As header bidding has caught on, publishers just can’t get enough of that demand and revenue from header partners. But so far, a lot of pubs have hit a certain ceiling in header regardless. It takes time and effort to integrate header partners in-house. Integrating a wrapper solution can help shore up some free time for the in-house team, but a wrapper won’t necessarily be an end-to-end cure for all header growing pains. Realistically speaking, the lion’s share of pubs have limits to the number of header partners they’re able to support right now.
However, as header technology matures and more companies get into the header space, it appears the limitations to partner integrations are loosening. And as the barrier for entry drops, publishers are going to have to look closely at not just the volume of demand potential header partners are bringing, but the kind of demand. Chegg VP of Advertising Emry DowningHall explains those looming issues in this video. As it stands, he says, each of the major players operating in header right now is able to deliver at least some demand that’s more or less unique to its platform.
As more players enter, it’s likely publishers are going to have a harder time sussing out who’s bringing demand they’re not seeing from some existing partner. Emry questions whether we soon might see more recycled demand or arbitrage coming into the header—demand that doesn’t help a publisher’s bottom line. Give this a watch to hear what he has to say about the potential demand issues pubs might have to look out for as header heats up.
You can check out the full 15-part series of header-related video interviews that AdMonsters developed in conjunction with Index Exchange in a YouTube playlist.