The ad world continues to look for new sources of information to target ads. Some new troves: gas price fluctuations, weather conditions and lottery results.
Ad network Undertone is tapping all three to let advertisers modify ad campaigns based on real-time conditions. An outdoors brand could use the data to show ads for ski jackets to areas where the temperature has dipped below freezing. A hybrid car manufacturer could show ads when gas prices spike. An online stock trading platform could target ads based on the market’s performance.
“We’ve built an in-and-out solution for dynamic targeting and dynamic creative, allowing an ad to be served only when certain data conditions are met,” said Jared Skolnik, vp of product marketing for Undertone. “This allows the creative to include information in it about that real-time data when most relevant to the consumer.”
The ad world is in the midst of a data arms race. There are pools of very valuable data — shopping information, for instance — but they’re in short supply. That’s why networks and demand-side platforms are moving into new areas, looking to social signals, offline behaviors and other sources for an edge.
Undertone plans to automate the process with marketer data feeds to determine which ads are served and what content it provides in real-time.
“On-demand, dynamically updated ads can now be delivered specifically to users who may be impacted by critical events as they are happening,” said John Sabella, CTO of Undertone.
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