Focus on ‘cheap reach’ is drawing brands towards MFA inventory

Alex Brownsell, Celeste Huang

Warnings from the latest ANA report on programmatic media.

Brands are prioritising media “cost over value”, increasing the risk of ads running on low-quality Made for Advertising (MFA) websites, according to new research by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA).

The ANA’s Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency study analysed media spend by 21 advertisers including Nissan, Shell, Walgreens and Mondelez, as well as data from 11 “supply chain participants”, such as Adform, Magnite, OpenX and DoubleVerify.

The study concluded that, after accounting for both transaction costs and loss of media productivity, only $0.36 of every $1 entering a DSP “effectively reaches the consumer”.

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