The AdTech Zone: 3 Tantalizing Tales

There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to the consumer. It is a dimension as vast as the internet and as timeless as this pop-culture reference. It is the middle ground between demand and supply, between eCPA and eCPM, and it lies between the publisher’s fears, and the summit of a marketer’s knowledge. This is the dimension of monetization.

This week, we’re bringing you 3 tantalizing tales from this arena of irony which we call …

Our first story of ironic outcomes imagines a world where every brand sits on an island, isolated in a vast ocean of the internet. The only means of connecting to the outside world is the passing back and forth of transient lines of code called “third-party cookies.”

One lonely marketer, desperate to make a real connection with real people, spends her life gathering all the cookies she can. Stitching them together with third-party data, she builds a massive graph that will connect her to everyone and everywhere with greater intimacy than ever before.

But when she is finally ready to reach out, she receives no response, discovering that the world has changed and no one recognizes what a “cookie” is anymore. She is left more isolated than ever.

—

Our second twisting tale warns of the dangers of getting everything you ever wanted. Where a publisher, has great content but has lost his audience to a mysterious Book of Faces.

Desperate to bring audiences back to his website, he makes a deal with a with the Book of Faces that promises a way to grow his audience by distributing his amazing content for him. Which allows him to reach more people than he would have ever been able to reach on his own. Bedazzled by the large numbers and promises of engagement, the publisher surrenders all of his content.

However, he realizes too late that with his content now a part of the Book of Faces, the audiences that were still coming to his website no longer had a reason to go there. The publisher finds himself doomed to an eternity of producing content purely for the benefit of The Book of Faces.

—

Our final parable of paradoxes looks at an avid consumer who wants nothing more than to be forgotten. This avid buyer of goods and services was the desire of brands and publishers everywhere, and was pursued relentlessly by advertisements and offers looking to win their coveted loyalty.

The consumer stumbles upon a document that promises them relief from the constant pursuit, the ability to pass unknown throughout the world. Eagerly, they sign, and the promise of anonymity is kept. However, the consumer soon discovers that being left alone and being forgotten entirely are two very different things.

The consumer, having grown accustomed to customization, is driven slowly mad by irrelevant offers and frustrating user experiences.

—

So concludes our odyssey into oddity, each Odysseus staring into the single eye of the Cyclops of irony only to emerge on the other side, in the AdTech Zone.

If you liked this week’s episode and want more awesome content sent directly to your inbox, subscribe to our newsletter.