Comments on Tip of the Spear Blog: Fear & Loathing in the Ad Technology Stack

Hi Dom, I think it's incredible that someone...

2011-03-10T15:17:07.559-06:00

Hi Dom,

I think it's incredible that someone is finally calling attention to the pervasive nature of solutions that call for "code on the page" to function. As a result of this lock-in, many of the core systems our industry utilizes are labeled “commoditized,” because there is no need for customers to innovate when these technologies are owned and sold by Media entities. These systems have been the catalyst for many point solutions that "bolt on" to the core systems and the unfortunate outcome is that, in a data-centered landscape, these integrations and "bolt ons" typically create more challenges than they solve.

Integrating data streams across multiple technologies is no small feat. Customers should have the ability to exercise more control over their vendors and vendors should be up to the challenge to continually innovate and deliver value.

However, I think there's one point missing here. When talking about lock-in, you specify performance analytics and behavioral data. Fundamentally, you are locked in because all your data resides in a particular system. Resources are needed to switch tags, but that’s not the main reason for lock-in. For example, if all your historical data and campaign data lives in Google’s DFP, it’s difficult to switch because there is no way to migrate that data. Tag management tools remember some of the request data, but there's no way to store historical delivery information.

-Chris Hanburger, Vice President - Business Development, aiMatch

Hi Dom, I think it's incredible that someone...

2011-03-10T15:16:35.184-06:00

Terrific points Dominick. One point I'd like...

2011-03-10T13:10:43.175-06:00

Terrific points Dominick.

One point I'd like to highlight, is that people forget about the TMS element is the benefit to innovation in the "industry" itself.

TMS is a solution that allows new technologies to go live in days on a larger advertiser - and not have to wait the standard months it currently takes. This means that new, innovative businesses survive and can bill for activity immediately the ink is dry - rather than run out of cash and fall by the way-side, whilst waiting for IT and Marketing to implement what may never happen.

Chris Brinkworth
CMO
TagMan Inc

Thanks all for the feedback. Also, thanks to AdE...

2011-03-10T05:54:47.701-06:00

Thanks all for the feedback.

Also, thanks to AdExchanger for the link to the post. The lead-in didn't exactly get the point.

Whether one buys a la carte or a bundled solution is just a means to the end...that is packaging.

More nettlesome, are the unintended consequences of expedient deal terms which determine "the game" that tech buyers will have to live with for years to come.

Dominic

Domenico, Your analysis of what's at stake h...

2011-03-09T12:54:03.833-06:00

Domenico,

Your analysis of what's at stake here is eye opening. By some counts, there are more than 1,200 vendors in the online advertising ecosystem vying for access to media spend and needing access to site audiences to fulfill insertion orders. If you believe as we do that innovation and efficiency are critical to the growth of our industry, then the need for data interoperability that you've described should be taken as an urgent call.

An interesting follow-up topic for you to explore might be the benefits for buyers, sellers and middlemen when lock-in isn't the only gambit in play.

Marc Kiven - Founder, BrightTag

Great post Domenico, It's definitely a nice t...

2011-03-08T20:34:50.810-06:00

Great post Domenico,

It's definitely a nice topic of conversation and frankly one that's welcome by companies.

There's also another angle to this: many advertisers actually welcome tag management systems. The reason is because just as tag management systems lower the cost of removing a vendor, they also lower the cost of adding new ones. As a result, the emphasis is now placed on ROI delivered, which is what it should be.

Ali Behnam, Tealium