5G technology will certainly be one of the more talked about topics this year — both in terms of controversy over its harmfulness and over its benefits. Of course, the public and experts are at odds, but we can all agree that 5G is making a profound change — even in advertising.

When mobile phones became widespread in the 1980s, service providers recognised the need to standardise the performance of mobile networks — the first generation of mobile internet was called 1G. It refers to analogue telecommunication standards, and the first purely digital network standard appeared in the early 1990s with 2G technology. Each successive generation of technology has provided its users with higher data rates and a shorter lag time between action and response. The current 4G generation enables streaming of HD content and games, low delay in calls and fast web browsing. What does 5G bring? Higher data rates and even less call delays are the main promises of the next generation mobile internet. 5G technology promises data rates that are more than 100 times higher than today, and the delay is expected to drop to about 10 milliseconds. This leap in capacity means that mobile networks can transmit huge amounts of data in a very short period of time. The almost instantaneous transfer of large amounts of data, however, is what will drive major technological shifts — including those in advertising.

More 5G, more video ads!

In 2022, video advertising content is expected to represent as much as 82% of all content, and 5G technology will only accelerate the growth due its speed. Web page loading time will be dramatically reduced, enabling advertisers fast video ad loading. As a result, web users will benefit from a much better user experience, because the slow loading of advertising content is what often discourages them from using the mobile platform.

Higher speeds will also make ads load much faster. This will give advertisers more opportunities to create compelling, creative and high-definition ads to further engage the consumers. Interactive content will become even more useful in strategies, as the 5G connection speed will allow a smooth ad interaction experience. The speed will also enable the implementation of advertising formats with augmented and virtual reality and other innovative formats that convince consumers.

What about programmatic advertising?

The speed of 5G technology will definitely bring changes to the field of programmatic advertising. Today, consumers wait seconds for the ads to load on web pages or applications, and 5G technology will speed this process up significantly.

There is a lot of talk about data … but what about ethics?

Due to its speed, 5G will connect a huge number of devices. Each device and each connection will produce huge amounts of data Through all connected devices, marketers will be able to access data that offers a complete understanding of the consumer. Information from the user’s smart fridge will reveal the consumer’s eating habits, the time of arrival at the user’s home will reveal their consumer habits, and the smart bathroom will evaluate how the consumer feels physically. We still do not know all the principles of device connectivity today, but one thing is clear — a huge amount of data will be created, and new questions will arise about their ethical use. How would you feel if advertisers knew your daily routine to the point and served you exactly what you wanted most for dinner on a Friday night? Would that make your choice easier or would it scare you?

New speed and low delays are expected to launch new services and real-time innovations. As a result, more businesses are expected to create apps, smart devices and other sensors to attract consumers. The data collected by these new devices and the experience of consumers will become the new source of marketing data. This shift thus offers great potential to create new opportunities for targeting and consumer insight.

The Internet of Things will open new advertising opportunities

Based on the data, the power of 5G technology will connect everything from consumer devices to infrastructure, making every mobile device connected to the Internet of Things. Smartphones will act as a remote control to all other devices, connected together in the Internet of Things and the speed of 5G technology will further upgrade the system of connected devices and make it even more efficient.

At iPROM, we hit the Internet of Things as early as 2016, when we set up real-time ad serving for Printbox on external devices. iPROM’s cloud-based ad server is connected to Printbox stations that make it easy to print documents. Thus, select Printbox stations associated with iPROM Cloud software show users customised commercial content with various features, including content that allows users to interact with it, while waiting for the documents to be printed.

With our own technology, we have also entered the field of transport with the programmatic advertising solution in vehicles with on-screen terminals. In collaboration with NET Informatika, we created a new platform for programmatic advertising and centralised commercial content management on 2990 digital taxi screens across Europe and the Balkans, with one million journeys each month.

Even today, the Internet of Things, using advanced technology, offers innovative advertising opportunities. Can you imagine what the future will bring?

Alexa, ad, please.

Users in our country are more and more keen on using the voice search function in their smart devices. Smart speaker sales have been at a record high over the past year, and with 5G, users can take their virtual assistant anywhere. Voice search expresses all kinds of user preferences and desires, and advertisers will therefore need to capture voice-based data in the future and develop the advertising infrastructure that draws from them. Imagine how interesting it would be if virtual assistants provided us with automated voice advertising messages that were generated from our searches?

As we can conclude, 5G brings many advertising innovations. If you are the first to prepare for the change, you will surely be ahead of your competitors, as consumers love novelties and interactive experience. Are you ready?