Debunking the myths about programmatic advertising

Written by Sam Dadd

Programmatic advertising is one of the most powerful tools available to modern marketers, but it is still often misunderstood, underused or dismissed as too complex.

In this article, Arke Agency’s Senior Paid Media Executive, Sam Dadd, breaks down common misconceptions about programmatic advertising, explains how the technology works, and shares practical lessons from Arke’s experience integrating programmatic into wider client strategies.

For brands already investing in search, the question is not whether programmatic replaces it. It does not. The value is in how programmatic helps build awareness, shape consideration and create the conditions that lead more of the right people to search in the first place.

From audience targeting and automation to connected TV, audio, native and digital out-of-home, we look at where programmatic fits in today’s paid media landscape — and how it can support a more connected, full-funnel marketing strategy.

Debunking the myths about programmatic advertising

Myth 1: It’s complicated

Programmatic advertising is the use of marketing technology to automate the buying, placement and optimisation of digital ads. In reality, it’s quite simple.

Rather than manually negotiating every placement, programmatic media buying uses automated workflows to help brands reach specific audiences across different digital environments, including display, video, connected TV, audio, native and digital out-of-home.

Every time a user loads a webpage, app or streaming platform, an auction can take place in milliseconds. Advertisers then bid to show their ads based on a range of signals, including:

• audience targeting
• behavioural signals
• contextual relevance
• historical performance
• creative quality

The important point is that programmatic is not just about automation. It is about using automation to make better media decisions.

As marketers, our role is to build a clear plan around which channels, audiences and ad formats are right for our clients. The technology helps deliver the campaign efficiently, but the strategy behind it still needs human input, commercial understanding and ongoing optimisation.

Myth 2: Automation replaces strategy

It is automated buying, not an automated strategy.

Another common misconception is that programmatic marketing means handing control over to an algorithm and hope for the best. In reality, a strong programmatic advertising strategy gives advertisers control over the elements that matter most, including:

• audience targeting
• creative approach
• budget allocation
• measurement frameworks
• delivery settings
• channel selection
• optimisation priorities

What makes programmatic different from traditional media buying is the level of flexibility it can offer. Campaigns can be optimised in real time, budgets can be adjusted based on performance, and targeting can be shaped around audience behaviour, context, location or intent.

Therefore, instead of simply buying media space, brands are buying smarter access to the right audience, at the right time and in the right environment.

The strongest programmatic marketing strategies are built around clear inputs: better data, sharper audience signals, relevant creative and a measurement framework tied to business outcomes.

Myth 3: It’s just another display network

Programmatic advertising is often associated with display advertising, but that is only one part of the picture.

Many brands still allocate the majority of their paid media budget to bottom-funnel activity, particularly search. The challenge is that intent does not appear from nowhere. A customer will often see multiple touchpoints before they actively search for a product, service or brand.

Those touchpoints may include:

• video ads
• display campaigns
• YouTube placements
• connected TV advertising
• digital audio
• native advertising
• social media exposure
• digital out-of-home

This is where programmatic can add value. Search captures existing demand. Programmatic helps build and shape demand before the search happens.

When planned together, search and programmatic advertising can support each other. Programmatic helps reach relevant audiences earlier in the journey, while search helps capture that intent when users are ready to take action.

Where programmatic can support the media mix

Programmatic is a powerful tool with a wide reach of media channels, giving brands more ways to reach audiences across moments, environments and levels of intent.

The key is utilise the channels that have a clear role in the media mix and best support your business needs.

Connected TV advertising

Connected TV, often referred to as CTV, includes any television that connects to the internet to stream digital video content. This includes Smart TVs with built-in Wi-Fi, as well as standard TVs connected through devices such as Amazon Fire Stick, Apple TV, Roku or games consoles.

From a programmatic perspective, CTV is a strong way to bring the impact of traditional TV into a more targeted digital environment. Brands can reach audiences while they are watching premium video content, but with greater control over targeting, frequency and measurement.

The myth is that CTV is just “TV, but online”. In reality, it gives advertisers the opportunity to combine the brand-building strength of TV with the flexibility and audience-led approach of programmatic.

Programmatic audio advertising

Programmatic audio ads are a cost-effective and often non-skippable format delivered across music streaming platforms, podcasts, digital radio and mobile games.

They allow brands to reach users in moments where visual attention may be limited, such as commuting, working, exercising or relaxing at home.

This makes audio a valuable channel for building awareness and reinforcing brand messaging. It can also work well alongside other programmatic formats, helping to create a more rounded media strategy across different touchpoints.

The myth is that audio is only useful for broad awareness. In reality, programmatic audio can be targeted by audience, context, location and listening behaviour, making it a strategic channel to target your audience.

Native advertising

Native advertising is designed to blend into the user’s content experience, rather than interrupt it. This can include in-feed articles, recommended content, sponsored placements or promoted editorial-style formats.

With programmatic native, advertisers can use first-party data, contextual signals and audience targeting to reach users in environments where they are already actively engaging with content.

This makes native particularly useful for education, consideration and storytelling, especially when the goal is to drive users toward deeper engagement or downstream actions.

The myth is that native advertising is just another display format. In reality, it works best when the creative and messaging feel relevant to the environment, giving brands a more natural way to inform, educate and influence their audience.

Programmatic DOOH and traditional OOH

Digital out-of-home is a strong example of how programmatic can complement a wider media strategy, rather than compete with it.

The key benefit is strategic flexibility. Programmatic DOOH allows brands to add reach, respond to gaps in coverage and activate in priority locations, without losing control of the overall OOH plan.

For example, when working with London Gatwick, we used programmatic DOOH alongside the traditional OOH buy to support areas that were not being fully reached through the direct buying. Rather than cannibalising the existing strategy, the programmatic layer helped fill priority location gaps and strengthen overall campaign reach.

Another major benefit is the role of self-serve technology. Programmatic DOOH gives advertisers greater control over campaign set-up, delivery and optimisation, helping to reduce miscommunication, lengthy supplier calls and unnecessary back-and-forth over email.

This creates a more streamlined process from planning to launch, while still allowing teams to optimise activity based on live campaign needs.

The myth here is that programmatic DOOH replaces traditional OOH. In reality, when planned correctly, it works best as a complementary layer — adding agility, control and smarter coverage to an already established media strategy.

What to look for in a programmatic advertising agency

For brands considering programmatic advertising, the right partner should do more than activate media. 

As a high performance agency we educate, plan and execute a media strategy to meet your business objectives and succeed.

For us, this means looking for:

• a clear view on how programmatic supports search, paid social and wider media activity
• transparent measurement frameworks
• channel selection based on business goals, not platform bias
• clear explanations of where automation helps and where human judgement matters
• creative, audience and measurement planning that works together
• honest recommendations on when programmatic is right, and when it is not

Programmatic should be transparent, accountable and clearly tied to the role it plays in the wider media plan.

Arke’s approach to programmatic

The best programmatic strategies are bespoke. It should never be a one-size-fits-all approach, or simply a case of applying a blanket CPM and hoping for safe delivery.

A strong strategy starts with understanding your audience, your objectives and the environments where your message is most likely to make an impact.

Your approach should focus on three key principles:

Scale intelligently

Prioritise scalable reach, but not reach for the sake of it. The focus is on identifying the right audiences, environments and signals to support meaningful campaign performance.

Design for relevance

Creative should be built with purpose. That means developing messaging that reflects the channel, the audience and the stage of the customer journey.

Optimise for outcomes

Programmatic advertising should not be judged by impressions alone. Focus on setting the right inputs, giving the platform enough space to learn, and measuring performance against outcomes that matter to the business.

The result is smarter planning, clearer recommendations and more confidence in how your media budget is being used.

Programmatic in modern marketing

This is no longer a channel to test at the edge of a media plan. It is becoming a core part of how modern media is bought, optimised and scaled.

Programmatic should not feel vague, disconnected or difficult to measure. With the right strategy, it can give businesses greater flexibility, better audience understanding and more confidence in how their paid media is working.

About Sam Dadd

Senior Paid media Executive at Arke Agency

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/samuel-dadd-5a08b4167/

As a Senior Paid Media Executive at Arke, Sam Dadd builds, manages and optimises performance-focused campaigns across paid channels. 

Having started his career through Arke’s apprenticeship programme, he has gone on to lead activity for clients across multiple sectors, including education, travel, B2B, nonprofits and ecommerce.

His work focuses on turning data, targeting and continuous optimisation into stronger commercial outcomes with a genuine passion for helping clients grow through smart, data-led marketing.

Arke is a fully integrated brand and performance agency, named Best Independent Agency at the European Agency Awards 2025.