Of the many reams that have been written in year-enders across media publications, blog posts and listicles, there has been one common theme. And not just because a lot of that farmed content is being generated using the technology itself: Generative Artificial Intelligence or Gen AI.

At exchange4media, we too have delved deep into the subject, examining the diverse role Gen AI is taking on across media and technology: from Google dropping itsBard chatbotto retain advertisers; to Meta’sinvestments in the technologyover 2023 and beyond; to brands using Gen AI to make the most of thefestive season.

As we begin 2024, it’s time to discuss the role of Gen AI in programmatic advertising and the digital system of media planning and buying.

Noting that we have come a long way from the days of traditional ways of media buying which involved manual requests for placing ads on specific publishers, Charles Yong, Chief Architect and Technology Officer at Affle, says AI-driven tools can help marketers navigate the complexities of programmatic advertising, powering more innovative and contextual advertising. “At Affle, we have a strong AI-led R&D that shapes our conversion-driven offerings. We have been early adopters of using AI/ML-based offerings and now quickly moved towards leveraging Gen AI-based tech applications.”

The advent of digital programmatic advertising made the media buying process automated, real-time and more measurable. With data-driven programmatic advertising, advertisers can quickly assess consumer behaviour to optimize the efficiency of channels, audiences or creatives, which allows them to allocate budgets strategically.

Agent AI: Licence to Plan 

And that’s where AI comes in. As Yong elaborates, “AI agents are likely to further improve the efficiency and impact of media buying through dynamic bidding, personalization, and creative optimization. AI algorithms enable advertisers to understand individual consumer preferences, delivering tailored content and messages that resonate with target audiences. With Gen AI, media planning/buying will also further revolutionize as AI agents are trained to interact and integrate to improve how media is bought, ads are placed, and data is stored.”

Tejinder Gill, General Manager, The Trade Desk points out that one of the primary strengths of AI in programmatic is its analytical capabilities. Where front-end generative AI has its limitations in advertising, back-end applications excel at processing and making sense of complex data sets.“Today,AIhelps advertisers extract valuable insights and understand behaviour more granularly by identifying patterns and trends to inform and fine-tune targeting strategies. For example, those using The Trade Desk tap into AI-driven insights off the back of 1 trillion ad opportunities per day, roughly 13 million ad opportunities every second,” he says.

As a result, advertisers can go beyond basic segmentation and create campaigns with greater precision for their strategies. By understanding the specific preferences and interests of individual consumers, advertisers can deliver more personalised messages that resonate on a deeper level. This level of precision and personalisation boosts engagement, increases conversion rates, and enhances the overall consumer experience.

Girish Ramachandra, Founder & CEO, Shopalyst, observes AI is definitely making an impact on how advertisers find the right audience for their campaigns, and the opportunity to personalize brand conversations with them. “For example, with tools like Shopalyst, brands are now able to plan their audience reach across publishers and formats, use predictive modelling for price and bid management, and have the means to automate the entire campaign activation and optimization process.”

“Real-time campaign optimization is another example of humans and AI in action. Traditionally, advertisers have relied on post-campaign analysis to evaluate success. AI revolutionised this process by offering real-time campaign insights so marketers can monitor and optimise their campaigns on the fly,” says Gill, adding that with these valuable insights, advertisers can swiftly adjust targeting parameters, creative elements, and media placements based on AI-driven recommendations, ensuring their ads consistently reach the right audience with the highest impact.

Siddharth Dabhade, Global Commercial Board Member and Managing Director, MiQ India also points out that this technology will come to the fore as third-party cookies are being deprecated across web browsers, with the cookie set to begin its final crumble in 2024, something which media platforms were increasingly concentrating on over the course of 2023.

“MiQ is solving to find new data sets and new ways of delivering the same experience at the pre-campaign level to marketers that are driven by AI and data science. One such example is our AI-powered feature focused on searching and expanding similar users at a pre-campaign level using postal code data, also known as lookalike modelling, works by suggesting “N-dimensionally similar” zip codes based on demographics, TV viewing patterns and OSM data (which captures accurate information about individuals, commercial establishments, amenities, social class) to the actual search,” he shares.

Dipankar Mukherjee, Chief Innovation Officer, Nihilent Limited points to tools like Repurpose.ai and ActiveCampaign, driven by AI, are reshaping content and customising marketing emails to elevate user engagement. “Ocoya and Scalenut are optimising influencer marketing and social media management, utilizing AI for content relevance and precise audience targeting. In ad campaign optimization, Revealbot and Phonesites harness AI for maximizing performance and crafting impactful landing pages.”

Examples of AI use in Programmatic Advertising 

Other experts point to Google’s Performance Max ad campaigns, which help you drive performance based on your specified conversion goals by optimizing performance in real-time using AI across channels and across digital advertising process bidding, budget optimization, audiences, creatives, attribution, and more.

For SEO and competitive analysis, tools such as SemRush and GPT-3/GPT-4 provide invaluable insights and capabilities for content creation. DALL-E's ground-breaking image generation based on textual descriptions has transformed visual content creation in advertising.

“Delve.AI distinguishes itself in real-time consumer data analysis, constructing dynamic AI buyer personas. MarketMuse, SEMrush, Optimove, and Albert play pivotal roles in programmatic advertising, streamlining content generation, digital marketing services, and campaign optimization. Basis Technologies and GumGum leverage AI for predictive modelling and content matching, ensuring precise and targeted ad placements,” adds Mukherjee.

Dhaval Gupta, MD of CMRSL, the parent company of CMGalaxy, adds that if the AI has been trained on sufficient data and understands the rules of the game, it can not only provide analysis but also automate decision-making based on multiple parameters. “The training part is crucial and may require rigorous effort and investments. However, this can be used to predict the most effective advertising channels, specific audience sets, A/B test creatives, among other aspects. This data-driven approach will power programmatic to help reach the most receptive audience, optimizing the media buying process.”

Yong agrees, saying, “Over time, we believe AI will be able to handle time-intensive media planning/buying tasks to free up human focus for crafting overarching strategies that move high-value business goals forward.”