#PROGIONY: Game-Changers, Fading Fads, and the Future of Advertising

Programmatic I/O is the place to discover innovative ways to stay ahead of the curve in the programmatic landscape. The event gathered over 1,200 digital advertising pros ready to dive into the ever-dynamic world of digital advertising. From the bright lights of Times Square to the electrifying energy buzzing through the event floor, SCUBA was in great company.

At SCUBA, it’s all about actionable insights—so let’s cut to the chase. Here’s what you don’t want to miss.

1. Incrementality Stole the Spotlight

In the words of AdExchanger, “incrementality is the buzzword that stole Programmatic I/O.” As retail media proliferates and the “walled gardens” rise from the ashes of signal loss, brands are struggling to attribute sales across multiple channels. To isolate a campaign’s true impact, particularly in the CPG and grocery world, incrementality testing is nothing short of critical.

While it’s true that social platforms like these walled gardens support incrementality, they do so within their own platforms. For example, Meta embraces the idea of incrementality testing, and uses market-level holdout groups to measure campaign ROAS. However, getting results beyond a single platform, and ensuring that partners are not grading their own homework grows in importance. And as attribution grows in complexity, we expect incrementality to remain a top priority for data-driven marketers.

The Open Internet at a Crossroads: Finding Opportunities

The open internet is a $733B economy, yet it is facing several challenges which place it at a crossroads. These include, but are not limited to:

Several sessions explored the challenges facing the open internet, including:

• Signal loss and cookie deprecation make audience targeting more difficult
• Walled gardens dominate ad budgets and limit publisher access to data
• Media companies struggling to connect directly with consumers

While these phenomena do bring about challenges, there are opportunities to reclaim control. One example is innovative publishing tools and AI to amplify the impact of creative. While the future of the open web remains all but certain, there's certainly optimism it can evolve and thrive.

Retail Media Networks Continue to Expand: Rapid Expansion, Rising Challenges

The rapid growth of retail media was another major topic. More retailers are launching ad platforms, giving brands new ways to reach shoppers with purchase data. However, this has also created challenges around measurement and incrementality across multiple walled gardens.

CTV's Meteoric Rise: The Next Frontier
CTV was featured prominently, with sessions on topics like:

• The rise of FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) channels

• New programmatic capabilities for live events and sports

• Innovations in CTV measurement and targeting

As linear TV declines, and digital channels face increased signal loss, CTV represents a huge opportunity for programmatic advertisers to reach engaged audiences.

Privacy is Non-Negotiable: Navigating the New Normal

Unsurprisingly, data privacy was a recurring theme. Speakers discussed navigating complex regulations, preparing for a cookieless future, and balancing personalization with consumer trust. Clean room technology was highlighted as a privacy-centric solution for data collaboration.

Data privacy dominated the conversation, as speakers tackled the growing complexity of global regulations, the looming reality of a cookieless future, and the challenge of delivering personalized experiences without compromising consumer trust. Clean room technology was highlighted as a common solution, with its promises to ensure secure data collaboration.

The Clean Room Hype is Fading 

And yet, a palpable sense of fatigue surrounded the clean room narrative. Despite all the hype, or perhaps because of it, clean rooms have morphed into an unwieldy infrastructure challenge rather than the insight-driving solution the privacy-centric economy demands. The message was loud and clear: the industry is growing weary of clean rooms and is eager for alternatives that deliver real ROI.

After our speaking session, attendees flocked to SCUBA’s booth, eager to share their frustrations. Upon hearing our more pragmatic approach to data management and analytics, audible sighs of relief filled the air. One attendee summed it up perfectly: “I’m so glad someone is finally saying what we’re all thinking—clean rooms just aren’t living up to the hype.”

This candid feedback echoed throughout the event. The industry is ready to move beyond clean room hype, seeking practical, effective, and ROI-driven solutions. SCUBA is proud to be at the forefront of this shift, delivering the solutions industry professionals have been waiting for.

AI's Growing Influence: Excitement, Ethics, and Everything In Between

What would a good 2024 industry get-together be without mention of AI? Although it wasn’t the primary focus, several sessions touched on machine learning, highlighting their growing influence on the future of advertising. Speakers explored applications across creative optimization, audience targeting, and yield management. Both industry and public discourse are actively seeking ways to balance the productivity and promise of AI while considering its ethical implications.

Looking Ahead: Innovation and Collaboration Will Shape The Future

Programmatic I/O highlighted both the challenges and opportunities facing our industry. As the advertising landscape grows more complex, the need for robust analytics and customer intelligence is more significant than ever.

At SCUBA, we're focused on helping brands navigate this new reality with privacy-centric solutions for data unification, audience segmentation, and cross-channel measurement. By breaking down data silos and providing a holistic view of the customer journey, we empower marketers to drive incrementality and maximize ROAS across channels.

Our work doesn’t stop there. We’re helping publishers mitigate signal loss by unifying their data into a holistic view across SSPs and channels, at a page and user level. The net: we’re quite literally, unlocking new revenue opportunities.

The future of programmatic is bright, but it will require continued innovation and collaboration across the ecosystem. Both public discourse and legal proceedings highlight opportunities for us to reduce reliance on any single industry player, and instead, be part of a more collective solution. 

We look forward to being part of that journey and helping our clients thrive in this dynamic environment.

Stay ahead of the changing landscape and explore how SCUBA can help your team unlock new opportunities and secure long-term success. Schedule a demo today!