Videology’s Ferber: Time for Standards

NEW YORK — Scott Ferber, founder and CEO of Videology, said he believes programmatic advertising is destined to grow, but the industry needs standards.

Ferber predicted an “inflection point” in terms of advanced advertising within the next 12 months and urged the industry to “create our own rules,” and not let the likes of Google and Facebook set the terms of digital advertising. Letting those online players handle traditional media’s digital business, Ferber said at the Programmatic

Summit, means the older media companies “are not going to have a very good place at the table.”

As the television industry moves into the advanced ads age — 64% of advertisers believe half of TV buys will be programmatic in the next five years, Ferber said — he urged everyone to operate by a common set of principles.

Ferber detailed the changes in the industry’s finances that reflect a move toward more digital share of the ad market. In 2011, he noted, television commanded 40% of the ad spend and digital 22%. Last year, the numbers were even at 38%. By 2020, digital is headed for 51% and TV 33%.

Michael Malone

Michael Malone, senior content producer at B+C/Multichannel News, covers network programming, including entertainment, news and sports on broadcast, cable and streaming; and local broadcast television. He hosts the podcasts Busted Pilot, about what’s new in television, and Series Business, a chat with the creator of a new program, and writes the column “The Watchman.” He joined B+C in 2005. His journalism has also appeared in The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Playboy and New York magazine.