In the UK, programmatic buying accounts for more than 70 per cent of the display media marketplace. The total programmatic spend in India is less than 10 per cent and online video in particular is growing fast. At present, programmatic has not affected TV and out-of-home.

It is to be noted that people are more important. Technology, it is believed, will reduce the dependence on humans, but in reality the opposite is true Machines can wreak havoc on marketer’s strategy. There are a number of factors to be balanced, e.g. performance, media quality, environment suitability and regulatory restrictions. Constant human supervision is still necessary before machines take over fully. Programmatic media marketplaces are completely unregulated, unlike financial markets which are highly regulated. There is fraudulent activity in programmatic eco-system. Consumer is still the king.  There is antipathy to commercial advertising and there is lot of ad blocking. At present ad blocking in India is negligible. There should not be an advancement in ad technology at the expense of consumer experience.