The programmatic ad-targeting techniques that are making waves in display advertising are commonly associated with low-value ad inventory. But The New York Times, a top-tier publisher which started selling some of its ads programmatically in May, doesn’t see it that way.
“We’re set up a little differently from a lot of other publishers,” the Times’ programmatic director Matt Prohaska told Beet.TV’s leadership summit on premium programmatic video advertising. “We actually have programmatic sales (integrated) with (conventional) sales.
“We don’t have channel conflict. It’s the same sales person that calls on the Samsung client and sells them conferences, print and digital. Programmatic shouldn’t be any different.”
Whilst the Times sells certain inventory programmatically and other via conventional channel insertion means, it has found a way to leverage the strengths of each, and not succumb to the fear some publishers have that programmatic will drive down ad prices.
Prohaska, in the event presented by SpotXchange and hosted by The Hearst Corporation, where he was interviewed by Adweek digital editor Mike Shields, said the two can co-exist.
“If you can buy the same way programmatically, it doesn’t mean you suddenly have to drop your CPMs like crazy – you can set floors or some controls, you can communicate that, hey, this is the New York Times…”
