The challenge

The internet is a major polluter and represents at least 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, which is on par with that of the aviation industry. A significant share of the media industry's internet CO2 footprint stems from the large amount of data transferred through the internet infrastructure to ensure that digital ads are delivered to an end user. Data transfer represents 30% of the internet's energy consumption.[1] [2]

What is data transfer, more specifically?

Well, everything we consume online: every file, image and video is made accessible to us because data is transferred to our devices. The actual definition varies, but we can sum it up by saying that data transfer is the transfer of data from one digital device to another. The data that is transferred over the internet requires energy and thus, creates carbon emissions.

To understand what drives these emissions, think of the internet as a supply chain of data.

When looking specifically at data transfer, each part of the supply chain requires energy to be operational, which is a key driver of emissions. As video consumption, mobile internet connection, and high quality customer expectations are expected to increase, the pressure on this supply chain is expected to grow by more than 40x by 2030.[3]

So what can be done to meet these skyrocketing demands and what options exist in tackling this challenge?

There are a few factors contributing to this heavy increase, and of course, there are various solutions that can be applied. Read more about them in our white paper.

One solution is to simply reduce the amount of data being transferred in the first place by being smarter about if, what and when data should be sent.

~60 million tons of CO2 emitted by the digital ads industry yearly, is equivalent to:

Sources [4] [5] [6]

It's time for the digital ad industry to take the necessary action to minimize its carbon emissions. This can now be achieved without compromising ad performance, simply by targeting data waste. It is the sum of the collective effort that will make the difference, where every campaign will contribute to a more sustainable industry.

SeenThis tech is one part of the solution

Our solution is built on adaptive streaming. Compared to traditional technology when running the same ad, SeenThis streaming allows for instant improvement of the user experience for both static images and video, while reducing data waste and excessive carbon emissions.

SeenThis' technology automatically adapts the delivery of data to every device, IOS, browser and available bandwidth, enabling maximum quality for every user with minimal data waste.

Our ads stream only when in view and pause when out of view. This means that data is only transferred while being consumed by the user, avoiding the data waste related to excessive buffering and content loading offscreen.

All in all, by allowing high quality assets to load instantly in a more sustainable way, SeenThis removes the historical trade-off between quality and load time when dealing with traditional technology . In addition, the solution we present is plug-and-play, meaning that clients experience an immediate impact.