Watch out for the words “relevant”, “effective” and “valuable” (TV advertising has been ALL of those things forever). These are words suddenly in vogue and are being tossed around quite liberally; sprinkled into almost every “About Us” section of any AdTech company website. All of those descriptors need to be considered in relation to something else and are not absolute.
Also, “targeted” and “accountable”. These are bad, naughty words because they assume that targeting is good (it’s not) and that accountability can measure anything but short term ROI (it can’t).
Oh.. “enhance”. That’s another one. I mean, who doesn’t want to enhance things?! This word is perfect for selling something. But ask, what’s wrong with the way I’m currently doing things? How exactly will it be enhanced? Be sure that somewhere in the explanation you are not served either of the words “relevant”, “effective” or “valuable”.
OH wait, there’s another.. not so much a word but a term, “complete solution”. In the AdTech world, there is no such thing. There’s Long Form Video, Short Form Video, Original Digital Video, User Generated Video, 360 Video, Virtual Video, Live Video, OTT, IP, Desktop, Mobile, Gaming, Connected, Social, App, In Stream, Out stream, overlay, Publishers, Networks, Agencies, Trading Desks, DSPs, SSPs, DMPs, Ad Servers, Measurement and Verification Vendors. So when someone claims to be all of these things, they are behaving badly.
One more: “Innovative”. That’s just about as dumb a thing to hang your hat on as there is. Every company on the planet need to innovate at some point, one way or another.
Oh wait, yes I almost left a few out… “deep”, “rich” and “superior”. These are words meant to impress an unrivaled expertise level. But the sorry thing is that if everyone uses them how can everyone be the expert?
PS – another silly thing that’s fun to read is the “Join our Team” section. At Brightcove they “hire dreamers and disruptors who long to make a difference”. The folks over at Pixability share a “commitment to curiosity, collaboration, transparency and innovation”. Get a gig at PubMatic if you enjoy a “culture of teamwork, smart and friendly colleagues, and a commitment to excellence”. SpotX is looking for nothing less than “the brightest technical minds with a passion for creating new things”. But good luck to them, because Integral Ad Science “seeks the brightest minds in the world” to join their team! Wow – talk about taking yourself a little too seriously…
