Header bidding has revolutionized programmatic advertising by allowing multiple demand sources to bid on ad inventory simultaneously, rather than sequentially as in traditional waterfall auctions. This competition results in higher CPMs, better ad quality, and greater control for publishers. 

Today, header bidding is an essential strategy for maximizing revenue and improving the user experience. 

In addition, the auction enables publishers to present their ad inventory to several SSPs, ad networks, and exchanges simultaneously before involving the ad server. This creates a more competitive and transparent auction, as demand sources bid in real-time for the same inventory.

But let’s dive headfirst into this bidding auction. All puns intended. 

How Header Bidding Works

Header bidding enables multiple advertisers to bid on a single ad impression simultaneously. This process begins when a user loads a webpage, triggering the header bidding script to send ad requests to various demand sources like Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs), Ad Exchanges, and Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs). Each demand source responds with a bid and ad creative in real-time, after which the highest bid is selected and displayed to the user.

The real-time bidding (RTB) process enables advertisers to bid on ad impressions within milliseconds, helping publishers secure the best price for their inventory while allowing advertisers to reach their target audiences effectively.

Behind-the-Scenes Mechanics

Header bidding operates on a system that involves creating HTTP requests, handling bid responses, and leveraging user data for efficient targeting.

HTTP Request Generation and Processing

When a user visits a webpage, the header bidding script sends HTTP requests to demand sources. These requests, typically formatted in JSON or XML, contain parameters such as ad unit size, placement ID, and user data. Demand sources process these requests and return bid responses with a bid amount and ad creative.

Pre-bid and Post-bid Phases

• Pre-bid Phase: The header bidding script sends bid requests to demand sources, collects bids, and runs an auction to determine the highest bid.
• Post-bid Phase: The winning bid is sent to the ad server. Ad Server then updates the winning bid in the analytics and displays the ad on the ad slot using its ad-serving logic.

The Role of User Data

The user data is part of the bidding process, allowing selection of certain audiences based on their characteristics: age, interests, and behavior. Through cookies and pixels, the bid of demand sources can be adjusted according to the relevancy and the revenue. However, acts like GDPR and CCPA permit data and personal information to be handled responsibly and only with permission, data anonymization.

Key Components of Header Bidding

1. Header Bidding Wrappers

Header bidding wrappers are JavaScript libraries that sit on publisher websites and enable them to connect with demand sources like SSPs, DSPs, Ad Networks, etc. They help in orchestrating the entire auction using the below steps.

• Manage the setup
• Bids collection
• Ads creative placement

Popular wrappers like Prebid.js and Amazon TAM are used to standardize and simplify the integration of multiple demand partners.

These wrappers streamline bid requests and ensure that all the demand sources can participate in the auction. By connecting all the demand sources wrappers improve transparency and competition in the auction process.

2. Ad Exchanges and Ad Networks

Nowadays in adtech, it’s hard to differentiate between Ad Exchanges, Ad Networks, DSPs, and SSPs as companies are doing all types of activities. Some differences in the process are still there. Ad Exchanges & Ad Networks aggregate demand and connect to supply.

• They connect various advertisers and DSPs.
• They aggregate the demand and help in facilitating real-time bidding b/w publishers and advertisers.
• The real-time bidding ensures everybody gets the benefits 
  • Advertisers get the best-performing slot for their ads. 
  • Publishers get the best rates for their ad slots.

Ad exchanges and ad networks work hand-in-hand with wrappers to process bids quickly and efficiently.

3. JavaScript Implementation

Header Bidding relies heavily on JavaScript implementation, it executes bid requests and collects responses within the user’s browser. It’s crucial to implement JavaScript to ensure maximum profit.

• Proper optimization of JavaScript ensures more demand sources can participate, maximizing revenue for publishers
• To ensure a seamless auction, enable faster page load time & reduce latency.

Each component of header bidding like wrappers, ad exchanges, and networks interacts through this JavaScript infrastructure, to drive efficient and competitive auctions.

Header Bidding Architectures

Header bidding can be implemented through two primary architectures: client-side and server-side.

Client-Side Header Bidding: In client-side header bidding, the bidding process happens within the user’s browser. It is executed by a JavaScript wrapper. It sends bid requests to demand partners, then collects bids, and auction the ad slot based on bids and predefined configuration using RTB. While this method provides transparency and control, it may cause latency and scalability issues, as multiple requests must be processed by the browser.

Server-Side Header Bidding: Provided the Client Side Header Bidding issues, server-side header bidding was introduced. It uses a server to perform the bidding. The browser sends one request to the server, which then handles bid requests to demand partners and returns the highest bid to the browser. This reduces latency and improves scalability but can reduce transparency and control over the bidding data.

Tools to Check Behind the Scenes of Header Bidding

Developer Tools

• Chrome DevTools: Chrome DevTools is a fundamental yet crucial tool for monitoring and troubleshooting header bidding processes. It allows tracking of bid requests and responses in the Network tab, identification of JavaScript errors in the Console tab, and performance analysis in the Performance tab.
• Requestly: A browser extension that simplifies ad operations troubleshooting. Requestly intercepts and modifies HTTP/HTTPS requests, allowing you to fix malfunctioning ads, simulate geo-targeted campaigns, and test custom ad experiences. It also supports testing Prebid.js configurations in staging environments to catch issues early.
• Charles Proxy: A desktop-based application that works similarly to Requestly. It can monitor and debug HTTP/HTTPS traffic. It includes features like bandwidth throttling, session recording, and request/response inspection.

Analytics and Reporting Tools

• Prebid Analytics Adapter: Built into Prebid.js, this tool sends auction data to analytics platforms and tracks key metrics such as bid responses and win rates. It helps publishers optimize their header bidding strategies in real time.
• Professor Prebid: A specialized tool for Prebid users, providing detailed insights into header bidding performance metrics like win rates and revenue impact.
• Google Ad Manager: Google Ad Manager is widely used by publishers for tracking ad performance, impression data, and auction outcomes, offering a comprehensive view of header bidding activities.

Maximizing Revenue Through Optimized Header Bidding Strategies

Header bidding is crucial when it comes to generating maximum revenue with the help of better ad placements. Knowing how it works, how to make it faster and more efficient, and which tools to use, ad ops professionals can reach its full potential. Staying updated on best practices will be key to maintaining a competitive edge in the evolving ad tech landscape.

The post Behind-The-Scenes of Header Bidding and How It Creates Better Ad Quality for Publishers appeared first on AdMonsters.

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024 was a whirlwind of innovation and insight, from the buzzing panels to the casual yet powerful conversations outside The Palais. While Elon Musk’s headline-grabbing interview drew a lot of attention, the ad tech discussions in the quieter corners truly stole the show. Publishers showcased their latest strategies to diversify revenue, leverage AI, and champion transparency in a rapidly evolving industry.

Amid the seaside backdrop and occasional gusts of wind that even interrupted a Yieldmo rooftop panel, industry heavyweights shared their visions for the future. From AI-enhanced campaign execution to the power of community-building, the sessions were rich with actionable insights and collaborative spirit. Let’s dive into how leading publishers are navigating these trends and setting the stage for what’s next.

AI and Human Governance: A Dynamic Duo

During a lively Yieldmo rooftop panel on the Evolution of AI in Ad Tech, participants faced an unexpected challenge: the wind. Yet, the show went on with Craig Miller from Amazon Web Services, Valerie Davis of Assembly Global, Jesh Sukhwani from Lenovo, and Yieldmo Co-Founder Teddy Jawde leading a robust discussion on generative AI. Sukhwani emphasized the irreplaceable role of human governance in AI implementation, noting, “AI is there to improve productivity and provide a more seamless decision-making process. It is not there to overtake and think for humans.”

Future Today: Leveraging Contextual Buying 

Future Today is making waves with its latest integration with IRIS.TV, allowing the publisher to contextualize its vast content library into various segments, like travel, food, and fitness. This move has standardized the process of contextual buying, making it easier for advertisers to target specific audiences. Co-founder Vikrant Mathur highlighted the importance of this integration for revenue growth, especially with the ongoing cookie deprecation bringing contextual advertising back into focus.  

“IRIS.TV is trying to standardize the process of contextually buying itself,” Mathur explained. “If I have a movie and another publisher has the same movie, sometimes how we pass information to the buy-side is not the same. IRIS.TV allows us to pass and receive signals in a way that makes sense to everybody, which is crucial for standardization.”

In the last quarter or so, revenue from leveraging IRIS-enabled private marketplace deals has been in the six figures for Future Today, and it’s growing. 

The Daily Mail: Dominating in the World of Video 

DMG Media’s Hannah Buitekant shared the company’s ambitious global video strategy, positioning video as the future of revenue diversification. As the leading video publisher on TikTok, with over 13 million followers and one billion monthly views, the Daily Mail combines creativity and tech to expand its video operations. Buitekant advised that authentic content tailored to each platform is crucial for success, emphasizing agility in content development across YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram Reels. According to Buitekant, managing director of digital at DMG Media, innovation within publishing is in the company’s DNA. 

“The video content needs to feel authentic to the platform it appears on, so take that into account when developing new offerings,” Buitekant said. “What works on YouTube may not work on TikTok or Reels, so publishers need to remain agile and amenable to quickly pivot and change formats when rolling out new content platforms.”  

Bloomberg Media: Innovating with Content

Bloomberg Media’s presence at Cannes was marked by discussions about women’s leadership and the power of AI in the C-Suite. Ashish Verma, Global Head of Bloomberg Media Studios, discussed the company’s focus on “content innovation,” combining data science and strategy to connect authentically with their audience. Verma pointed out that live journalism events and bespoke brand content are integral to their diversified media strategy.

“Bloomberg Media has been a heavily diversified media company for many years; one of our points of pride is content innovation, which means that our content is ours and on owned channels, but also social platforms and video distribution streaming services,” Verma explained. “We’ve had a robust live journalism events business for several years, and it plays a part in our diverse offering. In 2025, we will focus on continuing to expand the product offerings from Bloomberg Media Studios, which produces bespoke brand content and experience in a way that understands and connects with our audience — from print to audio and video.”

When asked about AI, Verma noted, “With the growth of AI, we are finding that business-to-business executives are seeing greater value in meeting to discuss key trends and do deals face-to-face and hearing from our journalists face-to-face. Cannes itself was in AI overdrive. Up and down the Croisette, every tech institution was talking about its tools (which were fantastic to play with).”

Mediavine: Don’t Sleep On The Power of a Strong Email Strategy

With the hype surrounding AI and a bunch of new strategies, tools, and technologies on the market, let’s not forget an area thats data rich and has  never steered us wrong: email. When we asked Eric Hochberger, co-founder and CEO of Mediavine, about how publishers can boost revenue these were his sentiments:

“As we reach the halfway point in 2024, it’s a critical time to have conversations with publishers on how they can better diversify their revenue and traffic sources for next year. One approach publishers should consider is a robust email strategy for audience connection and first-party data.

It’s key to reinforce the prioritization of human-made content industry-wide by implementing a framework for vetting mass-produced, undisclosed generative AI content. The most effective way to protect against a generative AI content takeover is by making sure bad actors aren’t incentivized to produce it. Not only because it’s essential for a free web but because it performs better for marketers. Looking ahead at 2025, this will have the biggest impact and wield the greatestcreative influence, boosting revenue for publishers and demonetizing low-quality generative AI content.” 

OpenWeb: Building Community for Revenue Diversification 

Max Weiss, OpenWeb’s Chief Strategy Officer, highlighted the importance of community in today’s media landscape. With AI search tools impacting traffic and cookie deprecation on the horizon, publishers are focusing on building loyal user bases. Weiss noted that a strong community amplifies every new revenue stream, and OpenWeb’s mission is to foster a thriving ecosystem for publishers and content creators. 

“The business model of today’s media industry is under threat. At Cannes, the conversation was about diversifying revenue streams to keep growing while AI-fueled search results impact traffic and cookie deprecation looms. So many publishers are renewing their focus on building a community of registered users — they know that every new revenue stream, every innovation, is amplified by a strong base of loyal users.”

On foreseeing the future of AI development, Weiss said, “While AI can help publishers drive efficiency and streamline processes, it also has the potential to eat into publishers’ traffic. Publishers must focus on lifetime value, loyalty, and community to grow in this new era. At OpenWeb, our mission has always been to create a thriving, healthy ecosystem for the open internet with publishers and content creators at the center.” 

Embracing Transparency: Publisher Panels Insights

Bridging the Gap: Control vs. Transparency in the Streaming and CTV Landscape 

At an OpenX panel, Rose McGovern, Head of Programmatic & Digital Ad Sales at DirecTV, stressed the importance of passing contextual signals to ensure audience targeting while complying with privacy regulations. The discussion also touched on innovative ad formats and the shift from cookies to persistent identifiers.

She elaborated on the importance of passing contextual signals, such as genre, rating, and network, rather than series-level data. This specificity ensures publishers can reach the right audience while remaining compliant with privacy regulations. Moving away from cookies towards more persistent identifiers like universal IDs was discussed to protect customers and enhance targeting accuracy.

Looking ahead, Rose expressed a desire for more innovative ad formats and the need to move beyond the traditional 15- and 30-second spots. She pointed out, “If we can’t run cool ad formats programmatically, then we are really lame. We must innovate and scale these formats to keep up with the evolving CTV landscape.”

Insights into the Evolving Open Internet Market

During a panel hosted by Ogury, Gabriel DeWitt, Head of Monetization at Yahoo, and Heather Carver, Chief Revenue Officer at Freestar, highlighted the complexities of ad monetization and the need for greener infrastructures. They emphasized collaboration in addressing issues like MFA sites and the importance of incrementality in ad formats.

As DeWitt pointed out, “Running ads for a publisher is very complicated and has become more complicated over time, so increasing numbers of publishers need help with their ads.”

Carver highlighted that SSPs must be more carbon-effective, and buyers should choose more efficient paths. Monetization challenges often lead publishers to create complex, wasteful bid request systems. She talked about the positive impact of collaboration in combating issues like MFA (Made-for-Advertising) sites, stating, “We should celebrate the content owners who are actually trying to create good consumer relationships and not just try to drain the money from buyers.”

Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at Raptive, noted that constrained caps require better tools to bring incremental demand, and better signals should judge the effectiveness of partners. When asked if there was something he’d like to see changed, Bannister responded, “Instead of open RTB, I think about close RTB. There are too many bad actors extracting value. I’d love to work out a way to restrict access to make it a more premium supply.”

The ROI of Openness: Enhancing Publisher Performance Through Transparency

Mike Racic, President of Prebid and Saiful Ahmed, SVP Ad Tech, Global Investment at OMG Global discussed fostering transparency and trust within the programmatic supply chain. They introduced new initiatives to combat ad fraud and enhance Supply Path Optimization (SPO), underscoring the need for standardized and transparent practices.

Racic highlighted the importance of transparent technology solutions. He emphasized Prebid’s commitment to solving publishers’ problems by connecting them to the marketplace transparently. He also announced that Prebid is working with Human to launch an initiative to combat ad fraud, which will be unveiled at their summit in October. “Everything we do is transparent,” he stated, underscoring Prebid’s approach to building trust through clear and open practices.

Ahmed introduced OMG’s Accountability Transparency Framework (ATF), which sets legally binding agreements to push transparency and protect the programmatic trading ecosystem.

He noted, “We give our clients full disclosure into media tech and data costs and domain-level reporting.”

Chen, Co-founder and CRO of RISE, discussed the role of data in SPO and why it’s important  for publishers to understand how SSPs and DSPs classify their inventory. He highlighted the need for transparency in inventory segmentation and value assessment.

All panelists concluded that we can’t dismiss MFA sites as bad without proper standardization and compliance. With transparency supported by clear industry-wide standards, we can address this ongoing issue.

Shaping the Future of Ad Tech

The Cannes Lions 2024 was a testament to the power of innovation and collaboration in the ad tech industry. From leveraging AI to building strong communities and embracing transparency, publishers are navigating a complex landscape with creativity and strategic foresight. As the industry evolves, these insights and strategies will be crucial in shaping the future of ad tech and media.

The post Power Moves: Publishers Unveil Cutting-Edge Revenue Strategies and AI Innovations at Cannes Lions 2024 appeared first on AdMonsters.

For example, in the digital advertising landscape, programmatic advertising has revolutionized how advertisements are bought and sold, using technology to automate the process and deliver targeted, data-driven campaigns. This has only been further compounded by the emergence of ‘Header Bidding,’ which offers a more streamlined and efficient way for publishers to monetize their inventory and for advertisers to reach their desired audience. 

A recent study showed that header bidding led to a 23% increase in fill rate and a 20% increase in average CPM. With these benefits and more, it’s no wonder why header bidding has become a popular and essential tool for publishers looking to maximize their monetization potential.

What Is Header Bidding and How Does It Work?

Header bidding, or pre-bid or advanced bidding, is a programmatic advertising technology. It is a real-time programmatic auction where multiple demand partners bid on a single impression. 

Header bidding allows publishers to offer their ad inventory to multiple SSPs (Supply-Side Platforms), ad networks, and ad exchanges to bid before sending the bid call to the ad server. This results in a more competitive and transparent bidding process, as demand sources compete against each other for the same inventory in real-time.

Behind the Scenes:

Header bidding works by incorporating a JavaScript code snippet into the header of the publisher’s website. So, when a user visits a page, this JS code sends out an ad call to all configured demand partners to bid on the available ad units. While the header auction happens, Google Publisher Tag is paused. Once the bids are received, they are sent to the ad server for the second auction round. Based on the configuration set by the publisher, the ad server filters out the winning bid and serves the creative on the user’s page. 

What’s interesting to note here is that all these auctions happen while the page loads on the user’s browser. And as soon as the page loads, the aim is to display the ads at the required places. 

Benefits of Header Bidding

Before header bidding, publishers and advertisers relied on the ‘Waterfall or Daisy-Chaining’ method to buy and sell media. In waterfall, a series of demand partners sent ad requests, each given a priority based on their past performance and the estimated value of the ad inventory. So, if a demand partner sitting at level 1 cannot fill the ad request, the bidding call will go to the next bidding partner sitting at level 2. The bid request will keep on moving down until it is sold off. 

As the bid request trickles down the hierarchy, it often results in a slow and inefficient process, with many ad impressions going unsold. Also, as the partners are arranged based on their past performances, it might happen that a bidder who is willing to bid more but is sitting at level 2 or 3 might never get a chance to bid. The method lacks transparency and limits the ability of publishers to earn maximum revenue.

Header bidding evolved as a replacement for the waterfall method and brought great relief to the users as it allowed:

1. Increased competition: Header bidding allows multiple demand sources to bid on the same inventory simultaneously, leading to increased competition and higher CPMs for publishers.
2. Improved transparency: It provides greater visibility into the bidding process, allowing publishers to understand the value of their inventory better and make informed decisions. 
3. Faster load times: Header bidding enables publishers to load bids from multiple demand sources in parallel, reducing latency and increasing the number of impressions served. The bidding happens during a fixed timeframe. 
4. Flexibility: It allows publishers to make real-time adjustments to bidding strategies, enabling them to optimize for specific inventory and respond quickly to changes in market conditions.
5. Better targeting: Header bidding provides more advanced targeting capabilities as publishers can share relevant data with the demand sources in real-time. This, in turn, allows advertisers to reach specific audience segments and helps publishers increase revenue by providing more personalized ad experiences to the users.

How to Set up Header Bidding?

Setting up header bidding can be complex, but it’s worth the effort. The first step involves the integration of a header bidding wrapper, a piece of JavaScript code that is placed in the header of a publisher’s website. The wrapper communicates with demand sources, allowing them to bid on inventory in real-time. Once the container is in place, publishers can integrate demand partners, such as ad exchanges, SSPs, and ad networks. They will also need to configure the settings to meet their specific needs.

Owing to the technical complexity of the setup, it’s always advisable to look out for a header bidding provider. A good header bidding provider will handle the setup, bring in good demand sources, and offer complete transparency. 

Wrapping up

The benefits of header bidding are numerous, and for publishers looking to maximize their revenue, it is an essential tool in their arsenal. By partnering with a trusted header bidding provider, publishers can access the latest technology, expert support, and valuable insights to help them achieve their revenue goals. 

With the right partner, the benefits of header bidding are endless, and publishers can rest assured that they are making the most of their ad inventory and reaching their target audience with the most effective and relevant advertising. 

The post How Can Publishers Boost Their Ad Revenue with Header Bidding? appeared first on AdMonsters.

Google’s incorporation of prebid is supposed to make ad ops easier by allowing publishers to manage their header bidding relationships through “yield groups.” This will enable publishers to identify some portion of their inventory for Open Bidders to target, and prebid bidders can now do the same.

Ad servers will no longer need to be filled with line items to heighten header bidding demand. Publishers and programmatic executives over at Bustle, AccuWeather, and Cafe Media are all currently testing out this new feature and seem to be in favor. 

This Google Ad Manager prebid link-up does help to eliminate some discrepancies.

“Currently, prebid rounds all the prices before submitting them to GAM, but in the new setup, GAM is reading the price from prebid before prebid has done any rounding,” said Patrick McCann, SVP of Research at CafeMedia and Chair Prebid.js. “You won’t see the rounding errors. You end up with a better auction outcome when people are bidding closely to each other thanks to the rounding effect in prebid.”

Will This Interrupt Pre Existing Header Bidding Set Ups?

It’s looking like it just might. Yesterday on LinkedIn, we saw ad tech vendors questioning CafeMedia’s CSO, Paul Bannister, after he posted about the “bridge to prebid.” 

“There is an existing setup with the orders and line items which publishers are efficiently running and is a proven model,” said Dikshant Joshi, Director of Publisher Development at AdPushup. “While this seems to be a promising tool introduced by Google, there is no proof the performance would be at par or better or less. Google mentions the setup of yield groups (an additional and different setup). Still, the experts in the industry would want to benchmark the performance of the header bidding yield groups before they make a complete move or stick with what they currently have.” 

Google also mentions an offering of a “NetworkMinimumBidToWin” metric that publishers can access via Data Transfer Files. Nonetheless, this is a paid feature with recurring costs, so you know what that means; many won’t be able to access it if they do not wish to pay. 

If “NetworkMinimumBidToWin” were a tool to help publishers and the ecosystem, we would have seen this as a part of standard metrics accessible through APIs and the query/reporting tool.

What Is the Future of Google Ad Manager and Header Bidding?

I have asked the Universe tons of times to provide me with a crystal ball, but until then, we will have to ride the wave to see how this pans out. When we spoke to Dikshant, he mentioned that ad tech is an ever-evolving space, and with this promising change, it will be interesting to see “the actual value it brings against the current set up.”

Although many publishers will have to change their ways of using GAM’s services, others can see the benefits.

“The timeline is easy to criticize since header bidding has had such widespread publisher adoption for so long, but this still feels like a step forward,” said Emry Downinghall, SVP Programmatic Revenue, and Strategy at Unwind Media. “Google publicly acknowledges that +90% of publishers use header bidding, and they are working to support that. If this provides mediation transparency and simplifies setup in GAM, publishers win.”

The post Will Google Ad Manager’s Link-up With Prebid Reinvent the Wheel? appeared first on AdMonsters.

Tom Levesque, VP, Product at OpenX, and Emry Downinghall, VP, Advertising at Chegg, sat with us to talk about Prebid as a unifying, open-source solution for Publishers and SSPs and why some companies are still reluctant to make the shift. 

In the earlier days of ad monetization, many publishers chose to overlook the page latency issues created by dropping ad code on the page because it drove significant yield for the business.

But as the demand for header bidding grew, many publishers were faced with a tough choice on how to manage it: Continue down their existing, proven (but sometimes flawed) path or find a new, more efficient solution that would continue to drive revenue.

From that need, PreBid was born solely to manage desktop display ads offering technology that was good, albeit somewhat limited.  

For Chegg, Prebid was simply a better option than their home-grown solution. 

But unlike Chegg, many organizations that are part of the programmatic ecosystem are still reluctant to get on board with Prebid. According to Downinghall, the disconnect may be due in part to the belief that it’s too difficult to implement.  

“As every publisher knows here, there’s a big cost of switching technology,” Downinghall said. “You have to test into it. You have to relearn from an engineering perspective – like how it fits, how it doesn’t fit.”

With Prebid offering access to people who Downinghall describes as “the savviest publishers” across the open exchange for driving monetization solutions centered around what’s best for the publisher, however, “difficult to implement” can be removed as an excuse not to use Prebid solutions.

Organizations that are already on board may also not be taking advantage of the full breadth of services that Prebid offers them. That’s because Prebid has now grown from display ad management to something far greater, including: 

• Prebid Mobile for iOS and Android
• Prebid Server which plugs into pretty much anything if you want server-side options
• Video and native accelerated mobile pages.
• Access to insights from thought leaders and the overall roadmap of the Prebid community.

The development plans don’t end there. The evolution of Prebid continues with the goal of expanding the breadth and depth of open-source monetization tools to include:

• UID2
• Standardizing taxonomy
• Helping publishers with single-sign-on technology
• Testing standards established by IV Tech Lab

“We’ve been increasingly fielding requests for Prebid,” said Levesque, “If you have a tool that you’re building for publishers that helps them in one way or another with their monetization and you think it’s important for that tool to be open source and community-driven, we have committees and working groups for [those initiatives].”

The post Prebid.org: The Braintrust of Open-Source Advertising Solutions appeared first on AdMonsters.

That would be a big mistake. 

There’s actually no time like the present for all of the cookieless alternatives to start stepping up to the plate and showing what they’re really made of, and for pubs to get to testing right away. 

Single Sign-On solutions are one such open web tool that’s gaining massive ad tech support. But one of the major barriers to any of these solutions reaching scale is consumer consent fatigue. 

In that vein, Criteo, Prebid, and other industry leaders have set out to help solve this issue through Prebid’s Project Management Committee (PMC) which is responsible for establishing, prioritizing, and building industry roadmap items.

The goal of this PMC is to align with industry leaders and create an open-source and interoperable single sign-on (SSO) solution, helping to reduce the friction between consumers and publishers in the cookieless future, while supporting logged-in and logged out scenarios. 

We spoke with Jordan Cauley, Director of Product at Mediavine, who co-chairs the SSO PMC (alongside Criteo Chief Product Officer, Todd Parsons) within Prebid about opportunities for pubs over the next year and a half and why Prebid is central to the open web’s future.

Lynne d Johnson: Mediavine has O&O sites and also helps thousands of publishers successfully monetize their sites as well. What opportunities are you seeing for publishers over the next 18 months and what do you think some of their biggest challenges will be?

Jordan Cauley: The next 18 months are going to be crucial for publishers. First, the great news: Demand has rebounded from lows during the pandemic and programmatic ad prices are surpassing pre-pandemic comparisons.

Also on the opportunistic side, we’re seeing advertisers begin to trust video from the Open Exchange almost as much as they’ve historically trusted deal IDs. Outstream video is becoming as trusted as instream. Mediavine is continuing to prioritize innovation of video products, which is why we’ve built our own instream and outstream video players. The SSO committee is working to build an open solution that will enable buyers to have enough scale to purchase open video inventory and empower publishers to tap into that demand through a more direct and consolidated way.

The biggest challenges publishers can expect over the next 18 months are the same, in my opinion, as the whole advertising ecosystem: addressability, frequency capping, and attribution. With the deprecation of the third-party cookie, we must provide alternatives to help publishers and advertisers better understand and serve their audiences. Solutions like contextual and first-party data will be key to addressing audiences accurately.

LdJ: Speaking of identity, you co-chair the Single Sign-On PMC within Prebid where stakeholders from all across the advertising ecosystem are working to bring an open-source SSO technology to market. Can you share why you see Prebid.Org as a valuable community and why you wanted to invest in taking a leadership role?

JC: The ad tech ecosystem contains unique stakeholders and pressures, so it’s important that ad tech companies at every corner of the market work cohesively through the complexities that come with the territory. A group like Prebid has a low barrier to entry and allows for vital industry collaboration. 

My goal for joining the SSO committee was to share the knowledge gained from Mediavine’s unique position in the industry. Because Mediavine operates across eight thousand domains, we have a valuable perspective of the problems facing the industry and are motivated to offer a seamless SSO solution to publishers.

More than two years ago we began developing our own SSO/proprietary toolkit, Grow.me, to help address the evolving industry landscape. In turn, I can use the feedback from our internal efforts to help guide the Prebid SSO project into a product supported by large and small publishers, owned-and-operated publishers, and publishers who have an outside company managing their identity solutions.

LdJ: As a global leader of Prebid.org you’re starting to test this new SSO, what are the greatest challenges you expect the SSO working group to solve?

JC: I think the greatest challenge the committee is helping address is to encourage collaboration. Traditionally, advertisers, DSPs, SSPs, publishers, and other players in the ecosystem have operated relatively independently. 

There’s a push toward vertical integration in this evolutionary time for the web. Groups like the SSO Committee and Prebid as a whole have to bring the disconnected parts of the ecosystem closer together and view the space more holistically.

The end solution aims to bring the entire ecosystem together to deliver better relationships between users, publishers, and advertisers with opt-in-based experiences for both content and advertising.

LdJ: There’s been a lot of interest developing around both authenticated and unauthenticated traffic for publishers. But initially, it seemed, the industry was primarily focused on authenticated traffic, where the user shared their email directly with the publisher. What are the key differences between the two experiences for users and their use cases?

JC: Authenticated traffic is traffic that the publisher has been able to verify by a reader logging into their site. A reader understands they have provided their email address and then verifies that email address in exchange for access to an exclusive feature or service. The partially anonymous ID or unauthenticated traffic asks less of readers and users. 

In this case, readers accept an agreement that doesn’t require them to supply their full email address or another piece of personally identifiable information (PII). Instead, it provides a cross-domain common identifier that can be used for many of the same cases as a third-party cookie, but with clearer controls in the hands of the users. 

A user with a semi-anonymous ID can manage some preferences for privacy, can be frequency capped as needed, or even retargeted in some cases. This creates opportunities to build trust in the relationship with a publisher, an advertiser, and ultimately with the proposed entity that is managing an SSO.

I believe the key is developing both options together and in doing so, creating a “good, better, best” mentality. “Good” being contextual signals, “better” being semi-anonymous traffic and “best” being fully authenticated traffic stemming from relationships with the users. This mentality can improve efficiency for advertisers and revenue for publishers without being dogmatic about an all-in strategy that is being actively combated by browser vendors and a public concerned with privacy on the web.

LdJ: And do you see a flow between authenticated and unauthenticated traffic? How will it work?

JC: I think the flow between fully authenticated and semi-anonymous traffic is going to depend very much on publishers and in many ways, advertisers. The committee is still working through the options on the table, but if a semi-anonymous ID user develops the trust to elevate to a fully authenticated relationship? There is a great deal of value in this flow, potentially improving things for all parties.

The post Can SSO Bring the Advertising Ecosystem Together? A Q&A With Mediavine’s Jordan Cauley appeared first on AdMonsters.

But whether it’s the ongoing identity disruption, the rise of streaming, or Apple’s power moves around mobile privacy, it’s safe to say that things have been a bit more chaotic than usual.

So we thought now would be a good time to check in on the state of Prebid with Tom Levesque, VP Product Management, OpenX, as we lead up to our upcoming event Revenue Strategy Session Vol 1 – Prebid, July 14, 2021. We talked about why publishers love Prebid, why they should experiment with Prebid Mobile and Prebid Video, as well as how Prebid can help prepare for the death of the third-party cookie.

Tameka Kee: Why do we need Prebid as an industry?

Tom Levesque: Publishers love Prebid because it’s open-source, trusted, and configurable. The days of “black box” publisher technology are ending; publishers want visibility and control over their technology stack, and especially any code that runs in their web pages and apps. Prebid gives them this control while also maximizing the value of their audience.

A community of more than 100 contributing member companies drives the development of Prebid through an organization called Prebid.org. New features — and entirely new products — are added regularly. In recent years, Prebid has expanded into mobile apps, server-side, native, video, and connected TV. That means publishers can apply Prebid to nearly any ad format or device.

Prebid has become a critical piece of publisher infrastructure, and it continues to be the best way for publishers to get top performance out of their SSP partners.

TK: Any advice for publishers on how they should be thinking about Prebid?

TL: If publishers like the gains they’ve seen with Prebid for banner ads on the web, they should consider experimenting with Prebid technology in other formats and channels.

Prebid Mobile, for example, is a pair of SDKs for iOS and Android that let publishers bring header bidding to their apps — while using Prebid Server to run the auction in the cloud.

Prebid Video brings header bidding to video of all types, whether in the browser, in a mobile application, or on a connected TV.

While open source technology can be a little bit scary for some publishers, Prebid in all of its forms is getting easier to use every day. There are fantastic resources available at Prebid Documentation— publishers can get started deploying these new Prebid products right away.

TK:  Where would you like to see Prebid go from here?

TL: I expect to see Prebid play an important role in helping publishers prepare for the death of the third-party cookie and other legacy identifiers. Prebid.org has task forces working on single sign-on and identity solutions, and it’s taking a leading role in projects like UID 2.0. There are nearly 30 identity modules in Prebid. (OpenX supports nearly all of them, by the way.)

Over the coming months, I think we’re going to see Prebid emerge as a testing ground for new identity and authentication solutions.

The post The Current (and Future) State of Prebid: A Q&A with OpenX’s Tom Levesque appeared first on AdMonsters.

A couple of weeks ago, we hosted a ThinkTank with AdPushup and a group of Monsters to discuss latency, UX, and their impact on revenue.  The conversation quickly evolved into how the cookie’s demise might affect latency, UX, and by extension, revenue.

AdPushup’s Director of Publisher Development, Dikshant Joshi, shared some great advice for publishers. So, I followed up with him to understand more about what he was thinking in terms of how pubs can best prepare for the cookie crackdown, whether there’ll be just one ID to rule them all, whether client-side header bidding will become obsolete, and where he sees the industry heading overall.

Lynne d Johnson: One key question that popped up during the recent Think Tank we hosted with you was: Given the demise of 3P cookies what can publishers do today to prepare for that fateful day? You seemed to have a lot of insight on that one. What are your thoughts?

Dikshant Joshi: We hear a lot about third-party cookies dying and the negative impact it will have on publishers, advertisers/marketers, and ad tech/martech companies. But we often forget that this is already happening on a small chunk of the internet. Safari and Firefox are already blocking third-party cookies with their technologies called ITP and ETP, respectively.

According to Statcounter, Safari’s market share is around 19.14% and for Firefox it’s around 3.76%. Given these browsers don’t support third-party cookies, this is a good testing ground for publishers to implement ID solutions and closely monitor the performance on both of those browsers to objectively decide the path forward with any particular solution. 

On these browsers, also monitor performance with respect to CPMs, coverage, and targeting types over the last couple of years to uncover trends that may have coincided with the launches of ITP and ETP. I would suggest not to panic when someone mentions the effects of the cookie’s demise. Ads will continue to be an important part of the ecosystem, but targeting accuracy will definitely take a hit, making it less relevant for users.

LdJ: But, fewer third-party calls will be good, right? Yet, I suppose there will be more calls for ID solutions. So that sounds like UX will have to dramatically change. What’s your thinking here?

DJ: Ad tech doesn’t want to give up on the ability to target users and hence we have numerous ID solutions popping up. Likewise, there are 20+ ID solutions listed on Prebid. This feels like nostalgia for the industry. I remember when header-bidding, as a concept, first entered and a lot of focus was on which wrapper solution would be the ultimate winner in the race. Numerous wrappers were competing and some malpractices were also noticed around this time. However, Prebid shined out in this crowd simply because it was open-source, transparent, secure, and supported by the top SSPs/Bidders, which ultimately boosted adoption. 

In the same way, the winning ID solution should be open source, transparent, and neutral (not owned by any of the parties in the ecosystem) with the ability to crack the supply (publisher adoption) and demand (SSPs/DSPs adoption). Overall, when the ID solutions are married with Consent Management Platforms, that’s when targeting problems for advertisers and publishers will be solved without negatively impacting user experience.

LdJ: I’ve heard some talk about the third-party cookie’s ending also meaning the end of client-side header bidding altogether. Do you have an opinion on this?

DJ: Client-side header bidding is open and transparent if compared to server-side solutions. Hence, it will continue to evolve over the years.

The mass adoption of Prebid.js is made possible by the support from the community. With the recent announcement that Unified ID 2.0 will be operated by Prebid, bringing unparalleled support to it. However, I have my doubts that its current shape and form (i.e. hashing email addresses) might not be the best way forward. But with the affiliation of Prebid, it may evolve into the go-to solution for publishers. On the other hand, Shared ID could be a community-owned solution that could solve for this and provide better segmentation and targeting. 

LdJ: Overall, where do you see the industry heading with respect to the demise of the cookie, advertiser targeting, and publisher CPMs?

DJ: I wish there was a straightforward answer to this. I see this as a complex problem that requires a multifaceted solution. The digital industry will continue to boom, but ad targeting will massively evolve. In the short term, retargeting may decrease as it is heavily reliant on third-party cookies and we will see a return of contextual advertising. 

Of all players, I believe Google will continue to thrive in terms of targeting capabilities. They recently shared more details about their Federated Learning of Cohorts (FLoC) proposal coming out of the Privacy Sandbox initiative. It states that their tech will match at least 95% of the conversions per dollar spent when compared to cookie-based advertising.

This should solve the problem for advertisers on Google Display Network. It will be interesting to see how they solve the problem of retargeting for those advertisers. Meanwhile, in the case of Prebid, an open, transparent, and industry-adopted ID solution could lead the way—Shared ID and Unified ID being my favorites. The importance of first-party data for publishers and marketers will rise where large companies will continue to invest in these strategies and the smaller players will look to work with technology giants like Google for solutions. 

The post The Future of Advertising Should Be Open Sourced appeared first on AdMonsters.

We decided now was a perfect time to survey publishers to understand their current header (and Open Bidding) setups while seeing what they were plotting for an ambiguous future. We asked 35 publishers of various sizes and content verticals to fill out an intense questionnaire, and the results were extremely illuminating.

Enter your email to download your copy below!

This playbook, created in partnership with GeoEdge, will dive into the results of our survey, highlighting trends, challenges, and solutions. 

The post AdMonsters Playbook: Evolution of the Header appeared first on AdMonsters.

Through the magic of technology (cough, Zoom, cough), we ran an experiment where we took this concept virtual. The results seemed to be a success—three publisher revenue specialists led discussions on getting started with Google Data Studio; workflow hacks; and programmatic video. We thought we’d share some of the learnings that came out of these workshops.

Fresh Look at Programmatic Video (led by Gwen Vito, Digital Advertising Strategist at WTOP/Federal News Network)

• While two of the best known video ad servers out there are GAM and FreeWheel, attendees mentioned that both Playwire and SpringServe are great options especially for resource-starved publishers. The consultative and extra tech help go a long way for small teams.
• A few attendees mentioned that the move to PreBid for video from the waterfall delivered a dip in performance. Some partners would improve fill and CPMs, but others languished. However, no one was willing to give up on the tech—not just because integration had taken a lot of work! These challenges were seen as growing pains, and ultimately worthwhile to power through.
• Timeouts in programmatic video can be difficult, especially if a player isn’t the first thing a page loads. Work with your partners to adjust them and experiment with pushing them out further to give your player some breathing room.
• Pandemic-era fill rates for programmatic video are not pretty—they’re lower than anybody wants to talk about. And the trouble is, there don’t seem to be any clear cut best practices for pushing them up. There are things not to do—mainly, lowering floors to boost fill. This is not display—you’re not risking some low-quality ads showing up. Instead, fill rates stay the same while… CPMs drop. Yikes.

Reporting Mojo With Google Data Studio (led by Clay Berish, Advertising Operations Manager at Gannett Media)

• Amazing that there is a free tool to help create dashboards. It takes only a few clicks to connect up Google Ad Manager 360, Google Analytics and other Google products. For other data sources, there are connectors. Some people pull in their Order Management System Data.
• The session talked through making these tools available to sales and marketing, helping automate report requests made of ad operations. Clay spoke to how providing these reports in this way really shows the value of Ad Operations as a resource. Clay also uses Data Studio for his own team.
• It doesn’t do everything some had chosen other solutions, but it looks like for a lot of publishers, the price can’t be beat.

Workflow Hacks (Led by Paul Cook, Director of Ad Operations and Systems Support at Trader Interactive)

• There are many parts of the ad ops workflow that can be put together without relying on big, expensive Order Management Systems, especially if you don’t have the resources or your setup isn’t that complex. Still, many folks are working with vendors like Cloudsense, Placements.io and Operative.
• If you have products that are repetitive to set up and scalable, you can create free order management by using Google Forms & Sheets as a workflow.
• Key value pair daily reporting is an easy way to keep a pulse on your systems. Again, using a Google Sheet hack instead of a vendor. But, you can do similar reporting with a vendor like Qliksense and even use it for managing teams by tracking how many work orders people are working on.
• One size does not fit all. Not everything is meant to be hacked. Sometimes it’s best to let the professionals do their thing.

We had a great time hosting these workshops—and learning a lot ourselves! We hope to do more community-building stuff like this in the near future, but we also suggest you join your peers at events like our webinar on personalization (with a focus on browser push notifications) on June 18. See you all soon, and stay safe!

The post Virtual Workshops With Real-World Takeaways appeared first on AdMonsters.