Could you be more specific?
Take for example someone who lives in Munich's Bogenhausen district and drives a Mini convertible – and now he moves to Solln into a semi-detached house and has to refinance. For him, completely different topics and products are interesting than for the young professional who moves because of the job. And the user who wants to buy a house will take a year on average with his real estate search and use our platforms again and again until the real estate purchase and financing are completed. He, in turn, has completely different needs than someone who has just completed his training.
Together with customers, you also build target group segments. How well does this business work for?
Very good. In fiscal year 2016, we already generated 20 percent of our advertising revenue through data-driven segments like these. Two thirds of them are on-Network, so at AutoScout24, ImmobilienScout24, FinanceScout24. The last third externally.
Are there areas where the playout of advertising on other sites, i.E. Audience extension, is used particularly frequently?
Audience extension helps us address the identified target group more broadly. This is especially valuable for branding campaigns. If we can identify the user again on another site, we can play video ads there, for example.
How do you generally view approaches such as the Emetriq data pool or the collaboration between Zalando and SevenOne Media?
I welcome any alliance that tries to make data meaningfully available for well crafted advertising. Anything that helps make data logics usable without making customers dependent on the big US companies. We are also exploring the market for strategic alliances. However, we always ask ourselves how relevant we and a partner are for certain industries and groups and whether this would add value for the customer.
You're talking about meaningful use of data with well-done advertising. Is that currently the case? Online advertising, especially display, is once again the subject of criticism.
There is definitely a risk that advertisers will resign themselves to issues like ad fraud or bot traffic and not think ahead digitally or not want to spend a budget because they don't feel comfortable. I believe that digital advertising, as it is today in mass, does not work. It has to be well thought out from the start to be effective. Then you can talk about price optimization and what other technology might help.
That means brands should put more emphasis on concept and impact?
The discussion that is currently taking place on how digital advertising can work efficiently will develop in the right direction. Moving away from "who can actually shop the cheapest for me" to impact. This also changes where traffic and reach are purchased. And then when the data protection aspect is added, the market changes: Then the significant role of the agency is planning and traffic buying, but when it comes to data, brands may try to buy in themselves. It would do the KPIs good.