Blockchain and Digital Advertising

The blockchain ledger is decentralized and distributed meaning there is no one point of central control and recorded transactions cannot be altered without the agreement of the majority of the network across which blockchain is distributed amp160In other words transactions that are recorded on the blockchain should be completely transparent and you should be able to trust their legitimacyWhat does this have to do with advertising when blockchain appears primarily set up for the trading of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin amp160Well trust is crucial to building a better ad ecosystem and something that many advertisers agencies publishers and industry organizations are determined to achieve amp160Over the last year several highprofile advertisers have expressed concern with regards to brand safety fraud accurate measurement and clarity around how their money is being spentClearly the problem exists the question is whether or not blockchain is the solution amp160Numerous companies have been created on that very premise AdEx AdChain BAT to name but a few all claiming that they are able to harness blockchain technology to make digital advertising more transparent trustworthy and safeHowever this is not as simple as it may appearBlockchain cannot ensure that all client advertising appears in a brandsafe environment for one thing what is deemed brandsafe can be subjective and varies by brand amp160Even for content that is indisputably offensive in the programmatic landscape blockchain may be able to record ads that run alongside such content but will it be able to proactively prevent those ads from running amp160AdChain for example has created its AdTokenamp160which is a mark of approval for a content provider amp160Essentially it39s manual whitelisting which is not currently feasible for the internet in its entiretyWhat about fraud amp160How will blockchain distinguish between a human and a sophisticated bot amp160And then there are the issues of scale It39s not currently set up to monitor all transactionsinteractions across the whole internet nor is it capable of recording them in realtime amp160At the moment it is limited to 20 transactions per secondSo is blockchain irrelevant to the problems of digital advertising amp160Not necessarily amp160Some of its core principles apply very clearly amp160Blockchain offers objective verification of a transaction independent of the parties involved in that transaction amp160Digital advertising needs this to give advertisers absolute confidence in the numbers they are givenBlockchain also offers transparency of data across the entire transaction for anyone to see amp160This is the opposite of a walled garden behind which many companies hide data pertaining to advertising measurement data that would be of value to clientsAdvertisers want a holistic view of their digital advertising amp160The theory of blockchain is indeed holistic whereas the current digital ad ecosystem is still seriously fragmented amp160And the multiple parties involved in digital advertising can risk a lack of transparency for clients in terms of how their money is being spent amp160Blockchain shows the full transaction details between all relevant parties amp160This principle needs to be applied to digital media buys tooBlockchain is not the panacea for digital advertising39s ills amp160In practical terms it is a long way from being applicable at scale amp160But its principles are both relevant and useful and the digital advertising market should apply them amp160Ultimately we may reach a point at which blockchain is applicable practically and at scale to our industry amp160It will be a long process and who knows what the value of Bitcoin will be by the time it happensRather than simply waiting for it digital advertising industry players need to continue to work together to achieve greater transparency trust and safety and to thereby ensure that we are ready for the world that is envisioned by blockchainClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Blockchain and Digital Advertising

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Oliver Ruff

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Blockchain and Digital Advertising

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