| dc.description.abstract | The online advertising market in Norway is dominated by big players such as Facebook and Google. In this thesis, we explore this situation and the challenges of the Norwegian advertising industry in the online advertising market and suggest how to strengthen the position of the Norwegian actors. This is done by (1) exploring how online advertising works and the challenges faced by the Norwegian industry. With the use of a conceptual framework of digital innovation, software-based platforms, and value networks, this thesis (2) looks at how the challenges can be met and (3) generalize our findings to propose a set of software design guidelines. The scope of this thesis is the online advertising industry in Norway. A qualitative case study on the online advertising industry was conducted through studying a project led by a Norwegian startup established within the field of programmatic advertising. The data were collected through document analysis, interviews, observation of a workshop, and continuous discussions with the project lead from the startup. The results show that a prominent challenge faced by the Norwegian online advertising industry is the dominant role of big international players. This has two primary implications; (1) that small Norwegian companies struggle to compete and (2) big actors become the preferred choice because they possess a superior amount of data. Through a theoretical framework of value creation, this thesis explores how a software solution could increase the competitiveness for local software providers in the Norwegian advertising market. Furthermore, the study shows that success for a potential solution is tightly coupled to its ability to bootstrap itself. This thesis contributes by, first creating a clear description and overview of the online advertising industry in Norway and how this relates to online information privacy. This target those looking for insight into the practices of the online advertising. Secondly, we describe how the challenges in the Norwegian advertising industry can be met through the lens of digital innovation, aimed at IT professionals in the industry. Lastly, we propose a set of design guidelines to maximize the attraction for a software service, aimed at designers of software services in online advertising looking to increase the attraction of a software service. | eng |