AOL opens programmatic TV marketplace to automate ad buying for commercials
AOL has paved the way for advertisers to be able to buy TV space for their ads programmatically, in a move that aims to automate transactions between stations and advertisers.
The media owner has tied with Australia media business Multi Channel Network (MCN) to form a programmatic private marketplace for television inventory. It means planners can secure more cost-effective placements on linear channels such as Fox8, Fox Sports, The Lifestyle Channel, Sky News, Discovery, Cartoon Network UKTV and E!
The project is being handled by AOL’s ad tech division AOL Platform and is powered by demand side platform One by AOL. It puls in data from the online firm’s ad tech stack, combining it with first-party viewing data from 110,000 anonymous homes via MCHN’s Multiview panel to book the broadcaster's linear TV inventory across all times in the day.
While similar initiatives are currently available, AOL hails its own as a milestone in the industry’s push to take programmatic to TV due to its scale. Four agencies are using the platform in Australia including OMD and Carat with AOL currently looking at how it can launch the marketplace in other countries worldwide.
"Whatever can be automated will inevitably be automated, especially TV. Data is the main driver of this shift in marketing, and AOL, in collaboration with MCN, has put together the blueprint model for how television will adopt programmatic globally and align digital with TV," explained Bob Lord, president of AOL.
"The initiative combines the media, automation and data at scale necessary to drive real value for marketers and a much greater efficiency and yield for TV programmers."
MCN National Sales Director, Mark Frain, added: “The MCN and AOL Programmatic TV marketplace initiates a significant evolution in traditional TV trading, with early results indicating a clear course of what’s to come in future years. Through automation we are delivering advertisers an easier, more efficient and smarter way to buy television. Additionally, the targeting capabilities allows for greater data-driven advertising strategies, thus more effective and powerful campaigns.”
The partnership has been running since May though the two companies announced their intention to build a programmatic marketplace for TV advertisers last October.
Despite programmatic TV taking up countless column inches in recent months, advertisers expect very little progress from the fledgling practice this year. Much of the headway stems from advertisers being able to incorporate far more data and automation in TV ad buying but there are issues about scaling it up as well as the challenges of broadcasters having to move from legacy trading models.
Mondelez bought the first programmatic Super Bowl ads in February when it ran 15-second regional spots for its Oreo and Ritz brands.