FreeWheel, Digital Element offer 2018 predictions
January 2, 2018
Thomas Bremond, GM of International Advanced Advertising at FreeWheel and Charlie Johnson, VP, UK and Northern Ireland at Digital Element have offered their predictions for the advanced TV sector in 2018, highlighting the importance of advertising experiences and the need to focus on VPNS.
Bremond commented: “After a year when transparency, brand safety and viewability have been in the spotlight, it is time for TV to learn from digital and vice-versa, to provide the best advertising experience for an engaged audience. Premium video content can make this connection, because it combines the high-quality, fraud-free environment of TV with the data-driven programmatic capabilities of digital.”
“The impact of TV has not faded, instead the lines between linear and other forms of viewing have blurred. This convergence looks set to continue, and the industry now needs to work towards professionally produced, rights managed, brand-safe content, along with clear and transparent measurement strategies across all platforms.”
“We also need to move past the perception of programmatic as being an ‘automatic’ transaction. When it comes to premium cross-screen video, there is a need to ensure buyers have as many opportunities to access this inventory as possible, and this is as much about human beings generating interest and sales as it is about automation.”
“We should aim to make 2018 the ‘year of user experience’, by concentrating on providing the best content-monetisation combination, at scale, in a safe environment.”
Johnson added: “According to GlobalWebIndex, one in four Internet users now actively use VPNs to disguise their location, and 75 per cent of those do so on a weekly basis – usually in an effort to access better content. This represents a huge rise in VPN usage that is putting vast amounts of pressure on broadcast companies when it comes to Digital Rights Management (DRM), and can have huge repercussions on their revenue.”
“In 2018, broadcasters will need to focus on the daily targeting of VPNs to ensure suspicious connections are identified and action is taken to block fraudulent attempts to access content. However, broadcasters must also be careful to not mistakenly penalise genuine users and risk losing loyal customers. As part of this ongoing challenge, geotargeting for circumvention and velocity tracking that allows organisations to identify unusual activity in a similar way to banks, will be an absolute priority in the next 12 months.”
“We cannot expect users to choose to share their location, so it is vital geolocation tools – such as IP intelligence – that do not require opt-in are integrated into broadcasters’ DRM systems. By highlighting where consumers may be hiding their location, these technologies will help the broadcast industry protect itself against the increase in fraudulent VPN usage and ensure success for 2018.”