With 2017 coming to a close, we've put together the list of our top 10 most read opinion pieces of the year.
This year AdNews' editor Rosie Baker's thoughts on the 457 visa piqued the most interest, closely followed by journalist Lindsay Bennett's thoughts on the Mia Freedman/Roxane Gay scandal.
Programmatic continued to be a top of interest to AdNews' readers, with Mark Ritson describing it as "dodgy as a $7 note" and Indy Khabra strategising on how the medium can be better understood.
The future of bitcoin, influencers and a tough year for digital publishers were also themes that resonated with our readers.
Check out the top 10 most read opinions of 2017:
1. How will the 457 visa repeal impact the media industry?
"There could also be a serious impact in the advertising, media and tech industries. We constantly hear about the talent shortage in the industry, particularly in digital disciplines and data - and yet none of the jobs on the list tackle that," writes AdNews editor Rosie Baker.
2. Mia Freedman's Gay gaffe undermines Mamamia brand
"The very foundations of her empire and what Mia Freedman's brand purports to stand for has been rocked by the incredibly "cruel and humiliating" treatment of best-selling author and feminist Roxane Gay," writes AdNews journalist Lindsay Bennett.
3. Programmatic buying, as dodgy as a $7 note
"We have now seen several examinations of programmatic reveal that if a client spends $100 on programmatic advertising only around $25 worth will actually reach the consumer. The other $75 will disappear in the greedy orgy of ticket punching and commission charging that adtech firms conduct as your hard-earned cash fights its way through the dirty, stinking value chain of programmatic," writes Mark Ritson.
4. How bitcoin is set to disrupt digital marketing (and why you should care)
"As the world’s first cryptocurrency, bitcoin is making waves in the Australian digital payments industry. If it’s not already on your radar, then frankly it should be," writes Finder.com.au CEO and co-founder Fred Schebesta.
5. Micro-influencers. Massive opportunity.
"Micro-influencers will also help solve an even greater problem for marketers than just ‘reach’; the ability to generate high quality content to use as marketing collateral in social media advertising," writes Tribe CEO 
Anthony Svirskis
6. Facebook is at a crossroads and Four Corners awoke the reality
"The Four Corners Facebook episode this week might be familiar territory for everyone in the media and marketing industry, but for the normals out there, the real people, who don't live and breathe advertising, retargeting and data, it offered a genuinely terrifying version of what Facebook is and does," writes AdNews editor Rosie Baker.
7. The digital media bubble is bursting
"HuffPost’s mass redundancies, Snackable TV's Sydney closure and Mashable’s rumoured exit from Australia is the first indication the ‘digital media crash’ has hit Down Under," writes AdNews journalist Lindsay Bennett.
8. The future of broadcasting and the dwindling appeal of traditional linear TV
"The Melbourne Cup, the Olympics, the NFL; iconic sporting events and stalwarts of high value television. Yet in 2016 all delivered some of the lowest ratings ever recorded in a clear signal of the accelerating demise of traditional broadcasting, even as it stands as Australia’s dominant form of in-home entertainment," writes Accenture’s media and entertainment lead, Scott Dinsdale.
Scott Dinsdale
9. Why people-based marketing is the future of programmatic
"Education and upskilling to promote better understanding of the vast applications, measurable outcomes and full potential of this relatively new way of buying media is in order. It's important to understand the origin or programmatic, and where we are heading to next," writes Amnet ANZ national managing director Indy Khabra.
10. CMOs must confront media’s inconvenient truth
"I suspect that in a few years, P&G's Marc Pritchard’s speech, and his earlier call in January for the media community to clean up the digital supply chain, will be hailed as transformative and the needed jolt for marketing’s renaissance in business," writes former AANA boss Sunita Gloster.
Want more? See:
AdNews top 10 most read news stories of 2017
AdNews top 10 most read Industry Profiles of 2017
AdNews top 10 most read Young Guns of 2017
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
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