For years, other industries have begun to address climate change, their carbon emissions and their environmental impact. Initially, this visibility existed for industries that had much more explicit impact on the environment, but now the time has come for the media ecosystem to address its carbon footprint. According to Scope3, the programmatic advertising industry produces more than 215,000 metric tons of carbon emissions in a single month, the equivalent to more than 24 million gallons of gasoline being consumed. Each ad campaign generates roughly the equivalent of driving over 13,000 miles – or about halfway around the world.
In the realm of emissions grading, digital advertising falls into Scope 3, which includes emissions produced indirectly by business operations and that are notoriously difficult to track. However, with new measurement tools, it is estimated that each campaign can contribute up to 70 tons of carbon emissions. And at MMGY, we believe there is an opportunity to address this more intentionally.
Understanding the Value of Media Supply Transparency
The largest driver of emissions (60%) in the programmatic space is generated from ad selection emissions and can be attributed to this notoriously complex supply chain. Every time a supply-side platform (SSP) makes a call to another platform to deliver an ad placement, that action contributes to carbon emissions by requiring and generating energy. Agencies and brands must begin to ask more pointed sustainability-related questions of their media partners, whether they’re managed services, demand-side platforms (DSPs) or SSPs.
MMGY works with partners that provide the following solutions:
- Site-level transparency of delivery to manage quality impressions (ensure made-for-advertising sites are being eliminated from inventory)
- Offer more attention-seeking placements (more attention at the forefront reduces the need for additional exposures)
- Working toward cloud-based solutions vs. relying on servers and offer measurement of and visibility into their carbon impact and offsets
TravelDesk, MMGY’s in-house programmatic media solution, has begun testing multiple carbon-friendly inventory types across display, native, CTV, audio, video and correlating private marketplaces (PMPs). We are leveraging strategic partnerships to offer a multifaceted, carbon-reduced programmatic strategy using inventory that hasn’t experienced negative effects on performance in beta testing. Through partnerships with LoopMe, we are able to offer sustainable display, video and interactive PMPs. Additionally, we have a partnership with Yieldmo, which is able to track carbon reduction through its ties with Cedara. By using a dedicated cloud-based infrastructure, Yieldmo minimizes emissions and offers PMPs with carbon offsetting options.
How to Use Data to Go Green
It is estimated that 15% of all ads are never seen by a human being. You may be wondering, how is it possible that targeting is so unfocused that there is so much waste in ad delivery? The industry has accepted that there will always be waste and that not every impression counts. But if we can ensure advertisers start their campaigns with a data strategy that leverages first-party and proprietary data to create curated audiences, we can take big steps to minimize and avoid wasted impressions. Having a targeted audience built with accurate and real-time data ensures that campaigns deliver ads to the most qualified person right out of the gate. This creates less waste – meaning fewer ad calls to a server and a smaller carbon footprint.
You can get started on reducing your campaigns’ emissions by:
- Being brave and starting the conversation about emissions tied to your campaigns
- Focusing on transparency – sustainability relies on a clean inventory supply that minimizes waste
- Seeking engagement-driving media that maximizes touch points to reduce the need for additional exposures
- Demanding a data strategy that focuses on quality over quantity
- Researching and leveraging emission measurement partners like Scope3, Cedara or Good-Loop*
- Being wary of partners claiming net-zero impacts
MMGY works with some of the leading sustainability partners across all sectors of the travel industry who place great importance on preserving natural resources and the global environment through sustainability practices in their own destinations and through their brands. We believe that we can complement these efforts in a more trackable way via paid media.
At the end of the day, the responsibility to monitor, manage and decrease carbon emissions in media falls to the owner of the media strategy. That’s why at MMGY we’re starting the conversation and prioritizing greener campaigns in the same way that we have measured and managed fraud and viewability – because it is our responsibility to manage the environmental impact of our work. Brand safety, targeted media and sustainability are all connected – and they all have room for improvement if we consider these ad tech solutions holistically moving forward.
Through transparency, focused media and real-time data, campaigns can deliver less waste and decrease environmental impacts. Ultimately, better-targeted media, more engaging units and cleaner inventory will improve campaign performance and decrease emissions – a win-win for advertisers and human beings.
*The industry has not formalized or benchmarked how to adequately measure emissions, but Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) is leading the charge to formalize a process and approach.
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