COLOGNE — “The future is already here – it’s just not evenly distributed,” wrote sci-fi novelist William Gibson. And that’s exactly the landscape for so-called programmatic and real-time automated ad bidding techniques.

“The way publishers have engaged with the programmatic space in Europe has been much more careful – they’ve thought about it much more,” says Caspar Schlickum, EMEA MD for Xaxis, GroupM’s in-house data-centric division. “They’ve managed to keep more value in their business. In the US, that’s more of a challenge.

“On the demand side, the way the agencies and clients are engaging with programmatic is more considered and careful … there’s more understanding exactly what role it can play as opposed to just rushing headlong in to it because it’s new and it’s there.”

For more of Schlickum’s thoughts on the future of advertising, watch hi full video interview with Furious Minds CEO Ashley Swartz at the Videology stand at the DMEXCO conference.