What Happened
A host of big-name publishers are going against the trend and resisting automated buying enabled by programmatic ad platforms. Lifestyle site Refinery29, along with some popular young-skewing sites such as Vice Media, Vox Media, BuzzFeed, and Mic, points to automated ad platforms as the culprit for overwhelming readers with too many ads and slowing down page loading with tracking codes. They are therefore reportedly opting to build their own ad tech platform to sell ads directly rather than employing third-party ones.
What Brands Need To Do
While obviously not applicable for every publisher or brand website, this new trend does signal a path for digital publishers to combat the rise of ad-blockers. While the ad networks and exchanges are still needed as the middlemen in the $60 billion digital advertising marketplace, media owners should consider selling ads with their own sales team, if they have a homogenous or broad enough audience that advertisers seek.
Source: The Wall Street Journal