TOYS AND TECH

Damien Venuto on the expanding programmatic playground.

Programmatic advertising is often reduced simply to the automated purchasing of banner ads and pre-roll videos across the internet. This is largely because this is where the technology started when it first hit the market. However, the space is quickly evolving and we’re steadily seeing the emergence of a range of new programmatic options that would pique the interest of even the savviest digital operator.

As the dual forces of increased digitisation and rapidly advancing ad tech come together, it’s no longer a case of only buying banner ads with a simple click.

Video games, outdoor ads, images and email now offer at least some level of automation—and we’re only just getting started.

Acquire Online’s Zane Furtado says the programmatic space is evolving so quickly that specialists need to be constantly vigilant to stay on top of the changes happening.

“You can’t think in years in this space. Anything can happen within the next month,” he says.

Here’s a rundown of all the new toys emerging in programmatic, as well as Furtado’s opinion on which ones offer the most commercially viable opportunities for local marketers.