Canadian Retailer - Spring 2016 - 19

As with most things, there is the good and the bad when it comes to programmatic buying.

THE GOOD

THE BAD

2.5x

23% - Nearly
a quarter of
all clicks in
the realm of
programmatic
ad buying
are said to be
fraudulent

2.5x - Programmatic ads present
a conversion rate far greater than
standard static ads

ating data-lots of it-about customers and traffic patterns.
It's also important that retailers move away from prejudicial
buying-targeting segments or
blindly going after particular
devices. "People, not devices,"
says Halpenny. "Marketers need
to move away from allocating
budgets based on device, but rather allow the budget to move
fluidly between desktop, mobile and tablet so we can optimize
most effectively."

$7.2 Billion - Fraudulent
clicks through programmatic
ads are said to cost
advertisers over $7 billion
dollars globally each year

"It's a good idea for midsize retailers who have an
agency that is well-steeped in programmatic, and with
whom they have a strong relationship, to work with
them. Or dive in yourself. We're getting to the point
in the technology where programmatic is simple."

Fraud

There's always a catch when it comes to a good thing. Right
now, the catch with programmatic is fraud. Because online
advertising is paid on a per-click basis, criminals have developed robots to click online ads. It's a scheme security firm
White Ops projects will cost advertisers $7.2 billion globally
in 2016. In the realm of programmatic ads, some 23 per cent of
clicks are fraudulent.
In response to claims related to fraudulent clicks, standards
bodies like Interactive Advertising Bureau have developed
consumer protections against "invalid traffic." But that's not
enough, says Keith Eadie, chief marketing officer at TubeMobile, a programmatic video ad company. "It's like malware,"
he says, "and you have to fight software with software." He
says TubeMobile has lowered fraudulent clicks to single digits
by developing software that can identify and monitor non-human behaviours. As part of the company's efforts to combat
fraud, it recently established a refund program to reimburse
advertisers for non-human clicks. Other programmatic companies are racing to fend off the millions of bots clicking their
ads so that advertisers can feel confident that people are seeing their ads-and that they're not handing their advertising
dollars over to the criminals behind the bots.

www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

- KEITH EADIE, TubeMobile
Getting started

Large retailers like Walmart and Canadian
Tire have already ventured into the programmatic waters and found success. Before bringing programmatic advertising in-house, however, Eadie says that retailers interested in
testing programmatic will benefit from considering how they work with their creative
agency. "It's a good idea for midsize retailers
who have an agency that is well-steeped in
programmatic, and with whom they have a
strong relationship, to work with them. Or dive
in yourself. We're getting to the point in the
technology where programmatic is simple."
Despite the opportunities that seem available
to retail marketing teams, Reid is careful to advise that programmatic is just a tool. Reid advises. Many self-serve programmatic buying platforms exist, but these platforms can only find
customers, they can't pull them in. The hook
has to be the creativity in the advertisement.
Even though a retailer can manage programmatic buying in the same way they manage a
Google Adwords campaign, they still need to
craft a compelling message. "There is a huge
human element to this industry," says Reid.

SPRING 2016 | CANADIAN RETAILER

| 19

http://www.retailcouncil.org/cdnretailer

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