With the introduction of two additions to its programmatic advertising platform Wednesday, Adobe wants to make it easier for marketers to run their own digital campaigns and for video publishers to sell their inventory.
The new add-ons to Adobe Marketing Cloud include new self-service technology that will let advertisers control their automated buying for search, display and social across networks and publishers.
In a media briefing ahead of the formal announcement Wednesday, Adobe emphasized just how big and, for many, chaotic the programmatic ad industry has become. According to Adobe, by 2020, 75% of all digital transactions will be automated through exchanges. “It’s a big market, growing quickly,” said Tim Waddell, director of product marketing for advertising solutions.
But despite that rapid growth, much of the industry is struggling with the lack of transparency, challenges of technology integration and problems with data sharing. “Advertisers really tire of not knowing what they are getting for their money,” he said.
Adobe said the new self-service option—which will be powered by Adobe Media Optimizer—helps address some of those concerns for advertisers in the programmatic space. “This new platform provides full transparency into media costs, ad performance and revenue with a customer commitment to never arbitrage or hide fees,” according to the release announcing the new offering.
“We are helping advertisers who are spending money to be more efficient,” said Waddell.
The second big trend in the industry that Adobe addressed Wednesday is the shift to video advertising. “We believe that video will become the dominant format for the ad unit in coming years,” said Waddell.
Adobe’s new TV platform Primetime, available in beta starting Wednesday, is meant to help broadcasters/publishers sell inventory across screens and at optimal prices.
“By tapping into audience insights through Adobe Audience Manager, Adobe Primetime facilitates direct, premium ad sales based on real-time data, providing best-in-class forecasting and yield optimization capabilities,” said the release.
“We are trying to help publishers monetize better,” said Waddell.
“Simplicity” was another key talking point for Adobe’s announcement this week. The firm claimed to be “the first company to integrate disparate technologies and deliver programmatic capabilities in a unified platform.”
