What are the Pros and Cons of Implementing RTB on Mobile Devices?

Tipped to be the future of media buying and selling, programmatic is no doubt the hottest topic in digital advertising today. Recently, Proctor & Gamble revealed plans to buy 70% of digital ads programmatically by the end of the year, a big leap for one of America’s biggest brand advertisers.  P&G’s move towards programmatic, along with other brands’ commitment to programmatic advertising, show that the market is finally ready to move in this direction. Furthermore, with smartphone and tablet usage continuing to soar, mobile platforms will increasingly become the focus of advertiser’s campaigns and, as a result, of the media buying behind them.

This is where Real Time Bidding (RTB) comes in. A type of programmatic trading that allows ad inventory to be bought or sold, on a per impression basis, through real-time auctions, RTB will further drive ad exchanges on mobile platforms. With that in mind, what are some of the pros and cons of RTB for mobile platforms?

• Pro: RTB helps publishers monetize their large and growing mobile audience by giving advertisers access to huge numbers of impressions globally through a single buying point. With RTB, advertisers can purchase inventory based on real-time impressions made via the publisher’s mobile site or application. Upon determining the appropriate slot, advertisers can bid and place their ads within a matter of seconds.
• Pro: RTB provides an efficient way to monetize mobile inventory for publishers. With the right set of data analysis tools, publishers can connect the right slot to the right advertiser, greatly improving interaction rates on both ends.
• Con: With different types of operating systems and device capabilities, it is much more complex to track user behavior on mobile devices. Therefore, identifying and targeting mobile audiences sometimes requires additional data analysis on both the buy and sell sides.
• Con: Concerns regarding transparency behind ad trades on RTB can cause a drawback for brands. While they can see the types of audiences they wish to target, brands cannot be as certain of the inventory they will receive. Therefore, this can lead to concerns around the lack of advanced notice surrounding the specific publisher, price and volume that a brand can obtain on any given day.

While mobile is a new opportunity of engagement for advertisers and opens a new stream of revenue for publishers, it needs to be targeted and delivered accurately in order to be effective. Mobile users are content snackers – behavioral targeting is key to delivering an ad that is relevant to the user’s interest at a specific moment in time. They are also more sensitive to relevant content and can get easily frustrated when bombarded with irrelevant ads on their mobile browsers or apps. With that said, both brands and publishers need to keep these pros and cons in mind as they dive into RTB and programmatic in order to ensure the maximum results.