Have you heard the scary news from Australian climate scientist, Steven Sherwood? He and his team recently bumped up the global temperature increase to between 2.5 and 4 °C. This is bad. At 2.5 °C his best-case scenario is already higher than the maximum increase set in the Paris agreement (2 °C). Just a 2 °C increase means 37% of the planet’s population will see extreme heatwaves once every five years – along with other severe weather patterns.We all need to do our part and AdTech plays a role. Can Digital Analytics help AdTech programs lessen the environmental impact of AdTech? Yes! In this article, we’ll explore AdTech’s impact, and 3 ways Digital Analytics helps lessen that impact.Online Advertising is Hurting Our EnvironmentWhen online advertising first started, it was applauded as a way to save paper and money. While saving paper and money is still important, online advertising isn’t perfect.In 2016, a group of researchers at Universities in Finland and Spain estimated the global carbon emission of online advertising to be 60 Megatons. They illustrated the impact online ads have on our environment by looking at free, advertisement-based services vs. paid ones.In 2015, Netflix’s share of downstream traffic in America was at 37.05%. Netflix’s percentage has gone down as other streaming services have entered the market – in 2019 it was at 12.9%. Even though Netflix’s share has gone down over the years, video streaming services still dominate the internet. In 2019, 60.6% of internet downstream traffic was video streaming. If Netflix changed to an advertisement-based service, like Spotify, an additional 10% of video for advertisements would be created. This amounts to an extra 23.76 million tons of carbon dioxide emitted.How Can Data Analysis Help Lessen the Impact from Online Ads?1. Digital Analytics helps create more targeted ads.People don’t hate all ads. They hate inauthentic ads that aren’t relevant to them. 77% of consumers want to filter out bad ads – not block them all.Data Analysis helps you create more targeted ads. It tells you who your customers are and what they like.In other words, more bang for your buck and less wasted effort. Instead of spraying a bunch of ads at random people, you can send fewer ads to the right people.Fewer ads equal less carbon dioxide emitted.2. Identifying trends moves us in a more sustainable direction.By closely tracking consumer trends, AdTech has the power to move whole industries to more sustainable practices.Big Data gives consumers more information than they have ever had before. With this new information, they’re making informed decisions and increasingly choosing sustainable products and companies. By identifying and promoting those consumer trends, digital analytics pushes industry in a more sustainable direction to capture customers. And it’s not just consumers who are paying attention.“Machine learning helps investors choose the most socially and environmentally sustainable companies which are profitable at the same time,” says Julia Nikulski with Towards Data Science. “Moving funds away from polluters and towards socially responsible companies helps finance sustainable business practices and pressure laggards to do more.”3. Improve building sustainability using IoT sensors.AdTech businesses should also think about the traditional environmental impact of running a company.IoT sensors have been used to track business assets or understand how customers are using products. These sensors can also be used to monitor energy use, water use, and air quality of a building.Using the data from IoT sensors with machine learning, AdTech companies can create a roadmap for improvement. Every Effort CountsThe news about our climate is scary and dire. But we cannot lose hope. All industries and individuals can do their part to move the dial in the right direction.Digital Analytics has helped many industries become more sustainable. From creating carbon credit registries to tracking and buying oil from more sustainable drilling operations – we’re all making changes. AdTech should be next.If you’re interested in Digital Analytics, Machine Learning, or Robotics just to name a few, Harnham may have a role for you. Check out our current Digital Analytics jobs or contact one of our expert consultants to learn more. For our West Coast Team, contact us at (415) 614 – 4999 or send an email to sanfraninfo@harnham.com. For our Arizona Team, contact us at (602) 562 7011 or send an email to phoenixinfo@harnham.com. For our Mid-West and East Coast teams contact us at (212) 796-6070 or send an email to newyorkinfo@harnham.com.
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