Who said cookieless targeting doesn’t scale?

Dotdash Meredith’s cookieless targeting tool, D/Cipher, has propelled the publisher to a 12% increase in digital ad revenue year-over-year, marking the second consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.  

D/Cipher is proving its worth in driving campaigns like the one the media company conducted with Pandora. The campaign resulted in 76% higher foot traffic when compared to other targeting methods. 

But this isn’t just about impressive numbers. It’s about Dotdash Meredith setting a new standard in the industry. With third-party cookies becoming obsolete, their ability to pivot and innovate with tools like D/Cipher is a masterclass in adaptation. 

“The performance is amazing because the industry is always trying to find ways to tie media buys to real results. This proves that Dotdash Meredith can drive national brick-and-mortar sales for a brand without any cookie or identifier,” Lindsay Van Kirk, Senior Vice President and General Manager of D/Cipher told ADWEEK. 

The publisher’s success is part of a broader narrative vividly discussed at the recent AdMonsters Publisher Forum in Boston. Let’s connect the dots between Dotdash Meredith’s achievements and the strategies shared by top publishers.

Connecting the Dots from Publisher Forum

Several sessions highlighted how publishers leverage data to secure ad spend and ensure brand safety, aligning perfectly with Dotdash Meredith’s success story. Conversations weren’t merely about surviving the post-cookie apocalypse — they were about thriving.

Data-Driven Strategies:

Patrick McCarthy, SVP, Programmatic Monetization, Dotdash Meredith, emphasized the importance of big data in ad operations. “We are a very data-driven company. When you go into meetings with our C-suite team, hunches really aren’t acceptable. Our whole programmatic and advertising part of our business is really driven by our CFO and Chief Innovation Officer, who is a former data scientist. Data is absolutely paramount to making your case for new investment, for new products to be rolled out,”  he said.

This reflects D/Cipher’s ability to utilize first-party data and contextual signals to outperform traditional cookie-based methods. He also highlighted the role of predictive analytics and real-time data applications. The publisher is proving that first-party data and advanced analytics are the future.

Echoing the power of data, Jesse Waldele, SVP, Digital Operations and Client Success at Dow Jones, shared how they’ve ditched third-party data in favor of first-party insights, fueling more effective ad solutions. Their “Thematic AI” tool, which predicts the best content placement using AI, has driven noticeable performance lifts for advertisers. Dow Jones’ focus on real-time measurement ensures that advertisers keep rebooking.

While the benefits of big data are clear, reliance on it also comes with obstacles. The high cost of data management and the risk of data privacy issues can be a significant barrier for smaller publishers.

Brand Suitability and First-Party Data:

In her keynote, Jana Meron, Vice President of Revenue Operations & Data, The Washington Post, discussed the power of first-party data in achieving brand suitability and effective ad placements. She noted, “The intersection of deterministic and probabilistic first-party data is where we get our power.”

The Washington Post observed a 3x performance lift when using first-party data compared to third-party data with standard display, and a 5x lift when integrating custom ad units designed for their audience.

While first-party data offers significant benefits in targeting and personalization, the session also highlighted potential downsides, such as difficulties in scaling deterministic data due to the reliance on user logins, which can limit reach. Additionally, there are concerns about balancing privacy with data collection, as overly aggressive data strategies might lead to consumer pushback or regulatory scrutiny.

Still, The Washington Post’s direction is a fundamental shift in how publishers view and leverage their audience data. By focusing on the nuances of their data, publishers can create a more personalized and effective advertising ecosystem, which is essential as consumers become increasingly wary of invasive data practices.

Harnessing Audience Power: Future’s Strategy

Jeff Goldstein, Head of Programmatic at Future, offered a compelling keynote on the importance of understanding and harnessing audience passions. He explained how Future’s approach to audience segmentation — dividing users into “practical intenders” and “passionate intenders” — has allowed the publisher to optimize its content and ad strategies.

Goldstein shared that through their first-party data platform, Aperture, Future has identified high-intent users, leading to a 30% higher purchase likelihood among these users. He emphasized the value of deep audience insights and the role of AI-driven data in refining targeting strategies.

Future’s approach underscores the value of deep audience insights, enabling them to create more personalized and effective media products. By leveraging AI and contextual data, Future exceeds advertiser expectations, driving better outcomes across its 200+ owned and operated properties.

ID Bridging: Navigating the Benefits and Risks

In another session, the topic of ID bridging was explored in depth, highlighting how this technology enables publishers to maintain addressable audiences in a cookieless environment. Ianna Feliciano, Senior Director, Programmatic Advertising, Raptive, and Jasper Liu, Senior Programmatic Yield Analyst, Daily Mail, explained how ID bridging allows for deterministic and probabilistic matching across devices and browsers. While deterministic matching offers precision, it often lacks scale. On the other hand, probabilistic matching provides greater reach but with potential trade-offs in accuracy.

The speakers also explained the risks associated with ID bridging, such as increased complexity in managing multiple ID partners and the potential for data leakage, which can have severe privacy implications. Additionally, the costs associated with ID bridging can be significant, especially when considering the need for continuous vendor management and compliance with evolving privacy regulations.

But when connected with the right partners, ID bridging is becoming essential for maintaining campaign effectiveness in the face of increasing privacy regulations and the decline of third-party cookies. The session emphasized the importance of choosing the right ID-bridging partners and continually testing and adapting strategies to balance accuracy, scale, and compliance with privacy laws.

Innovative Revenue Strategies:

The “One Big Problem” session, a town hall publisher-only conversation, underscored the challenges and strategies in ramping up revenue. One standout solution was monetizing social media audiences. Publishers are turning their social followers into a goldmine, leveraging these platforms to drive engagement and revenue. This strategy, highlighted by some ad ops leaders shows the innovative ways publishers are navigating the post-cookie landscape.

This strategy doesn’t come without its downsides though. Relying heavily on social platforms means publishers are subject to the algorithms and policies of those platforms, which can change suddenly and impact reach and monetization.

Another exciting approach discussed during the Forum was Deal Curation as a Service (DCaaS). This strategy empowers publishers to showcase and monetize high-quality inventory effectively, leveraging first-party data for improved targeting and higher CPMs. Yet, implementing DCaaS can be resource-intensive, requiring significant investments in technology and data management. It can also lead to increased operational complexity, as publishers must manage and coordinate with multiple partners and ensure the integrity of their curated deals. 

In the long haul, DCaaS enables publishers to regain control over their inventory, creating a more curated and valuable marketplace that benefits publishers and advertisers alike. As Scott Messer of Messer Media explained, DCaaS alleviates costs, aggregates sales efforts, and delivers a good product.

The Existential Crisis and Future-Proofing Revenue

Despite Google’s flip-flop on third-party cookies, savvy publishers are already adapting. Our recent Publisher Pulse report, Ramping Up Your Revenue: Digital Publishers Reveal Key Growth Strategies, shows that 71% of publishers are investing in new tools and technologies to drive revenue growth, with the most invested tools including audience segmentation (65%), identity resolution (50%), and AI-driven/advanced analytics platforms (40%).

But this isn’t just about technology for technology’s sake, it’s about addressing the existential crisis of trust and relevance. Publishers like Dotdash Meredith, The Washington Post, and Future are leading the way, demonstrating that investing in first-party data and contextual targeting is key to thriving in a cookieless world.

As Dotdash Meredith’s McCarthy explained, predictive analytics and real-time data are revolutionizing how we approach ad operations, ensuring we stay ahead of the curve. This aligns seamlessly with the broader industry trends discussed at the Forum, showing a unified move towards data-driven, privacy-safe ad tech solutions.

The landscape is shifting, and those who don’t adapt will be left behind. Since many of these approaches may require significant investment in technology and talent, it’s a survival of the fittest scenario, where only the most innovative and forward-thinking publishers will thrive. Regardless of the size of your operation, your best bet is to start small and keep testing iteratively.

Innovation must be balanced with caution — embrace your data, invest in the right tools, and keep innovating.

Editor’s Update 08/14/2024 An earlier version of this article omitted insights from Jesse Waldele, SVP of Digital Operations and Client Services at Dow Jones, and Jeff Goldstein, Head of Programmatic at Future’s keynote.

The post Dotdash Meredith’s Cookieless Conquest and the Publisher Pulse: Notes from AdMonsters Publisher Forum Boston appeared first on AdMonsters.

In response to challenges posed by privacy regulations and AI-driven changes in search traffic, 71% of publishers plan to invest in new technologies. To sustain revenue growth, publishers are investing in AI-driven analytics, customer data management, and identity resolution. As one publisher noted, personalizing content and engaging audiences will be key in the coming year.

But, it’s not all smooth sailing. Publishers are grappling with significant challenges, including privacy regulations and changes in consumer behavior. These factors underscore the importance of diversifying revenue streams. With audience data, subscriptions, and licensing emerging as planned new streams, publishers are laying the groundwork for sustainable growth in an evolving digital ecosystem.

While the digital ad landscape faces headwinds, the coming year looks promising for publishers who are agile enough to navigate these challenges. Publishers who invest in direct deals, audience development tools, and diversified revenue streams are well-positioned to thrive in 2024 and beyond.

For more insights and a look at the full study results, visit the Publisher Pulse report page, and enter your information at the bottom to download your copy.

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The past few years have been tumultuous for publishers. The on-again/off-again deprecation of cookies, concerns over MFA sites making programmatic advertising risky, and the rise of generative AI search decimating referral traffic have all posed significant challenges. Despite these hurdles, publishers continue to innovate. As a result, the majority anticipate revenue growth in the coming year.

In July 2024, we surveyed and interviewed publishers to gain insights into their revenue outlook and identify their top opportunities for growth. This report summarizes our findings.

Of course, much has changed since our survey, including Google’s decision to forgo cookie deprecation for the foreseeable future. Still, what’s clear to us is that the talk of cookie deprecation has prompted them to rethink the way they do business and how they can generate revenue.

Key Findings: Direct Deals & Audience Data

• On the whole, revenue will grow. Most respondents (60%) anticipate revenue growth, with 19% expecting significant growth and 41% anticipating moderate growth.
•  2025 will be the year of the direct deal, with 68% of publishers saying it represents their best opportunity for revenue growth.
• Monetizing audience data (50%) and creating new products (46%) are also seen as significant opportunities for growth.
• Looking ahead, 33% plan to leverage audience data, and 23% each consider subscriptions and licensing/syndication as new revenue streams.
• To support these growth plans, 71% of respondents plan to invest in new tools or technologies to ramp up revenue.
• The most invested tools include audience segmentation (65%), identity resolution (50%), and AI-driven/advanced analytics platforms (40%).

Enter your info to download your copy below!

The post Ramping Up Your Revenue: Digital Publishers Reveal Key Growth Strategies appeared first on AdMonsters.

The detrimental impact of third-party cookies on consumer privacy has been a hot industry topic for some time now, and with the deadline for cookie depreciation continuously being pushed back, more and more publishers are shrugging their shoulders to the end of cookies. Not surprisingly, only 32% of publishers are actively preparing for this change, according to a recent Teads survey.

The study surveyed 555 publishers across 58 countries, revealing an urgent need for the industry to adapt quickly. At Cannes, we met with Natalie Bastian, CMO of Teads, and were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Simon Klein, Global Head of Publishing. Onboard a yacht with a crisp blue aesthetic; we chatted about a future without cookies; the challenges publishers face, and Teads’ current initiatives to support them. 

As we navigate this complex environment, even a blind man could see that there are too many different types of ID solutions on top of Google’s Privacy Sandbox.

“One minute cookieless is here, the next it’s delayed, then it’s happening again, but we don’t know when,” Klein explained. “We are trying to educate publishers as much as possible on what’s available. At Teads, we are cookieless by default since 2018.We are willing to work with every solution that we believe could actually help publishers generate more revenue.”

Teads and Publishers: A Partnership Driving Mutual Success

In digital media there is a ton of trial and error. Now more than ever, publishers need to ensure their SSP partners are resourceful. One aspect of Teads that is a major resource to publishers is its tech and engineering team. With about 400 team members, both teams do a lot of the leg work when it comes to investigating and understanding the best solutions. 

According to Teads’ Publisher Preparedness study, 53% of publishers feel completely overwhelmed by the plethora of solutions. There are just too many. Through Teads’ Publisher Lab, the SSP hosts off-the-record conversations with publishers where they can all work together to derive roadmaps. 

Think of it as a therapy session for publishers. As a major player focusing on the buy and sell sides, Teads is in a unique position giving them a responsibility to share all of the trends and traction that they see happening on the buy side with their publishers and vice versa. 

“We are the connective tissue between all these publishers, but many aren’t necessarily talking to each other,” Bastian said. “Our workshops are cross-functional; we host the Publisher Lab quarterly on average, and we curate the conversation, but the publishers are the ones doing the talking.”

Keeping Publishers A Part of the Conversation 

This year is significant, with 64 elections worldwide involving 49% of the global population. For voters to be informed, they need to have access to news. News publications need ads to survive. Quality publishers and news journalists need the support of brands and if ads continue to fund journalism, then it makes news more widely accessible. Many news outlets are going to a paywall, only to find out that subscriptions can be a struggle. 

These outlets are turning on paywalls because they either need more funding to support their content or increase their first-party data set. Some of that is login-based, but even when logging in, it could still be free for readers.

“Many publishers are trying subscription or hybrid models to increase revenue,” Bastian explained. “We sit in a very unique position that is good for the consumer because we give them access to quality content. To keep this access open for everyone, it must be properly funded through quality ads and quality journalism.”

As Klein put it, at Teads, they are “making their pipes as efficient as possible.” That entails making their player a little quicker, and faster across every single environment, and making sure they have the critical pieces of their roadmap. When it comes to buyer partners, nearly 80% of Teads campaigns do not use a cookie-based solution. The need for urgent adoption is right in front of our faces, and while some are actively moving towards the cookiepocolypse, some are not moving as swiftly.

The post Wake Up and Smell the Coffee; The Cookieless Future Will Be Here Before We Know it appeared first on AdMonsters.

In digital advertising’s evolving landscape, sustainability is often seen as a necessary yet challenging goal. Emry Downinghall, SVP of Programmatic Revenue & Strategy at Unwind Media, is at the forefront of this transformation.

Unwind Media is pioneering strategies that not only lessen the publisher’s environmental impact but also enhance their bottom line. In this exclusive Q&A, Downinghall shares insights into the innovative approaches that have enabled Unwind Media to balance economic performance with ecological responsibility, providing valuable lessons for the industry.

Let’s explore how these strategies are reshaping the future of sustainable media.

Lynne d Johnson: At the Green Media Summit, your panel explored how publishers can reduce carbon emissions without sacrificing revenue. From Unwind Media’s perspective, how do you balance these two sometimes conflicting goals, and what has been the most challenging aspect of aligning sustainability with business objectives?

Emry Downinghall: The most challenging aspect was convincing business leaders that this was possible and something worth prioritizing on our roadmap.

For publishers, the idea of reducing emissions without negatively impacting business performance does feel like a conflict. Historically the open exchange has mostly rewarded more (partners, bid requests, ads on page) with more (bid density, impressions, revenue), all of which require more energy and generate more emissions, and our initial perspective was no exception. 

However, my primary focus was improving our open exchange efficiency while also improving KPIs that matter to advertisers like viewability and CTR. It just turns out that a great way to improve your attractiveness in the open market coincides with reducing emissions.

LdJ: Unwind Media has implemented innovative traffic-shaping strategies like “no ads if idle” and “smart request.” Can you elaborate on how these tactics contribute to sustainability and potentially enhance user experience and ad viewability? What have been the measurable impacts on your ad operations and revenue?

ED: First, let’s define what these things are as simply as possible. It’s two, pretty straightforward features we integrated into our ad wrapper that require a small amount of code to monitor and manage bid requests and auctions. 

‘Smart Request’ stops calling SSPs that have failed to clear our dynamic price floor for X-number of auctions over Y-period, by user session and ad unit. ‘No Ads If Idle’ stops the programmatic auction if we detect the user is idle on-page for more than 60 seconds.

The sustainability benefits of these programs are centered around making a publisher’s programmatic auction more efficient. If you’re making fewer ad requests, you’re using less energy and becoming more sustainable. 

Smart Request leads to fewer total requests to SSPs resulting in a lowered carbon footprint, while also improving the performance and cost efficiency of the publisher to the SSP. Put simply, you’re a more attractive pipe to your partners because you send them more of what they want and less of what they don’t want. No Ads If Idle is a commonsense approach that reduces requests while improving viewability, CTR and attention scores.

We measured no negative revenue impact from these tests and cut total ad requests to SSPs by more than 50% while also improving desktop viewability by over 14%.

LdJ: When it comes to media sustainability, how do you view the division of responsibility between publishers and advertisers? Should there be a shared approach, and how can both sides collaborate more effectively to amplify their impact?

ED: I think meaningful change will come from a combination of education (what this is, why it matters) and business-focused outcomes.

I haven’t spoken to a publisher that isn’t supportive of becoming more sustainable. They just want to better understand what this means for their business and how it can realistically tie into their goals.

ShareThrough’s Green Media Summit was an example of cross-industry education and shared best practices. Scope3’s carbon measurement tool is a good place to get a sense of where you stand vs. the rest of the industry and the IAB Tech Lab’s Sustainability Playbook is a great resource as well. 

LdJ: Looking forward, what emerging strategies do you see as key to further reducing the carbon footprint of digital advertising? 

ED: I’d like to see more clearly defined benefits for publishers that choose to make responsible decisions around things like ads-to-content ratio, bid request duplication, and ads.txt entries. 

Scope3’s GMP+ along with SSPs that curate “Green PMP” deals for publishers are two examples of ways to benefit directly from being more sustainable. Let’s make that approach more pervasive across the industry.

LdJ: For publishers looking to reduce their environmental impact without hurting their bottom line, what key lessons or practices from Unwind Media’s experience would you recommend they consider? 

ED: Focus on internal measurement first. If you can easily understand what’s happening at the bidstream level you’ll be more willing to test and more capable of determining outcomes with confidence.

Don’t try to do everything at once. This is an iterative process that we’ve been working on since July of 2022. At no point did we run two tests at the same time. 

Think of these changes as foundational improvements to your ad stack and don’t conflate them with short term yield tests.

Internally, take advantage of opportunities to tie outcomes to product goals around user experience. As you work towards being a more efficient publisher your user experience will also improve and you’ll be popular internally !

I’ll close with a list of 5 things we’ve done to become a more efficient and sustainable publisher.  If you’re able to test into any of these changes you will not only holistically improve your inventory profile but long term its value as well.

5 Ways to Become a More Efficient and Sustainable Publisher

The post Balancing Act: Unwind Media’s Journey to Sustainability appeared first on AdMonsters.

In a league of their own, the AdMonsters Dream Team seeks to assemble a powerhouse squad comprised of ad ops wizards and revenue rockstars who continually surpass expectations, turning digital ad challenges into golden opportunities. This is not just any team; it’s a dream team of innovators and achievers who redefine the boundaries of possibility in the dynamic world of ad tech.

“Ad operations and digital revenue teams are at the forefront of driving revenue for their publishing organizations. The goal of our AdMonsters Dream Team initiative is to not only recognize these superstars, but also to elevate the role of ad ops professionals in the eyes of senior management and bring greater visibility to the skillsets and talent that make these individuals successful,” said Lynne d Johnson, Content Director at AdMonsters. “We’re excited to build an inspiring and unstoppable lineup of talent and shine a light on the remarkable individuals who are driving positive change and pushing boundaries in our industry.”

The call for nominations is open for ad ops professionals and their peers to nominate a deserving colleague or themselves.

Each Dream Team Member Receives:
• Recognition in the AdMonsters Dream Team feature story
• A free ticket to Publisher Forum Boston
• Participation on a panel at Publisher Forum Boston
• Super unique Dream Team SWAG
• Generous discounts for their team to upcoming AdMonsters events
• Digital badge and creative assets for well-deserved bragging rights!

Nominations are entirely free, offering a prime opportunity to elevate an outstanding colleague or put yourself forward for recognition.

Nomination Deadline: May 10, 2024: Learn more and submit a nomination here.

The post Announcing the AdMonsters Dream Team: Nominations Now Open for the Inaugural Fantasy League of Ad Tech All-Stars appeared first on AdMonsters.

Romero leads a 40-person sales and marketing partnership team, with the ad ops team also reporting to him. His background in sales and marketing and having grown up in a large family provided him with keen insight into leadership and cross-team collaboration.

A Recipe for Success: Luis Romero’s Leadership Ingredients In this talk, Romero spilled the beans on his leadership style, inspired by his crowded New York City upbringing. Like a well-oiled kitchen, every family member played a crucial role, teaching Romero the value of team dynamics and defined responsibilities. He stresses that in a team, much like in a family, everyone’s contribution, big or small, is vital for overall success.

The Sales Stew: Stirring Up a Strong Sales Force Romero, who manages a 40-person sales and marketing team, reflected on his journey from a highly directive leader to one who values trust and expertise. He emphasized the importance of not having all the answers and the power of learning from his team. Romero likens his leadership to the ancient war general Hannibal, skillfully uniting diverse talents for a common goal, proving that a varied team can be a formidable force in sales.

The Secret Sauce of Ad Ops and Sales Collaboration Navigating the complex relationship between ad ops and sales, Romero advocates for a balanced blend of recognition and involvement. He highlights the essential role of ad ops in the forefront of business operations, challenging the notion of it being a mere backroom function. Romero believes that understanding and valuing the ‘art’ of ad ops is crucial for sales teams to thrive, advocating for equal participation and respect in planning and decision-making processes.

Communication: The Main Course for Team Collaboration In our world of over-communication, Romero reminds us that simplicity and clarity are key. He encourages asking the obvious questions and embracing vulnerability in not knowing everything. This approach fosters respect among team members and paves the way for effective collaboration. Romero’s strategy is akin to a well-prepared dish, where every ingredient complements the other, ensuring no flavor is lost in translation.

A Feast of Knowledge and Inspiration As Romero prepares to share his insights at the Pub Forum Austin — Can Sales and Ad Ops Just Get Along? —  he leaves us with a taste of his leadership philosophy: recognizing and valuing each team member’s contribution and fostering an environment where collaboration is not just encouraged but essential. His approach is a blueprint for any team looking to blend different skills and perspectives into a successful, cohesive unit.

The post #PublisherPOV: Bridging the Gap Between Sales and Ad Ops With Luis Romero appeared first on AdMonsters.

We’d also like to thank you, our community, for your support. From clicking on and reading our content to providing us with story ideas  — you were there to help us grow. Many thanks to our Advisory Board as well for being a sounding board and inspiring us.

And, we definitely couldn’t have done it without our full-time content staff, News Editor, Andrew Byrd, and Content Manager, Yakira Young, as well as our freelancers — Susie Stulz, Emily Dalamangas, and Kacey Perinelli — and, of course, our many industry contributors who have written columns for us or shared their POV for an article or Playbook or two. Thank you!!!

Now on to the list…

Best of AdMonsters: Your Favorite Stories of 2023

What’s Hot in Publishing and Ad Tech: An AdMonster’s Q&A with Scott Messer

We interviewed Scott Messer, an executive media operator with a passion for creating, operating, and monetizing digital businesses. He first started in the digital media business back in 2006 and has held numerous leadership positions within the industry. Today, he is the Principal and Founder of Messer Media.

We spoke with him about the challenges of Seller Defined Audiences, Deal Curation as a Service, and the recent EU Study on the impact of recent developments in digital Advertising on privacy, publishers, and advertisers. (Read more)

Data Monetization in the Era of ID Deprecation: Best Practices to Pivot and Evolve Your Data Strategy

With ID deprecation well underway and consumer privacy legislation on the rise, publishers face more complex obstacles than ever before. Yet the consumer expectation for personalization remains, as does the extreme competition for engaged eyes and ears.

When it comes to evolving data monetization, publishers are positioned at various levels of sophistication and preparedness. Notably, each publisher possesses a unique composition of data signals. While some are blessed with substantial strong quality 1P signals, others rely more heavily on cookie-based identity, with limited access to alternative identifiers. Given these diverse circumstances, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Nonetheless, there are best practices and levers of control you can employ to shift your strategy and mitigate risk.

The pivotal question emerges: What is the optimal place to start, and what are the best practices for privacy forward data monetization? (Read more)

A Path to Net-zero for the Digital Advertising Sector

The digital advertising sector has a dirty little secret: its carbon footprint is huge. How big?  About the size of the airline industry.

Collectively, digital ad tech accounts for 3.5% of the global greenhouse gas (GHG) emitted each year. A single campaign that fills one million impressions has the same carbon footprint as a roundtrip flight from Boston to London. (Read more)

Forget the Hype: How Publishers Can Safely Enhance Their Products with AI

The National Eating Disorder Association (NEDA) rolled out — then quickly took offline — a chatbot called Tessa. Tessa was supposed to offer callers guidance, but she urged callers to restrict their diets, assuring them they could safely lose one to two pounds per week. It’s a reminder that generative AI products must be rolled out with care.

But what does that “care” mean? What’s involved? Initiatives like BuzzFeed’s Botatouille are a great way for publishers to enhance their products to gain more subscribers and offer more value to their existing subscriber base.

To understand how publishers can deploy AI bots safely, we spoke with Kyle Alan Hale, a Solutions Architect at Rightpoint. Kyle holds an advanced degree in philosophy of mind and neuroscience and is currently working on a degree in computational linguistics, focusing particularly on language models. (Read more)

The State of Programmatic Advertising in 2023

According to a webinar hosted by Comscore, 2023 State of Programmatic, programmatic spend has experienced exponential growth, doubling over the past four years. Data shows that over 91% of $148 billion in digital display dollars are transacted programmatically. Where does this leave the state of programmatic? 

The short answer is that the automated supply chain is flourishing, but signs indicate an ad spend slowdown. The further context suggests that since programmatic accounts for nine out of ten digital ad dollars, the market is reaching a state of saturation rather than stagnation. (Read more)

Legit Black-owned Publishers Are Being Labeled MFA Sites, but Maybe There’s a Solution

In the wake of the media reckoning sparked by the tragic murder of George Floyd in 2020, advertisers funneled more ad spend toward Black-owned publishers. Ad agencies, driven by commitments to allocate a portion of their media budgets to these publishers, sought to address the longstanding disparities in media representation.

However, Black-owned publishers now face unique challenges, primarily related to declining referral traffic from sources like Facebook ever since the social network’s algorithms started deprioritizing news.

This decline has made it increasingly tricky to meet ad impression requirements stipulated in deals with advertisers. Consequently, some Black publishers felt compelled to buy traffic or partner with other publishers to extend their reach.

But here lies the conundrum: as Black-owned publishers seek to bolster their audiences and meet advertiser demands, they face the risk of being labeled MFA sites.(Read more)

The post Best of AdMonsters: Your Favorite Stories of 2023 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.

For many people it seemed like an allusive fantasy: A single DSP that could interact seamlessly with all DSPs, enabling media buyers to launch and optimize campaigns from a single interface and acquire inventory through whichever platform is best suited to achieve campaign KPIs.

Then came the bankruptcy of MediaMath and the idea of a universal DSP took on new urgency as media buyers were forced to learn new interfaces in a matter of days.

Long before MediaMath shut down, however, Mike Hauptman and Dan Bougourd were intrigued by the idea of a meta DSP. They both joined MediaMath in the company’s early days, but by 2018, they were itching to bring programmatic advertising to the mid-market advertiser.

They pitched the idea of spinning off a new company that would offer a meta DSP built on top of MediaMath to their bosses, who were game. That year they launched AdLib, a DSP designed to bring programmatic advertising to the SMB market through streamlined workflows.

Mike Haupman met with AdMonsters to talk about meta DSPs and the drivers that led them to build and launch one.

AdMonsters: You and Dan are programmatic old-timers. When did you first join MediaMath?

Mike Haupman: I joined MediaMath back in 2010 when the company launched the first self-service DSP. I was the first sales engineer and spent the next seven years building and leading the Global Technology Solutions team. Dan joined a year after me, in a similar role, supporting the expansion into the EMEA region.

Launching AdLib — A Meta DSP

AdMonsters: What made you and Dan decide to launch a new company?

MH: We wanted to make DSP advertising easy. The first tagline of AdLib was, “The Premium DSP for Everyone.” We saw the challenges that media buyers faced trying to access premium ad platforms such as MediaMath and others.

For media buyers at any size agency, it’s a complex business to learn a DSP interface, set up campaigns, and optimize them on an ongoing basis. And doing things like automation and scaling is incredibly resource-intensive. Now increase that complexity by factors when trafficking campaigns across multiple DSPs.

For midsize buyers, those obstacles are formidable. On top of this, they faced additional barriers to entry in the form of commercial commitments and large monthly and annual spend minimums.  These challenges combined to effectively bar midsize marketers from participating in programmatic advertising.

AdMonsters: To encourage widespread participation, you started by building a DSP for midsized marketers on top of MediaMath?

MH: Yes, at the time Dan and I were both intimately familiar with MediaMath’s APIs and customizing them. We wanted to explore new options and scratch our entrepreneurial itch, so we approached the MediaMath founders to see how they felt about us launching a really easy-to-use version of MediaMath. That’s what we did. Today, marketers of all sizes use AdLib as a meta DSP to launch and manage campaigns on top DSPs across all channels & screens

AdMonsters: Talk a little more about the concept of a meta DSP. What is it, and is it your goal to put all of the other DSPs out of business?

MH: Our goal is to work with all of the DSPs, leveraging the best of all worlds on behalf of our clients. 

The industry has talked about a meta DSP for a long time, which is a single interface that allows the user to login and run media across whichever DSP or DSPs are best suited to meet the object of the campaign.

For instance, if it’s a CTV campaign, Beeswax is a great option thanks to its efficient connections to CTV supply. If it’s a performance-based campaign Criteo is the way to go, because that platform is just incredible at driving performance-based programs across display and video.

A big benefit of a meta DSP lies in the opportunity to have a simple workflow tool. The meta DSP serves as the system of record for users, and they use the simple interface to build and manage campaigns, but AdLib, not the user, determines the best DSP to activate the campaign and manages the connections, gathers the reporting, and displays the consolidated results in a dashboard.

AdMonsters: So media buyers are still using multiple DSPs, but doing so through one interface?

MH: That’s right. Media buyers today access multiple DSPs so they can maximize results and minimize the risks of missing key audiences. But ask any of them and they’ll tell you it’s a time-consuming and error-prone process to set up campaigns in each one.

From an AdOps perspective, adoption, trafficking, and workflows are very different. It takes a lot of investment to teach people multiple systems, and employee churn leads to a loss of those investments.

The other challenge a meta DSP addresses is business continuity if a DSP, like MediaMath, goes dark. This is a reality that a lot of media buyers faced this past June.

Dynamically-Allocated Budgets

AdMonsters: How does AdLib determine the best way to allocate budget for a campaign?

MH: We’re building out a concept we call dynamically allocated budgets. Essentially, we look at the DSPs that are delivering the strongest performance per campaign and focus media spend there.

Let’s say a user sets up a campaign with a CPA goal of $10.00. The system will allocate 50% of the budget to one DSP 50% and the other 50% on another. AdLib will then determine over time which DSP or which set of DSPs delivers the best results for that budget. We further fine-tune the performance with media-mix modeling, as well as dark market / light market testing.

The concept of cross-DSP segmentation is something we’re still testing and developing.

AdMonsters: What is dark market and light market testing?

MH: Let’s say you start with two markets that are relatively similar in terms of size and demographics. Historically, media buyers run media in both markets with similar budgets and benchmarks. In other words, the buyer tests DSP A and market A and DSP B and market B. After a bit, the buyer compares the results to determine which market got the best lift from its baseline, and ultimately, which DSP drives better performance.

A meta DSP improves on this important process in a few ways. First and foremost, it eliminates the potential of user overlap, as the tests occur in different markets. Second, agencies can assess performance without holdout testing, or using pixels to segment users, which gets really messy really fast. Dark market vs. light market testing is cleaner and delivers a stronger signal without the complexity we normally associate with market comparisons.

AdMonsters: How has MediaMath’s bankruptcy affected your business?

MH: Prior to June we primarily worked with midsize media agencies, but since integrating with more DSPs beyond MediaMath, we have begun working with larger agencies. They’ve been receptive to AdLib because they too are struggling with the fragmentation and the soaring labor costs that are part and parcel of using multiple DSPs for their campaigns.

Publishers Get Audience Extension and Scale with AdLib

AdMonsters: Do publishers use your platform?

MH: Yes, publishers use our platform for audience extension services, which has traditionally been a highly labor-intensive task. There’s a lot of manual labor involved in finding their buyer’s audiences on the open web. A meta DSP automates this for publisher AdOps teams.

We’ve worked with several publishers in audience extension services where no humans were involved whatsoever. These campaigns are simply marked for amplification or extension, and they flow the platform and are activated across the appropriate DSP. Think of it as audience-extension-in-a-box.

AdMonsters: This sounds like a great way to scale campaigns without cookies.

MH: We definitely see a future for first-party data activation.

AdMonsters: And speaking of the future, a meta DSP seems like a good way to future-proof the media buyer’s ad ops.

MH: That’s true. While DSPs may come or go, the trafficker needs to worry about just one interface.

About Mike Hauptman – CEO & Founder – AdLib

Mike is a programmatic marketer with over 17 years of experience solving complex and large-scale technical business challenges for Fortune 500 brands, agencies, and advertisers.

Prior to founding AdLib, Mike was one of the first 100 employees at MediaMath, where he held various roles, including VP of Technical Business Development and Global VP of Platform Integrations.

The post Making Programmatic Easier for All with a Meta DSP appeared first on AdMonsters.