What Would You Ask The People Trying To Disrupt The Advertising Business With Automation?

Terminator_2_Endoskeleton_Arm.jpg

(Terminator 2 Endoskeleton Arm — Source: Wikipedia)

As I’ve noted previously, I’ll be moderating a debate at O’Reilly’s Web 2.0 NYC conference on advertising automation and the fate of human, manual labor in the overall advertising ecosystem.

When computers first arrived at the Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory in the 1950s, scientists immediately started programming them to play chess. Since then, one of the most prominent narratives in computing and artificial intelligence has been a machine capable of beating the world champion. Thanks to Web 2.0 technologies, a similar man-versus-machine debate is emerging in the advertising industry. It’s called advertising automation.

David Kidder, CEO of Clickable (my company), will kick off the program with a brief where-are-we-now presentation. Then we’ll jump into the discussion, which features some of the big movers and shakers in the ad industry’s transition to digital and automation:

  • David Kidder, Co-Founder, CEO, Clickable
  • Jim Barnett, Co-Founder, CEO, Chairman, Turn (former president of Overture and AltaVista)
  • Michael J. Kelly, Advisor, Clearmeadow Partners (former president of AOL Media)
  • Tim Hanlon, EVP/Ventures for Denuo/Publicis

Below are some of my key questions:

  • How is automation addressing the overwhelming complexity of the online advertising landscape?
  • What is the correct balance between man versus machine? How are humans and advertisers embracing automation?
  • How are Web 2.0 technologies driving transparency and accountability to an industry suffering from a lack of trust and credibility.
  • How is Web 2.0 automation redefining metrics and performance? Is it possible for analytics to transform staid data into actionable insights and even recommendations?
  • What Web 2.0 advertising automation systems are successful today? Which will be successful tomorrow?

Most importantly, what would YOU ask this panel? Please leave any thoughts in the comments section…

Published by Max Kalehoff

Father, sailor and marketing executive.

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