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Header Bidding: The Basics

Header Bidding: The Basics

by | 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:

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. Winner Selection: The highest bid is typically declared the winner, and the winning ad creative is displayed to the user in real-time.

 

  1. 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:

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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/

 

Bid Shading: The Basics

Bid Shading: The Basics

by | 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

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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/

 

So What is Programmatic, Really?

So What is Programmatic, Really?

by | 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:

  • Mailchimp/Constant Contact/etc. for email

  • Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn to buy social ads

  • Outbrain/Tablooa to buy native ads

  • Bing and Google to buy search and display

  • 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.

Programmatic Terms To Know: Bidstream

Programmatic Terms To Know: Bidstream

by | 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:

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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. 

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

Signal Loss in Programmatic Advertising

Signal Loss in Programmatic Advertising

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Digital Marketing, Programmatic

Signal loss in programmatic advertising refers to the loss or degradation of data and information as it passes through various components of the programmatic advertising ecosystem. This loss can occur at multiple stages within the advertising process, from data collection to ad delivery. 

 

Signal loss can have a significant impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of programmatic campaigns. Here are some key aspects of signal loss in programmatic:

 

Cookie Restrictions: Privacy regulations and browser restrictions have led to signal loss by limiting the availability and accuracy of cookies. This has made it challenging to track users and target them effectively.

 

Ad Fraud: Signal loss can be exacerbated by ad fraud, where fake or invalid data can be passed in the bidstream and impressions dilute the quality of data used in programmatic advertising. This makes it harder to distinguish genuine user behavior from fraudulent activity.

 

Data Transfer: Data transfer between different systems and platforms can result in signal loss if not handled properly. Data may be lost or altered during the transfer process. This can include user data, behavioral data, contextual data, IP address, and more.

 

Latency: Latency in the bidding and ad delivery process can cause signal loss. Delays in data transmission and decision-making can impact the relevance and timeliness of ad targeting. Bid auctions take place in milliseconds so it doesn’t take much of a glitch to create latency in the system. 

 

Invalid Traffic and Impressions: Signal loss can occur when advertisers pay for impressions that are not seen by real users. Invalid traffic, such as non-human traffic (bots), can dilute the value of ad impressions.

 

Data Aggregation: Aggregating data from multiple sources for audience segmentation and targeting can lead to signal loss if the data is not consolidated accurately or if key details are missed.

 

Measurement Challenges: Signal loss can make it challenging to accurately measure campaign performance, making it difficult to understand the true impact of programmatic advertising efforts.

 

Retargeting Issues: Signal loss can hinder retargeting efforts, as tracking users across different devices or platforms may not be as accurate as desired.

 

Ad Personalization: Signal loss can impact the personalization of ad content. Advertisers may struggle to deliver highly relevant ads to users if data is lost or inaccurate.

 

Addressing signal loss in programmatic advertising requires implementing data quality controls, using advanced targeting techniques, and being aware of the limitations imposed by privacy regulations and browser changes. Advertisers and marketers often work with data providers, ad tech platforms, and data management solutions to mitigate signal loss and optimize programmatic campaigns. Additionally, continuous monitoring, analysis, and optimization are essential to minimize the impact of signal loss and ensure the success of programmatic advertising efforts. For a deeper dive into DSP buying, check out our Buyer’s Guide: https://populationscience.com/demand-side-platform-buyer-guide/

 

Don’t have Programmatic in your 2024 Plan? Here’s Why You Should Reconsider

Don’t have Programmatic in your 2024 Plan? Here’s Why You Should Reconsider

by | Oct 30, 2023 | Programmatic

Over the past five years I have had a lot of conversations with people about programmatic. I’m often surprised to learn that even many seasoned marketers have dismissed programmatic due to real or perceived obstacles. The reasoning for ignoring this incredibly effective opportunity generally fall into one of three buckets:

1. WE DON’T DO DISPLAY ADS.

There is a common misconception about programmatic just being a new way to buy display ads. The reality? Programmatic is so much more than display.

Programmatic does give you access to display ads on desktop and mobile devices. However, it also gives you access to native, video, and emerging formats such as connected TV, digital audio, and digital out of home. By accessing these diverse channels, programmatic gives you access to virtually every internet connected consumer in the United States to run data-driven digital campaigns to.

2. WE ARE OKAY WITH OUR CURRENT MARKETING MIX.

Marketers that buy directly from platforms such as Google AdWords or Facebook Business Manager and run retention programs via email are missing out on a big opportunity. Email, Facebook, and Google are fantastic platforms, but also limiting in their own ways. For example:

  • Meta is a great way to reach a large audience with robust targeting data. However, Facebook only reaches about 65% of the connected audience in the United States. People spend 70%+ of their connected time outside of social media. Programmatic is the most efficient way to reach people when they are not on social media as well as reaching those who aren’t on social media period.

  • Google AdWords provides access to its search engine, YouTube video, and Gmail native ads. You also get access to a wider display, native, and video network. While this seems robust, it pales in comparison to what programmatic offers. Emerging formats such as connected TV, digital out of home, and digital audio aren’t offered in AdWords. Further, programmatic provides full control over placements, access to a massive 3rd party data marketplace, and omni-channel controls that maximize efficiency across all of the available channels.

  • Email is a fantastic tool and it is something that should be a part of every marketing mix. That said, deliverability continues to get harder and open rates for most marketers continues to slide. In short, it’s getting harder to get a share of voice within consumer inboxes. Email alone isn’t enough to run successful retention or acquisition campaigns.

While email, Google, and Facebook are great ways for small businesses to do digital on a budget, it’s not nearly robust enough for serious digital marketers.

3. WE WOULD LOVE TO TRY PROGRAMMATIC, BUT WE DON’T HAVE THE RESOURCES (BOTH HUMAN AND FINANCIAL) TO RUN IT.

Yes, programmatic can be expensive. Most DSPs (Demand Side Platforms) require minimum spend commitments well into the six figures per year. If you require their assistance to setup and manage your campaigns (which most companies will because programmatic is very complex), 50% or more of your spend could be going to fees. That is a difficult pill to swallow.

If you are an agency or a brand that would love to get into programmatic, but do not have the internal resources or budget to do so, Population Science can help. We specialize in helping small to medium-sized organizations get into programmatic with personalized strategies, flexible minimums and a commitment to making programmatic accessible.

WHERE DO I START?

With all of the tactics and channels available in the programmatic space, you can run up a very large media bill pretty easily. For those of you looking to dip your toe in the water, here are a few places I suggest getting started:

  • Retargeting: Everyone retargets. Most people use Google Display Network, AdRoll, or Criteo for this. These are great platforms, but they are very limited in leveraging your retargeting data for prospecting campaigns (at least in a transparent way). Programmatic has all of the retargeting capabilities of these platforms plus much more.

  • Prospecting: Take the learnings from your website visitors, even with a smaller data set, and reapply that to an omni-channel prospecting campaign. We can model people that convert on your site with other browsers to find people who are currently in-market for your product or service. We can even leverage 3rd party data sources to further hone in on your target audience.

  • Connected TV: Connected TV is a channel that every marketer should be in on. It combines the impact of TV advertising with the targeting and tracking capabilities of digital ads. More than 80% of internet users currently stream at least some of their video content and this number is rapidly growing.

Ready to explore programmatic for your 2024 marketing? We’re here to help.

Whether you’re an agency with clients who could benefit from programmatic strategy or a business looking to reach new prospects and reengage customers in exciting ways, we’d love to chat about your needs and put together a plan for success.

Contact us today and let’s talk!