Advertising will reach approximately $667 billion globally in 2024, including the increase in advertising accompanying the U.S. presidential election.
According to an ISBA Programmatic Supply Chain Transparency study, 15% of digital advertising spend is “unattributable, representing approximately one-third of supply chain costs.” In other words, advertisers don’t know where this money has gone.
Tech giant Google has come under scrutiny from the U.S. federal government, which is attempting to break up parts of the company’s advertising business. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that Google manipulated display advertising prices by acquiring online advertising companies such as DoubleClick, offering services that allowed ad buyers to target users and essentially forcing advertisers to use their services to compete for audience penetration.
Around 90% of online publishers use Google to display their ads, although Google says its competitors, including Meta and Amazon, offer advertisers additional options.
But if the big tech of Web 2.0 creates a problem by limiting buyers’ options, how can the Web 3.0 industry harness the potential of blockchain to provide a better, more transparent and more efficient solution to ad spend ?
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Blockchain Create a Better Advertising Campaign
Companies outside of blockchain are realizing the potential of blockchain to make advertising more transparent and efficient, and individual industries have begun to explore their own solutions.
For example, in the second quarter of 2024, luxury brands, including Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH), Prada Group, Cartier, Mercedes-BenzAnd OTB Group united to create the Aura Blockchain Consortium, a blockchain-agnostic group intended to set a standard for transparency in blockchain advertising.
However, companies like Alkimi Stock Exchangea vertically integrated application based on Ethereum ETH/USDmake the value of blockchain accessible to all sectors. We interviewed Benjamin PutleyCEO and co-founder of Alkimi, which describes itself as the world’s first decentralized advertising exchange.
Benzinga: How is Alkimi changing the game for advertisers?
Putley: “Alkimi leverages a unique ad explorer that provides real-time visibility into every transaction spent on ads. Advertisers now have real-time insights into their ad spend, ensuring every dollar is accounted for and spent efficiently. We eliminate the guesswork and opacity typically found in traditional programmatic advertising.
B: What problems are you solving with a blockchain-based marketplace for programmatic advertising?
P: “Traditional advertising methods are often ineffective, costly and lack transparency. We’re filling this industry gap by eliminating middlemen and reducing fees from 43% to just 3% to 8%. This is especially crucial for large brands and companies with a global network of partners, agencies and entrepreneurs. By leveraging distributed ledger technology (DLT), we ensure that every transaction in the advertising process is notarized, ensuring 100% transparency of media spend and allowing businesses to regain confidence in the industry.
B: Is your solution primarily a Web 3.0 cross-over solution for Web 2.0 businesses?
P: “Our primary focus is the Web 2.0 market, as it has a critical need for transparency and auditability. These companies often navigate a complex web of advertising processes, spending huge sums on marketing, and yet it is often nowhere to be found. By targeting this space, we aim to provide a solution that not only streamlines processes, but also restores trust and ensures that every advertising dollar is traceable and spent efficiently.
B: Web3 projects have difficulty placing traditional advertisements. Is your platform optimized to help them in any way?
P: Our platform is fully optimized to support Web3 and Web2 clients. We have built a strong advertiser network that allows us to bridge the gap between traditional and emerging industries. Web3 companies obviously face regulatory challenges when it comes to digital advertising, but it’s a space we’re passionate about and one we’re well positioned to grow. The same advertising principles apply across all industries, and we expect demand for our platform to increase as the Web3 industry gains both legitimacy and regulatory clarity.
B: What is your long-term goal?
P: “We want to reshape and transform this $600 billion-plus industry into a fairer, more responsible and sustainable place. Our mission and everything we do is focused on transforming programmatic advertising by restoring trust, confidence and value to advertisers, publishers and consumers.
Summary
Blockchain technology integration can take many forms, and sometimes B2B use cases can drive adoption as much as consumer-focused solutions because potential customers have more incentive to make operational and cultural changes necessary to move to Web 3.0.
Regardless of the outcome of the DOJ’s case with Google, few would deny that Google has outsized influence over every industry it touches. The technology sector is known for coming up with new solutions. So it stands to reason that blockchain should be part of the advertising equation.
New solutions like Alkimi’s Ad Exchange are a welcome addition to Web 3.0. We may have trouble moving users from Fortnite to GameFi, but a company will advertise wherever it can get the best deal, and blockchain is unbeatable for transparency and efficiency.
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Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay
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