AdExchanger.com Predictions for 2011: Platforms, Networks, Exchanges - Part II

AdExchanger.com 2011 Predictions: Platforms, Networks, Exchanges - Part II AdExchanger.com reached out to executives from platforms, networks and exchanges for their predictions about the digital advertising ecosystem in 2011. This is part two of their predictions.

Click a name below to begin, or scroll:

Amit Avner, CEO, Taykey

Facebook will try to build a new advertising model, to help divert performance advertising money from search to social.
Unified platforms for social media advertising will start popping around (how to manage your Facebook, Foursquare and Places ads in one place).
Brand advertisers will move in to the real-time world, trying to react ti what’s going on around them immediately.

Zach Coelius, CEO, Triggit

The most important number to watch in 2011 is the average CPM on RTB exchanges. I predict it will cross $3.00. That number is a tipping point with significant ramifications.

Virtually all unsold inventory will be cleared in the exchanges.
Ad networks will not be able to buy from publishers directly anymore.
Yahoo will bite the bullet and roll out real RTB
Microsoft will buy someone.
Traditional media companies will realize Google’s play with RTB is really about TV.
We’ll all continue to have a blast

Bill Demas, CEO, Turn

With the rapid adoption of audience buying this year, it seems our industry has been obsessed with targeting and media optimization. In 2011, I expect that the buzz will pivot to data- to the point that we’ll need to update that overused John Wanamaker quote to, “Half the money I spend on data is wasted; the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Data will also facilitate the adoption of multi-touch attribution models. Instead of looking at “last click” or “last ad” models, marketers will leverage the data available to analyze the effectiveness of multiple touch points of users’ experiences.

Rob Leathern, CEO, XA.net

We’re going to see some really exciting developments that bring the concepts of ‘social media advertising’ and ‘social media marketing’ together in 2011. The two trends that are only beginning are that (1) certain savvy, large advertisers are taking more control of the media that they buy and the interactions they are having with their customers. It’s not that transactions are turning into ‘conversations’, but also that (2) both things need to happen and need to be managed (Twitter, Facebook, user reviews, etc.) in order for the marketer to be successful – and (3) as a result, you’ll see more creative become a big focus for brands (and I don’t JUST mean thousands of iterations, I mean actual interactive creatives that engage users).

John Nardone, CEO, [x+1]

The new portability of data means that clients can develop customer contact strategies across touch points. Data, and the insights it drives will be the catalyst for marketplace buying decisions rather than external factors like the old-media upfronts. Marketers and their agencies will develop new planning methods and competencies to drive new program opportunities.

Brian O’Kelley, CEO, AppNexus

2011 is the inflection point for the currency cycle of innovation. Companies with true competitive advantage and strong partners will explode; everybody else will stagnate or implode.

Tim Ogilvie, CEO, AdBuyer

I expect 2011 will bring more of what we saw in 2010:

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The number of ad networks and DSPs will continue to increase, though the definition will keep getting fuzzier. The technology is table stakes for the new ecosystem.
Publisher yields will continue falling, despite all the new solutions. There’s simply too much inventory.
Agencies will continue moving demand onto their buying platforms and clients will move dollars directly to DSPs. There’s a big storm brewing here.

Ajay Sravanapudi, CEO, LucidMedia

The new “ad network” is a DSP and vice-versa. As exchanges make it easier to reach scale with technology, display advertising will be even more ROI focused. DSPs will be the way to deliver on desired outcomes for an advertiser. Networks that do not have DSP-like technology will build, buy or license it.
Data will NOT be sold independent of the impression. Anyone running display campaigns understands that optimization is a soup that includes all kinds of data ingredients and changes in real-time. Buying data independent of the impression forces advertisers to make suboptimal choices. Technology will solve this. Data providers will figure out how to bundle it with the impression or they will die.
Agency trading desks mature. As they staff up and try to run and optimize campaigns with their own people, they will finally understand that ad networks provide real value. Who knows how they will react.

Joe Zawadzki, CEO, MediaMath

2011 will be serious. 2011 will be the last transition year of mad men becoming math men. Last year was fun because doing anything different than business-as-usual was a win. This year, people are making big decisions and the stakes matter more. Small lifts on small budgets don’t matter much. Large lifts on large budgets matter a lot.

Thus:

Performance will out. End results for the marketer will truly matter
Rigor will increase. How results are delivered will matter: privacy; economics; scalability of the solution, the team and the business model within the ecosystem.

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