Blockchain in Digital Marketing: Q&A with Jack Smith, GroupM

Since the astonishing rise of cryptocurrency Bitcoin over the past decade, ‘blockchain’ has become a huge buzzword in several tech industries, ranging from security to healthcare. However, despite distributed ledger technology (DLT) being billed by some as the future of both payment and data-management systems, its potential applications within the ad tech industry remain unclear.

To that end, on Wednesday 27 March, GroupM released their report into the use of blockchain technologies within digital marketing. Here are some of the key findings in the report, as well as further insight from the author, Jack Smith (pictured below), chief product officer, investment at GroupM.

Blockchain applications in marketing

Some of the major issues present within digital advertising currently, such as user identification, consent and authorisation, and transparency, could potentially be solved by the use of DLT, or at least aided by the modernisation of internal digital processes brought about through the use of blockchain. However, adoption of these technologies is likely to be a slow process, given the current fragmented nature of the programmatic industry and the lack of clarity surrounding DLT.

Please read the full article and Jack Smith’s Q&A in Exchange Wire here.