An ad served doesn't necessarily equal an ad viewed... 'Kansas strikes again'

An ad served doesn't necessarily equal an ad viewed.... starts the heading of the thinkwithgoogle article published this month.

To say that I thought this was stating the bleeding obvious would've been an utter understatement, compounded further by the editorial which I felt its sub-text was '...it's just the way it is' got me to writing this piece.

I think we need to take a much wider view of the display ad landscape and see where the issues really lie, and if there's a way the industry can respond in a meaningful way to not kill off what historically has been a potent and well converting way to get your brand and product noticed.

I think there are three culprits lurking in the wings and we'll call each out to examine them to see how much they're involved in the demise of the display ad.

The three culprits as I see them are; 
  • Mobile
  • Programmatic
  • Multiplatform beaviour
Let's take a look at each and then bring the argument together.