ISBA investigates the UK’s programmatic supply chain

On May 6, ISBA released its Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study, a first-of-its-kind study which seeks to illuminate and map out the process by which advertisers and publishers are served by the programmatic system in the UK. Funded by advertisers, in association with the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and carried out by PwC, it builds on previous work by WFA and the ANA in the US and hopes to make the programmatic waterfall more transparent at the benefit of all players in the industry.

Key findings include:

• Publishers receive half (51%) of advertiser spend on average;
• 15% of ad spend referred to as an ‘unknown delta’ – representing about one-third of supply chain costs – could not be attributed within the ‘industry waterfall’.

Source: ISBA Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency Study, May 2020

As a result of these findings, ISBA calls for an extensive reform of the programmatic supply chain and recommends standardisation across a range of contractual and technology areas to facilitate data-sharing and drive transparency ISBA plans to form a cross-industry taskforce to further investigate the unknown delta and launch an initiative around standardisation and data sharing.

Phil Smith, ISBA Director General said: “The publication of this study marks an important moment in our understanding of online advertising supply chains. It is the first time anywhere in the world that an attempt has been made to map a system which is not capable of being audited […] The challenge now is for industry to come together, as they will in the new taskforce, to drive industry standards and create transparent supply chains, to allow companies and consumers to benefit properly from online advertising.”

For more information, contact ISBA.