Open internet advertising opportunities have never been greater: Emily Yri

Emily Yri, recently elevated to Vice President, International Marketing at PubMatic, has a new remit with the management of marketing for PubMatic in Europe and the Middle East, as well as running the APAC regional marketing operations.

“In my new role I am looking to drive further alignment between our EMEA and APAC marketing programmes and identify and support new opportunities for growth. Two areas I find particularly exciting at the moment are the opportunity for independent ad tech and the growing focus on responsible media.”

“As advertisers and publishers continue to actively look for alternatives to the walled gardens, and with ongoing antitrust activities playing out, the opportunity for open internet advertising has never been greater,” she adds.

Yri points out that the digital supply chain is evolving, as are the roles traditionally played by technology partners – publishers and buyers are looking for technologies that offer greater efficiency, more transparency and ultimately help them better compete. It’s a really interesting space right now.

“We just released a new whitepaper, The Supply Chain of the Future, which outlines how customer needs are evolving and what that means for our industry. Supply chain evolution, and the rise of independent, unbiased ad tech, goes hand in hand with something else that I believe is hugely important – responsible media,” she says.

The term “responsible media” encompasses multiple definitions for Yri. On the one hand, it can refer to how publishers, agencies and advertisers integrate environmental, economic and social issues into their business operations.

“But it can also include DE&I initiatives—such as a more multi-dimensional approach to behavioural targeting—or even consumer privacy. Responsible media has become an increasingly important issue for publishers, advertisers and agencies and the digital supply chain plays a crucial role,” she elaborates.

“Two more areas I think are particularly pertinent to the APAC market are mobile app and commerce media.  Mobile app publishers in APAC are particularly well positioned to benefit from a growing trend of brand dollars flowing into the space,” she says.

Yri observes that for years, advertisers have used traditional channels, such as print and TV, to build their brands while relying on digital channels to achieve short-term performance goals. “But as people spend more time on their mobile phones – advertisers are following to drive business goals, including branding objectives. This is a huge opportunity for mobile app publishers in APAC – many of whom have lots of international traffic.”

Capturing global brand spend doesn’t just mean incremental revenue, there are lots of other benefits too. With no action required from the user, the brand ad experience is less disruptive than performance ads, making for a better overall user experience—a crucial benefit for gaming apps in particular.

“A less disruptive experience also means that users spend more time with an app, improving customer retention and improving their lifetime value (LTV). To access global brand demand, it is important for publishers to work with an SSP partner – like say, PubMatic - that has strong relationships and access to key media buyers in the desired markets,” concludes Yri.