The Ultimate Guide to Video Advertising: Types and Serving Methods Explained

The Ultimate Guide to Video Advertising: Types and Serving Methods Explained

Video advertising has emerged as an increasingly popular and highly effective marketing tool for businesses to effectively reach their target audience. The exponential growth of this form of advertising can be attributed to factors such as the rising popularity of streaming services, the proliferation of mobile devices, and the growing importance of video content in online marketing strategies.

According to a report by Statista, the expenditure on digital video advertising in the United States reached approximately $55.34 billion in 2021, and it is projected to reach $78.5 billion this year. These figures highlight the significant investment businesses are making in video advertising to capture audience attention and drive marketing success.

Video advertising offers advertisers a unique opportunity to engage their audience through visually compelling and dynamic content. With a wide array of video ad formats and delivery methods available, marketers can effectively convey their message in an engaging manner across multiple platforms, including social media, websites, and streaming services.

As digital video ad spending continues to soar, it is evident that video advertising will play a pivotal role in shaping the future of online marketing. By gaining a comprehensive understanding of the different types of video ads and their delivery methods, businesses can craft compelling video ad campaigns that yield impressive results. Let’s now delve deeper into these various forms of video ads and explore their delivery methods in more detail.

Different Types of Video Ads

  • In-Stream Ads: These video ad types are strategically placed before, during, or after videos on popular streaming platforms (like YouTube or Hulu). They come in two main varieties: skippable and non-skippable. Skippable ads grant viewers the freedom to skip the ad after a specific time, while non-skippable ads are played in their entirety.
  • Pre-Roll Ads: Pre-roll ads are showcased before the main content, usually appearing before videos on platforms like YouTube or Facebook. Typically lasting between 15 to 30 seconds, these ads cannot be skipped until a specific duration has elapsed. Pre-roll ads serve as a powerful tool for swiftly reaching a broad audience and are frequently employed to promote fresh products or services.
  • Mid-Roll Ads: Mid-roll ads strategically interrupt the content, appearing in the middle of a video or other forms of content. These ads tend to be longer than pre-roll ads, sometimes extending up to 60 seconds. By breaking the flow of the content, mid-roll ads effectively capture viewers’ attention and compel them to engage with the advertisement.
  • Out-Stream Ads: Out-stream ads are versatile video ads that are not tethered to a particular piece of content. They commonly appear in the middle of web pages or as pop-up ads across various platforms, including social media, news sites, and other websites, and can auto-play when the user scrolls past them. Out-stream ads are typically shorter than mid-roll and out-stream ads and often remain silent until the viewer engages by clicking on the ad.
  • Native Ads: Native ads seamlessly integrate with the content on websites or social media platforms, blending in with the surrounding content. They are meticulously crafted to resemble and harmonize with the non-ad content, creating an immersive and cohesive user experience. Compared to other ad formats, native ads are less intrusive, which adds to their appeal among viewers.
  • Interactive Ads: Interactive ads offer viewers the exciting opportunity to actively engage with the content. These video ads take the form of quizzes, surveys, or games, allowing users to participate and interact. Leveraging interactivity, these ads effectively captivate viewers, resulting in heightened brand awareness and fostering customer loyalty.
  • Social Media Video Ads: These types of video ads are displayed on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. These ads are typically short, ranging from 6 seconds to 60 seconds and are designed to capture the viewer’s attention and encourage them to take action (such as clicking on a link to visit the advertiser’s website).
  • In-Display Ads: Usually used for advertising products or services, display video ads appear as a thumbnail on a website or in search results and play when the viewer clicks on the thumbnail.
  • In-App Ads: In-app ads are video ads that appear in mobile apps and can be either in-stream or out-stream. In-app ads are designed to be engaging and interactive, encouraging the viewer to take action, such as downloading an app or visiting a website.
  • Bumper Ads: Bumper ads are short, non-skippable video ads that are designed to be shown before a piece of content. They are typically 6 seconds long and are used to promote brand awareness and engagement.

How video ads are served

Video ads offer versatile delivery options depending on the platform and ad format to be displayed on desktop computers, mobile devices, and connected TVs. It’s important for advertisers to choose the most suitable delivery option(s) based on their target audience, budget, and advertising goals. Common delivery methods of serving video ads include:

  • Ad Networks: Advertisers can leverage ad networks like Google AdSense or AdMob to serve their video ads across a network of publishers and websites. These networks provide targeting options to reach specific audiences.
  • Programmatic Advertising: Programmatic advertising uses automated systems and algorithms to serve video ads in real-time. Advertisers can define their target audience based on factors such as interests, demographics, location, and behavior, allowing for precise ad targeting.
  • Direct Placement: Advertisers can directly negotiate and purchase ad placements with specific publishers or websites. This method offers more control and customization options for ad delivery.
  • Retargeting: By using tracking pixels or cookies, advertisers can serve video ads to individuals who have previously interacted with their brand or visited their website. This technique helps to re-engage and convert potential customers.
  • Social Media Platforms: Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer their own ad platforms where advertisers can serve video ads directly to their users based on demographic and interest targeting options.

Overall, video ads are proving to be an incredibly potent marketing tool for businesses to effectively reach their target audience. With a diverse range of video ad formats at their disposal, businesses can convey their message in captivating ways delivered across various platforms. Because of the flexibility and broad audience reach this form of advertising offers, harnessing the power of video ads has become essential in the ever-evolving landscape of successful marketing strategies.

Understanding DSPs & DMPs

Understanding DSPs & DMPs

Digital marketing has transformed the way businesses reach their target audience. With access to a wealth of data, advertisers can now gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ behavior and preferences. Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) and Data Management Platforms (DMPs) are two essential tools in the digital marketing landscape. Although they share some similarities, they each serve distinct purposes in the digital advertising ecosystem and can be combined to create a more effective marketing strategy.

In this article, we will provide a detailed exploration of DSPs and DMPs, including how they work together and the key differences between the two. Stay tuned to learn more about how these powerful tools can help your business reach its target audience and achieve its marketing goals.

Demand Side Platforms (DSPs)

A Demand Side Platform (DSP) is a crucial tool for advertisers and agencies to purchase digital advertising inventory from various sources like ad exchanges and ad networks. It provides advertisers with the ability to manage and optimize their ad campaigns in real-time, using specific targeting criteria such as demographics, behavior, location, and interests to reach their desired audiences.

At its core, DSPs operate within a real-time bidding (RTB) environment where multiple advertisers bid for ad inventory on a website or app. The ad inventory is then sold to the highest bidder, and their ad is displayed to the user in a matter of milliseconds. To determine which ad is displayed, complex algorithms analyze the advertiser’s targeting criteria, bid price, and user behavior and preferences.

DSPs provide advertisers with a single interface to manage campaigns, set budgets, and track performance metrics. By using DSPs, advertisers can make better decisions, more efficiently manage their advertising spend, and reach their target audiences with greater precision.

Data Management Platforms (DMPs)

On the other hand, a Data Management Platform (DMP) is a platform that allows marketers to efficiently manage, organize, and analyze vast quantities of consumer data. This data can provide insights that are useful for optimizing ad campaigns. DMPs collect data from a variety of sources, including websites, social media platforms, mobile devices, and offline sources like CRM databases and point-of-sale systems.

After data collection, DMPs organize the information into various segments based on factors such as demographics, interests, preferences, behaviors, and intent. By segmenting data, marketers can create more targeted campaigns that are likely to resonate with their intended audience. For instance, if a user has previously shown interest in a specific product, a DMP can use that data to serve them more relevant content and offers.

To create audience segments, DMPs use a blend of first-party, second-party, and third-party data. First-party data is collected directly from a company’s website or app, while second-party data is obtained from partnerships with other businesses. Third-party data, on the other hand, is purchased from data providers.

How do DSPs and DMPs work together?

DSPs and DMPs are both critical tools for successful digital advertising campaigns. While DSPs are responsible for targeting specific audiences with real-time bidding, they rely on DMPs to provide the data needed to create targeted campaigns. The data collected by DMPs, such as purchase history, search queries, and website visits, can be used by DSPs to deliver targeted ads to users. At the same time, the data collected by DSPs can be fed back into the DMP to refine audience segments and improve targeting accuracy. This ongoing feedback loop ensures that marketers can optimize their campaigns, achieve better results, and continuously improve their overall marketing strategy.

Key differences between DSPs and DMPs

  • Purpose: DSPs and DMPs serve complementary yet distinct purposes in the digital advertising ecosystem. DMPs are used to collect, organize, and analyze customer data, which allows marketers to gain a deeper understanding of their customers and their needs. On the other hand, DSPs enable advertisers to purchase and manage ad inventory in real-time, maximizing customer engagement and driving traffic to their websites. By leveraging both platforms, advertisers can create highly targeted and effective ad campaigns that resonate with their audience and drive business growth.
  • Data usage: DSPs gather data from ad campaigns to enable companies to set limitations on their DSP based on factors such as budget, location, and language. This data is used to make real-time bidding decisions that target specific consumers with ads. On the other hand, DMPs collect data from various sources such as apps, websites, social media, CRM, and music streaming services to segment audiences and create more targeted campaigns across different marketing channels.
  • Primary users: Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) are primarily used by marketers, including advertisers and advertising agencies, to buy digital ad space and manage ad campaigns. In contrast, Data Management Platforms (DMPs) can be used by various types of businesses, such as buyers and sellers, to collect, organize, and analyze customer data to inform marketing and business decisions.
  • Data sources: DSPs are used to optimize ad targeting by leveraging data to deliver ads to specific audiences. In contrast, DMPs collect data from various sources to create a comprehensive understanding of the customer.
  • Data owners: DSPs are external systems used by multiple users with different accounts, which means that data ownership can change hands throughout the buying and selling process. DSPs are used by buyers to purchase data from various providers across the globe for ad targeting. In contrast, DMPs belong to a specific company that owns the data. They collect and analyze the data to create a unified view of the customer for more targeted marketing.
  • Targeting: DSPs use data to optimize ad targeting based on real-time bidding, while DMPs use data to create audience segments for targeting across multiple channels.
  • Timeline: DSPs operate in real-time and are designed to respond to customer actions immediately, such as bidding on ad space from publishers. In contrast, DMPs continuously collect and analyze customer data from multiple sources to create a more comprehensive view of their behavior and preferences over time. This difference in function means that DSPs are faster than DMPs when it comes to triggering ad delivery to specific customers.
  • ROI: The return on investment (ROI) of using DSPs and DMPs varies based on their intended functions. DSPs are often used by companies or brands to boost their sales by securing ad space at the lowest possible price. In contrast, DMPs are used to gather comprehensive information about their audience so that companies can tailor their marketing strategies to reach the right audience and increase the likelihood of customers buying more products and services.

In summary, DSPs and DMPs play critical roles in digital advertising by helping marketers engage with their audiences more effectively. DSPs focus on purchasing and optimizing ad inventory, while DMPs focus on collecting, analyzing, and managing consumer data to allow for better targeting and campaign decisions. While DSPs and DMPs both serve different purposes, they can work together to create a powerful marketing strategy that delivers the right message to the right audience at the right time. By using both platforms, advertisers can create more targeted campaigns and optimize performance metrics. Understanding the differences between DSPs and DMPs enables marketers to make informed decisions based on their specific advertising goals.

A Detailed Guide on Video Header Bidding

A Detailed Guide on Video Header Bidding

In traditional programmatic advertising, publishers typically use a single ad server to manage their ad inventory. When an ad request is made, the ad server looks at the available inventory and serves an ad from the highest bidder. In contrast, video header bidding is an advanced programmatic advertising technique that allows publishers to offer their video inventory to multiple demand sources simultaneously, enabling them to improve the chances of their video ads being seen by the right audience. With this technique, advertisers can bid on video ad impressions before the video content starts playing, giving them an edge in the competition for the highest bidder.

The traditional approach may work well for display advertising, but it is less effective for video advertising due to its more complex targeting and optimization requirements, as well as its higher production costs. Video header bidding offers a solution, allowing publishers to offer their video inventory to multiple demand sources simultaneously. This allows advertisers to bid on video ad impressions in real time, ensuring that the most relevant and highest-paying ads are served to the right audience. Video header bidding can be conducted either client-side or server-side, though the process differs from header bidding in display advertising.

How does the video header bidding process work?

The video header bidding process works by inserting a small piece of code into the header of a publisher’s video player. This code sends an ad request to multiple demand sources, including ad exchanges, demand-side platforms (DSPs), and ad networks in one go. These demand sources then compete in a real-time auction to bid on the ad impression. The highest bidder wins and their ad is served to the viewer before the video content starts playing.

Header bidding can be divided into two main categories: client-side and server-side. With client-side header bidding, the publisher’s web browser is responsible for communicating with multiple exchanges before sending the ad request to the ad server. On the other hand, server-side header bidding involves the publisher’s server making requests to multiple exchanges before the ad request is sent to the ad server. Let’s understand the client-side and server-side video header bidding in a bit more detail.

Client-side video header bidding: In this traditional form of video header bidding, the auction takes place on the user’s browser, rather than on the server, allowing multiple demand partners to bid on the ad inventory at the same time. This creates a more competitive bidding environment, potentially resulting in higher bids and increased revenue for the publisher. In video header bidding, the bidding process is specifically for video ad inventory, such as pre-roll or mid-roll video ads, and is typically used in conjunction with a programmatic advertising platform. Once a winning bid is selected, the wrapper sends a signal to the ad server. Next, the ad server sends the video ad to the video player which is then displayed on the user’s screen. During this entire process, the video player stays in the loading period.

Server-side video header bidding: In this technique, the bidding process takes place on a server rather than in the user’s web browser. This process involves offering video ad inventory to multiple demand sources simultaneously, allowing publishers to receive higher bids and maximize their revenue. Server-side bidding has several advantages compared to client-side bidding, including reduced latency, increased scalability, and improved transparency. By moving the bidding process to the server side, publishers can handle more bid requests, reducing the likelihood of bid timeouts and ad latency. Ultimately, this approach gives publishers the ability to maximize their ad revenue while providing a better user experience.

Advantages of using video header bidding

  • Increased Revenue: One of the biggest benefits of video header bidding is that it can significantly increase ad revenue for publishers. By allowing multiple demand sources to compete for ad inventory, publishers can ensure that they are getting the best possible price for each ad impression. This can result in higher CPMs (cost per thousand impressions) and overall revenue.
  • Better User Experience: Video header bidding can improve the user experience for viewers by allowing publishers to prioritize demand partners who deliver higher-quality ads. This can ensure that ads do not interfere with the user experience, leading to higher engagement and better brand recall for advertisers.
  • Increased Transparency: Video header bidding can also provide valuable insights for both publishers and advertisers. By tracking bid data and performance metrics, publishers can gain a better understanding of the value of their video inventory and make informed decisions about which demand sources to work with in the future. Advertisers, on the other hand, can use this data to optimize their bidding strategies and improve the performance of their video ads.
  • Greater Control: Another advantage of video header bidding is that publishers can have more control over their ad inventory, as they can manage demand partners and optimize bids in real-time.

However, there are some potential downsides to video header bidding as well.

Disadvantages of the video header bidding process

  • Slow Load Times: One of the main concerns about video header bidding is that it can increase latency and slow down the loading speed of the video player. This can lead to a poor user experience and higher bounce rates. Additionally, because video header bidding relies on multiple demand sources, it can be more difficult to manage and optimize than traditional programmatic advertising.
  • Increased Complexity: Video header bidding can be complex to implement and manage, as it requires technical expertise and resources.
  • Limited Demand Partners: Because video header bidding is still fairly new, not all demand partners are willing and able to support it. This means that not all potential demand partners are available for bidding, which can limit the number of partners available to bid on a publisher’s inventory. This method of advertising requires the publisher to ensure they have the right technical infrastructure in place, which can add extra time and cost to the setup process. Furthermore, some demand partners may require additional fees to access their video header bidding technology, which can add additional costs to the publisher’s programmatic video ad campaigns.
  • Potential for Fraud: Like any other programmatic advertising technique, video header bidding is vulnerable to fraud, which can result in publishers losing revenue and advertisers losing money.

Despite the challenges associated with video header bidding, it is becoming an increasingly popular advertising technique for publishers and advertisers. It is a promising technology transforming the way advertisers and publishers approach programmatic video advertising, and can be an invaluable tool for publishers looking to increase revenue and gain more control over their ad inventory. However, it is important to carefully consider the pros and cons and properly manage the implementation of the technology. With the right approach and a clear understanding of the challenges associated with video header bidding, publishers can more easily overcome these challenges.

What to consider when enlisting help with video header bidding

Considering that video header bidding can be complex to implement and manage, it is wise for publishers to enlist the help of a company that specializes in this category to best address and prevent the potential challenges mentioned. Companies like Vuukle, Index Exchange, SpotX, AppNexus, and PubMatic are some of the leading providers in regards to connecting publishers with demand sources, managing their advertising inventory and analyzing the performance of their ads. However, in today’s user-first focused landscape, publishers are finding more value in ad partners that can also help facilitate and leverage a better user experience at the forefront of their ad optimization strategies. With this, it is important to ensure that the company you choose to enlist not only provides technical expertise and resources, but also prioritizes a positive user experience for website visitors to maximize the value of your traffic.

How do you choose the best provider? Well, we recommend you try some of the tier 1 candidates as mentioned above before signing up for a long term contract. You will identify opportunities with each SSP as they all have strengths and weaknesses. One critical component of choosing the right partner is understanding their demand mix as well as how they will enrich work with first party data signals. Unfortunately, most SSPs don’t provide much in terms of proprietary ad solutions where they can help collect first party data on your behalf, with the exception of Vuukle. 

Vuukle differentiates from the crowd by providing a solution that both amplifies ad monetization and enhances the user experience.They achieve this via their pretty nifty commenting, sharing and reaction widgets which keep users engaged on your site for a longer period of time, allowing you to show more ads to users. Additionally, their super lean programmatic stack with directly sold PMP deals creates bid pressure for greater CPM and fill, with fewer third-party ad calls for even faster page load speeds. Utilizing a company with this all-in-one solution, like Vuukle, enables publishers to take advantage of the full range of benefits video header bidding has to offer, and so much more. 

By leveraging the expertise of a company that specializes in video header bidding and the UX, publishers can not only optimize and maximize their revenue potential, they can also create an engaging experience for their users that will help them to retain and acquire new readers. Request a demo to learn more about how Vuukle can benefit your website for video header bidding and more.

What Is Ad Tech?

What Is Ad Tech?

What is Ad Tech, its different aspects, and how it works

The digital advertising industry has experienced an immense transformation over the last few years, with traditional forms of advertising such as TV, radio, and print becoming less effective and expensive. In contrast, digital advertising has seen a surge in popularity, and Ad Tech has emerged as a crucial component of digital advertising.

Ad Tech denotes the use of software and tools to plan, buy, and manage digital advertising campaigns. Through its vast and complex ecosystem made up of a range of technologies and platforms, Ad Tech assists businesses in achieving their marketing goals efficiently and effectively.

How does Ad Tech work?

Ad Tech is constantly evolving, with new technologies and platforms emerging all the time. For instance, programmatic advertising is a relatively new technology that allows for buying and selling of ad inventory in real time using automated bidding. This technology is powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) which enables advertisers to target their desired audience more accurately and optimize their campaigns for maximum performance.

But how does the Ad Tech ecosystem work? Let’s dive into it.

The primary goal of Ad Tech is to make digital advertising more efficient, effective, and targeted, which could drive sales and revenue for businesses. Here are some examples of how Ad Tech works.

  • Bidding: Several advertising platforms offer features that streamline the bidding process for advertisers. For example, they can set a desired bidding amount and a maximum budget, and then let the software manage the rest. This helps to ensure that advertisers stay within budget and get the best results for their ad campaigns.
  • Audience targeting and retargeting: Ad Tech not only enables audience targeting, but it also ensures that the ads reach the right audience – those who are most likely to be interested in the products. This ensures that companies are able to maximize the effectiveness of their ads, and have a higher likelihood of converting potential customers into actual customers.
  • Purchasing ad space: Ad Tech can purchase ad space across a variety of platforms including websites, over-the-top (OTT), apps, and more. This provides a comprehensive range of advertising opportunities to reach your target audience.
  • Measuring results: Ad Tech not only helps with tracking the results of an ad campaign, but also provides insights into user behavior. It measures and analyzes the number of users who saw the ad, how many clicked on it, and even how many made a purchase after viewing the ad. This provides valuable data that can be used to optimize ad campaigns and maximize return on investment.

Ad Tech tools and technologies

Furthermore, the Ad Tech ecosystem includes several different players, such as advertisers, publishers, ad networks, demand-side platforms (DSPs), supply-side platforms (SSPs), and ad exchanges. Advertisers leverage Ad Tech to plan and execute their digital advertising campaigns, while publishers use it to manage their inventory and monetize their content. Ad networks act as intermediaries between advertisers and publishers, while DSPs and SSPs enable the buying and selling of ad inventory in real time. Finally, ad exchanges provide a platform for advertisers and publishers to connect and trade ad inventory.

To gain a better understanding, let’s break down the specifics of these Ad Tech tools and technologies.

  • Ad networks: Ad Networks are platforms for advertisers to connect with publishers and purchase digital ad campaigns. They provide a variety of ad formats, targeting options, and reporting tools to make it easy for advertisers to manage their digital ad campaigns.
  • Ad servers: Ad servers provide advertisers with the capability to manage and track their ad campaigns, as well as give publishers the reporting tools to manage their inventory and measure ad performance. By utilizing these servers, ads can be efficiently delivered to websites and mobile apps.
  • Ad exchanges: Ad exchanges are powerful marketplaces that enable advertisers to bid on real-time ad inventory and for publishers to sell their ad space to the highest bidder. Using data and sophisticated algorithms, ad exchanges help match advertisers with the most relevant ad inventory available.
  • Demand-side platforms (DSPs): DSPs enable advertisers to purchase ad inventory from multiple ad exchanges and networks in real time. Combining data and algorithms, DSPs are able to precisely target ads to the right audiences to optimize ad performance. Utilizing advanced targeting options, real-time bidding (RTB), and optimization tools, DSPs help ensure that advertisers get the most out of their ad campaigns.
    • Leading DSPs include Google, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, IBM, Adobe, Oracle, AppNexus, MediaMath, TheTradeDesk, and Conversant.
  • Supply-side platforms (SSPs): SSPs are used by publishers to manage and maximize their ad inventory and revenue. SSPs provide inventory management tools, yield optimization, and real-time bidding capabilities that allow publishers to sell their ad inventory to advertisers through ad exchanges and networks. With SSPs, publishers can ensure they are maximizing the revenue from their ad inventory.
    • Leading SSPs include Google Ad Manager, AppNexus, PubMatic, OpenX, Rubicon Project, Index Exchange, Sonobi, District M, Sovrn, and Amobee.
  • Data management platforms (DMPs): DMPs are an invaluable tool for collecting, analyzing, and segmenting data from a variety of sources such as cookies, mobile devices, and social media platforms. This helps to refine targeting efforts and optimize ad performance. Through DMP-generated audience segments, advertisers can better target their campaigns and maximize their results.
  • Attribution and measurement tools: Attribution and measurement tools allow advertisers to track the performance of their advertising campaigns, enabling them to measure the impact of their campaigns on business goals and make data-driven decisions for optimization.

Different ad formats in Ad Tech

In addition to the technologies and players already mentioned, Ad Tech also includes a variety of ad formats, such as display ads, video ads, native ads, and more.

  • Display ads: Display ads are visual ads that appear on websites and apps. They can be in the form of banners, pop-ups, interstitials, and other formats.
  • Video ads: Video ads are ads that appear in video content on websites and apps. These can include pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-roll ads and can be either skippable or non-skippable.
  • Native ads: Native ads are ads designed to blend in with the content on the website or app they appear on, taking the form of sponsored content, in-feed ads, or other formats. They create a seamless user experience, allowing for effective and unobtrusive advertising.

Ad Tech targeting options

Ad Tech also involves various targeting options to improve ad performance, including demographic targeting, behavioral targeting, contextual targeting, and more.

  • Demographic targeting: Demographic targeting allows advertisers to target users based on their age, gender, income, education, and other demographic factors.
  • Behavioral targeting: Behavioral targeting allows advertisers to target users based on their browsing behavior, such as the websites they visit, the pages they view, and the actions they take.
  • Contextual targeting: Contextual targeting enables advertisers to deliver targeted ads to users based on the content of the website or app where the ad appears. For instance, a fitness product advertisement could be served to users who are viewing articles about health and wellness.

Conclusion

Ad Tech has revolutionized the digital advertising landscape, creating a win-win situation for both publishers and advertisers. By utilizing data to more precisely target and reach the intended audience, and to monetize content more effectively, Ad Tech has become an invaluable tool. Advertisers are able to identify their target audience, understand their behavior, and customize their ad campaigns for maximum success, while publishers can use d­­ata to analyze their audience and optimize their content for maximum engagement, creating new revenue streams and business opportunities.

How Website Owners Can Increase Revenue With Prebid?

How Website Owners Can Increase Revenue With Prebid?

What do website owners need most: more traffic to their site or more money?

Your prebid account can help you make some easy changes that will optimize your ad pages and give you a better chance of bidding on high-value impressions at a lower cost than ever before.

Let us help you create a plan to get started.

Peculiarities of Prebid

Prebid is a rather unique and innovative approach to online advertising that allows website owners to increase their revenue significantly.

In short, Prebid is an overridden script that inserts itself into the existing code of a website. This allows for the display of more ads without having to make any changes to the website’s code.

Prebid essentially inserts a new “ad slot” into websites where none existed before, and then manages the sale of that ad inventory in real time through an auction.

This auction allows for increased competition among advertisers and ultimately results in higher CPMs (cost-per-thousand impressions) for the website owner.

There are few if any other companies offering this kind of technology or service. This makes Prebid an ideal solution for website owners looking to increase their advertising revenue.

Strategies to Increase Revenue with Prebid

Prebid is an innovative advertising technology that allows website owners to increase their revenue by up to 30% without having to make any changes to their website.

Prebid works by allowing website owners to set a minimum price for their ad inventory and then auction off that inventory to the highest bidder in real time.

This means that website owners can maximize their ad revenue by getting the highest possible price for their ad space.

There are a few key strategies that website owners can use to increase their revenue with Prebid:

1. Set a high minimum price for your ad inventory. If you set a low minimum price, you may not get any bids at all. But if you establish a high minimum price, you’ll ensure that you always get paid top dollar for your ad space.

2. Make sure your website has high traffic volumes. The more traffic your website has, the more valuable your ad space will be to potential advertisers.

3. Use Prebid’s “second-price” auction format. This format allows you to keep 100% of the proceeds from any bids that are below your minimum price, while only paying 70% of the proceeds from any bids that are above your minimum price. This ensures that you always come out ahead financially no matter how high the final bid ends up being.

Implementing Prebid

To implement Prebid on your website, you will need to add a few lines of code to your existing ad tags.

Once Prebid is implemented, you will then be required to set up each demand source (ad network or exchange) within the Prebid interface.

These demand sources will each have their own set of parameters that need to be configured for them to participate in the header bidding auction.

Once everything is set up and running, you can then begin monitoring your results via the various reporting tools available within Prebid.

These reports will give you insights into which demand sources are performing well and which ones might need some optimization.

1. Incorporate more ad units – Prebid allows for more ad units to be displayed on a page than traditional methods, so website owners can increase their potential revenue by adding additional ad units.

2. Target high-value advertisers – By targeting ads to high-value advertisers, website owners can maximize their revenue potential with Prebid.

3. Increase ad unit sizes – Larger ad units tend to generate more revenue, so website owners can increase their earnings potential by increasing the size of the ad units they display.

4. Use multiple demand sources – Prebid allows website owners to tap into multiple demand sources, so they can choose the one that offers the highest CPMs and fill rates. This can lead to a significant increase in overall revenue.

5. Test different configurations – With Prebid, website owners can test different configurations and find the one that performs best for their specific site and audience. This helps ensure maximum revenue potential.

What’s Next?

Prebid is a very effective way for website owners to increase their revenue, but there are a few things to keep in mind when using this technology.

First, it is critical to set a realistic reserve price for your ad space. If you set your reserve too high, you may not get any bids at all.

Second, be sure to vet your bidders carefully. You don’t want to allow just anyone to place an ad on your site – only work with reputable companies that you trust.

Finally, keep in mind that Prebid is still a new technology, and it may take some time for it to gain traction with advertisers. Don’t get discouraged if you don’t see immediate results – give it some time and you’re sure to see an increase in revenue from Prebid!

Conclusion

Prebid provides website owners with several options to increase revenue through advertising. If you are not already using Prebid, we encourage you to explore the ways that it can benefit your website and business. With the right approach, Prebid can provide a significant boost to your bottom line.

Ad Mediation Explained: What it is, how to use it effectively and its benefits

Ad Mediation Explained: What it is, how to use it effectively and its benefits

Over time, advertisers and publishers have grown weary of the traditional digital marketing landscape. As a result, there has been a growing movement toward ad mediation platforms.

These platforms are designed to not only bridge the gap between two or more parties but also enhance their respective advertising practices.

Whether you’re an advertiser or a publisher, here is everything you need to know about this platform and how it can help your business.

Did you know that ad mediation services can help increase your website/blog/app revenue?

Ad mediation is the process of showing ads from multiple ad networks in your website/blog/app and then selecting the highest paying ad for each impression. This way, you can maximize your earnings without having to pick and choose between different ad networks.

There are many benefits to using an ad mediation service, such as increased revenue, more control over which ads are shown, and access to more advertisers. Ad mediation also allows you to test different ad networks and find the one that works best for your website/blog/app

Let’s understand it in more detail.

What is Ad Mediation?

Ad mediation is the process of using an ad network to mediate between a website/blog/app publisher and multiple ad networks to fill ad requests. Ad mediation allows you to work with multiple ad networks, which can improve your fill rate and eCPMs.

Ad mediation also gives you more control over the ads that are served in your website/blog/app, so you can ensure a better user experience. By having more control over the ads that are served, you can choose to only have certain ads shown on your website/blog/app, based on user experience.

This ensures that your users have a positive experience with your website/blog/app, and are more likely to continue using it.

There are a few different types of ad mediation, but the most common is server-side ad mediation.

Server-side ad mediation means that the ad network manages all of the communications between the website/blog/app publisher and the multiple ad networks.

The advantage of server-side ad mediation is that it is completely transparent to the user and it happens in real time. Server-side ad mediation also allows for impression-level reporting, so you can see which ad networks are performing well and optimize accordingly.

There are a few things to keep in mind when using ad mediation:

-Make sure you sign up for an account with a reputable ad network. There are many scams out there, so be sure to do your research.

-Create different ad units for each network you want to work with. This will allow you to track performance and optimize appropriately.

-Monitor your fill rate and eCPMs regularly. If you’re not happy with the results, consider switching up your ad networks or changing your Mediation Stack.

How does Ad Mediation Work?

Ad mediation is the process of using a third-party ad server to mediate the delivery of ads on a publisher’s website. Ad mediation platforms allow publishers to manage multiple ad networks and ad placements in one place. They also provide valuable data insights that can be used to improve ad performance.

There are two main types of ad mediation: real-time bidding (RTB) and header bidding.

  • RTB is the more common type of ad mediation, and it works by allowing publishers to auction off each ad impression to the highest bidder in real time.
  • Header bidding, on the other hand, allows for simultaneous auctions of each ad impression, giving all buyers an equal chance to bid on each impression.

Both RTB and header bidding have their advantages and disadvantages, so it’s up to the publisher to decide which type of ad mediation is right for them. Whichever type of ad mediation you choose, though, you can be sure that it will help you better manage your ad inventory and improve your overall advertising revenue.

Benefits of Having Ad Mediation

Ad mediation is the process of managing multiple ad networks to fill your ad space on a website/blog/app. Ad mediation platforms help publishers increase their overall fill rate and eCPM by working with many ad networks.

Increased Fill Rate: By working with multiple ad networks, ad mediation can help increase the overall fill rate for your website/blog/app. This means that you are more likely to have ads shown on your website/blog/app, and thus generate more revenue.

Higher eCPM: Ad mediation can also help increase your eCPM or effective cost per thousand impressions. This is because ad networks will compete for your ad space, driving up prices.

More Control: With ad mediation, you have more control over which ads are shown on your app or website. You can block certain types of ads, or choose to show only high-paying ads. This allows you to customize the user experience and maximize revenue.

Manage Inventory: Ad mediation can also help you to better manage your inventory, as you can now choose which ad networks to show ads from based on factors like fill rate and eCPM. This way, you can ensure that your ad space is being used in the most effective way possible.

Boosted CSAT: Ad mediation can help to improve the user experience on your site or app, as it allows you to show fewer and less intrusive ads. This means that users are more likely to stay on your site or app, which can ultimately lead to more page views and conversions.

Things to Consider When Choosing an Ad Mediation

When it comes to ad mediation, there are a few key things to keep in mind to make sure you’re using it effectively.

Here are four things to consider when choosing an ad mediation platform:

  • Before you commit to a mediation platform, be sure to check that it is compatible with the ad inventory you have in place. The last thing you want to do is redo all of your current ad placements just to use a different platform.
  • Consider the fees associated with using the platform. Some platforms may take a percentage of your ad revenue, while others may charge a flat fee. Weigh the costs and benefits of each option before making a decision.
  • Evaluate the platform’s features and capabilities. Does it offer the targeting options you need? What kind of reporting do you get? Is it easy to use? Make sure the platform you choose meets all of your needs and expectations.
  • Get feedback from other publishers who have used the platform. Ask them about their experience and whether they would recommend it to others. This can be an invaluable resource when making your decision.

Summarizing it all

Ad mediation provides a way for you to manage your ad inventory, improve your fill rates and make more money from advertising on your website or blog. While it’s not right for every website or blog, if you have monetizable traffic, ad mediation can be a viable option to explore.

If you’re not already using an ad mediation service, now is the time to start! With so many benefits, there’s no reason not to try it out.

Programmatic trends in advertising that you should know about

Programmatic trends in advertising that you should know about

The digital era has made a significant impact across all industries and domains and advertising is one of them. Owing to easy internet access and low data cost, personalisation of content has taken the front seat. This is where programmatic advertising has played and will play a crucial role. In fact as per a report by market research firm Statista, programmatic ad spend is expected to go over $150 billion globally by the end of 2021 after it has reached heights of around $129 billion during 2020.

Although, a combination of evolving technology enhancement and capabilities are expected to make programmatic advertising more exciting; however, now in a cookie-less world, it will be interesting to look into programmatic advertising trends.

Cookie-less era

With the depreciation date for third-party cookies finally knocking the door, it’s time for marketers to look for alternatives and partners, so that the transition could be as smooth as possible. Although according to reports, Google will still allow the first-party data, so the focus in terms of programmatic advertising trends would be regulated first-party data. This could provide advertisers with precise details about their audiences starting from preferences to browsing behaviour. Interestingly data shoes that 51% of marketing professional have started to invest more on contextual targeting while 43% feels optimistic about this method in future.

Connected TV (CTV)

Pandemic has pushed the use of online streaming and television which led to the rise of CTV or Connected TV. With about 40% of waking hours spent in front of screens, people spending double the amount of their time per day on streaming services as compared to pre pandemic numbers, CTV is considered among the leading programmatic advertising trends. The year 2021 witnessed CTV advertising in a big way due to the growth of this medium and experts suggest focus will remain the same in 2022 as well. While this development has happened over a short period, the opportunity for programmatic advertising to grow is wide. All required is to find a right partner to assess the cost, each and measurement for this space.

Mobile gaming as programmatic display

Along with CTV, mobile gaming platforms were also on the rise during the pandemic. This has led to rise in competition in mobile gaming advertising which implies campaigns need to be more creative to reach the right audience at the right time and place. If advertisers are able to optimise the power of this medium, then programmatic advertising can be scaled and targeted to the apt audience, resulting in an impressive ROI.

Use of programmatic capabilities

With creativity taking the centre stage to reach the right audience, support of programmatic capabilities will be of utmost importance. The four main strategies include personalisation which refers to targeting the audience on a wider scale using data feeds and dynamic creativity can result in higher conversion rates. The second is an ad display with use of video as it gives better CTR. The third strategy is creating impressive mobile first advertisements which could outsmart competition. Test and optimise will be key in a cookie less world so one needs to test their ads and optimise accordingly.

Overall programmatic advertising is going through a transformative phase, and it will be interesting to see how marketers will take action to adapt this change. As first-party data will be essential to assess behaviour of the audience, creativity and using programmatic capabilities will be key to tap the audiences.

9 simple ways to grow traffic organically for your website

9 simple ways to grow traffic organically for your website

Gaining online traffic seems to be core for online presence. Although there are paid ways to grow traffic, it can be done organically as well. The question here is how? Before that let’s understand what is organic traffic?

Organic traffic refers to the traffic which comes or visits a website led by search results. For this the website content needs to be based on the principles of SEO or search engine optimisation such that the visitors get their query result on top and visit the website or page.

Website traffic can be increased organically by optimising content following different techniques. Let us take a look at them one by one. 

  1. Check where your website stands: Before you start measuring your efforts to grow organic traffic, it is essential to know where your website presently stands. So, start with your current search engine ranking, number of viewers on your site each month, source of traffic, average time spent, bounce rate, page views among other matrices.
  2. Analyse your competitors’ success: Along with assessing your website’s present status, it is important to analyse your competitors as well. The better you understand your competitors’ SEO strategy, you will be able to figure out your website’s strategy to compete with them. One way to find out is analysing your competitors’ best performance pages such that you know the source of their traffic and what is driving it. Analysing the top pages can help you to figure out content or keyword gap, improvisation of content, link gap among others.
  3. Keyword strategy- It is human nature to click on the top results of a search query. Here, keywords play a crucial role when it comes to ranking your content in response to a search engine query. It is important to have proper keyword strategy such as using the right set of keywords as per your content and place them in the article headlines, website’s architecture, URLs, and throughout the content wisely, rather than stuffing the content with keywords. Use of long tail keywords help to narrow down traffic to prospective leads. Furthermore, applying keywords in the article headlines, URL and website architecture can also change the game.
  4. On-page SEO- Imagine that you have published high-quality content but still not able to gain traffic. So, here comes on-page SEO to your rescue. On-page SEO is all about optimising your content as much as possible. The process of on-page SEO includes interlinking your content with other relevant pages which guide readers to dig deeper into the website and keep them stay longer. This improves average time spent on your website while reducing the bounce rate. Backlinks are another great way to grow website traffic organically. Backlinks are also among the top-ranking factors by Google. Anchor text further refers to hyperlink clickable or visible words to internal and external URLs, as a result of which search engines reward your website for linking to related and high-ranking content.
  5. Optimise Titles, Alt tags and Meta descriptions- Titles, alt tags and meta descriptions play a crucial role in growing traffic organically. The titles of the blog should be clear and concise, consisting of the required keywords phrase to be on the top of search engine rankings. The tiles should be written to the point such that it does not confuse the audience. Alt tags which refer to descriptions added to an image should be natural and not keyword stuffed. Furthermore, meta descriptions that show up below the link of search engine result pages should be descriptive enough to convince your viewers as well as search engines about your page link. If the meta description is not written properly then users might avoid clicking it.
  6. Look after your bounce rate: Your website’s bounce rate depicts the percentage of people who clicked on to your website’s link but immediately left within seconds. This implies that the users did not find anything relevant or had a bad experience or the page has a lengthy load time, or the website is not mobile responsive. Therefore, bounce rate is an essential factor to consider while making a strategy to grow your website’s traffic organically. Furthermore, Google also does not show pages with high bounce rate in its search results as a low bounce rate shows that the content on your website is not valuable to users and do not need to be shown frequently.
  7. Human-first approach- While working on the website content it is important to remember that you are writing for a human and not a machine. Use of keywords in the content is inevitable but writing poor quality content, stuffed with keywords can no way get traffic on your website. The information given should be unique, informative, and relevant to the theme chosen. Hence, to rank on top in the search engines your content should appeal to the readers. If readers do not find your content relevant even search engines cannot help you.
  8. Work re-work on your content- Blogs build online presence and establish subject authority. This form of content creates a catalogue of your domain knowledge and drives people to your website organically. Re-work on the older blogs can also help to increase traffic. This is because readers are always on a look out of something or the other; hence, the topic written two years might not suffice today’s context and answers questions of the readers. Moreover, refurbishing your old content not only can increase traffic but will further show that your website content is regularly updated as per the current trends and provide relevant information. Also, while working on the content, it is important to write quality and informative ones along with the keywords.
  9. Organised and structured content- Search engines comprise of crawlers which index your website based on the structure of the website and its content. Imagine your blog has all the information but in a scattered way, readers will not come to your site and will impact the search engine result. Hence, you should use categories or tags for your content properly, and provide information in an organised flow such that the search engines can index it correctly and readers also enjoy reading it.
6 easy ways to keep users engaged on your website for a longer duration

6 easy ways to keep users engaged on your website for a longer duration

In today’s world building online presence begins with a website. Although gaining more and more traffic is one of the primary aspects to successfully maintain a website’s online presence, that is not enough. If the traffic on your website does not stay and spend their time, then it might hamper your website rankings and moreover, you might be losing on loyal customers or prospective leads. Users engaged for a longer duration on your website depicts that they are interested to know more about your brand, product, or services and can also lead to repeat visits.

So, let’s take a look at some of the ways which can help to keep the users engaged on your website.

  1. Engaging, useful and unique content:

It is said that ‘Content is King’ and indeed it is. From movies to web series, the ones with unique and interesting content scores high among the audience and same is with the website content. Be it in the form of blogs, articles, infographic, or videos, you need to present unique and useful information to your audience which engages them for a longer period. To do this first you need to think like your audience and work accordingly to produce high-quality content. You can choose useful topics like tutorials, interviews or how to videos etc which adds value to your users’ knowledge. The content should have unique information to make users stick on your page rather than moving on to some other website.

Apart from making content informative and interesting, you should ensure that all the points mentioned are relevant and are in flow with the headline. Also, the headline should be impactful enough to entice users to scroll down the page and spend time reading the content. Furthermore, use of images can make the content more visually appealing and readable by breaking the text and keeping readers engaged.

  • Interaction with users:

Furthermore, to make users stay on a website for a long time, it is important to engage your users by interacting with them. Communication between users and brands or organisations helps to build trust and loyalty on both sides. This can be done in various ways. Such as, a comments section below the content encourages users to share their feedback. When your website will have genuine reviews and comments from other users, authenticity of your website tends to increase and users will spend more time.

Social media buttons also help to build communication as users can share the content piece and talk about it within their network. You can also create quizzes and polls to engage users and spend more time on your website. Another easy way to connect with your audience is through a chat box which you can add to the homepage. With a chat box, the users do not have to wait for a call back or email in response to their query and can get all their questions answered easily. This instant communication tool keeps your users engaged before they leave.

  • Call-to-action button on each post:

Call-to-action (CTA) buttons encourage users to act when they are on the website, making them stay longer. Such as through the ‘Subscribe’ button for your website’s newsletter you can stay in touch with the users. But the problem here is often users tend to ignore static call-to-action buttons. Therefore, the CTA buttons need to be designed and written properly. For instance, one way to attract them is by using animated slide-in CTA buttons which you can easily build on the right-hand corner at the bottom of your page.

  • Reducing page load time:

Longer the page-load time, higher are the chances that the users will leave your website before they even get engaged with the content. In simple words pages taking longer time to load kills the website. According to web analytics tool Kissmetrics, 40% of users tend to leave a website which takes 3 seconds or more to load. This means your website loses out on almost half of the visitors even before they see your site.

Page load time is an important factor in terms of ranking as well, slower the page lower is the website’s ranking on the search results. And accordingly, the chances to be clicked by a user decreases. Such as, according to SEMRush an ecommerce site page should aim to load within 1 to 2 seconds. But how to reduce the page load time? Images are the major factor to slow down sites. You need to compress your image by reducing their size which you can do with the help of various software, automatic tools, or free plugins such as WP Smush It on WordPress.

  • Design a Mobile First website:

Market research firm Statista reveals that mobile usage accounts for more than 55 percent of the total traffic and over 90% of the global population uses mobile to go online. This implies that if your website is not compatible or performs well on mobile devices then your users will move to the other sites.

Therefore, it is important that while designing a website, you follow ‘mobile-first’ design principles which means the elements of the website are designed keeping in mind the mobile interface such as the small screen and then scale up further. Although responsive website design fits according to a user’s device. However, in today’s internet landscape where mobile comes first, just responsive designs might not be enough to keep users engaged.

Why mobile-first approach? Because mobile-first designs encourage faster access to the content as fewer the elements on the page faster will be the page loading time. Also, Google has now started to monitor mobile websites closely to understand how to rank them. Further, as the majority of the population uses mobile to access the internet, it’s high time to consider your website making mobile first.

  • Easy navigation on your site

In case, users find it difficult and confusing to navigate through your site, most likely they will get confused and leave. So, you need to make sure that your website pages are properly indexed and mentioned in the menu bar. You can consider using a drop-down menu which will make it easier for users to find what they want to look for. Also try using simple, clear and descriptive titles for your posts and pages. You can also mention related articles below your content to feed users with more relevant content.

In case your website contains a lot of content, then you can consider a search bar such that users can easily find their desired content. In addition, you can also use categories and tags to group similar content, making it easier for users to navigate and what they are looking for under a single category. For example, a page with a title ‘About us’ clearly will guide your users that it talks about your company or organisation. In this way the user will not be confused to look for the information on any other pages. Furthermore, if you interlink pages with other relevant content, then the user will automatically navigate to other pages ending up spending more time on your site. Internal linking defines the architecture of a site and helps in navigation. You can add a navigation bar with the most important pages such as About us, Services, Contact us among others.