The climate crisis is more imminent than ever, and that does not rule out the media industry. As professionals scramble to measure and reduce their impact by focusing on direct operational emissions, Jesper Benon, co-founder of SeenThis, advocates the urgent need to define common standards for indirect emissions from digital advertising and provides concrete suggestions for next steps.
On par with the aviation industry, the Internet accounts for more than 2% of global greenhouse gas emissions, underscoring the urgent need for the media industry to act. Instead of being “somewhere in the cloud”, the Internet is made up of a physical infrastructure (data centers, content delivery networks, access networks, etc.) that requires energy to function. In addition, if we take into account the CO2 emissions linked to the construction, maintenance and end-of-life management of this infrastructure, the share is even greater.
Each time a 200KB ad is sent or requested, data travels through the physical infrastructure of the Internet, contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. More importantly, indirect or reach 3 shows like these are the largest in the media industry, with one media holding company actually stating that they represent 98% of total emissions.
When a global brand has 40 billion 200KB ad impressions, it can generate up to 8,000 tonnes of CO2. This calculation incorporates a methodology which considers that one GB of data sent over the Internet uses 1 kg of CO2.
However, today it is very difficult to measure these emissions, and even more so to reduce them systematically. The reason is that there are no widely accepted standards on how to calculate this number. While some sources estimate 200g, others claim 3kg of CO2 is emitted from a 1GB data transfer.
It’s time to change that now. As an industry, there has to be a streamlined measurement and calculation standard. In our white paper below, SeenThis describes one approach and we ask industry experts and organizations to build on our methodology, so that it can be turned into an industry standard.
We cannot sit idly by and wait for all the answers before we act. Whether it’s 200g or 3kg of CO2, we know we can reduce those numbers, so why wait?
In fact, the media industry is uniquely positioned to meet these data-driven challenges. This is because less data means faster digital ad load times and a better customer experience, which is good for brands and for click-through rates.
However, to expect data reduction to happen at the expense of campaign performance is naive, given the economic forces at play. All sustainability solutions must consider the triple bottom line: people, planet and profits. Thus, innovative technological solutions are needed to help reduce data transfer without compromising on performance.
By serving static and video ads, SeenThis provides a solution with a much shorter load time and positive effects on any measured performance metric. Since streaming does not start until the ad is visible and stops when it is out of view, this reduces data transfer by up to 40%.
With setting common standards and implementing innovative technology solutions at the forefront of our priorities, we are now inviting the rest of the industry to join us – it’s the right thing to do for brands and the future. of our planet.
For more information on our approach and our commitments to the movement, click on here to download our white paper, Time to Act: The Media Industry’s Unique Position on Reducing the Impact of Carbon Dioxide on the Internet.
