Programmatic advertising is a modern method of buying and selling ad space using automated technology. It streamlines the process, so that advertisers bid for ad placements in real time, often targeting their specific audiences based on available data. Here we’ll share more about what programmatic advertising is and how it can help your business.
How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?
- Automation in Ad Buying
Unlike traditional methods where deals are negotiated manually, programmatic advertising uses software to purchase the ads. This automation means advertisers can run campaigns quickly and scale them up efficiently.
- Data-Driven Targeting
Programmatic advertising relies on data to reach specific demographics. By analysing user behaviour, interests and preferences, advertisers can display ads to the right audience at the right time.
- Real-Time Bidding
Real-time bidding is important in programmatic advertising. When a user visits a website, advertisers bid on the ad space instantly, and the highest bidder’s ad is shown. This process happens in milliseconds.
Website Security in Programmatic Advertising
When using programmatic advertising, it’s essential to ensure website security. A secure website protects both advertisers and users from threats like fraud and malware. Websites should use HTTPS to encrypt their data and always vet the platforms and networks providing ads. Using website security checks provided by website security experts like Etempa will help.
What’s The Difference Between Programmatic and Display Ads?
Programmatic ads allow advertisers to target specific audiences based on data such as user behaviour, and adjust ad placements instantly.
Display ads, on the other hand, are visual ads that appear on websites, usually in the form of banners, images or videos. While display ads can be purchased through programmatic methods, they can also be bought directly through actual negotiations with website publishers.
Programmatic Advertising Platforms
Programmatic advertising platforms are tools that help advertisers buy digital ad space automatically. Google Display & Video 360 connects with Google services, while The Trade Desk gives their users advanced audience targeting and tracking. Another company, MediaMath, uses data to create flexible campaigns, and Amazon DSP targets the users on Amazon and other websites.
Other common online ad formats
Programmatic buying is one way of placing ads, and it helps to know the formats that sit alongside it. Product listing ads, also called shopping ads, show product images, descriptions and prices directly in search results, which makes them very effective for ecommerce businesses.
Banner ads are rectangular adverts in a range of sizes, shown on websites, apps and social media. They may be static or animated, often with a clickable button, and animated HTML5 versions can be interactive. Native ads blend into the surrounding content as sponsored articles, recommendations or in-feed promotions, reaching people in a less disruptive way.
With affiliate advertising, third party publishers promote your products and earn commission on the sales they generate. Social media ads can be targeted by demographics, interests and behaviour, and take the form of sponsored posts, carousels, videos or interactive formats.
Where banner ads fit into display advertising
Banner ads are one of the most familiar formats on the web. Businesses use them both to build brand awareness and to win customers through clicks. Someone who clicks a banner is taken to the advertiser’s website and guided towards an action, such as subscribing to a newsletter, buying a product, downloading something or signing up for an event.
The ads appear on publishers’ websites through display networks, groups of sites and apps that let advertisers target campaigns at defined audiences by demographics, interests and behaviour. A beauty brand launching a summer product, for example, might create animated banners showing the product and its key message, then choose the sites where it wants to bid for space.
Display advertising is popular because it can be highly effective, budgets can be controlled precisely, and campaigns can be refined while they run using tests such as A/B comparisons. Used as part of a well-managed campaign, banners can deliver a strong return.
Banner formats and who is involved
Banner ads are the most familiar form of display advertising. They are rectangular ads that combine eye-catching imagery with a short call to action, placed on busy websites to encourage clicks, leads and purchases. Most are either horizontal, known as a leaderboard, or vertical, known as a skyscraper, because placements and sizes are limited by where the ad can sit on the page.
Three parties are involved: the advertiser, the website hosting the ad and the display network that connects them. The network uses marketing data to decide where and how each ad appears, and both the network and the host charge for distributing it.
This is where programmatic buying comes in. Larger networks use real-time bidding, with automated bids placed for each ad space in the moment the page loads. Understanding the banner formats first makes it easier to choose the right sizes and messages before your campaign enters the auction.