Columnist Andrew Ruegger believes that when it comes to what the future holds for paid search, programmatic could be key.

What is the future of paid search buying? Will the search engines or bid management platforms release an innovation that transforms how we buy? Will a new player emerge and totally revolutionize the search industry? When we look at the most sophisticated ways to buy, we’ll find some clues about what the future holds….

Technically savvy search marketers can be innovative with campaigns above and beyond what bid management platforms (BMPs) provide. They can expertly work in between the BMPs and UIs, using advanced practices such as AdWords scripting. This is great, and we may see more of this in the future.

However, the most sophisticated buying is done in a completely algorithmic fashion using in-memory computing systems with active API data transfer. The future of paid search marketing superiority will be determined by the amount of information used to model decision-making scenarios and the ability to purchase and adjust bids in an entirely programmatic way.

Yes, you read that correctly: in an entirely programmatic way. You’re probably thinking “no way,” and you’re not alone. The overwhelming feedback search marketers I speak with is, “No, that will never happen. Unlike programmatic display, search has a way more complicated auction with too many factors that computer programs can’t properly deal with.”

Although search is more complex than programmatic display in some ways, the search buying process follows rules — everything from selecting keywords to formatting accounts, to the ad copy you write. The remainder of this article will explain what it takes to execute search in an entirely algorithmic fashion, what the major barriers are, and what that world will look like for a search marketer