分析程序化廣告交易如何弱化新聞媒體：臺灣在地研究初探

Analyzing the Weakness of News Publishers in Programmatic Advertising: Exploratory Research in Taiwan

數位時代來臨後，廣告市場轉型為以數位平臺為主的數位廣告生態系統，不但改寫傳統廣告產業面貌，新聞媒體曾有的廣告霸權已經動搖，甚至成為數位廣告生態中的弱勢角色。
數位時代創立新的廣告買賣模式，程序化交易已成為數位廣告買賣的主流。程序化廣告使用數據和網絡，形成自動化和廣告的即時買賣。谷歌（Google）發展程序化廣告交易科技，形成谷歌在數位廣告交易中的獨占位置。
本研究透過新聞媒體業者深度訪談發現，谷歌在程序化交易片面決定分潤比例，媒體無議價空間。谷歌同時扮演DSP、DMP、SSP、AdX四個不同角色，每個角色都可進行價格抽成，導致谷歌掌握支配地位。本論文指出，國內程序化交易系統對廣告版位出價過低，新聞媒體收入大幅下降；谷歌並且開設PMP私人市場，增加出版商對谷歌的依賴，以致造成弱化新聞媒體的結果。同時，媒體出版商多期待自售以獲得更高的廣告收益，卻因此衍生原生廣告問題，造成新聞與廣告界線模糊。
本論文建議，程序化廣告系統雖促使廣告商與出版商直接交易，卻出現不透明的數據導向交易，公權力應深入了解，數位廣告交易是否符合公平競爭原則。

Advertising has historically played a key role in the lifeblood of journalism. A long-running topic is how traditional news media play a weak role in digital advertising marketing. In the old days, print newspapers, magazines, and TV were kings in the advertising market, but the appearance of various new media technologies and social media networks has severely affected traditional media. Powerful technology companies such as Google and Facebook have replaced the old media to become the titans of digital advertising, as they are now the two largest advertisers in the world.
In the new digital era, advertising can be divided into digital and nondigital. The former has grown, while the latter has declined. According to a Taiwan Digital Media and Marketing Association (DMA) report, digital advertising in Taiwan has grown more rapidly than non-digital advertising, hitting over NT$48.25 billion in 2020 and then NT$54.43 billion in 2021. The reason for this growth is the power of Google and Facebook in the domestic advertising market, as nearly 80% of digital revenue come from the two firms.
In order to control the overall advertising market, Google and Facebook have each designed a programmatic system for the digital advertising market in websites and social media. In a programmatic system, platforms such as Google and Facebook help advertisers reach audiences directly. The two firms have also developed a new business model for advertisers, publishers, and other participants to join in advertising marketing.
The so-called programmatic auction has become the mainstream business model globally. Programmatic marketing encompasses two different techniques: direct programmatic and real-time bidding (RTB). Real-time bidding helps advertisers put their adverting on a website when a real user appears online. The whole procedure typically only takes 150 milliseconds to complete. The highly automated format allows digital advertising to runs 24 hours day and night.
For Google and Facebook, algorithms and advertising buying are the main methods used to earn money, and data are the core of the business model for digital platforms. McGuigan (2019) stated that algorithms and data science have become crucial to the online buying and selling process. The term programmatic advertising is generally used to designate transactions involving auctions and/or computer-based automation and optimization, yet the lack of transparency of programmatic buying has been seriously criticized. The Australian Competition & Consumers Commission (ACCC, 2021) found a lack of transparency in online advertising markets. In the United Kingdom, the Cairncross Review (2019) noted that the system of programmatic advertising is too complicated to understand and to navigate.
This paper thus aims to answer 3 research questions as follows.
Q1: How has advertising revenue declined for news media through Google’s programmatic system?
Q2: What are the main problems in Google’s programmatic marketing?
Q3: Is the line blurred between news content and advertising in native advertising when news media try another way to gain more revenue?
Based on in-depth interviewing through the qualitative method, this research looks to discover the reasons for the tensions between news media organizations and digital platforms, especially the largest company, Google. Representatives from three newspaper companies, three original online news companies, two television stations, two magazines, and one media buyer company, for a total of 17 persons whose work relates to selling advertising, were interviewed. All interviewees were given pseudonyms.
This paper finds that Google plays a dominant role in the process of programmatic marketing. Google exhibits the 4 characteristics of DSP, DMP, SSP, and AdX, which appear to share revenue from each role in the programmatic buying. It has made Google become more powerful, and traditional media’s advertising rates have subsequently declined in the digital era. Google also built PMP to make publishers more dependent on Google due to complicated programmatic designed mechanisms. The question is whether Google has become the most influential company in advertising marketing and provides benefits to many, and whether publishers have become weaker in programmatic advertising marketing.
Under this situation, news media in Taiwan have developed another advertising strategy to get more revenue. Their way is to sell space on news websites for advertisers, which is called native advertising. The advertising messages are disguised as news reporting on a news website. Although the news media could get more revenue from the model of native advertising, the most worrisome part is the blurred line between content and advertising.
This paper argues that equal competition between news media and digital platforms is an important issue all over the world. In the negotiations between the two, improving digital advertising mechanisms like programmatic advertising is unavoidable. The major problem is the inequality between news media and platforms. Google dominates the advertising market in Taiwan, and the rate of programmatic marketing has grown in recent years in Taiwan. At the moment, Google and other major ad exchanges have huge power, because of their relative size and high consolidation in the marketplace. News media are unable to negotiate with digital platforms if there is no legislation about equality in market competition.
The problems of how to build a more balanced relationship between news media and digital platforms in the advertising market are concerned with policymaking. The programmatic advertising system and algorithms have influenced the content created by the news media. When news media are more concerned about online traffic for survival, it is a dark day for information distribution and democracy. This paper presents the dominating role of Google in programmatic buying and suggests governments to investigate equal competition in the advertising market.