Fragmentation and friction are silent killers in the digital ad space, creating barriers to creativity and impact. Adnami CEO Simon Kvist Gaulshøj is determined to defeat both:

How is fragmentation a concern for publishers:

Well, the first point is that fragmentation clearly isn’t the issue that keeps publishers awake at night. Realistically, publishers care about revenue and yield, and they care about data. In terms of terrors, fragmentation is a long way behind the walled gardens preventing them from unlocking new and better revenue streams. But the point about solving the problem of fragmentation is that it gives publishers a strong platform from which to tackle those other things.

In terms of context, websites grew out of a variety of different platforms using a range of coding languages and technologies, and no consideration was given to any form of standardization for ad inventory in terms of specification and delivery. The result is that, these days, brands looking to buy any kind of non-standard inventory are faced with a lot of fragmented specs and technical requirements, providing numerous obstacles for both the buy-side and sell-side to design, build, scale and run successful campaigns.

High impact advertising gives publishers some of their most powerful attention tools, but that space is particularly fragmented, and typically only accessible through walled gardens. So what we’re trying to do is help publishers put up a stiffer resistance by giving them a transparent process for publishers with a universal API, providing them with high value ad inventory to monetise directly or programmatically.

Friction and fragmentation might not look like bottom-line issues for publishers, but if you remove them, publishers and advertisers are far stronger for it.

What are the potential benefits of standardisation for digital advertising:

If a standard exists for all inventory then advertisers are more likely to use high impact ad formats, because the hassle of having to produce multiple ads for different publishers and specifications will be removed. The knock-on effect is that publishers will secure more budget at a time when a recession looks imminent, and that can only be a good thing.

We are exploring a number of initiatives that will enable buy-side agencies to connect seamlessly to the inventory that we’re generating, and that in turn is a huge opportunity for the sell-side in terms of grabbing bigger and better campaigns at better yields and driving revenues.

What else needs to be put in place in order to address these problems:

We have a lot of ideas about how we can help make the digital advertising process simpler, but the first requirement is a global, standardised publisher API that allows advertisers to easily place their ads with any supply partner who has implemented the API, without the need to amend ad spec or creative. This represents the culmination of everything we have been trying to do since 2017, and we’re really excited about the industry-wide ramifications.

The second is a marketplace designed to connect buyers and sellers of premium advertising campaigns. This will offer a space where buyers and sellers can explore available ad formats, inventory and audiences, all under one roof, and that will significantly streamline the inventory buying process for advertisers.

Is this something advertisers should ask publishers for:

Well, it’s clear we need to find a resolution to the friction issues that restrict the buying and selling of digital campaigns. The solutions I’ve mentioned represent a significant opportunity for the sell-side, because they provide a united infrastructure through which to operate. But they also streamline a very premium, high impact advertising product for advertisers, which is proven to drive significantly more attention and impact than standard ad products. The future is definitely exciting, and we’re keen to help solve these problems for publishers and progress the industry in the process.

How close a prospect are these solutions – the publisher API and the format marketplace:

We have just secured significant growth funding from Swedish tech private equity fund QNTM (part of Altor). It’s been a really tough process that has involved a lot of sacrifice for the team: cancelled holidays, frustrated partners and kids, but we’re delighted to get the deal over the line. And the key reason we’ve been successful in securing this money is because QNTM recognizes that we’re well on the way to solving these specific fragmentation and friction issues that plague publishers in the digital advertising space.

What the funding gives us is the ability to invest in the talent to accelerate the company’s geographical expansion in Europe and beyond, and to build these products that are designed to simplify and scale the use of high impact advertising. We want to make it easier to seamlessly transact high impact campaigns, so that publishers can sell their inventory far more easily and advertisers can deploy their campaigns with greater speed, efficiency and ease.

Also Published in: MartechSeries