The use of programmatic advertising has steadily been on the rise. More marketers are now using it to help them in their campaigns by finetuning their ad runs to get the best return. However, there are still a lot of people who have misconceptions about programmatic advertising.
In this post, we shall delve into these 3 common programmatic myths and debunk them.
Myth #1: Programmatic only offers low-quality unsold ad inventory
This myth has been carried over from the early days of digital advertising. At that time, there were indeed a lot of low-quality ad inventory that got listed on ad exchanges and networks.
Things are different nowadays; programmatic has become the de facto choice for both publishers and advertisers because it helps optimize inventory listing and buying. Publishers get access to data analytics that help them optimize the pricing for the ad inventory. On the other hand, advertisers get to leverage the same data analytics feature of programmatic to make sure they get the best return for their ad purchases. Put simply, with a lot of high-quality publishers on board using programmatic ads, there are also a lot of ad inventory with topnotch quality to choose from.
Publishers that have higher traffic offer better ROI to advertisers in terms of CTRs and conversions. The fact that programmatic also offers real-time bidding (RTB) allows advertisers to make on-the-fly adjustments to how they will serve their ads that can target customer segments with high precision. This helps their campaign register a better performance and reach their target ROI.
Myth #2: The effectiveness on programmatic advertising is the same across all platforms
Many marketers will say that programmatic advertising is cost-effective and that it helped them reach their campaign targets no matter which platform they choose. While this is mostly true, the idea that programmatic has the same level of effectiveness across various platforms is a myth.
Take the case of mobile web versus in-app ad viewability; research on industry benchmarks shows that mobile web ad viewability is at 57%. This shows a relatively high effectiveness compared to traditional ad display. This percentage increases to an astounding 95% ad viewability for in-app advertisements.
One of the primary reasons cited for this is that in-app programmatic advertisements enables marketers to serve full-page in-app ads that capture the audience’s full attention. Compare this with the limitation that mobile web ads face and it is easier to understand why in-app ads have better performance.

Consider Figure 1 which is an example of a mobile web ad. The ad competes for the audience’s attention with other content. It is heavily reliant on its placement in the interface. On the other hand, in-app advertising that serves a full-page ad can easily highlight a stronger call-to-action (CTA).
Myth #3: Programmatic advertising is a fad
Skeptics claim that programmatic is a fad that will eventually lose its seat in the spotlight. However, data shows the contrary.
However, the myth that programmatic is just a dead-end trend is unfounded because the data shows otherwise. In the US and the UK, programmatic advertising for digital display is projected to hit 85% and 90%, respectively, in 2019. This figure is predicted to rise to 100% by 2020.
From higher efficiency in serving targeted content utilizing an omni-channel approach to increased opportunities for real-time optimization using first-party data, programmatic is bound to stay. In fact, eMarketer has projected that 86.2% of digital display ad dollars in the United States in 2020 will be spent on programmatic.
Programmatic Leads the Way Forward
In the coming years, programmatic is projected to take the lion’s share in digital marketing. With newer capabilities brought about by technological advancement including machine learning, programmatic is bound to be even more effective in helping advertisers reach their target audience.
Make sure to include programmatic advertising in your digital marketing strategy. And in case you are still hesitant, read on why your brand should go for programmatic advertising now. Better yet, enlist the help of your trusted digital marketing agency to make sure your programmatic ads are reaching the right people at the right time.