Greater transparency is needed in the AdTech industry. The current lack has led brands to adopt strategies that aren’t right for them. For example, prioritising high impression volumes at low CPMs when, in many cases, fewer, higher-quality impressions with strong viewability and premium inventory deliver far greater brand impact and long-term value.
How we define success in AdTech must change.
The biggest misunderstanding about AdTech is how success is defined. Most people still anchor on conversions, CPA, impressions and clicks. But those are only fragments of the picture.
Many advertisers believe that fewer controls within an engine equal smarter optimisation. The truth is the opposite. Algorithms optimise for what’s easiest and cheapest to deliver, not what’s best for your brand. That’s how you end up with impressive CPMs and CTRs, but low viewability, questionable inventory and little incremental impact. AdTech needs strategy and constraints, otherwise it optimises for mediocrity at scale.
AdTech isn’t just short-term efficiency metrics that are easy to report, but often misleading. Instead, it should be about measuring true business impact: incrementality, long-term brand value and customer growth.
Media agencies play an important role in finding the right AdTech partners
Agencies have a responsibility to cut through the AdTech landscape and ensure clients are using high-quality technology and premium inventory. We exist to be strategic advisors, guiding you toward the most effective approach to achieve your broader KPIs, not just platform-level metrics.
Existing AdTech partnerships and commercial agreements mean that some agencies are less agile than others. While having preferred partners is sensible, it’s important that agencies remain open to new opportunities and technologies rather than being constrained by existing agreements. At MI, we select our preferred partners based on their proven performance and transparency. However, if a solution outside of our partner ecosystem is better suited to your brief, we believe it’s worth exploring and testing.
