by Johnathan Barnes | Nov 6, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) is a programmatic advertising platform offered by Amazon that allows advertisers to reach audiences both on and off the Amazon platform. It offers several unique features and advantages compared to some of its competitors in the programmatic advertising space:
Access to Amazon’s Wealth of First-Party Data: One of the most significant advantages of Amazon DSP is access to Amazon’s vast and high-quality first-party data. This includes data on user behavior, purchase history, product searches, and more. Advertisers can leverage this data to create highly targeted and relevant ad campaigns. Amazon’s data is highly reliable and can provide valuable insights into consumer behavior.
Amazon’s Owned & Operated (O&O) Ecosystem: Amazon DSP is seamlessly integrated with Amazon.com, Prime Video, Whole Foods, Twitch, Amazon Devices, IMDb, and more. All of Amazon’s inventory is exclusive so you must use their DSP to access the inventory. Given the reach of Amazon Devices, Prime Video, and other properties, Amazon DSP can be an attractive option for advertisers beyond e-commerce.
Leverage Amazon Data Beyond Their Walled Garden: Amazon’s advertising network extends beyond the Amazon website, enabling advertisers to reach users across a network of websites and apps. This means advertisers can extend their reach beyond just Amazon properties using the DSP. This is a significant advantage for e-commerce and DTC brands.
Amazon Advertising’s Video and OTT Capabilities: Amazon DSP supports video and over-the-top (OTT) advertising, which is increasingly important in the digital advertising landscape. Advertisers can reach audiences through Amazon Prime Video and other connected TV devices.
Amazon DSP (Demand-Side Platform) offers several advantages for advertisers, especially those looking to reach Amazon’s vast audience and leverage its first-party data. However, it also has some limitations and considerations that advertisers should be aware of:
Limited Inventory Outside of Amazon: While Amazon DSP allows you to reach audiences on and off the Amazon platform, a significant portion of its inventory is concentrated within Amazon properties. If you’re looking for a broader reach across the web, you might need to consider additional programmatic platforms to supplement your efforts.
Complex/Limited UI: Amazon DSP’s interface can be complex, especially for newcomers to programmatic advertising. Navigating through its various options and features can be challenging, and it may require a learning curve. This is largely due to Amazon having so many data segments you can access in addition to various O&O properties to target. Some advertisers have reported challenges in achieving full transparency into their Amazon DSP campaigns. Access to detailed data and insights may be limited compared to other platforms.
Minimum Budget Requirements: Amazon DSP has minimum budget requirements that may not be suitable for small businesses or advertisers with limited budgets. Advertisers should be prepared to invest a significant amount to access the platform’s full capabilities. For small advertisers (budgets under $10,000/mo) the DSP may not be an option for you.
Limited Creative Formats: While Amazon DSP supports various creative formats, it might not offer the same flexibility as other programmatic platforms. Advertisers looking for highly customized and interactive ad formats may find limitations.
It’s important to note that Amazon DSP primarily serves advertisers looking to reach audiences through Amazon’s properties and services. While it offers unique benefits within the Amazon ecosystem, it may not be the best choice for all types of advertisers or campaign objectives. Advertisers should carefully consider their specific needs and target audience when evaluating Amazon DSP and its competitors in the programmatic advertising space. If this isn’t your only DSP, you should consider reading our other article discussing running in multiple DSPs: https://populationscience.com/running-in-multiple-demand-side-platforms/
by Johnathan Barnes | Nov 3, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
Rebroadcasting in programmatic advertising refers to the unauthorized or fraudulent practice of replaying ad impressions to artificially inflate ad performance metrics. It is a form of ad fraud that can harm advertisers in several ways:
Fraudulent Impressions: Rebroadcasting generates fake ad impressions, making it appear as though your ad has been viewed by a larger audience than it actually has. This can lead to overinflated campaign metrics.
Misallocation of Budget: Advertisers may allocate a portion of their budget based on the reported performance of their campaigns. When impressions are artificially inflated, it can lead to a misallocation of budget, with advertisers spending money on non-genuine impressions.
Wasted Advertising Dollars: Advertisers pay for these fake impressions, which means they are wasting their advertising dollars on audiences that never actually saw their ads. This can negatively impact return on investment (ROI).
Inaccurate Performance Metrics: Rebroadcasting skews key performance metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and engagement metrics. Advertisers may misinterpret their campaign’s success and make decisions based on misleading data.
Missed Opportunities: When budgets are allocated based on inaccurate performance metrics, advertisers might miss out on better-performing ad placements or campaigns, as they are misled by fraudulent data.
Brand Safety Concerns: Rebroadcasting can lead to ads being displayed in inappropriate or non-brand-safe environments. This not only damages brand reputation but can also be a waste of ad impressions, as the audience is unlikely to be relevant.
Reduced Trust in Programmatic Advertising: Advertisers may become wary of programmatic advertising due to the prevalence of fraudulent practices like rebroadcasting. This can undermine trust in the digital advertising ecosystem.
To mitigate the harm caused by rebroadcasting and other forms of ad fraud, advertisers should take proactive steps to protect their campaigns. These steps may include:
Monitor Campaigns: Regularly monitor campaign performance and assess it for anomalies. Pay close attention to unusual spikes in metrics.
Work with Trusted Partners: Collaborate with reputable ad exchanges, demand-side platforms (DSPs), and supply-side platforms (SSPs) to reduce the risk of encountering fraudulent inventory.
Implement Ads.txt: Use the Authorized Digital Sellers (ads.txt) initiative to ensure that your ads are only displayed on authorized websites, reducing the risk of ad fraud.
Optimize Bidding Strategies: Optimize your bidding strategies to focus on campaign goals rather than metrics that can be artificially inflated.
Stay Informed: Keep up-to-date with industry best practices and the latest developments in ad fraud prevention.
Addressing rebroadcasting and other ad fraud issues is essential for advertisers to maintain transparency, efficiency, and trust in their programmatic advertising efforts. Advertisers should continually adapt their strategies to combat evolving forms of ad fraud. Take a deeper dive into DSP buying with our guide: https://populationscience.com/demand-side-platform-buyer-guide/
by Johnathan Barnes | Nov 3, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
Header bidding, also known as header auction or pre-bidding, is a programmatic advertising technique used to improve the efficiency and transparency of the ad auction process on websites and apps. It allows publishers to offer ad inventory to multiple demand sources (advertisers and ad networks) simultaneously, before making ad calls to ad servers, in order to maximize ad revenue.
Here’s how header bidding works:
- Ad Inventory Offer: When a user visits a website or app with ad space available, the publisher’s web page sends a request to the header bidding container.
- Header Bidding Auction: The header bidding container hosts an auction where multiple demand sources, such as ad networks or DSPs (Demand-Side Platforms), can submit bids in real-time to compete for the ad impression.
- Simultaneous Bidding: All participating demand sources have an equal opportunity to bid on the impression at the same time, rather than relying on a traditional waterfall model where demand sources are prioritized sequentially.
- Pricing Transparency: Bids are submitted with the associated bid price, allowing the publisher to see the value offered for each ad impression. This transparency helps publishers make informed decisions about which bid to accept.
- Winner Selection: The highest bid is typically declared the winner, and the winning ad creative is displayed to the user in real-time.
- Ad Call: After the header bidding auction, the winning bid is passed to the ad server, which retrieves the ad creative and delivers it to the user’s device, ensuring that the chosen ad is displayed.
Header bidding offers several advantages:
- Increased Competition: By enabling multiple demand sources to participate simultaneously, header bidding maximizes the competition for ad impressions, potentially leading to higher ad rates and increased revenue for publishers.
- Better Pricing Control: Publishers have more control over ad pricing and can set the minimum acceptable price for their inventory, ensuring they get the best value for their ad space.
- Transparency: Publishers gain insights into the value of their ad impressions, making it easier to assess the performance of different demand sources and make data-driven decisions.
- Improved User Experience: Header bidding reduces latency and improves page load times, as it streamlines the ad call process, resulting in a better user experience.
However, header bidding also has some challenges, such as increased technical complexity and the potential for page latency if not implemented correctly. Publishers and advertisers need to carefully manage their header bidding implementations to strike the right balance between increased revenue and user experience.
Overall, header bidding has become a widely adopted technology in the programmatic advertising industry, helping both publishers and advertisers optimize ad inventory and revenue opportunities. Take a deeper dive into DSP buying with our Buyer Guide: https://populationscience.com/demand-side-platform-buyer-guide/
by Johnathan Barnes | Nov 3, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
Bid shading is a technique used in programmatic advertising, specifically in real-time bidding (RTB) auctions, to optimize the price at which an advertiser is willing to bid for an ad impression. The goal of bid shading is to strike a balance between securing the ad impression and not overpaying for it. Here’s how it works and how it can affect your campaign:
How Bid Shading Works
- Auction Dynamics: In an RTB auction, advertisers bid on ad impressions in real-time, and the highest bidder typically wins the impression. However, the winning bidder pays the second-highest bid price (the second-price auction model). This means that if you bid too high, you might end up paying more than necessary.
- Bid Shading Algorithm: Bid shading involves using a specialized algorithm to adjust your bid price. This algorithm takes into account various factors, including the auction dynamics, the competition, historical data, and predictive modeling. It calculates a bid price that’s lower than your original bid but still competitive enough to win the impression.
- Winning at a Discount: The goal of bid shading is to win ad impressions at a price that’s lower than your initial bid, which results in cost savings for the advertiser.
Effects on Your Campaign
- Cost Efficiency: Bid shading can lead to cost savings for your campaign. By avoiding overbidding, you can maintain cost efficiency while still securing valuable ad impressions. This is particularly important in highly competitive and costly auctions.
- Optimal Pricing: Bid shading helps you find the optimal bid price for each impression. It takes into account various factors, including the likelihood of conversion, ad quality, and auction competition, allowing you to tailor your bids to each specific situation.
- Improved ROI: By paying an adjusted, more accurate price for ad impressions, you can improve the return on investment (ROI) for your campaign. This means you’re getting better value for your advertising spend.
- Winning More Impressions: Adjusting your bid with bid shading can increase your chances of winning more ad impressions. This can be especially advantageous in situations where you might have been outbid without bid shading.
- Real-Time Optimization: Bid shading is part of the broader trend of real-time optimization in programmatic advertising. It enables advertisers to adapt their bidding strategies to the changing dynamics of each individual auction, making it more responsive to market conditions.
It’s important to note that the effectiveness of bid shading can vary based on the specific algorithms and technology used, as well as the sophistication of the bidding strategy. Additionally, the impact on your campaign will depend on the competition in the ad auctions, the quality of your creatives, and the relevance of your targeting.
As bid shading is a complex process that often requires specialized algorithms and technology, it’s essential to work with experienced programmatic advertising partners or platforms to implement bid shading effectively in your campaign. When done correctly, bid shading can help you achieve better results and cost efficiency in your programmatic advertising efforts. Take a deeper dive into your DSP Buying efforts with our DSP Buyer Guide: https://populationscience.com/demand-side-platform-buyer-guide/
by Population Science | Nov 1, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
If you do a search on the definition of programmatic you will get a lot of different answers. If you ask someone in the digital space what programmatic is, you will get an even wider range of answers.
While programmatic adoption continues to grow at a steady pace, one thing holding back adoption is the lack of education about what programmatic actually is.
So what is programmatic, really?
In short, programmatic is the process of buying digital media in an automated fashion. For finance buffs, think of it as similar to the Bloomberg Terminal which allows traders to buy securities around the globe in real-time, except programmatic allows us to buy media.
Programmatic uses technology to improve marketing decisions across a broad ecosystem of channels, tactics, and data sets. This allows marketers to place the right ad, in front of the right person, on the right device, at the right time, maximizing efficiency and return on ad spend.
Another thing that holds back programmatic adoption is the confusion around the complexity of the offering. Prior to programmatic, digital marketing and buying were pretty silo’d. You would go to:
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Mailchimp/Constant Contact/etc. for email
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Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn to buy social ads
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Outbrain/Tablooa to buy native ads
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Bing and Google to buy search and display
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Google AdWords for a slightly more robust offering of display, native, and video.
With programmatic, media buying is streamlined across many platforms, giving more flexibility to manage budgets, evaluate effectiveness and pivot strategy seamlessly.
Programmatic also opens digital media buyers to new and exciting channels such as Connected TV, Digital Audio, Digital Out-of-Home, in addition to the traditional display, native, and digital video channels. With email deliverability and open rates declining, the limitations of AdWords and constantly changing algorithms and regulations on social platforms, programmatic offers the most efficient way to reach consumers outside of search and social. It’s imperative that marketers begin considering, exploring and adopting programmatic to stay on top and ahead of the evolving digital landscape.
Further, programmatic gives you the ability to active 1st, 2nd, and 3rd party data while managing frequency of ads across all of these channels to ensure you are being as efficient as possible with your media buy. Your data is one of the most valuable assets your business has, and if you’re not leveraging it to its fullest potential through programmatic, you’re missing a huge opportunity to reach new prospects and existing customers. Check out a related article that talks about Demand Side Platforms and Supply Side Platforms which house programmatic marketing: https://populationscience.com/demand-side-platforms-and-supply-side-platforms-for-dummies/
If you are ready to learn more about programmatic and explore adding it to your strategy, contact us today. We’d love to chat about your business and put together a plan for testing and implementing programmatic in a way that works for your budget and your goals.
by Denae Luna | Oct 30, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic
The bidstream, also known as bid requests or bid opportunities, is a fundamental component of programmatic advertising. It refers to the stream of data generated during the real-time bidding (RTB) auction process, where advertisers and their demand-side platforms (DSPs) submit bids to purchase ad impressions on various ad exchanges and supply-side platforms (SSPs).
Here’s how the bidstream works in programmatic advertising:
- Ad Request: When a user visits a website or mobile app with ad inventory available for sale, an ad request is generated. This request is sent to an ad exchange or SSP, which acts as an intermediary between publishers and advertisers.
- Auction Initiation: The ad exchange or SSP collects information about the ad impression, such as the user’s demographics, browsing behavior, the content of the webpage, and more. This information is included in the bid request to help advertisers decide if they want to bid on the impression.
- Bid Requests: The bid request, which is often in the form of a JSON object, is then sent to multiple DSPs. Each DSP receives these bid requests and processes the data within milliseconds to make a bidding decision.
- Bidding Decision: Within the DSP, the bidding algorithm assesses the ad impression’s value based on the available data, the advertiser’s targeting criteria, and the campaign budget. The DSP decides whether to submit a bid and, if so, at what price.
- Bid Submission: If the DSP decides to bid, it generates a bid response. The bid response includes the bid amount and other parameters, such as the creative to be displayed if the bid wins. This response is sent back to the ad exchange or SSP.
- Auction: The ad exchange or SSP collects all the bid responses from participating DSPs. It evaluates these responses and determines the winning bid based on the highest price.
- Ad Delivery: Once the winning bid is determined, the ad impression is delivered to the winning DSP. The winning DSP’s ad is then displayed to the user in real-time.
- User Interaction: The user may or may not interact with the ad. If an interaction occurs (e.g., a click or view), the data is collected and used for reporting and optimization.
The bidstream, therefore, represents the flow of data from the initial ad request to the final ad delivery. It allows advertisers to evaluate and bid on ad impressions in real-time, enabling them to reach their target audience with relevant and timely advertising.
Advertisers and DSPs rely on the bidstream to make quick bidding decisions and optimize their ad campaigns. The bidstream is rich with data, and the analysis of bid requests can help advertisers make more informed choices about which impressions to bid on and at what price, making programmatic advertising a highly data-driven and efficient approach to digital advertising. Any degradation in the bloodstream can cause signal loss. For more on signal loss and how it impacts advertisers click here.
