Dive Brief:
- Google announced it is opening traditional TV ad inventory to programmatic buying through its DoubleClick Bid Manager in a blog post on Monday. Google also made the announcement at the National Association of Broadcasters show.
- The tech giant aims to bridge the gap for marketers as the line between television and digital video continues to blur. Google's Director of Product Management Rany Ng wrote in the post that Google will be able to measure the impact of TV spots to Google searches, as well provide a way for agencies and advertisers to manage video campaigns across TV and digital.
-
"With their inventory now available through DoubleClick Bid Manager, television networks and station owners get access to new types of buyers, such as advanced TV buying groups in agencies, digital-first advertisers and even global advertisers," Ng said. "Many of these buyers already use DoubleClick, but until now, have had limited access to U.S. TV audiences."
Dive Insight:
Recent industry research backs up Google's analysis that the difference between TV and digital video is becoming more and more nebulous with the rise of a variety of services including over-the-top offerings, streaming alternatives and video-on-demand and skinny bundle cable packages.
Accenture, in a report made available to Marketing Dive, found a 55% decrease in consumers who prefer to watch TV shows on actual TV sets, with 42% preferring to consume content on other devices including smartphones, desktop computers and laptops.
Accenture's findings echo a growing trend that suggests media companies and advertisers are having to chase viewers across an increasingly fragmented media landscape punctured by an outgrowth of both new services and also the devices they can be watched on. By condensing video campaigns into a one-stop programmatic shop on DoubleClick, Google might help address these issues and in a manner where marketers can more consistently measure and track their efforts and spending.
A recent Videology report found that 64% of advertisers and agencies expect more than half of their TV buying to go through programmatic within three to five years, and 57% reported an intention to increase programmatic TV ad buys this year, according to MediaPost Communications.
