Gartner said blockchain for advertising holds tremendous promise, but must first overcome significant challenges with scalability, performance and adoption. Dozens of companies have used experimental blockchain platforms for advertising, but none have been able to demonstrate ongoing viability.

How much of your job can you do without having access to unencrypted data? For example, in the marketing research space, there are vendors for survey respondents, reporting tools and survey platforms that operate as intermediaries between the consumer/research participant and the research organization (a brand or agency). This service can actually be provided without having direct access to any unencrypted data, and without drawing from a centralized database. This is analogous to apps like WhatsApp where end-to-end encryption is utilized to ensure secure communication. Any entity that potentially handles any sensitive data, including user and health data, can benefit from employing these techniques to ensure data is protected and unnecessary liability is avoided. Fortunately, along with the interest in blockchain and bitcoin technologies, we’ve seen considerable advancement in cryptographic techniques which enable new opportunities for secure communication.

But there might be a solution on the horizon. Blockchain-based ads could eliminate fraud and substantially streamline the ad industry. Plus, a decentralized ad option would level the playing field for marketers and enable smaller organizations to compete with digital giants. But marketers beware — some blockchain solutions might expose new vulnerabilities to large-scale exploits. 
Blockchain is just one of the innovative technologies included in the 2019 Gartner Hype Cycle for Digital Marketing and Advertising that marketers should focus on to drive real value.