Written by Hunter Gebron

On October 18, 2017, MetaX (adChain) played host to the IAB Tech Lab for their first “Blockchain in Advertising” event featuring members of the Blockchain Working Group, which MetaX (adChain) is a founding member. It is part of our continued effort to foster education and awareness around industry-specific blockchain applications and use cases.

MetaX (adChain) initiated the blockchain working group alongside GroupM, Kochava, and NYIAX. Since the official announcement of the group, just one month ago, the membership roster has ballooned to over 100 participants and includes organizations such as CBS Interactive, Integral Ad Science, Starcom Worldwide, and Amazon.

The attendee list was a mix of major brands, agencies and technology platforms who were all eager to learn more about how blockchain technology can provide valuable insights for their organizations.

The event began with a 30-minute presentation by Elisabeth Murray, SVP, Digital Ad Operations at TEN, titled, “Blockchain 101: Blockchain basics and industry application context”. Elisabeth expounded on her personal experience from the publisher side of the Ad Tech stack for the past 15 years and addressed specific pain points she believes the blockchain will be able to tackle, such as, data reconciliation and preparing for as she put it, “the death of the banner ad” due to greater user inclusion and action based measurement models.

Elisabeth Murray, SVP, Digital Ad Operations at TEN breaks down the concept of blockchain to the attendees.

Next came 30-minute use-case presentations by MetaX (adChain), Kochava, and NYIAX. Each company offered a brief look under the hood at the proprietary blockchain applications they are building, and the value adds they will bring to the digital advertising industry. The audience was then able to ask pointed questions to each presenter about how blockchain technology can benefit them in their day-to-day operations as Ad Tech professionals.

The day rounded out with a panel discussion titled, “Why, What and How of Blockchain for Digital Advertising” moderated by Shailley Singh from the IAB Tech Lab. Panelists included Richard Bush from NYIAX, Ken Brook from MetaX (adChain), Michael Palmer from GroupM, Manny Puentes from Rebel AI, and Michael Jolly from FusionSeven. The discussion was highly spirited and included topics such as: public vs. private blockchains; the cryptoeconomics of tokenized platforms; blockchain scalability concerns; smart contracts; and integrating blockchain applications into pre-existing business models.

Why, What and How of Blockchain for Digital Advertising Panel

MetaX (adChain) will be hosting many more events in the near future, so be on the lookout for invitations in our bi-weekly adChain newsletter. We hope you will join us the next time!