Social Media’s new ad transparency tool provides reach, cost insights, forecasting capabilities

Its DSP users will have a full view of the programmatic ad environment broken down by channel, ad format and exchange.

Social Media has rolled out a new tool for its DSP users to offer more transparency into the programmatic ad platform. The tool, said Verizon Media, is designed to give advertisers a comprehensive view of the programmatic landscape — showing reach and cost analysis by channel (display, CTV, DOOH, audio, etc.), ad format and exchange. It also provides forecasting insights.

“With today’s announcement, we are continuing to take a leadership role, bringing our DSP customers granular omnichannel intelligence at the auction level, giving them everything they need to understand how and where to best allocate budgets,” said Verizon Media’s chief business officer Iván Markman.

Why we should care ?

Advertisers have long been calling for more transparency from programmatic platforms and exchanges. With this feature, media buyers see granular reach and cost analysis for each channel, format and exchange and then forecasts based on those insights to inform their campaign strategy, creative and targeting optimizations.

“Adding Verizon Media’s capability to our own transparency tools allows us to understand deeper bidding insights at the auction level, ensuring that we are accessing the inventory through the optimal path. This level of DSP supply path flexibility should be the expectation moving forward,” said Omnicom Media Group’s EVP of global partnerships Steve Katelman.

Fifty-six percent of advertisers who participated in Integral Ad Science (IAS) Industry Pulse Report said data privacy is number one on their list of priorities for the coming year. Demand for consistent measurement across platforms is a close second followed by brand safety and ad fraud.

It is no surprise that data privacy has surpassed the usual suspects as a focus – the advent of GDPR in the EU and the emergence of The California Data Privacy Act have created a deeper sense of urgency around the topic. Most marketers want to be effective and provide a great experience for consumers, but what that means has changed. It’s not just that they need to prove ROI, while ensuring their ads are seen by real people in the right context, they also need to stay in front of the emerging regulations around the data they use to reach and engage consumers.

“Marketers have the real challenge of balancing two sides when it comes to data. Consumers want to know a company is dedicated to protecting their personal data but also want to experience the brand in a highly customized way,” said Maria Pousa, CMO, IAS. “Finding that fine line is something that we as marketers are still navigating.”

One reputed Media Agency shared, “With new data privacy policies in 2019 in U.S., old measurement solutions and challenges need to evolve to accommodate data privacy concerns.”

This perspective reflects the connection between data privacy and their second highest priority: 47% of advertisers said the need for consistent metrics across platforms is critical to them. Advertisers have access to more data and insights than ever before, but to comprehend and use that data, they spend a great deal of time understanding how all the various metrics available will work together to create a media plan.

An analyst from a major electronics organization emphasized this point: “Cross-device measurement and multi-touch attribution go hand in hand. They are huge opportunities in terms of increasing [our] ability to record and prove the worth of media.”

The IAS Industry Pulse report provides insight into the emerging trends, technologies, opportunities, and priorities that will drive change in search engine optimization and other part of digital marketing in 2019. The results are based on a sample of over 900 participants comprised of digital advertising professionals representing brands, agencies, publishers, and ad tech vendors collected over a 4 week period in November of 2018.