The world of digital advertising is in the midst of a profound transformation, driven by the rapid rise of programmatic technology. Programmatic advertising, which automates the buying, placement, and optimization of digital ads through real-time auctions and machine learning algorithms, is quickly becoming the dominant paradigm. And at the forefront of this revolution are innovative companies like ContinuumAds, which are harnessing the power of artificial intelligence to take programmatic to the next level.
To understand where digital advertising is headed, it's important to first take stock of where it stands today. And the data paints a clear picture: programmatic is already massive and still growing fast.
Consider these statistics:
- In 2021, US advertisers spent nearly $68.87 billion on programmatic digital display advertising alone.1
- Globally, programmatic ad spend was expected to reach $98 billion in 2020, accounting for 68% of all digital media advertising.2
- 85% of mobile digital display ads in the US will be bought programmatically by the end of 2022.3
- Even emerging channels are quickly turning programmatic. Programmatic digital audio ad spend in the US will total $1.83 billion in 2024.4 The programmatic share of digital out-of-home advertising will reach 26.7% the same year.5
The growth is happening across regions as well. Global programmatic ad spend surged 20% in 2021 compared to 2020.6 While the US still leads the pack, other countries are quickly scaling up their programmatic markets.
As impressive as the programmatic ad market already is, most experts believe it is still in its early stages. Machine learning and AI are poised to unlock even more of its potential in the years ahead.
This is where companies like ContinuumAds come in. Their self-serve platform allows advertisers to instantly create high-performing campaigns and run automated experiments across multiple channels, including Google, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, Snapchat and more.7
Under the hood, ContinuumAds is powered by cutting-edge AI that is always working to optimize campaigns and deliver better results. Their models leverage techniques like Gaussian processes and Thompson sampling to dynamically allocate budgets to the best performing ads and make granular adjustments on the fly.8
For example, the system continuously monitors ad performance across various placements (e.g. feed, stories, search results) and makes real-time decisions to serve impressions where they are most likely to drive engagement and conversions. Advanced natural language processing helps generate effective ad copy and recommend relevant keywords to reach target audiences efficiently.
By taking a scientific approach and enabling rapid experimentation, ContinuumAds empowers advertisers to uncover insights and adopt strategies that maximize return on ad spend. Over time, the AI learns and adapts to each advertiser's unique objectives, essentially creating a bespoke optimization engine.
As programmatic technology evolves, it will continue to eat up share from traditional manual methods of buying digital advertising. EMARKETER projects that 88% of all digital display ad dollars in the UK will be transacted programmatically by 2023.9 Other developed markets are on a similar trajectory. Even in emerging channels like connected TV, digital audio, and out-of-home, programmatic is becoming the default.
But beyond making advertising more efficient, AI promises to make it more effective as well. Innovations in areas like computer vision, sentiment analysis, and reinforcement learning will allow platforms to understand ad content and user behavior at an unprecedented level of depth and nuance. Ads will become more relevant, timely, and engaging. Optimization will happen in real-time at the level of individual users.
In this brave new world of advertising, the winners will be those who can harness data and AI to deliver the right message to the right person at the right time - all while measuring and proving performance. With their focus on making cutting-edge AI accessible through an intuitive self-serve platform, ContinuumAds is well positioned to be a leader in this space.
Of course, realizing this potential will require ongoing investment in talent and technology. It will also require proactive efforts to use AI responsibly and maintain user trust. But if done right, AI-powered programmatic advertising can be a win-win: better performing campaigns for advertisers, more relevant (even helpful) ads for consumers.
One thing is clear: the future of digital advertising will be increasingly programmatic and AI-driven. And it's already underway today. Forward-thinking advertisers are adopting platforms like ContinuumAds now to stay ahead of the curve and build the capabilities needed to compete in this new era. The age of intelligent, automated, and continuously optimized advertising is here - and it's only going to accelerate.