AI in programmatic advertising

AI driven programmatic advertising

In general, AI technology helps the whole online advertising industry system by making fast, smart decisions. It supports both the platforms that buy ads (DSPs) and the ones that sell ad space (SSPs), as well as ad exchanges that interact in a process called RTB (real-time bidding). Beyond RTB, the programmatic advertising industry also benefits from AI through improved audience targeting, AI-powered ad placement predictions, or enhanced ad fraud detection.

Machine learning and contextual advertising

There are two primary methods within targeted advertising (in other words, advertising that aims to display the right ad to the right person at the right time), which are behavioral and contextual advertising. However, these two have different ways to target audience. The first one tracks a user’s activities, such as pages visited, links clicked, or time spent on a given website, and groups users into segments to deliver ads based on their preferences. Contextual advertising, on the other hand, doesn’t rely on tracking users’ behavior; it displays ads based on the content of the webpage, analyzing keywords and topics. Additionally, contextual advertising is especially vital in times of strong privacy laws and a growing audience’s awareness of their data usage. By focusing on the surrounding content rather than user profiles, contextual advertising significantly boosts ad relevance. Thanks to advancements in AI, contextual ads are now more relevant than ever. In the past, traditional ads simply matched a few keywords on a webpage. Now, AI can genuinely comprehend the web page context and content, making AI programmatic advertising more accurate than ever. For instance, an article describing a relaxing day, including the word “bank” (the river in this case), would no longer be recognized as banking content.

AI vs ad fraud

There are many types of ad fraud that account for billions of dollars in ad spend. These include tactics like:

• Click fraud occurs when fake users, either bots or people, click ads with no real intent to buy or engage with the ad;
• Domain spoofing happens when scammers fake a top-tier website’s identity, fooling advertisers into spending more for ad space that’s actually on a site that doesn’t deliver real value;
• Impression fraud is another ad fraud technique that is a dishonest practice of artificially generating false ad impressions;
• Fake app installations – importantly, ad fraud doesn’t only apply to web content – in this case, the main goal of such activity is stealing marketing budgets from advertisers;
• Geo-masking is utilized by fraudsters to create the illusion of traffic from premium markets, in order to charge more or meet campaign criteria;
• Pixel stuffing is a practice of inserting ads, or even entire websites, inside a 1×1 pixel.

Fraudsters utilize artificial intelligence to aid them in their schemes. However, at the same time, it can be used as a strong tool to combat ad fraud! AI tools can not only identify ad fraud faster, but also with more accuracy and on a larger scale. Thanks to the fact that artificial intelligence can learn from past data, it can identify patterns and thus predict when fraud may occur, ultimately protecting campaign performance from wasted ad spend. For instance, recognizing false clicks is facilitated by examining user behavior, including session duration and click patterns. Another approach is to scan content with natural language processing technology to detect signs of scams before they spread.

AI and ad placement

The placement of ads plays a crucial role in generating ad revenue, as it significantly influences ad engagement and visibility. Optimal ad placement increases the likelihood of users clicking an ad, ultimately benefiting both advertisers and publishers. Many companies in the programming advertising industry utilize machine learning to identify ad placements that are likely to generate the most profit. optAd360 is one of the companies offering such a solution, in not one but two varieties. The first one, called Ad Mapper, creates a profitable ad layout from scratch after thoroughly analyzing the website. Thanks to machine learning, ad layouts are created in real-time, considering the type of device used to view the content, as well as the target audience and website characteristics. The second one, Revenue Booster, is a tool that dynamically identifies the areas with high user engagement and inserts additional ad formats into the already existing ad layout. Importantly, in the case of these two solutions, publishers don’t have to worry about User Experience or website aesthetics, as we know, in the case of ads, sometimes less is more, and it’s not wise to overcrowd a website with ads. The key is to insert ad slots in the most appropriate places. Besides flexible ad layouts, optAd360 and AI go hand in hand to help publishers. Here’s how:

• Automated ad inventory management – optAd360 AI Engine helps determine the best way to sell ad space and which auction to use for it. By selecting the most suitable sales strategy, the process can be made more efficient and yield the maximum revenue for every 1,000 views. In other words, Revenue Per Mille (RPM) is maximized by letting the AI choose the highest-paying opportunities in real-time;
• Smart Refresh technology – its main aim is to increase ad impression and ad revenue by automatically refreshing ads in active view, without compromising the experience of the audience;
• Header bidding integration – bids from the Supply Side Platform are evaluated in real-time before the winning auction is passed to the ad server;
• One-tag integration – allows for unlocking your site’s potential with ease. By adding a single tag to the <head> of your HTML code, you can effortlessly activate monetization tools.

Furthermore, after completing the registration form and successfully undergoing the verification process, our partners are granted full technological support. With support in 17 languages, and the help of an assigned dedicated Publisher Services Manager, we ensure you’re comfortable and assisted every step of the way!