Online Publishers and Smaller Advertisers; What are the options?
Monday, July 25th, 2011Part 2 of 3: Exploring the technical approaches to self-serve advertising
In the first part of this series I addressed the problem and opportunity that online publishers face in servicing smaller ad orders. In summary, a self-serve advertising platform is a very effective solution for processing ad orders under $5000. In part 2 of this 3 part series, I will identify to the two primary types of solutions available to publishers today.
Self-serve via JavaScript
This type of solution is integrated into the publisher’s ad server via JavaScript and will require a bit more human involvement. Publisher’s ad ops team will have to set up a campaign for the self-serve solution similar to how they
set up an ad network in the ad server. Therefore a specific amount of inventory must be allocated and will need to be monitored on an on-going basis.
Self-serve via API
This type of solution is integrated directly into the publisher’s ad server via an API. With this type of solution no specific inventory needs to be allocated since inventory availability is determined when the advertiser is ready to buy.
The automation factor of a self-serve advertising platform is key to maximizing publisher’s revenue from advertisers with smaller ad orders. An API based solution is fully automated with one exception; each campaign requires approval from ad ops before going live (for quality control purposes). All other aspects happen without human involvement including sales, campaign trafficking, reporting and payment. Whereas a JavaScript based solution, as mentioned above, requires ad ops team members to create a campaign, allocate inventory and monitor.
The API based solution also offers advertisers full targeting capabilities, which is a great incentive for advertisers
with smaller budgets; most value for their dollar spent. This is not the case with a JavaScript based solution, which unfortunately does not have the same targeting functions. For example, it lacks ability to use key value pairs to
target ads.
Why the different technical approaches?
Vendors using the JavaScript approach are typically an ad network offering self-serve as a value-add solution or come from an ad network background, they will also cross-sell other sites using their solution. The API based solutions, on the other hand, are pure-play advertising technology companies focused on solving a pain point for publishers while giving them maximum control and flexibility.
I hope you found this information valuable and would love to hear your thoughts on self-serve advertising.
Feel free to comment below – let’s get the conversation started.
