Sustainable Audience Data: Michael Benedek, Datonics on Green Ads

1. How does sustainability in audience data collection and processing impact the broader digital advertising landscape ?

Thanks to research done in 2019 by The Shift Project, we know that the internet is responsible for approximately 3.7% of global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. And digital marketing is a contributing factor. All the data transfer required to serve a single ad impression is powered by servers, many of which are powered by fossil fuel-based energy sources. As an industry, if we can get smarter and more efficient about how we operate, we can help make the digital advertising ecosystem more environmentally sustainable.

2. Tell us about Datonics' carbon-neutral initiative and the journey ?

Datonics has taken the same steps and followed the same standards and protocols as other companies in other sectors have been following for many years. We start measuring, because as we all know, you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Datonics has completed 2 GHG inventories, which have been independently verified by Cameron-Cole, an accredited emissions verifying organization.  We made the decision to further our sustainability by offsetting our residual emissions by investing in verified carbon reduction, avoidance and removal projects through Climate Impact Partners, one of the most trusted providers of carbon offset projects. In doing so, Datonics became the first and only audience data platform to be certified as a CarbonNeutral ® company. So brands and agencies that work with Datonics know that the work they do with us will have a much smaller carbon footprint when compared to working with other companies that have not gone through this rigorous process.

3. What future innovations do you see in green data processing and sustainable advertising technology ?

We believe we are at the very beginning of a trend throughout the advertising technology industry where every company will do what Datonics has done, in measuring, reducing and removing the GHG emissions from their business operations. This is not a new trend. Thousands of companies in dozens of other sectors have been taking real corporate climate action for a decade or more. As the advertising industry continues to catch up with the rest of the world, we expect new innovations to be created. We expect more ad tech platforms to migrate away from on premises data centers to cloud platforms like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), which will make a huge impact on our collective efforts to decarbonize. 

4. What are the biggest environmental challenges facing data providers today, and how can they be mitigated ?

We know that there is huge waste in the programmatic ecosystem. The sheer volume of data being transferred between demand and supply side platforms through ad calls and bid requests is staggering. And the vast majority of this data transfer doesn’t even result in a delivered ad impression, let alone an impression that is seen by an actual human. The biggest challenge facing data providers today is that we need to be more efficient in how we conduct business and this starts by taking the first step - measuring the environmental impact of our business operations so we can make smarter decisions about how to start reducing data waste and the carbon emissions that come from it.

5. How can companies ensure that sustainability efforts don’t compromise data accuracy and performance ?

Sustainability is directly linked to efficiency and efficiency is directly linked to performance. If you are reducing waste in your advertising, it typically means you are creating a more direct connection to your target audience through a more efficient buying path. By reducing waste, you’re making your advertising more efficient and as a result lowering its carbon impact.