It is no secret that programmatic display advertising has rapidly grown year over year since its inception. Without a doubt, the ability and insight to leverage consumer data at scale in order to optimize or streamline advertising campaigns on the fly is one of the biggest promises and appeals of advertising automation, also known as programmatic advertising. Nowadays, the fast adoption of tools such as chatbots, machine learning AI, and geofencing with location QR codes, are invading almost everything from our refrigerators to watches. We can surely say that the future of marketing is moving away from manual strategies. We continue our series of sitting down with leading advertising tech companies to get a better feel for new trends for 2020 and beyond. 

In this article we sit down with the executive team from Next Millennium Media, a large NYC marketing technology firm, that has rolled out further enhancements to their proprietary technology that connects high-end brand directly with high-end publishers. To understand why this is such a valuable contribution to the industry, let’s first start by evaluating some growing trends in the industry.

For people working behind the scenes, any time gained is dedicated to more creative endeavors, which is a huge plus, as well. Also, programmatic advertising helps slash costs on both the selling and buying sides.  In the US, Google and Facebook still dominate programmatic ads, accounting for over 50% of all total dollars that are allocated to programmatic display. Their position, however, is being threatened by Amazon, as Amazon is investing considerably in its advertising business.

Let’s take a look at some of the most important programmatic ad trends for 2020.

1.     Continued Dominance of Artificial Intelligence

There is no denying that both publishers and advertisers benefit from the application of artificial intelligence in programmatic advertising. Programmatic advertising is a great auction-based system and it allows for the automated selling and buying of advertising space. Note that both advertisers (people buying advertising space) and publishers (people selling advertising space) can optimize the results that they attain through programmatic ad by leveraging AI. Artificial intelligence was, therefore, the talk of   2018, 2019, and now 2020. So, with its endless possibilities, AI’s dominance in programmatic ad continues to climb.

Both Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning can help by sifting through massive volumes of data to find patterns in real-time. They also predict outcomes and recommend the next best action or step to each individual customer to move them further along in their buying journey.

And that is not all; it is not only the speed and scale that artificial intelligence can bring to the marketing process that makes it incredibly powerful – it’s also the intelligence that it brings that can be impossible for humans to match at that speed and scale.

When running an ad campaign on some of the world’s biggest platforms, media buyers these days see a message that says “learning” – which I supposedly the ad platform learning through AI, but nobody actually gets to communicate with a consultant to understand what has been learned and how will it actually benefit the advertiser. So it is true that a big challenge these days is handing everything over to AI and automation but lacking the human touch for intervention and action on insights. At Next Millennium Media, they have leading data scientists on board, like Will Bachrach, the Head of Product. But as a key component of maximizing profitability and easy of use, the human touch is available right there on the platform via support to both advertisers and publishers. This is perhaps one of the key differentiators: AI that functions smoothly alongside human touch. Next Millennium Media calls this “a concierge-level customer service to its users accompanied by easy integration.”

2.     Connected TV to Experience Remarkable Growth

You probably know that there’s a growing desire in the media industry to close the gap between online and television advertising. This is evident with the rise and growth of companies, like Sky AdSmart, in 2018. And in 2019, programmatic was launched into the mainstream.

Connected TVs are quickly becoming the norm in the industry, and they are also redefining digital advertising as most of us know it. There is, hence, a big opportunity for your business to reach new audiences and prospects while they Netflix and chill. According to eMarketer, there are about 190 million connected television users. Moreover, this number is expected to reach 204 million viewers by 2022.

The recent growth in video and TV inventory, as well as concerted attempts by advertisers to tap into this opportunity is a phenomenon that reshapes budget allocation in display advertising. For example: According to Alphabet, in 2019 alone, Youtube alone saw an increase of 11.5% in revenue, reaching $15.1Billion. Ariel Lipkies, the senior director of video at Next Millennium Media said: “We now negotiate directly with some of the most famous content producers worldwide in multiple sectors, including sports, entertainment, beauty, lifestyle and science – and off course tech, to build a bridge between publishers and advertisers that delivers high value to both. Injecting your video ads into high VTR pre-roll video ad playlists to be seen by the right user at the right time has become much easier with proprietary technology and huge list of participating influencers.”

And by 2021, PWC predicts that programmatic TV ad will represent about one-third of international TV ad revenue.

3.     Voice-activated Ads will Rise in Popularity

Did you know that voice-controlled devices have quickly gained adoption since their introduction? With more than 56 million in-home smart speakers shipped alone in 2018, the purchase, as well as use of voice-activated technology, is skyrocketing. This is because brands are constantly looking for new ways to engage and interact with active “listeners” on their various household smart devices.

According to a Smart Audio Report published by NPR and Edison in June 2019, 21 percent of the population now has at least 1 smart speaker. According to a recent survey by VoiceBot.AI, 25 percent of respondents stated that everyday household items, such as electrical appliances, are the most ordered via voice-assistants, which is great. This category is followed by apparel and then games and entertainment. Keep in mind that this survey was conducted on more than 1,200 US consumers. Another encouraging aspect is that Google, SoundCloud, Pandora, Rubicon Project, and many other platforms are making considerable investments in programmatic advertising. 

4.     5G Network to Improve Programmatic Advertising

It is evident that mobile is now the best way to purchase programmatic advertising, and it makes up 80 percent of the total spending. 5G is the next and amazing generation of mobile internet connectivity. It promises to open up a slew of new opportunities and avenues to advertisers, which is great for the industry. Note that the fifth generation of mobile communications, like 5G underwent its initial phase of deployment in March 2019, when Huawei launched the first successful system capable of 5G CPE.

 “The great thing is that the high bandwidth of 5G improves the ad tech ecosystem with lightning speed as websites and videos will process much faster” says Lazar Rubin, Founder and CEO of Next Millennium Media, a large full-service provider of comprehensive digital solutions for web publishers and brand advertisers in New York City. “This will enable ads placing and delivery at the right mediums and with perfect timing and amazing speed”.

 It is likely that 5G will also augment other mediums and technologies like augmented-reality enabled advertising displays, virtual reality (VR) without any heavy headsets, and new and innovative digital outdoor advertising mediums. This is why marketers have to gear up to develop and deliver content in several formats and across multiple devices, leveraging the speed as well as latency 5G promises.

 Also, keep in mind that the use of 5G technology is estimated to grow to 1.4 billion users by 2024. This is great as it means that programmatic ad will have a huge audience to run interactive and sharper and ads without any lags across various mediums.

Growing publisher revenue by up to 400%:

When asked about the innovative solutions Next Millennium Media brings to publishers and advertisers, CEO Lazar Rubin said: “Our proprietary technology help website owners with over a million to a hundred million users, who don’t have their own resources to sell directly to advertisers and don’t have the ability or time for their own technology, to manage all the types of advertising on one server. Essentially, our company provides unique high paying digital ad campaigns, as well as the technology to display these ads, that create revenue by focusing on viewability.” It is understood that the jump in publisher revenue does not necessarily come from higher prices to advertisers, but rather by removing all the unnecessary intermediaries from the ecosystem. That said, there are ways in which the proprietary technology used by Next Millennium Media can help publishers highlight more valuable inventory, thereby attracting a more decent rate.

The above trends make it clear that programmatic advertising will continue to be the future of modern advertising in 2020. This is why the earlier you get in and begin learning about the amazing opportunities it offers, the better chances your company will have of reaching more prospects with highly targeted ads. The opportunities for both advertisers and publishers to harness and leverage the potential of programmatic advertising and achieve measurable results for the business show no signs of slowing down, which is a great sign for the industry.