Software buys each impression before the page finishes loading. People decide which impressions are worth buying. WWC writes the audiences, the caps and the places your brand will never appear, then lets the machines bid.
What it is
Programmatic is not a channel. It is a way of buying. Every time a site, an app or a streaming show has an ad slot open, it is offered in an auction. A DSP, a demand-side platform, looks at who the viewer probably is, checks that against your plan, and bids or passes, all before the ad loads.
Most display advertising is bought this way now, and so is most streaming TV. That makes programmatic the plumbing behind half a modern plan: display, online video, streaming audio, connected TV and digital billboards can all run through it.
The machine is fast. It is not smart about your business. Left on its defaults, it will spend your budget on cheap impressions in apps nobody looks at, and report them as reach. The value is in the setup.
The controls
Audiences
Built from in-market behavior, demographics, location and your own site visitors, instead of broad off-the-shelf segments.
Geography
A DMA, a list of ZIP codes, or a radius around each of your locations.
Brand safety
Exclusion lists, content categories and supply paths that keep your brand off the sites you would never choose.
Frequency
Caps per household, so reach grows instead of the same people seeing you twenty times.
Formats
One plan, many screens.
- Display
- Online video
- Connected TV
- Streaming audio
- Digital out of home
Placement reports
Where the money actually went, site by site and app by app, not just the averages.
How it fits
Programmatic is how a plan finds the right people across thousands of sites and apps at a price search and TV cannot match. It is also how the plan follows up, retargeting the people who visited after a streaming spot or a search.
It is also the channel that does the most damage on autopilot. So we keep it tight: narrow audiences, exclusion lists, placement reviews, and budget that moves to search or streaming when they do the same job for less.
What is programmatic advertising?
Buying ad space through automated auctions instead of one deal at a time. Software bids on each impression based on rules you set: audience, location, content, price and how often one person has already seen the ad.
How does programmatic advertising work?
A site or app offers an ad slot to an exchange. Demand-side platforms working for advertisers see the slot and what is known about the viewer, decide whether it fits their plan, and bid. The winning ad loads, all before the page finishes loading.
What is a DSP?
A demand-side platform, the software advertisers and agencies use to bid on programmatic inventory. It is where the audiences, budgets, frequency caps and exclusion lists live.
Is programmatic the same as display ads?
No. Display is one format bought programmatically. Streaming TV, online video, audio and digital billboards are bought the same way. Programmatic is the how, not the what.
Is programmatic worth it for a local business?
It can be, if the targeting is tight. Local businesses win with programmatic by keeping it inside their market, using it to retarget site visitors and capping frequency. Spread wide and loose, it wastes money on impressions that never had a chance.
How do you keep our ads off bad sites?
Exclusion lists, content category blocks, vetted inventory and placement reports we actually read. If a site is not earning its place, it gets blocked.
Tell us who you need to reach. We will show you the audiences, the caps and the exclusions before a dollar is bid.