Report: Programmatic ad waste hits $26.8B
Programmatic advertising waste has reportedly reached $26.8 billion, a 34% increase over two years. The waste is attributed to intermediaries, invalid traffic, and made-for-advertising (MFA) websites. Blockchain verification firm Alkimi positioned its on-chain auction technology as a potential solution to improve transparency and reduce inefficiency.
- Blockchain technology offers a potential solution to programmatic ad waste by creating a transparent and immutable ledger for all transactions. This allows for real-time verification of ad impressions and clicks, helping to combat ad fraud from bots and click farms. - In the UK, programmatic advertising spending reached approximately £30.6 billion in 2023, with the market projected to grow by 12.6% in 2024. Emerging areas of growth within programmatic include Connected TV (CTV) and Digital Out-of-Home (DOOH), with CTV advertising expected to grow by 20.7%. - For a CTO at a B2B SaaS company, the role evolves from being a hands-on coder in the early stages to a strategic leader focused on team building, architectural direction, and managing budgets as the company scales. A key challenge is balancing customer-specific development requests with maintaining a scalable and standardized product. - Supply Path Optimization (SPO) is a key strategy for media buyers to reduce costs and improve the quality of ad inventory by finding the most direct and efficient route to purchase media. This involves consolidating the number of Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs) and ad exchanges they work with to increase transparency and reduce intermediary fees. - The deprecation of third-party cookies by major browsers is forcing a shift in the adtech landscape towards privacy-preserving methods of ad targeting and measurement. This has increased the focus on first-party data strategies and new technologies within Google's Privacy Sandbox. - London's tech startup ecosystem remains a strong hub for investment, with startups raising £2.69 billion in venture capital in the first quarter of 2025. The city is a leading European hub for AI, with AI startups raising a record $3.5 billion in VC funding in 2024. - In Formula 1 news, F2 champion Theo Pourchaire has joined Mercedes as a development driver. Additionally, 1996 F1 Champion Damon Hill has returned to Williams as a team ambassador. - Recent London news includes a suspicious fire in an abandoned building in East London and a major 14-month repair project set to begin on the Queen's Bridge, a key route connecting downtown to the west end.
