Objects, metrics and practices: an inquiry into the programmatic advertising ecosystem

Alaimo, Cristina and Kallinikos, Jannis ORCID: 0000-0002-4446-2878 (2018) Objects, metrics and practices: an inquiry into the programmatic advertising ecosystem. In: Schultze, Ulrike, Aanestad, Margunn, Mähring, Magnus, Østerlund, Carsten and Riemer, Kai, (eds.) Living with Monsters? Social Implications of Algorithmic Phenomena, Hybrid Agency, and the Performativity of Technology. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology. Springer Berlin / Heidelberg, London, UK, pp. 110-123. ISBN 9783030040901

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Abstract

Programmatic advertising is a large scale, real-time bidding process, whereby ads are automatically assigned to available spaces across types of media and geographic regions upon an individual user’s browser request. The large-scale automation of programmatic advertising requires the establishment of standards and the development of technologies to govern the behavior of market participants (sellers, buyers, intermediaries). We present evidence on the rules of programmatic exchange and on the role played by a specific class of digital objects. We focus in particular on the metrics to which these objects are linked and how they define what is exchanged and the parameters of these exchanges. We furthermore demonstrate that the metrics and the technological complexes associated with them are constituted by the institutional field of digital advertising and its complex technological infrastructure. Rather than being simply means to monitor a pre-existing reality ‘out there’ (such as user or audience behavior) these metrics and techniques bring forward their own reality and heavily impact upon and shape the objects and processes of digital advertising.

Item Type:	Book Section
Additional Information:	© 2018 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
Divisions:	Management
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN1990 Broadcasting H Social Sciences > HF Commerce
Date Deposited:	06 Jun 2019 11:51
Last Modified:	27 Feb 2024 03:06
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/100756

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