Programmatic I/O 2024: What We Heard and Saw

Key Insights from Programmatic I/O Las Vegas 2024

Finally fully rested after non-stop meetings, panels, and social activities at Las Vegas' AdExchanger's 2024 Programmatic I/O conference, our Director of Business Development, Joe Rice, shared his thoughts on the key topics discussed.

Unsurprisingly, a significant portion of discussions, both in panels and one-on-one, centered around CTV. There was some concern expressed that CTV inventory might become the new walled gardens, with publishers requiring buyers to use their platforms for campaign setup and reporting. While some third-party services currently offer reporting integrations, buyers increasingly seek third-party analytics for campaign optimization and transparency regarding ad placements' content, context, and brand suitability. 

Biddable CTV: An Upward Trend

This push for more biddable inventory through DSPs is driven by buyers' need for transparency and control. The rapid growth of FAST (Free-Ad-Supported Streaming TV) supports this trend towards biddable inventory, though it also shifts safety and suitability responsibilities from publishers to buyers.

Buyers know that biddable inventory means improvements to targeting and scale, as well as cost efficiencies.

Optimizing the CTV supply chain and enhancing transparency were other prominent discussion points. This is likely to be an evergreen conversation as the industry sorts out what's important for buyers to know for optimizations - as well as just knowing where ads run. 

Cookies Head to Clearance: Retail Media and Upcoming Privacy Regulation Changes

The decline of third-party cookies and the upcoming privacy regulation changes were also major topics, particularly within the context of retail media. With first-party data, retail media provides reliable solutions for existing customers, but finding new buyers and extending audiences off-site presents challenges for privacy and targeting. That's not taking into account the four states with privacy laws going into effect in 2024, the eight in 2025, and the two (so far) in 2026.

Can You Get Three AdTech People in a Room Without Discussing MFA?

An interesting idea raised was that made for advertising (MFA) numbers might decline along with cookies, given that last-click attribution is a major driver. If this is an unintended consequence, that would be a great outcome. However, our experience (and data) shows that MFA remains at a consistent 6-8% of all bid requests, with MFA ad calls increasing by 15% compared to our 2023 benchmark with our year-to-date benchmark thus far in 2024. 

Companies that deeply investigate the structure and patterns of publisher user experiences have found that MFA business models continuously evolve to support buyer KPIs. Today, MFA schemes are in response to the demand for viewable inventory. Until a majority of advertisers use alternative KPIs, such as user attention and other signals of true page quality, MFA will continue to be a problem. 

Looking forward to hearing how far we've come at the next Programmatic I/O in the fall!