Digital Advertising Woes
Arry Yu, the blockchain innovator, says it’s time for the blockchain advertising platform. Arry is the founder and COO of Storm, which is a blockchain-based gamified microtask platform. She wrote about the challenges of digital advertising in a Forbes article. She explained how blockchain can solve these, and asks advertisers to embrace the technology now.
Advertising has changed with the advent of the Internet. The earlier model was simple. However, it’s now hard to measure the real Internet traffic. Arry quotes a 2014 “The Wall Street Journal” article to state that 36% of the Internet traffic is fake. A more recent Adweek report estimates that the industry will lose ad revenue worth $19 billion due to fraud in 2018.
Advertising supply chain is now highly complex. Advertisers often don’t know how their ads are distributed. There are now many stakeholders, e.g., supply-side platforms and aggregators. Advertising supply chain could use some transparency.
What about the proverbial ‘elephant in the room’? Content distribution giants hold users’ data. Besides, they sometimes sell them. At other times shadowy players steal them. Internet users remain scarred due to the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica data scandal.
Arry is quite clear about how the blockchain technology can help. To begin, the distributed ledger makes transactions transparent. Blockchain networks use modern cryptography for data security. Furthermore, consensus algorithms protect it. Altering transaction data isn’t possible. This rules out fraudulent transactions, therefore solving a key challenge. That’s not all since the technology can also address the other two challenges.
Simplifying the Ad Supply Chain
Streamlining supply chain management is emerging as a critical blockchain use case. The decentralized network with immutable records can include all stakeholders. They can record the life cycle of an article whether it’s diamond or food. The technology might finally eliminate the lengthy paperwork in supply chain management. Businesses and governments alike are exploring it. UPS plans to upgrade their logistics with blockchain, whereas the US Customs will use it to facilitate legitimate trade. The retail sector will also benefit from the technology.
Digital ad supply chain can use this efficiency. A blockchain advertising platform will record steps in the advertising lifecycle. This allows for transparency. Basic Attention Token is a blockchain advertising platform with plans to introduce this transparency.
The technology can also secure users’ data because of advanced data encryption techniques. Smart contracts will govern the users’ relationship with advertising providers. It isn’t possible to tamper smart contracts hence no can access sensitive data without users’ consent. For e.g., TAP Coin is a blockchain start-up that protects users’ sensitive data.
Despite its’ promises, a survey finds that only 11% of advertising executives bought ads using the technology. Blockchain has some way to go before optimal adoption. The technology needs scalability to meet real-world demands. Smart contracts are promising. However, they are irreversible. Bugs in code can mean losses. So, blockchain developers must find ways to write bug-free smart contracts.
A new technology needs time to mature, and the market is using its’ natural corrections already. Arry is clear that the advertisers can’t keep away from the blockchain technology anymore.
Disclosure: Hooch/TAP Coin cofounders Lin Dai and Jared Christopherson are investors in BlockTelegraph; the company does not hold a seat on our editorial board or have any editorial review privileges.
