Switch interview: the evolution of RTB, web 3.0 and workable mobile ads
Newsline recently spoke with Tom Barnett, MD of real time advertising start-up Switch Concepts and asked how the RTB process is evolving, the impact new technology is having on the sector and what challenges online video and mobile advertising face.
Switch cost just £100 to start up and is now generating £2 million a month. What’s your secret?
When Switch started out, we had experience of the online digital marketplace and had been working with publishers to improve their revenue. As the inventory accumulated, we recognised that there was the requirement for better technology.
I find this kind of challenge really fascinating and the secret lay in a passion for capitalising on an area where others had not yet succeeded. We saw a huge gap in the market and went to work on inventing a ‘next generation’ decision engine for online advertising. Switch was formed at the end of 2008.
How has real time advertising evolved, both for Switch and for the industry?
Switch gives publishers full control of the sale and management of their own data. At the same time, Switch allows buyers to greatly increase their ROI and efficiency of spend by accurately targeting inventory. Publishers and advertisers are brought directly together with full transparency, which is an evolution in itself.
Traditionally, ad servers were unable to do this as they were built at a time when publishers were still dealing directly with advertisers/agents and therefore the technology was purely based around a process of delivering adverts from these directly booked ‘internal’ campaigns and not for the real time exchanges as well.
Switch has been working on real time delivery for some time now; what are the key benefits for advertisers and how do you see RTB developing over the next few years?
I think the key word here is ‘dialogue’. We are entering the third generation of the internet – web 3.0 – which is going to start creating new definitions as it emerges. One thing I am pretty sure about is that a more dynamic, user-centric, data-driven web is at the heart of it.
We have exploded out of the PC and into set top boxes, handsets, tablets, games consoles…the web is, quite literally, all around us. And Switch are at the middle of it.
As a consumer, our relationship with the data we generate is also at the heart of this. I believe we are going to see users harnessing their own data and engaging in permission based relationships with vendors.
Intent-casting and Vendor Relationship Management will become as natural part of the internet as search. The ‘pipes’ that have been built for RTB will be the supporting structures for users to communicate with their preferred ‘advertisers’.
How is technology changing the RTB process?
Technology comes in two forms in relation to the internet – hardware and software. We live in an age where both are constantly improving. Specifically, understanding and awareness of the RTB protocol and its requirements are growing all the time.
As this happens we see innovation increase and improvements being made. Its an exciting space and has that classic ‘web’ feel to it now.
How is online video changing the digital advertising landscape? Cameron Yuill, founder and CEO of AdGent Digital recently said that all online advertising will soon be video – do you agree, and is this is a sign of the way things are heading, how will it impact what you do?
I do not think that all online advertising will be video – but I do think this is a giant medium of advertising that is yet to fully embrace online. Other media industries have gone through a digital revolution; TV has its own journey to make.
The challenges in video are not trivial though and it is something that will evolve. If you are asking if I think that we will be consuming the moving image through a digital medium then I am saying definitely – but ‘video’ is not the only way to advertise online!
It has been suggested by various experts that nearly all impressions purchased through RTB are targeted based on past actions using cookies that are too old to reach shoppers in their ‘moment of truth,’ and could even be days or weeks old’. What’s your response?
I think that is a very oversimplified statement. What I see is an incredibly rich environment that is being embraced and pioneered to find the best methods of communicating messages to users by advertisers.
Context, intent, relevance, user environment, likes and dislikes, themes, special offers… there are countless other reasons why an ad will be placed in a certain environment and RTB channels provide the tools to do this really well. No doubt, re-targeting is a very effective medium but it is by no means the only game in town.
We’ve heard all sorts of problems recently about the failure of mobile advertising – ‘bad optimisation, bad links, and bad consumer experiences’. Do you think your work can help offer mobile solutions?
Yes, this is an area we’re focussing on a lot, and will be increasingly moving forward. The rapid adoption of smartphone technology has presented a complex challenge to the advertiser – not that dissimilar to the challenges that IPTV presents – in other words, what works?
User behaviours are getting more and more sophisticated all the time and their expectations are high. Privacy is a huge deal and this is an area where it is as important as ever.
On a flip side, users want a good experience. Switch understands the issues here and is working with some cutting edge publishers to deliver the best experience possible to mobile internet users.