Blockchain and AI - How they’re going to work together to change publishing

Publishing is a constantly evolving industry. And there are two technologies on the horizon that are going to push the publishing evolution to a whole new level - blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI).

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you’ve heard the buzz about blockchain, AI, and the potential ways they can completely revolutionize the advertising and publishing industry.

But what, exactly, are these technologies? What implications are they going to have on the advertising and publishing world? And how can brands and agencies adapt and incorporate these technologies to take their businesses to the next level?

Blockchain and AI: A quick review

Before we dive into how blockchain and AI are going to change publishing (and, in particular, how the two together are going to completely revolutionize the way publishers do business), let’s do a quick review of what these technologies are.

Blockchain technology was originally created as a part of the source code for cryptocurrency Bitcoin, but once experts starting digging in on what this technology could do (and the capabilities it might have outside of the cryptocurrency world), other industries started to take notice - including publishing.

Blockchain is a decentralized digital database that records transactions in a way that can’t be altered, tampered with, or erased. Transactions are recorded on a ledger that’s stored across a network of multiple computers, and as each new transaction is recorded, the database updates and reconciles itself across the network. It also verifies transaction using key cryptography, making it impossible to corrupt the data.

What you end up with is the most transparent and secure way to manage transactions in history - and because just about every business under the sun is transactional (including publishing), blockchain has the potential to bring an entirely new level of transparency and security to the way we do business.

Artificial Intelligence is… well, exactly what it sounds like. AI is non-human intelligence; it makes it possible for computer systems and machines to perform tasks that typically need human intelligence in order to complete, like decision-making and speech recognition. And not only can machines perform those tasks; technology has advanced to the point where machines are actually learning.

Blockchain and AI are both incredible technologies with the potential to change the publishing world. But what is really exciting? Is the potential of what they can do together.

How Blockchain and AI are going to change publishing

Using blockchain and AI in tandem can bring significantly more transparency and efficiency to the publishing industry. With blockchain, human error and fraudulent activity are eliminated; because the blockchain is available for everyone to see, there’s no room for fraud. Adopting blockchain will elevate media buying and publishing to an entirely new level of honesty, eliminated costly practices like domain spoofing and clickbots - and saving publishers a significant amount of money in the process.

While blockchain will make things more secure, AI will make things more efficient. Through AI, publishers have the ability to analyze huge amounts of consumer data in an instant to create a more personalized ad experience. AI recognizes patterns and can adjust ad strategy on the fly, leading to increased ad relevancy, better retargeting, and an all-around better performing ads. AI can optimize ad campaigns so quickly and accurately, it could never be duplicated by humans.

AI and blockchain work hand in hand; blockchain makes data more open and available. AI is dependent on those large pools of data to learn and make decisions. With access to the data blockchain provides, AI can learn to better tailor the advertising experience and boost ad performance. Put the two together, and you have the recipe for an extremely lucrative opportunity for publishers.

How brands and agencies are using blockchain and AI (and what you can do to prepare)

Brands, agencies, and networks in the advertising and publishing space are already starting to implement blockchain and AI technology to improve their business models. Adbank is an Etherium blockchain network that traces payments between advertisers and publishers, making the entire process more transparent, and uses AI to detect fraud that previously couldn’t be tracked. AI is being incorporated in analytics tools to give publishers more accurate real-time data, significantly increasing yield optimization. Blockchain and AI are already happening, and if you want to succeed in publishing, you need to hop on board the train.

Educate yourself on what these technologies are and how you can incorporate them into your publishing business. Learn how they can help you increase your campaign effectiveness and drive ROI. The more you understand how to use blockchain and AI to your benefit, the more you stand to make.

We should see some pretty exciting things in the publishing world in the upcoming year as blockchain technology and AI are adopted on a wider level, and if publishers get on board, it could be an extremely lucrative time in the evolution of digital marketing.