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 “COOL” Company isn’t just a name; it’s a way of being. 

The new ad tech company, formed when Insticator recently acquired ADventori, seeks to mend the fractured ecosystem. Founded on the principles of creating a better experience for everyone, their comprehensive suite of solutions is tailored for every sector. Unfortunately, dissatisfaction is everywhere you look in our industry, but the COOL company aims to change all of that.

• Advertisers are unhappy with the results and the lack of transparency in their spending. 
• Publishers are frustrated with their ad revenue and how to maximize it.
• Agencies struggle to show results and find effective d channels for their clients.
• Franchise and other network businesses are frustrated by the gap between national branding and local ad execution.
• Worst of all, users are dissatisfied with the number and quality of ads they see. 

The ad tech ecosystem is in shambles, filled with too many competing interests, technology limitations, and outdated thinking. The COOL company is tackling this by serving each audience individually while uniting their ideas and tech for a rewarding experience for everyone.

The ADventori acquisition will boost personalization and improve user and advertiser experiences. The ADventori Dynamic Creative (DCO) platform helps brands align ad placements with their specific goals, allowing them to reach consumers effectively.

According to CEO and founder Zack Dugow (C.O.O.L.) stands for:

• CREATIVE: Respecting great ideas from everyone. 
• OPTIMISTIC: Solving daunting challenges with a positive attitude. 
• OPEN MIND: Welcoming innovative concepts and diversity.
• LEADERS: Tackling industry complications head-on.

We spoke to Zack about The COOL Company’s future and their plans to bridge the gap. Here’s what he had to say.

Impact on Publishers, Advertisers, and Agencies

Yakira Young: How will the ADventori acquisition enhance your capabilities in integrating advertisers, agencies, data, and publishers?

Zack Dugow: Our SSP, Balihoo.com, and COOLmedia.co business units benefit directly from integrating the ADventori technology into the stack, along with the customer cross-sell opportunities that are already underway. ADventori works with some amazing publishers and brands, including Disney, Airfrance, Hyundai, and many others, to which we can now offer other solutions. 

When looking at other DCO solutions in market, they seem very expensive for the value they drive. ADventori has a DCO platform built to serve the right ad to the right person at the right time with the most compelling content and format. Their ads, frankly, just work better. That’s a boon for publishers who live and die by ad engagement, advertisers who just want meaningful results, brands and partners who want to know that their investments pay off, and users who just want to enjoy the web and see relevant, helpful, attractive ads. 

Everyone wins with ADventori. It helps us because it allows us to better serve our clients in all of those roles – everyone gets a better experience through more personal advertising.

Users will see the right ad, with the right content/offer, at the right time, exactly according to the branding guidelines. That helps advertisers achieve better outcomes and return on their investment, and agencies gain greater insights into what works and how to leverage dynamic messaging to serve their clients. 

They can also expect innovation across our entire business, as the DNA of ADventori mixes with that of Insticator, OKO Digital, COOL Media, and Balihoo to foster innovative new ideas. Our publishers benefit from our direct relationships with these big advertisers, and our advertisers benefit from a more direct path to the publishers they serve on as well.  

YY: How do you plan to streamline operations and improve efficiency for your partners through this integration?

ZD: The ADventori technology platform removes the need to create specific ads to suit specific variables, instead drawing off a library of content to dynamically generate just the right ad for precisely the right moment.  That will benefit our partners as we broaden the reach of this technology throughout the US, Australia and the rest of our global operations.  

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We have already identified how many of our team members can help each other cross-functionally and are implementing that cross-functional benefit. It’s early in this union, but we have some exciting ideas on how the crossover of ADventori technology into the COOL company will create amazing results for our partners.

YY: How do you plan to leverage Adventori’s technology to enhance your offerings?

ZD: Our SSP will massively benefit from being able to cut out more middlemen and serve dynamic creatives and formats. We can expand upon our growth in COOL media and Balihoo by having our own DCO solution that more directly integrates with our technology.  

The great benefit of the COOL company is that we have business units dedicated to every element of the modern advertising ecosystem. For example, Insticator has always recognized that users’ experience matters; the more you engage and allow them to participate on your site, the longer they stick around and the more they return. That engagement has to be monetized for the publisher, which (typically) happens through ads. 

ADventori ads perform better thanks to their dynamic content targeting, which makes it easier for publishers to accrue revenue. Meanwhile, franchise businesses try to deliver a consistent national message, but ads are executed/paid for on a local level. ADventori can deliver franchise ads dynamically adjusted to a specific location while reflecting the consistent national brand in a virtual instant. Those are just a few examples of how our partners across the entire spectrum benefit from ADventori integration.

Challenges and Opportunities 

YY: What challenges do you anticipate in the integration process, and how do you plan to address them?

ZD: Obviously, with the immense benefit of a global team come the challenges of time zones, different cultural norms, communication styles, and more. So, it would be naive to think that integration will be easy. However, we carefully partner with people as we build the COOL company.  

Our hires, acquisitions, partnerships, and clients are selected based on compatibility with our values. I can tell you that Pierre-Antoine, Matt, and the entire ADventori team are COOL, so I’m confident we can overcome any hurdles.

YY: What new opportunities do you foresee emerging from this acquisition for your company and the industry?

ZD: There are too many to mention, but as an example, think about what might seem like an outlier in the COOL company, namely Balihoo. Balihoo bridges the gap in franchise and brand network businesses by ensuring collaboration among the national brand and individual locations and the performance of each location in the network.  

I can see the ADventori platform being used to create a level of consistent, compelling, locally personalized, and high-performing ads for franchise networks. Or, as I mentioned before, elevate the performance of engaging users on publishers’ sites serviced by Insticator.  It’s a perfect fit, so the opportunities are limitless – and every opportunity is for the industry and our partners, which will benefit us simply by serving them better and creating that better experience for everyone.

Client and Partner Relationships

YY: How have your clients and partners reacted to the news of this acquisition?

ZD: Honestly, it’s been a pretty well-kept secret to this point, so it’s early to comment.  However, we’ve certainly socialized the ‘concept’ of adding a DCO company to our ecosystem, and the response has been overwhelmingly positive.  

Everyone gets it. Advertising connects brands to users but we as an industry execute it through agencies, publishers, and more. No party in that experience doesn’t see the benefit in more dynamic, precise, and effective ads.

YY: What steps are you taking to ensure a smooth transition and continued strong relationships with your existing clients and partners?

ZD: Simple…We won’t; we don’t, RUSH. We’re keeping all of our team members. We hope our existing clients and partners are excited about this addition, but we won’t take action until we can guarantee our ability to implement, scale, and meet the high service standards we’ve set since our inception.  

The biggest thing we’re doing is being cautious, perhaps even a bit ‘slow’; we need to make sure that we don’t bombard ADventori in a way that disrupts their relationships. We want ADventori clients to feel good about this, and that wouldn’t be served by creating a distraction that in any way impacts their experience. So, our first step is to add the resources of the COOL company to ADventori’s disposal.

Team Integration

YY: What cultural or operational changes do you anticipate, and how will you manage them?

Our entire philosophy and existing business respect differences and diversity. We already have teams positioned quite literally ‘around the globe’. We will manage this the same way we did when adopting what is now COOL Media, a company operating in Australia, 14 hours ahead of my most frequent time zone on the East Coast of the US. We respect their clocks, holidays, work/life balance, and their cultural norms. That’s all part of being COOL, decent, empathetic, and human. 

As for operational changes, we don’t want to disrupt anything that’s already working, so our focus is layering in the collaboration at first without disrupting ADventori’s (or our) operations.

Future Plans

YY: Can you share any plans for future technological advancements or innovations resulting from this acquisition?

ZD: It’s still early in our union to get specific, but we have plenty of ideas across our different business units for how the core benefits of ADventori’s advanced DCO platform can inspire innovations across our entire family of solutions. 

I can confidently say that the most profound innovations are almost certainly in areas I’m not currently thinking about. That’s the great part of a global team spanning Europe, Australia, the US, South America, and beyond. Great ideas come from collaboration without borders, and I’m incredibly excited because the ADventori team is COOL and will no doubt spawn great conversations and collaboration. Stay tuned.

YY: What are your primary focus areas for the next 12-18 months following this acquisition?

ZD: Our customers, clients, and partners. We’re big believers in the idea that if you do the right thing by those you serve, the rest takes care of itself. Our one and only focus remains on clients and partners and building the best possible experience for everyone. That may sound evasive or obtuse, but it’s the reality.  

Closing Thoughts

YY: Is there anything else you’d like to share about this acquisition or the future of The COOL Company?

ZD: We’re not done; we’re never done. No matter how many advancements we make toward creating a better experience for everyone in the advertising ecosystem, change will come. Changes in technology, economics, user preferences, etc. Our job is to stay ahead of those changes and continue to adapt. 

I just want our customers and partners to know that we are in this for the long haul and commit ourselves to adapting to serve them throughout whatever comes next. Our industry goes through a massive overhaul every two years, and the companies that win are always preparing for change. 

We hope to be the one partner that isn’t solving a single niche problem or providing a single, siloed service. We have visibility into the entire ad landscape and a dedicated business unit serving every stakeholder – which sets us apart.  

I don’t think it takes a genius to understand our mission and values.

YY: How can stakeholders stay informed about developments and progress as the integration progresses?

ZD: We are active on social media, and you’ll see more from the COOL company on LinkedIn and other platforms. We believe in meeting our partners where they want to meet, which means they engage with whichever COOL company directly intersects their role and connect across all our social, websites, blogs, and directly with their sales/account manager. 

Publishers are naturally served by Insticator and OKO, COOL Media services Agencies, Franchises by Balihoo, Advertisers by ADventori, etc. 

The post Transforming Ad Tech: An Exclusive Chat with The COOL Company’s CEO Zack Dugow appeared first on AdMonsters.

As Aditude integrates CPMStar’s assets and expertise, particularly its impressive reach of over 800 million monthly active users, this acquisition not only marks a significant expansion for the ad tech player but also signals a strategic shift in their approach to publisher monetization and advertiser relationships.

The union of Aditude’s ad ops technology prowess with CPMStar’s dominant position in the gaming world presents an intriguing blend of capabilities and market opportunities.

Occurring in the wake of Aditude’s $15M Series A funding in 2023, the move is a telling sign of the company’s ambition and strategic direction. In a candid conversation, Josh Schenker, Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Aditude, shares insights on this acquisition, its impact on Aditude’s trajectory, and the future of ad tech.

Lynne d Johnson: Josh, it’s evident Aditude is making significant moves in the ad tech world. Can you shed light on the recent acquisition of CPMStar?

Josh Schenker: Absolutely! The acquisition of CPMStar, finalized in the past few weeks, came together over the last few months. This move allows us to diversify and enhance the Aditude ecosystem, especially our ad ops technology business, and adds direct sales capabilities along with an owned and operated bidder. This marks a strategic shift from our traditional focus on ad ops technology.

LdJ: With the ad industry’s shift due to the demise of the third-party cookie, how crucial is direct sales to Aditude’s strategy?

JS: Even before the cookie concerns, direct sales have always been vital for us and providing more value to our customers. With programmatic advertising, achieving a near-100% fill rate is efficient, but direct campaigns tend to outperform programmatic in terms of yield. The cookie changes make direct sales increasingly important, helping connect advertisers with specific audiences.

LdJ: How did Aditude and CPMStar determine you were a good match for each other? 

JS: Following our Series A funding in August, we had a strategy to make some key moves with strategic acquistions. CPMStar emerged as an exciting prospect around late Q3 or early Q4. After initial conversations, we delved deeper around November or December, culminating in a few month process involving due diligence and legal aspects.

LdJ: Integrating CPMStar’s team with Aditude – what’s the game plan here and how does it look for Aditude’s future?

JS: We’ve onboarded eight team members from CPMStar, including six in sales, adding a new dimension to Aditude. The integration of two of their engineers helps us both in merging CPMStar’s technology and in enhancing what we’ve built at Aditude. Their direct sales experience, which we previously lacked, will be invaluable.

LdJ: Gaming is a distinct focus for CPMStar. How does this sector resonate with Aditude’s vision?

JS: While we’ve been successful with gaming clients, our interest isn’t limited to gaming. CPMStar provides a foundation in gaming, which we plan to leverage and expand into other verticals where Aditude has strong footholds, like lifestyle/entertainment, sports, and news.

LdJ: In terms of Aditude’s growth strategy, are more mergers and acquisitions on the horizon?

JS: Our M&A strategy is two-fold: to deepen our expertise in existing areas and to explore new products and services for publishers. We’re looking to build a comprehensive suite for publisher monetization and will be opportunistic in adding pieces to enhance our offerings. You’ll have to stay tuned for what’s next at Aditude!

LdJ: As digital media and ad tech evolve, how does Aditude plan to differentiate itself?

JS: Our focus is on providing end-to-end solutions and flexibility, offering publishers a menu of options tailored to their specific needs. Whether it’s our wrapper technology, flooring product, or full-demand management, we can adapt to different preferences and enhance publishers’ monetization strategies in various ways and also cater to diverse publisher needs.

The post Aditude Amplifies Publisher Monetization with CPMStar Acquisition appeared first on AdMonsters.

In early December, the ANA published its Programmatic Media Supply Chain Transparency Study.

It is a massive undertaking, as the researchers parsed the log-level data of 21 prominent advertisers to track the entire journey of their investments in the open web. Those campaigns represented $88 billion. 

Two years in the making, the study was conducted with TAG TrustNet. Here are some of the key findings.

The Average Campaign Spans 44,000 Websites

The report hypothesizes that the “long tail” of the web presents risks to advertisers, as those sites add minimal reach, and likely underperform in the quality metrics, including 12% lower viewability rates and 100% more invalid traffic (IVT) and brand safety.

Market Made for Advertising Sites Account for 21% of Impressions Purchased

Additionally, the study found that display ads account for 56% of media spend on MFA websites, and video accounts for 44%. 

What’s more, the study found a huge variation between SSPs in terms of the percentage of media spend from MFA websites on their platforms. For some, it’s as low as 1% while for others it’s as high as 70%. Clearly, some SSPs have strict policies when it comes to accepting MFA websites as clients, while others are far more permissive.

Private Deals are Not Exempt from MFA Spending

For many marketers, private deals and curated marketplaces are a safe haven from MFA sites. According to the report, that’s a false sense of security.

“MFA supply is growing. It represented approximately 5 percent of web auctions in early 2020 and grew to nearly 30 percent of all web auctions by mid-2023.”

PMPs range in the number of domains that participate in them. According to the study, the fewer the sites, the higher the quality.

Direct Supply Chain Contracts Can Increase Transparency and Efficiencies, Reduce Waste

Brands frequently lack an understanding of what data they legally have access to. The report recommends that marketers own their own access to the DSP so that they gain more control over their media investments, greater transparency, easier access to campaign data, and increase their own education and awareness around best campaign setup and configuration.

Advertisers Use Too Many SSPs, Which Makes Accountability Difficult

The average advertiser uses 19 SSPs, while some use as many as 53.

Not all SSPs offer the same level of transparency (e.g. only 19 of the 25 top SSPs offer log-level data). The report recommends that advertisers develop an SSP optimization strategy to hold them more accountable.

Information Asymmetry Puts Marketers at a Disadvantage

Information asymmetry — aka the imbalance in the nature and quality of information possessed by different parties in a transaction — is a serious issue for marketers.  Sellers typically have more or better information than buyers about the quality of media inventory being sold in auctions.

Misaligned Incentives: Advertisers Prioritize Cost Over Value

According to the study, advertisers focus too much on lowering the costs of the campaign, favoring cheaper inventory over more costly but higher-quality impressions. Are we surprised that the focus on costs leads to high ad spending with MFA sites?

Campaign Goals Misaligned with Campaign Metrics

Goals of marketing campaigns are often about driving metrics such as awareness, brand lift and conversion as well as return on ad spend (ROAS), and yet reach and CPM metrics rank higher than those goals.

Focusing on Quality Will Lead to a 20% in Ad Spend Productivity

The study revealed that if advertisers can measure and price inventory based on its quality, they can achieve an approximate 20% increase in ad spend productivity (range of 14 to 25 percent).

That, in turn, provides an opportunity for marketers to allocate +$20bn in programmatic investments more efficiently. 

Download the Report

The report is well worth downloading and reading in full, as most of it is a detailed playbook for advertisers to follow to optimize their programmatic expenditures to drive better results.

The post The $20 Billion Efficiency Opportunity for Marketers appeared first on AdMonsters.

In many industries, collaboration between partners is key to continued success of all players, and the digital media and ad tech industry is no exception. Publishers, SSPs, and DSPs need to work together to ensure all parties get what they need from one another. However, publishers often lament the lack of transparency and the slow evolution of SSPs. 

At PubForum New Orleans, AdMonsters’ Content Director, Lynne d Johnson facilitated a panel discussion to unpack this complicated topic. Panel speakers included Samuel Youn, Vice President of Programmatic, Chegg; Nick Coté, Senior Director, Supply, Madhive; and Peter Cunha, Managing Director, Ad Management, Sovrn.

SSPs Cater to Buyers Rather Than Publishers 

Publishers have expressed a desire for more SSP transparency, differentiation, and granular reporting among other things, and Cunha noted an evolution is beginning. 

“Changes started happening around the same time we started focusing a lot on the buy side, as a shift in where a lot of our engineering focus and investment went. I think we’re starting to see a lot of differentiation now in the SSP tier, and people making some interesting bets,” he shared. 

Part of this shift is due to where the money is coming from, noted Youn. SSPs make money by taking a rev share of the media sold on a publisher’s site but don’t have a say in where the money is spent. 

This means the control they have lies solely in trying to capture more of the proverbial pie, leading SSPs to prioritize buyers over publishers, and decreasing the incentive to evolve. 

“If I put myself in an SSP’s shoes. if I could build something with a finite amount of resources to get more budget from a buyer rather than get a publisher to say, ‘I really liked working with you,’ I would focus on the buy side,” Youn added. 

Changing the SSP/Publisher Relationship 

The question, says Coté, is how to build solutions that support the buy side and offer them insight into what they are buying. Then it becomes a question of where we can drive real value. 

“There needs to be a better way to communicate what buyers are looking for, and how things are performing. This information can be fed back to publishers, so they can understand how traffic is doing and where improvements can be made,” he proposed.

For example, if a publisher knew they were consistently coming in at only $1 under the floor price during auction, they could adjust their floor to garner more traffic. This could help publishers reach a larger audience and increase their revenue. 

Cunha shared that in April Sovrn eliminated its exchange rev share across all managed services. As of November, the company released a case study revealing this change drove increased efficiency for buyers and higher yields for publishers. This, he said, is the type of partnership Sovrn is pursuing for the future. 

“This was a recommendation from the steering committee we launched late last year, in pursuit of an alternative revenue model for SSPs to something that was more of a SaaS model. We charged Ad Management publishers a SaaS fee on a per-impression basis, eliminating the rev share. We saw more spend bias toward the Sovrn exchange path, now second only to AdX within that stack of 66 different SSPs. We also saw the publishers’ share of the media dollar increase by 16 percent,” Cunha explained. 

Innovating the Industry: Moving Toward a SaaS Model

Youn agreed that a SaaS model is preferable to how auctions typically run today where an SSP’s incentive is to look like a performance platform for a DSP. For the publisher, a Saas model…

• Provides a clearer view of how much of the media budget from a DSP is actually getting to the publisher
• Allows the publisher to assess SSPs based on contractual deliverables and SLAs rather than just where they rank in the publisher’s stack
• Provides budget clarity for the publisher as they have to pay for and budget for the SSP services rather than it just coming out of revenue share

Rather than focusing on getting the cheapest inventory, SaaS models help SSPs and publishers both understand the true value of inventory. It can also allow publishers to request specific deliverables from their partner SSPs, which will consolidate the space and lead to fewer, but higher-quality, partnerships. 

“Piggybacking off of that, on the DSP side, it’s the amount of bid requests we see where the floor pass to us for the same publisher is totally different between ten to twelve different names, and being able to leverage a SaaS business model to identify, ‘What is the source of truth here? Where is the actual price point? Who is running a dynamic rev share, who’s padding by a couple bucks on top of whatever they’re intending on selling it for?’” added Coté.

There is a chance to make a difference in the space and do things a new way, Cunha shared. “The opportunity here is innovating in a space that hasn’t really had that level of innovation in a long time. We’ve been so accustomed to rev shares after rev shares. That’s table stakes, but there’s an opportunity to differentiate from the gorillas in that sense,” he said. 

For SSPs to fulfill their purpose — offering value to publishers — they need to work in conjunction with publishers to find a solution that creates true partnerships. A rising tide truly lifts all boats; if all sides (SSPs, publishers, and buyers) work together on a solution, everyone can win.

The post Publishers Seek Strategic Partnerships With SSPs: Is a SaaS Model the Answer? appeared first on AdMonsters.

The digital ad graveyard welcomed a new occupant and sent shockwaves through the digital advertising industry. MediaMath filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, and the ad tech community has started to mourn the once beloved DSP. 

Some flocked to social media to display their shock and disappointment, but the ecosystem is scrambling to determine what this means for their business. Alongside the legacy of being one of the most well-regarded DSPs, MediaMath also left behind a $100 million debt. This puts SSPs between a rock and a hard place as they must decide if they can or will pay back publishers after the debt MediaMath left behind. 

The bankruptcy raises concerns about sequential liability and the potential impact on publishers. As publishers face the possibility of non-payment for inventory purchased through MediaMath, industry experts emphasize the need for careful assessment, proactive communication, and a reevaluation of payment processes. While the effects of MediaMath’s closure may not be catastrophic, it sheds light on the fragile nature of the ad tech ecosystem.

“Any time you have a sudden exit of a major participant in a market, it’s deeply concerning,” said Jason Kint, CEO of Digital Content Next. “Until last week, MediaMath successfully bid on and placed advertising across much of the industry, including premium publishers who invest billions into creating high-quality entertainment and journalism.” 

Will the Debt Fall on the Backs of Publishers? 

While there is concern about the amount of debt MediaMath left behind, some ad tech professionals believe that MediaMath shutting down will impact the ecosystem less than the initial panic suggests. They cite that MediaMath’s presence as an ad buyer dwindled over the last couple of years.  

“MediaMath shutting down isn’t as impactful as it would be if a company like The Trade Desk were to shutter,” said Ana Milicevic, a principal at the digital-ad consultancy Sparrow Advisers. “so publishers aren’t potentially out as much as they would have been when the company was at its prime.”

But plenty of money is still left on the table amongst the $100 million debt. How will SSPs choose to act? The common consensus is that most publishers won’t get their money back. Although some have made promises, as Justin Wohl, Chief Revenue Officer at Salon.com, suggests, some SSPs, like Media.net, have affirmations that they will eat the difference if MediaMath doesn’t pay.

Emry Downinghall, SVP of Programmatic Revenue and Strategy at Unwind Media asserts that decision-making will vary from each SSP, and the repayment process looks grim. 

“While there could be some variation in how SSPs choose to react, it’s most likely publishers will not be paid for outstanding balances owed to them by their SSP partners for inventory Media Math purchased through the SSP pipes,” said Downinghall. 

Additionally, publishers have expressed concern about the possibility of lower bid density as the process was already at a low point in the year. With a major DSP like MediaMath gone, many SSPs will be looking for a new home. But that is a short-term consequence. Long-term, Marc Boswell, Chief Revenue Officer at LoveToKnow Media, believes that the bankruptcy could revamp the entire repayment process. 

“Based on the outcome of outstanding debt payments, there may be repercussions and changes to how payment terms are structured,” said Boswell. “This could be an interesting point of contention since most publishers aren’t directly controlling which DSPs are bidding on their inventory.” 

Reaching Across the Aisle: SSP and Publisher Relationships 

For publishers worried about repayment, sources suggest you rely on your relationship with your SSP partners. While MediaMath’s bankruptcy is unfortunate, publishers can review and strengthen their SSP payment and aging processes.

“First, utilize SSP reporting to understand your level of exposure to potential non-payment issues and communicate that across your organization. Then, reach out to your SSP partners, particularly ones where your exposure is more significant, to understand their course of action and how they plan to respond to these challenges, suggests Downinghall.” 

To navigate this challenging situation, publishers must assess their exposure, engage with SSP partners, and fortify their payment processes. Although the effects may not be catastrophic, the incident underscores the need for transparency and reform within the ad tech ecosystem. Publishers can mitigate risks and foster a more resilient industry by collaborating and implementing prudent measures.

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But, the status quo for SSP protocol is no longer working. According to a new survey from Emodo, marketers crave more innovation and keener targeting and measurement skills from SSPs. 

SSPs are beginning to reassess their practices, especially after Yahoo shut down its SSP and other major ones filed for bankruptcy. There is clear evidence that SSPs need to evolve with the times, but how do they make it happen? 

“We’ve been hearing a lot of commentary about the commoditization of supply and demand and how brands and agencies have been struggling to understand the value SSPs truly add to the supply chain,” said Damian McKenna, Chief Operating Officer at Emodo. “This survey underscores the key focus areas for SSPs to remain competitive and deliver value for buyers and sellers. While we are focused on all of the above, Emodo is doubling down on innovations around optimization, especially as it relates to targeting, innovative formats, and unique inventory.”

Innovation Over Efficiency

Andrew Byrd : Emodo recently released a study stating that 56% of marketers are demanding SSP Innovation and 53% want enhanced targeting and measurement. Why did you decide to create this study? Were the results what you expected? Did anything surprise you?

Damian McKenna: There’s a fever pitch surrounding Supply Path Optimization (SPO) to the point where it’s almost talked about too much. We agree that eliminating redundancies and focusing on quality supply is incredibly important, but marketers want more than improving efficiency and removing redundancy. Most marketers we hear from want to deliver something unique, something impactful, and something that speaks to the consumers we are trying to reach, and that’s why we did a study.

Interestingly, this study shows that marketers defined SPO as less critical to them than innovation and enhanced targeting and measurement. If you read the trades and generally talk to people at conferences, SPO always comes up. But innovation, especially related to new formats and targeting, is a place where smaller, more nimble companies like Emodo can stand out as an SSP. Efficiency is essential, but it is half as crucial as innovation to reach your audience. 

AB: I’m curious about the shift to focusing more on innovation and not efficiency, especially when it relates to how generally SSPs are doing within the industry. Evidence shows that a lot of SSPs are struggling right now and are starting to reassess their business practices. What are the issues and is the industry starting to remedy them? 

DM: It’s the battle between scaling innovation and the rapidly expanding space. If you look at the market data over the past 15 years, the expansion of the programmatic marketplace was incredible. It’s hard even to put it on a chart and quantify it. So much of the innovation in the first decade of programmatic was simply curation. The value of SSPs was the curation and connecting of the content to multiple formats.

As the market continued to expand, innovation became lost amid rapid expansion. If you think about the share of spend, publishers over the last few years probably felt a little lost and not heard. At the same time, there were so many intermediaries in the middle. Publishers wanted to find new and unique monetization opportunities, and they wanted that percentage of brands and DSPS. The SSPs and these intermediaries in the middle were trying to catch up with other mediums, over-indexed on scale and availability, and under-indexed on innovation.

Additionally, there are changes in how people listen to programmatic opportunities. There’s a focus on supply path optimization, which forces these SSPs to reevaluate how they operate, the partners they keep, and how they add value and differentiate. At  Emodo, we’re in a unique position because we have a two-sided marketplace. Our managed service team deals directly with large holding companies and marketers. We also have an SSP, and we can offer publishers unique demand and opportunity and not be lost as just a part of the value chain. We can see the whole thing, and our managed service team has helped us understand the needs of that marketer and the agency’s needs.

Cutting Out the Middleman 

AB: You mentioned cutting out intermediaries in the supply chain and that is a sentiment I’ve heard from publishers and advertisers. Do you think cutting out the intermediaries will be hard for SSPs in the future? Will it hurt or help them?

DM: The shift in header bidding happened because publishers are running from current auction practices. They are vying for the same impressions at the same time as ad tech vendors or intermediaries, and on the buy side, ad tech is trying to reduce the number of auctions they have to sit through because the cost is too high. That puts pressure on pure-play intermediaries. Analysts say they will pressure intermediaries, but that’s a natural evolution. 

In some cases, advertisers are unknowingly bidding against themselves and subsequently driving up the prices. They pay because of too many intermediaries, and that needs to change. Continued pressure will be on any intermediary that doesn’t provide incremental added value or efficiency by having their stake on both sides or a differentiated solution.

The Automation of the Supply Chain

AB: SSPs automated the process where an ad publisher would manually assign specific ads to spaces through negotiations with human media buyers and sales teams. Do you think some of the kinks have developed because the process has become automated? 

DM: When I started in the industry in the 90s, digital media promised that technology would make buying and advertising more efficient. It’s more efficient than it was, but we’ve also had to look at programmatic buying and recognize some severe complexities now. There are inefficiencies that innovation has brought, and that’s natural in some ways. 

For example, publishers are doing publisher-initiated auctions that move through fewer ad tech pipes as intermediaries disappear. So publishers are trying to get the maximum opportunities to bid further on their inventory. So there’s a tension between efficiency and effectiveness on the buy side. 

Publishers need to maximize the opportunity and quality they can bring to their users. Simply put, there’s a need for increased simplicity and control in the buying and selling process. Sometimes we get too complex for our own good.

Stand Out From the Crowd

AB: What final advice would you give SSPs to improve the results of the service? 

DM: When we launched the survey, we expected SPO to be at the top of the list of concerns for marketers. The results showed that SPO is half as important as innovation and value. I advise you always to listen and build for your customer’s needs. You also have to understand what the buyers want and what publishers need.  

Our job is to be the intermediary, the curator, and also to provide unique, differentiated value, and we have to deliver value to both sides. It’s incumbent upon us to do that. We have to lean into innovation and differentiation. If we can’t confidently clarify where we’re innovating, bring value to both sides, and differentiate ourselves, then we must look hard at what we’re doing.

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Goffin grew up singing in a church choir with notable gospel musician Hezekiah Walker, an experience that would build many skills — like confidence, concentration, and collaboration — to help her succeed later in life.

A graduate of Temple University and a woman with a very well-rounded ad tech experience, Goffin shares her ad tech career and journey from beginning to end. 

Building a Career in Ad Tech

Yakira Young: For those who don’t know, who is Lashawnda, and how did you land your career in ad tech?

Lashawnda Goffin: It was a combination of chance and opportunity.

While I aspired to be an entertainer, attending college was important to prepare me for the working world. I had a job but wasn’t happy in the role, and a mentor who was an account executive at one of the local stations in New York connected me with someone who would become my boss.

They were looking for an assistant, and I felt the salary was too low. But, I received some sound advice – take the job and build it a secondary career while still pursuing my music career. I followed that advice which set me on a trajectory working in traditional media, then working digital, and eventually moving on to publishing. 

Due to a reorganization, my entire department was dissolved, despite the fact that we were exceeding revenue goals month over month. During the reorganization process, I asked myself, “What in the world am I going to do now?” It was the first time that, instead of just applying for a role, I evaluated the culmination of my career. I spent eight years in local broadcast, two years as a digital buyer, specifically around programmatic, and then moving to the publisher side. I didn’t want to take on the same role again, so I applied to tech companies where I could really pull from my previous roles yet gain new experience in a different role. 

Initially, the opportunity was geared towards traditional sales, but after subsequent conversations with Mark Walker, our co-founder of Direct Digital Holdings, we created a leadership role at Colossus SSP that allowed me to deliver on the strategic objectives to rebuild the company from the ground up. As the role has grown, it has also allowed me to evolve my career by drawing upon my experiences across strategy, business development, and sales.

The Path From Broadcast Sales to SSP CEO

YY: Reminds me of when I got laid off while I was out for the day for my daughter’s second birthday. The digital media space can be cold, but besides that, what experiences in your background prepared you to be a CEO? 

LG: A cultural upbringing always transfers to your professional and provides you with insights on how to navigate different personalities and ethnicities. I’ve been fortunate enough to have been managed by a diverse mix of bosses. It was extremely helpful for me to see how they engaged with other individuals in different settings. I gained knowledge when interacting with my team and our clients in my current role.

My experience in different sectors has also prepared me because each has its own set of guiding principles. Local broadcast is very traditional. There’s not a lot of innovation. By contrast, the digital world moves rapidly and is constantly changing. Then compare those to publishing, where you can be expendable despite your best successes. Upon reflection, now that I’m in my current role, I realize what it was. It was strategy and a little execution, but also about the people. And I see the people first. 

I’d describe it as having multiple kids. You can’t parent each child the same. There’s no blanket process, no blanket treatment, and no template for dealing with all of them. I’m meeting everybody where they are.

Mastering the Work/Life Shuffle

YY: People expect that mothers would not be good in the C suite due to family obligations. How do you feel about that, and how do you manage your work/life balance?

LG: I’ve gotten to a place where I can say no or yes without guilt. I’ve worked hard and built a solid career with a good track record. But, when I first had my kids, there was that mommy guilt of leaving them. But I have to work. 

There’s that guilt when my kid is sick, I need to be home, but if I miss a meeting, will I be replaced? In most households, the moms are the go-to. We bear the brunt of being the hands-on parent. But I’m secure enough in my ability to parent and at the same time do this job that I don’t feel like either one is threatened if I can’t physically be there. 

I’m committed to my daughter and will always be there for her because everything I do is for her. I won’t let anything get in the way of that. It took one comment when she asked, “Mommy, will work make you miss any of my recitals or competitions?” And I responded, “Absolutely not.”

Diversity Is Inclusive

YY: I feel you on that because I didn’t know how to remove the guilt in my twenties. But in my thirties, there is no guilt. And I’m happy I learned that because growing up as a millennial, we were made to feel guilty about many things. And then GenZ is so different. 

So as a black woman in this industry, what efforts do you make to push diversity?

LG: I’m inclusive, not exclusive. I’m not just looking for Black people but I’m conscious of ensuring they’re included. We have a diverse team at Colossus SSP, but the ad tech industry needs to do better. I knew nothing about Ad Tech in college but found my way into it. I intentionally expose folks that are not even in their career yet. 

Since I’m based in Atlanta, I intentionally reach out to Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) — Spellman, Clark, Atlanta, and Morehouse — career services and recruiting offices. We want to offer internships as they can expose students to the industry. People see TV ads and boxes on the internet getting filled, but they don’t know what’s behind it. 

I went to those schools because working at an SSP is not something someone would say they want to do when they grow up. It’s not what they’re studying. I want to ensure that the representation is there once they enter the field. 

YY: Now, let’s talk about what’s happening with brands not investing in minority-owned media outlets. While the industry has identified the problem, brands must act more toward getting things right. Do you see any hope for an increase in ad spend geared toward minority-owned media this year and in the future?

LG: Colossus was formed before the unfortunate incident where social unrest was triggered. That was the pivotal moment when brands started to think of ways to give back to the community. DDH just released a white paper, Dollars & DEI: Multicultural Consumers’ Insights on Brands’ Media Buying and Marketing Practice, and it speaks about advertisers needing to put their money where their mouth is and how consumers in these audiences react and choose to support brands that give back to their community.

What we’re doing is looking to uncover those folks. We are being aggressive, knocking on those doors, and saying, “Hey, we saw this is what you said. What are you doing about it?” We have a ton of content creators and publishers who have content that resonates with their loyal audiences. You might be missing this market because of the outdated strategies you have in mind that have inadvertently excluded these audiences. 

DEI means something different to everybody. Sometimes a brand wants to run on a publisher or property owned by a certain group or reach a particular audience. I always get on these calls with brands and ask, “What does DEI mean to you? Is it about checking the box? Is this more about ensuring one black person on your website can say there’s someone like them in the C-suite?” At the end of the day, DEI makes good sense.

What’s Next For Colossus SSP?

YY: This past October, Colossus partnered with CafeMedia to connect advertisers to the largest network of minority women and veteran-owned sites. How is that been going? 

LG: We work very closely with them to ensure the demand is aligned, connecting them with the appropriate demand and ensuring we optimize the potential at its fullest. So it’s been an amazing journey with them. Just given the diversity that they have within their portfolio, it just matched our ethos. It’s been a great relationship that is still growing.

To read more stories in our Black History Month series, check out:

• 10 Black Ad Tech Professionals Making Waves in Digital Media and Advertising
• Celebrating Black Pioneers in Ad Tech — Charles Cantu, Reset Digital
• Breaking the Glass Ceiling: The Legacy of Louis Jones, Brand Safety Institute
• The Importance of Black Media and Sharing Your Wealth: Cedric J. Rogers, Culture Genesis Inc. 

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The Senate-led bill is spearheaded by Sen. Mike Lee ( R- Utah) and co-sponsored by Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.). The Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act will have many stipulations that will subliminally contribute to the breakdown of Google’s extremely prosperous ad tech model.

Of course, this is seemingly all about money, and the bill considers revenue to be the number of dollars a demand-side platform DSP or a sell-side platform SSP transacts or the total of the clearing prices bought and sold through a digital ad exchange.

What Are Some Terms of The US Senate Digital Advertising Act?

The bill includes regulations that will continue to trigger an already erupting volcano. The lava represents all the publishers and advertisers who constantly scramble to keep up with these rules and regulations.

Some of the terms and conditions of the Digital Advertising Act are as follows:

• No business with over $20 billion in digital ad revenue can own a digital ad exchange if that business already owns a DSP or an SSP or if it also monetizes off of digital ad space.
• No business can hold both a DSP and an SSP.
• Any company that makes over $5 billion in revenue must act in its customers’ best interest and be ready to take on new transparency requirements.
• The bill requires ad tech companies to anonymize consumer info and states that pubs and advertisers may only use the data if they need to verify the company’s legal compliance.
• Any ad tech company covered by the law must inform customers of “the source and nature of any compensation paid or received in connection with transactions.”

How Will the Digital Advertising Act, Affect Google & Pubs?

Since the Big G has regularly faced scrutiny over how it conducts its online ad auctions, we’ve seen them putting more measures in place to provide a level of transparency. For instance, as they apply more automation to ad campaigns they’ve promised to provide advertisers with insights about conversation and campaigns.

But even a blind man can see that this new US Senate bill is a blatant jab at Google’s ad tech business as it owns the largest demand-side platform, sell-side platform, and exchange used in programmatic auctions. Google is one of the largest publishers to grace the Internet, projected to acquire 28% of US digital ad revenue in 2022, according to emarketer.

This is the second time the US has attempted to police Google’s ad tech doings; in December 2020, a cluster of attorneys led by Texas’ Ken Paxton brought an anti-trust objection against Google in the southern district of New York. The suit compares Google’s grasp on the digital advertising exchanges to the New York Stock Exchange.

Experts revealed that even if the government twisted Google’s arm, making them sell their ad tech business, the company would still be able to thrive off its marketing power in digital advertising since it has already dominated the search and browser world and found a way to combat cookie depreciation.

“In short, this is the wrong bill, at the wrong time, aimed at the wrong target,” said a Google spokesperson, who cited the real problem as being low-quality data brokers.

In terms of smaller pubs, Google has tried to portray this idea of smaller pubs needing them, but industry experts know this to be BS.

read the law, it doesn’t break any tools. quite the opposite, it puts best interest and execution obligations in place for arguably dominant adtech firms to only serve their advertising or publisher customers (good for civil society). G is introducing noise here in the red. /4 pic.twitter.com/2VeA8izLfh

— Jason Kint (@jason_kint) May 20, 2022

What Does the Transparency Layer Entail?

So it looks like Google has been on thin ice for years now. It was only a matter of time before something like the Digital Advertising act came into fruition.

The transparency aspect would demand DSPs or SSPs to share detailed bid-level data with advertisers and pubs. So that includes Google too.

I know most pubs will be jumping for joy now that there will be a new transparency layer in place. Pubs have voiced their concerns for ages because Google does not give them access to log-level data, thus stunting their ability to audit their digital ad businesses. Google claims that they refrained from sharing the data because it would violate user privacy, but U.S. lawmakers see it differently.

The post What Is the Competition and Transparency in Digital Advertising Act? appeared first on AdMonsters.

A recent study found that the vast majority (95%) of ad buyers are currently implementing or planning to implement SPO technology, with 52% of ad buyers saying half or more of their advertising budget is transacted programmatically.

So, what is SPO and how should advertisers and agencies be thinking about it?

Defining Supply Path Optimization

Supply Path Optimization is the strategy through which buyers look to remove redundant intermediaries and streamline their access to supply. There are many reasons why agencies and advertisers are taking a close look at supply paths, but the main three would be: 1) to reduce infrastructure costs, 2) to increase performance, and 3) to maintain transparency for inventory quality.

SPO in mobile has an additional level of complexity compared to the web because ads on mobile devices are facilitated mostly through software development kits (SDKs) – and understanding the type of SDK connection can have meaningful implications to that path optimization.

Understanding the Key Players in SPO

The main players to consider for SPO analysis are the sellers, the exchanges, and the demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Starting with the seller, or app publisher in mobile, each app needs to evaluate and prioritize many sources of demand to optimize its yield. To do this, they work to integrate SDKs that represent the exchanges. Understanding the type of SDK connection each exchange has with the app publisher can have major implications for how you, as a buyer, can think about prioritizing these partners. To simplify this, there are three types of SDK partners:

Mediation SDK – The platform that acts as the central ad server and ultimate decision-maker on what ad will be shown to the end-user. Those mediation SDKs that enable unified auctions allow buyers to participate in the first and final auction. As a buyer looking to optimize your access, connecting to supply through the mediation partner gives you the most direct and full access to that publisher. 

Advanced Bidder SDK – A demand source directly integrated with the app publisher and participating in the unified auction conducted by the mediator SDK. This type of buyer participates in the real-time auction with their bidder and uses their SDK to render. They rely on the mediator SDK to host the first and final auction for their access.  

Traditional Network SDK – Or waterfall-based network is an integrated partner set up in the mediation SDK with a series of priorities or price floors and does not participate in the unified auction. If the impression is unfilled at the top priority, the same network would be called again to run an auction for the second, third, fourth, and so on until it is filled.

These networks have no way of communicating their true price in the auction, and because of this setup, the waterfall creates a tremendous amount of duplicative bid requests. A DSP buying supply through this type of exchange is likely to see up to 10 times the number of bid requests for each unique impression opportunity compared to the mediated SDK partner. Since the mediator SDK conducts the first and final auction, the waterfall priority established with these networks is translated into a first look or exclusive access, duplicating and obfuscating the actual price and scale. 

Whether mediator, bidder, or traditional, these SDK partners are direct to the publisher and can be seen in sellers.json and app-ads.txt. However, behind these direct SDK partners also exist hidden intermediaries that are not integrated directly and resell the auction to other buyers.

These resellers are exchanges or networks that add another auction to the programmatic chain, include additional tech fees, and provide zero visibility into where that impression opportunity originated from. As a DSP, you can look to identify and limit your buying through reseller channels as an immediate way to reduce inefficiencies in your SPO strategy.

Creating Efficiencies in SPO

Developing an effective SPO strategy on mobile can be a challenging initiative for DSPs and buyers. Now that we’ve outlined the different types of SDK partners above, here are three key ways in which buying through mediated SDK partners directly helps advertisers with SPO:

Infrastructure efficiency: There could be an exponential number of requests for every opportunity to serve an impression. Let’s look at an example where a publisher is working with a mediation SDK like AppLovin’s MAX and five SDK networks. Three of those networks are advanced bidders participating in the unified auction, and the other two are traditional waterfall networks.

If a DSP is integrated with all of those supply partners, they will effectively be hit with one request from the AppLovin Exchange (ALX), three requests from each advanced bidder, and up to 10-20 times the number of requests for each waterfall network. That one impression opportunity has now turned into more than 24 requests to that DSP’s server. This does not include resold or indirect sources of supply, so this duplication stands to increase further, causing a major drag on infrastructure costs as servers are becoming increasingly expensive to maintain. You can minimize these server costs by eliminating connections with traditional network SDKs and reseller connections that inflate requests without providing an added benefit to access. 

Performance efficiency: We can break down performance efficiency by looking at competition and price. As you can imagine, with the above scenario and inflated server costs, you also run the risk of self-competition as you bid into each of these supply paths without knowing they all represent the same impression opportunity.

Direct access eliminates intermediary tech fees that reduce your buying power from a pricing standpoint. It is hard to understand fee transparency with direct access as traditional networks may not disclose their auction pricing. The cleanest way to assess competition and price is to focus on the unified auction that minimizes the risk of self-competition while providing more transparency in fees.  

Premium access and scale: Each supply-side platform (SSP), whether SDK direct or reseller, differs in access, data collection, and support for measurement and verification solutions. In addition to considering infrastructure and performance efficiencies, buyers must ensure they can adequately target and measure their campaigns across the supply. For this, they need to evaluate access and support for OMSDK, key fields like sellers.json and app-ads.txt, and what invalid traffic (IVT) solutions are in place. 

For DSPs and buyers looking to jumpstart their SPO optimization, prioritizing access through the mediator SDK is key. The Applovin Exchange is powered by the largest mediation SDK in mobile and can give this edge to buyers looking for the most direct and efficient way to reach publishers and the end consumer. When buying power increases and programmatic bloat is eliminated, publishers and advertisers both benefit as we grow the advertising market with efficiency and transparency.

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