7 Best Books on Programmatic Advertising

Last Updated: March 19, 2023
Category: Advertising
Advertising Disclosure

Advertising Disclosure

This article may contain links that lead to sponsored or affiliate products. We may earn a commission from your purchases or actions taken through these links. Rest assured, all recommendations are based on genuine reviews and align with our commitment to delivering valuable and relevant content.

Both digital marketing and programmatic advertising can be very confusing topics, especially for a beginner. Navigating through the abundance of technical jargon and its accompanying complexities can sometimes lead to confusion. Even experienced veterans may find it perplexing to stay updated on emerging technologies. In this rapidly evolving industry, research is paramount, irrespective of whether you are a beginner, or not.

Programmatic advertising has brought about some severe advances in advertising technology. In the previous days, ads were negotiated manually, and publishers and advertisers would reach an agreement to place an advertisement on the website for a given period. The same ad would show, irrespective of who visited the site. Programmatic advertising uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to purchase ads in real time. This eliminated the need for human negotiations and pre-set prices. It has made the purchase of advertisements more effective and efficient.

If you are interested in programmatic advertising or media buying as a career, or simply need more information about the same, we have listed some of the best books on programmatic advertising here. It is important to remember that this kind of technology is constantly evolving and it can be difficult to find resources that keep up with the time. Here, we have listed our favourite books on programmatic advertising that will give you the needed knowledge while keeping relevance in mind.

Summary
  • 7 Best Books on Programmatic Advertising
    • 1. Introduction to Programmatic Advertising:
    • 2. Programmatic Advertising:
    • 3. Data in Digital Advertising:
    • 4. Introduction to Algorithmic Marketing:
    • 5. Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age:
    • 6. The Programmatic Trading Manual:
    • 7. Media Planning & Buying in the 21st Century:

Programmatic Media Buying and Advertising as a Career Option

Programmatic media buying and advertising has now extended to a vast range of digital channels and includes video, social media, display, and mobile. Given that digital advertising has become so prevalent, the need to buy spaces and ads has increased exponentially. This has also created enough reason for traditional advertising channels to digitize themselves. Now, we see out-of-home media advertising programmatically via digital screens on billboards, shopping malls, and other outlets. While earlier, programmatic advertising was limited only to big budgets, this is not the case anymore. The rise of self-serve tools has given smaller brands an opportunity and better access to technology to compete with the more prominent brands. This has presented programmatic media buying and advertising as an excellent career option. You can read some of the best books on programmatic advertising to gain more insight into the industry:

7 Best Books on Programmatic Advertising

Here is a list of the best books on programmatic advertising. 

1. Introduction to Programmatic Advertising: Best Book on Programmatic Advertising

This book is an excellent and comprehensive first introduction to programmatic advertising. If you are new to this technology, this book will quickly get you up to speed. Intentionally kept concise, it could serve as a quick reference guide ot be read over the weekend.
Introduction to Programmatic Advertising outlines the essential technologies enabling programmatic advertising and introduces you to the programmatic ecosystem and its various players. It gives attention to ad trading and real-time bidding and data, and ad targeting. The book further examines the opportunities mobiles provide, and the issues that are faced by the industry. 

Key features:

  • Short book that gives a quick introduction to programmatic advertising
  • Gives an overview of the basic technologies 
  • Teaches you about the programmatic advertising ecosystem and ad trading
  • Covers data and ad targeting

Pricing: The paperback will cost you Rs. 1432.


2. Programmatic Advertising: The Successful Transformation to Automated, Data-Driven Marketing in Real-Time

This is known to be the fundamental guide to programmatic advertising. It explains how programmatic advertising works in practice and how the right adoption leads to a competitive advantage for advertisers, agencies, and media. The new way of planning, steering, and measuring marketing is complex, but also seems very promising.
Programmatic Advertising: The Successful Transformation to Automated Data-Driven Marketing in Real-Time is a collaborative compendium that combines proven experience and best practices in about twenty-two articles that have been written by forty-five renowned experts from all around the globe. 

Key features:

  • Acts as a fundamental guide on how programmatic advertising works 
  • Provides a combination of proven experiences and practices in 22 articles that have been written by experts worldwide.

Pricing: The Kindle Edition will cost you Rs. 3235.82


3. Data in Digital Advertising: Understand the Data Landscape and Design a Winning Strategy

Your ultimate guide to understanding the digital marketing landscape, Data in Digital Advertising, has everything you need, from the basic concepts to developing a successful data strategy. They explain where the advertising data comes from and its movement across the ecosystem.
Data in Digital Advertising helps you understand what kind of data is available for advertising from third-party vendors and standalone advertising platforms such as Facebook, Google, or Amazon. It explores the Data Management Platforms in-depth and gives a detailed profile of all the known providers. Towards the end of the book, you are given a blueprint to design your successful data strategy.

Key features:

  • Covers all the basic concepts on how to develop a successful data strategy 
  • Teaches where advertising comes from and how how it flows in the ecosystem 
  • Explores Data Management Platforms in depth

Pricing: The Paperback will cost you Rs. 1600.


4. Introduction to Algorithmic Marketing: Artificial Intelligence for Marketing Operations

Known to be a must-read, Introduction to Algorithmic Marketing is a simple and easy-to-understand guide to advanced marketing automation for marketing strategists, data scientists, product managers, and software engineers. It has put together the techniques that have been tested by big technology, advertising, and retail companies, and combines them with economic theory and machine learning.
Introduction to Algorithmic Marketing has covered all the primary areas of marketing that require programmatic micro-decisions - targeted promotions and advertisements, eCommerce search, recommendations, pricing, and assortment optimization.

Key features:

  • Provides a comprehensive guide to advanced marketing automation 
  • Shows various tested techniques 
  • Covers major areas of marketing that require programmatic micro-decisioning, targeted promotions, advertisements and more.

Pricing: The Paperback will cost you Rs. 2785.


5. Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age: Best Books on Digital Advertising

This is one of the best-known books by the most successful adman of all time. Ogilvy on Advertising in the Digital Age is filled with examples from Ogilvy’s campaigns for international brands such as Coca-Cola, Louis Vuitton, IBM, and American Express. These are some of the best examples to learn from.
Ogilvy on Digital Advertising in the Digtal Age unravels the secrets of advertising and marketing in the twenty-first century via excellent examples and presents brilliant take-aways.

Key features:

  • Gives essential advice to everyone in advertising, marketing and PR
  • Demonstrates how to respond creatively and effectively to the possibilities digital world has to offer
  • Touches on all areas, from brand response to social media, creativity, smart content and storytelling 

Pricing: The Hardcover will cost you Rs. 1499.


6. The Programmatic Trading Manual: Trading Performance Strategies for Media Buyers

Known as the definitive guide to programmatic buying, The Programmatic Trading Manual provides insight into all performance areas for Programmatic Traders, Advertisers, and Agencies on running high-value online advertising campaigns using strategies and insights.

Programmatic Trading Manual has explored all the primary variables of programmatic advertising, and the ways to get the right user and pay the right price. This book contains several strategies to drive performance in programmatic trading and empowers the readers to make the right decisions.

Key features:

  • Provides insights on all the performance areas for programmatic graders, advertisers and agencies on how to run ad campaigns 
  • Teaches the key variables in programmatic trading
  • Breaks down strategies that drive performance in programmatic trading 

Pricing: The Kindle Price is Rs. 449.


7. Media Planning & Buying in the 21st Century: Integration of Traditional & Digital Media

This is the most recent and the most up-to-date book on programmatic advertising. This is one of the most comprehensive and easy-to-understand books that anyone could find on media buying and focuses on how to work with programmatic advertising in the twenty-first century. They have updated the book extensively and explained programmatic buying in length.

Pricing: The Kindle e-book is free to read with a Kindle subscription.


The Bottomline

The future of programmatic advertising is very bright. Right now is the best time to hop on the trend and indulge in programmatic advertising. Accessibility is excellent right now, especially for smaller brands, and by reading some of the best books on programmatic advertising, you will get a better insight into it. 

avatar

Editorial Staff at Publisher Growth is a team of blogging and AdTech experts adept at creating how-to, tutorials, listings, and reviews that can publishers run their online businesses in a better way.

Frequently Asked Questions

"Introduction to Programmatic Advertising: Best Book on Programmatic Advertising" and "Programmatic Advertising: The Successful Transformation to Automated, Data-Driven Marketing in Real-Time" are two popular books on programmatic advertising.

Programmatic advertising is the automated buying and selling of digital ad space using tech and software.

Suggested Reading