Alkimi Exchange CEO on Decentralized Ads and Data Ownership | Airdrop Alert Pro

The advertising industry has faced growing criticism in recent years amid concerns about data privacy, fraud and inefficiencies. Traditional digital advertising, especially through intermediaries such as Google and Facebook, results in a lack of transparency for advertisers and publishers.

Ben Putley, CEO and Co-Founder Alchemical Exchangebelieve that the digital advertising industry is long overdue for changes. Here, he breaks down how blockchain technology is reshaping advertising and why now is the time for the industry to evolve.

The broken state of advertising

Its core is, digital advertising Operated through intermediaries, who make money by managing the transactions between advertisers and publishers. These intermediaries—ad exchanges, supply-side platforms (SSPs), and demand-side platforms (DSPs)—not only increase costs but also create fraud vulnerabilities. Advertisers face a staggering loss of up to $65 billion globally each year due to fraudulent activity, including bot-generated traffic and manipulated metrics.

“Advertisers are essentially putting money into a system they cannot see or control. Fraud thrives in an environment that lacks transparency. A lack of accountability also undermines trust, with advertisers unsure whether their spend will translate into Meaningful engagement or results,” explains Ben Putley.

Under this system, publishers are financially constrained. Although they are responsible for creating content that engages audiences and drives the advertising ecosystem, they typically receive only a small portion of advertising revenue because intermediaries take a large share. Although publishers play a key role in this process, this leaves them with declining profits.

Users are not much better off. Most digital ad platforms treat them like commodities, collect their data without consent, and flood them with poorly targeted or intrusive ads. This has led to an increase in ad blockers, with many users choosing to avoid ads entirely rather than participate in an ecosystem they don’t trust.

“Users feel exploited, and they are not wrong. They are excluded from the value chain that their personal data powers,” he added.

Blockchain technology offers elegant solutions to many of these problems by introducing a transparent and decentralized advertising framework. Unlike current systems where transactions occur in a black box environment, blockchain creates a public ledger that can verify every impression, click, and transaction.

For advertisers, this transparency means real-time visibility into how budgets are being spent and ensuring their investments are reaching actual users and not bots. For publishers, blockchain ensures they are fairly compensated because payments are automated and verifiable. Every transaction is recorded on the decentralized network, making it auditable and difficult to manipulate.

“Alkimi provides complete transparency into every ad transaction through our proprietary tool Ads Explorer. Every transaction on Alkimi is verified by a decentralized network of validators and stored on the Ethereum blockchain, ensuring all spend are fully auditable and remove any ambiguity commonly found in traditional systems,” Putley said.

Much of the inefficiency of the current advertising model stems from its reliance on intermediaries. These entities have slashed ad spending, resulting in higher costs for advertisers and lower revenue for publishers. Research shows that nearly half (approximately 47%) of advertiser budgets are consumed by these expenses.

“Decentralized platforms change the economics of advertising. By eliminating intermediaries, we reduce fees to just 3-8%. This isn’t just a minor improvement – ​​it’s transformative,” Putley shared.

This cost savings benefits both advertisers and publishers. Advertisers can allocate more of their budget to meaningful engagement, while publishers retain a larger share of revenue, allowing them to invest in higher quality content.

smart contract is a key component of the system. These automated agreements automatically execute payments between advertisers and publishers based on predefined conditions. For example, a smart contract might trigger payment only when a user interacts with an ad or makes a purchase.

“Smart contracts ensure fairness by eliminating the need for intermediaries. They execute transactions instantly and without bias, entirely on agreed terms. Smart contracts also add an additional layer Safetybecause they cannot be changed once deployed, providing all parties with an immutable and trustworthy system,” he noted.

But decentralization isn’t just about increasing transparency and reducing costs, it’s also about empowering users. In the current model, users are passive participants and have no control over how their data is collected or used.

Blockchain turns this narrative on its head, allowing users to decide how their data is shared and even reward them for their participation.

“Users should have the final say over their data. With decentralization, they can choose to share their information in exchange for rewards, or keep their data private if they wish,” Putley asserted.

This user-first approach not only respects privacy, but also creates a more ethical and mutually beneficial system. Users who choose to share their data do so transparently and are compensated, while advertisers can reach a more accurate, engaged audience. Putley said it’s about building trust and creating a system where everyone feels like they benefit.

Adoption Challenges

Despite its potential, decentralized advertising still faces some obstacles. One of the most significant obstacles is the steep learning curve curve Related to blockchain technology.

Many advertisers and publishers are familiar with traditional systems and may be hesitant to adopt a model they consider complex or unproven.

“The biggest challenge is overcoming inertia. People instinctively resist change, even when the benefits are clear. At Alkimi, we are solving this problem by ensuring our platform is interoperable with existing ad technologies, making the transition as easy as possible Seamless,” Putley said.

To solve this problem, platforms must prioritize education and interoperability. Decentralized systems need to integrate seamlessly with existing workflows, reducing friction for advertisers and publishers making the transition.

Ben and his team demonstrated their approach at offline events and were instrumental in driving adoption by demonstrating blockchain technology in action.

“It’s about making the abstract tangible. We’re showing people that decentralized advertising isn’t just an idea – it’s a viable reality,” he noted.

Critics of blockchain often point to its energy consumption and scalability as potential drawbacks. However, advances in technology have solved many of these problems.

use Layer 2 expansion solution Helping decentralized platforms handle high transaction volumes without incurring the environmental costs associated with earlier blockchain models.

“Advertising is a high-volume industry. We designed the platform to handle this scale efficiently while minimizing energy consumption,” admits Ben.

These improvements make the decentralized system more practical and position it as a greener alternative to traditional advertising, which accounts for a large portion of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Alkimi’s vision for the future

As the advertising industry continues to evolve, the case for decentralization becomes stronger. The current model is unsustainable and plagued by inefficiencies, mistrust and ethical shortcomings. Blockchain offers a way forward by solving these challenges and creating a system built on transparency, efficiency, and fairness.

“We’re still in the early stages, but the momentum is there. Decentralization isn’t just a trend — it’s where the entire industry is headed,” Putley said.

The success of this transformation will depend on continued innovation, especially in making blockchain systems more accessible and scalable. Platforms must also focus on delivering measurable benefits to advertisers, publishers and users alike.

For advertisers, this means better ROI and lower costs. For publishers, this is about fair compensation and sustainable revenue. For users, it’s about choice, privacy and respect.

“Ultimately, it’s about creating a system where everyone wins. That’s the promise of decentralized advertising, and that’s what we’re working towards,” Ben concluded.