Streaming and the Future of the Online Advertising Industry
In the competitive world of digital advertising, success hinges on delivering superior and more sustainable screen experiences. But achieving this goal can be straightforward if the market adopts a solution built on adaptive streaming technology.
The global programmatic advertising market is forecast to grow from nearly $188 billion in 2017 to almost $725 billion in 2026, and is expected to move past $550 billion this year. On the surface, this appears to be a huge opportunity for media agencies, but hidden beneath are challenges that they must consider.
1. The Demand for Video and Attention With 34 million videos posted each day on TikTok (source: TikTok ) and 500 hours of video uploaded to YouTube every minute (source: YouTube) - to name just two of the hungriest platforms - the internet is already seeing a flood of content, with no indication of slowing. Evolving algorithms will shape user expectations, making attention a rare commodity; branded content will have to work extremely hard to cut through.
Last year, CTV surpassed linear TV in the US in terms of audience levels. Streaming platforms like Netflix, Disney+, and HBO Max are set to redefine prime-time viewing of sight sound motion content, and audiences will flock to content delivered instantly, in the best quality, and on mobile devices. Marketers know this, with 92% of marketers planning to incorporate video marketing into their strategies this year [source: Lemonlight].
2. Environmental Costs of Increased Demand The surge in data-intensive content carries an environmental cost, as data transfer and energy consumption explode. Digital technology accounts for 4% of global GHG, and around 30% of the internet's carbon footprint is connected to data transfer. Agencies, as influencers of programmatic spending, must address the environmental impact of the video they are trading.
3. The Imperative for Sustainability Survival in the digital landscape means prioritizing sustainability and moving beyond purchasing power to consultancy in digital transformation. Even back in 2020, 81% of companies had ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives in place [source: NAVEX Global], so agencies must communicate consciously about user privacy, ethics and social responsibility.
To tackle these challenges, media agencies can implement a powerful yet straightforward solution - SeenThis adaptive streaming.
Legacy ad-serving technology, largely unchanged for 25 years, suffers from poor load times and file-size limitations which greatly affect creative quality. It uses a data transfer mechanism that means the entire file is transferred regardless of the user's conditions and whether they view the ad or not. This in turn results in a huge amount of wasted data and contributes to the carbon cost of advertising.
Adaptive streaming technology enables a more efficient way to handle the data transfer, only loading the content viewers actively consume in real time - akin to streaming TV shows or music online. This ensures faster loading times, regardless of connection speed, aligning ads with user expectations. It enhances performance and maintains creative quality while reducing data waste.
This simple switch in the chosen creative delivery solution is a big step towards simultaneously addressing the challenges in attention and digital transformation, and reducing the carbon cost of advertising.
As the industry faces this digital storm, the question arises: which media agencies will build shelters, and which will build wind turbines? Will forward-thinking agencies harness these forces for the industry's betterment?
The answers lie in embracing SeenThis’ streaming technology, and forging a path toward a brighter future in the evolving digital advertising landscape.
Sep 27, 2023
