Pulling “Premium Programmatic” Out of the Dark Ages and Into the New Frontier (Part I)

by Clayton Tarics

The notion of “premium programmatic” has been rumbling throughout the digital advertising industry for the better part of a decade, resurfacing occasionally as new technologies emerge. While “premium” implies a distinction from non-premium, it’s a famously vague term throughout digital advertising and needs more concrete definition.

In 2015, Paul Bannister of Café Media, attempted to revive the premium programmatic narrative in an Adexchanger article, saying, “Through a combination of technologies and a shift in our definition of what programmatic means, advertisers and publishers can finally automate much of what we need to do, but still meet our business goals along the way.”

The same year, RhythmOne released a field guide on what makes programmatic “premium” while acknowledging that premium can mean different things to different players across the ecosystem.

A common theme can be found in these articles is that people are often the X factor that elevates programmatic to “premium”.

Six years later, we believe that holds true more than ever. In fact, we believe people-driven programmatic transactions are the next frontier in “premium programmatic.” 

Exploring the New Frontier

From the buyer’s perspective, there may already be lots of “premium” in open market channels. But, it’s important to understand that the system is inherently limited by what can be declared in a bid request against a publisher’s price floor. Emerging programmatic direct deal channels can offer many capabilities and benefits that extend beyond simple deal ID-based access to a private marketplace. By combining that X factor (people) with the programmatic pipes in the form of programmatic direct deals, buyers can benefit from:

• Direct discovery of publishers, inventory, and pricing

• Collaborative, higher-value deal making

• Further prioritized access

• Fixed pricing

• Inventory commitments

• Safe, transparent supply

To get the most out of this new frontier, however, buyers, publishers, and their respective technology partners will need to come to a meeting of the minds on three important things:

1. Embracing deal collaboration. Direct buyer-seller relationships will drive the development of smarter, higher-value deals while retaining the benefits of programmatic execution.

2. Developing new and universal technology standards. Inventory discovery and deal development should happen directly within DSP and SSP platforms to reduce transaction costs. 

3. A shift of mindset on what elevates a programmatic transaction to “premium”. By thinking of programmatic execution as just one piece of what makes a transaction, we open ourselves to new “premium” opportunities.

The Time Is Now (Still)

A new frontier of “premium programmatic” awaits in programmatic direct channels, enabled by people. Now is the time for publishers and advertisers to come together alongside technology partners to embrace programmatic direct deal channels and realize full “premium” potential.