Programmatic Advertising at a Crossroads

There's no denying the value and response that programmatic advertising can generate, but brands are worried about what a lack of data transparency means to their campaigns. 

A new report from Metamarkets indicates that 41 percent of respondents said they would not significantly increase their programmatic budgets until there was better transparency around data. 

About 75 percent of marketers said they’re concerned about the lack of data transparency in programmatic advertising. Nearly half of all brands (49 percent) said they can’t trust one-fifth or more of the data upon which they base media-buying decisions. And 16% of all marketers (brands, agencies, and publishers) in the survey distrusted at least 30 percent of their data, and 55 percent would be willing to switch away from their current vendor to a more transparent offering.

"These results show that marketers realize greater transparency drives better performance, and they're willing to back up that belief with their checkbooks," said Metamarkets CEO Mike Driscoll. "This reinforces a trend that our clients, some of the world's largest media marketplaces, have witnessed: greater transparency leads to higher marketing spend."