Programmatic, Privacy, Viewability, Fraud?: "Kansas is getting complex again"

I've held off until now wading into the programmatic conversation which in the main has been due to me wanting to watch and observe where this windy programmatic road has taken us so far, what it means for us, our budgets and our creative input to the marketing mix.

As you know: In a nutshell programmatic is the ability to buy display space via technology, versus the traditional human process of buying direct from publishers.

The convenience and proven efficiency of programmatic have been discussed at great length by nearly all marketing publications, estimates of spend hover around the 2.5 billion mark as reported by The Drum in September 2015 but where it's not working so well is in the view-ability of the bought inventory

And this is a problem....

There is some thinking that publishers are holding back on prime real estate, and this may or not be the case, but what it does mean is naff, non-engaging display ads just aren't going to cut it.

I've banged on for as as long as anyone cares to remember that acquisition is based on a fundamental quora of SEO (technical, on page and off page (this means top flight content)), well researched and laser like PPC (no spray and pray please), display ads that support and move the brand or sales proposition forward and social activation.

For a mature marketing mix we still see too many shoddy and confusing display ads that tell us nothing, make us feel nothing and don't tell us what they want us to do.

...and you know what it's not as if we don't know how to do it! It's just content, so why are so many companies getting it so wrong? Thoughts?