Mythbusters: Retail media networks aren’t immune to the pitfalls of programmatic media buying

When programmatic media buying first started heating up in the early 2000s, it promised scale, efficiency and more precise ad placements. But some of that promise has worn off. Programmatic marketers are weary, wading through an opaque web of ad tech middlemen, questionable inventory quality and murky measurement. Marketers are now looking at retail media networks with a similar sense of caution and a renewed feeling of déjà vu.

“We’re going to have the same challenges as you’re seeing [with DSPs]. We’re going to have the same desires as the brands and agencies want,” George Musi, chief business officer at Night Market, the retail and commerce agency at Horizon Media Holdings media agency, told Digiday at the Digiday Programmatic Marketing Summit, which took place in Palm Springs, California earlier this month.

Marketers want solutions to off-site inventory quality, transparency and measurement, Musi said. “Hopefully, this time around, we can shorten the distance between the need and the reality much quicker,” he added.

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