesses, assess and
benchmark media markets and formulate the
commercial and business plans that help clients
to grow their operation.
Improve Digital offers integrated audience and data
solutions, yield management and optimisation, full
pricing control, data protection, and Private Market
Place access to all major DSPs and agency trading
desks.
For further information please contact:
Angela Pellaupessy
Key Account Manager
[email protected]
+31 – 202 620 277
Bastiaan Spaans
VP Business Development [email protected]
+31 – 202 620 277
www.improvedigital.com I @ImproveDigital +31 202 620 277

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