Many publishers find themselves at a unique point where it makes financial sense to invest in an ad server in order to bring in new sources of demand that compete with each other. For these publishers, a secure and easy to use ad server will help them grow their ad operations and enable them to source new streams of revenue.
This post will cover DoubleClick for Publisher's dynamic allocation feature, which allows publishers to set different demand sources to compete with Google's own AdSense ad network.
Competition is a publisher's best friend. Inherent to the dynamic allocation feature is the notion that competition will yield more buyers who will bid higher for inventory thus driving up revenues for a publisher. This concept is so critical that many publishers have seen double digit increases in their revenue simply because of more non-guaranteed competition.
A few things to note:
1. Make sure you have a valid AdSense account associated with your DFP account.
2. When trafficking new demand sources, be it other ad networks, etc., always traffic these demand sources at a Price Priority and ensure the right CPM is being used within DFP. This will allow DFP to accurately price impressions within the auction, ensuring you as the publisher will win out over the long run.
3. Check to make sure that dynamic allocation is enabled for each new ad unit. This will ensure you have some demand to fill even if there are no other sources of demand in the ad server.
The goal here is and always will be to drive more revenue to publishers in a smart and methodical way. In another post, we will explore direct sales and specifically the concept of direct non-guaranteed ad sales, thereby allowing you to maximize the value of your remnant inventory while also commanding higher premium CPMs.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
Monday, October 22, 2012
Revenue Cannibalization: Striking A Balance
This blog has mostly covered topics regarding display advertising and the ways publishers can monetize their display inventory. But what if you are a publisher with various sources of ad income? What if you have CPA deals next to CPM display ads? Or perhaps even CPC text link ads next to CPM display ads? This post focuses on the latter, in which a publisher needs to understand the revenue split between two competing (but complimentary) sources of ad revenue.
At the last publisher I worked at, we had an interesting mix of text link ads based on directly negotiated CPCs (direct partner/non-auction) and display ads trafficked via CPM. In many cases, publishers choose to stick with one ad revenue source (display ads OR text link ads) because cannibalization can occur. In a nutshell, cannibalization is the process by which one ad can potentially take away clicks from another portion of the website or an ad.
In our specific case, we realized very quickly that there was an equilibrium that needed to be struck between our text link ads and our display ads. In essence, if the CPM we negotiated with a direct deal advertiser was too low (commensurately, if the eCPC was too low based on the CPM and the CTR) we risked actually losing money on net when considering the clicks that were lose to the display ad, rather than having the user click on the (higher paying) text link ad.
Publishers need to understand that for any given deal they sign in this scheme, they need to ensure that total revenue on net is higher, even if they are getting a higher CPC text link ad or a higher CPM display ad. In the case of the display ad, understanding the CTR from the display ad is vital to understanding the eCPC, and thus the total affect on monetizing the user.
At the last publisher I worked at, we had an interesting mix of text link ads based on directly negotiated CPCs (direct partner/non-auction) and display ads trafficked via CPM. In many cases, publishers choose to stick with one ad revenue source (display ads OR text link ads) because cannibalization can occur. In a nutshell, cannibalization is the process by which one ad can potentially take away clicks from another portion of the website or an ad.
In our specific case, we realized very quickly that there was an equilibrium that needed to be struck between our text link ads and our display ads. In essence, if the CPM we negotiated with a direct deal advertiser was too low (commensurately, if the eCPC was too low based on the CPM and the CTR) we risked actually losing money on net when considering the clicks that were lose to the display ad, rather than having the user click on the (higher paying) text link ad.
Publishers need to understand that for any given deal they sign in this scheme, they need to ensure that total revenue on net is higher, even if they are getting a higher CPC text link ad or a higher CPM display ad. In the case of the display ad, understanding the CTR from the display ad is vital to understanding the eCPC, and thus the total affect on monetizing the user.
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Know Your Audience
It goes without saying that in any industry or field, knowing your audience is crucial. Whether you're a speaker about to give a presentation or a company about to enter a new market, understanding the people who will be consuming and using your product/service/good will ensure that your efforts are not in vain.
In this vein, publishers need to start focusing on understanding their own audience in order to take advantage of the growing opportunity to attract buyers who want to know this information. Online publishers are starting to see their bottom lines get hammered as advertisers look towards audience targeting and buying to guide their buying decisions, rather than traffic volume and pageviews. In this increasingly competitive world, publishers who don't know their audience are at a total disadvantage, as they are unable to service these increasingly sophisticated (and higher paying) online advertisers.
Comscore by Cirino, Zheng [Paperback] (Google Affiliate Ad)
Why is it important for publishers to know their audience? Simply put, knowing your audience allows you to offer targeted offerings to advertisers, which in turn allows you to command higher CPMs when offering deals to buyers. In the increasingly data-driven and ROI-focused world of online advertising, publishers need to make sure they are servicing their advertising clients by offering demographics and (hopefully) psychographics on their user base and audience.
Luckily for publishers, there are a number of ways to approach this unique problem. Many data companies exist to anonymously track and monitor audiences, providing publishers with the data they need to command higher CPMs in any direct deal negotiations. Companies that publishers should look for include Quantcast, comScore and eXelate. For each of these companies, a simple bit of code is dropped on the publishers website which then sends back information via the code or "pixel" to the companies, providing the publisher with valuable information on their audience and demographics. This data, in turn, can then be used to make informed decisions on where to focus outreach efforts to buyers, ensuring that any sales efforts taken forth will thus be put to good use.
Know your audience, and command a higher CPM. It's that simple.
In this vein, publishers need to start focusing on understanding their own audience in order to take advantage of the growing opportunity to attract buyers who want to know this information. Online publishers are starting to see their bottom lines get hammered as advertisers look towards audience targeting and buying to guide their buying decisions, rather than traffic volume and pageviews. In this increasingly competitive world, publishers who don't know their audience are at a total disadvantage, as they are unable to service these increasingly sophisticated (and higher paying) online advertisers.
Comscore by Cirino, Zheng [Paperback] (Google Affiliate Ad)
Why is it important for publishers to know their audience? Simply put, knowing your audience allows you to offer targeted offerings to advertisers, which in turn allows you to command higher CPMs when offering deals to buyers. In the increasingly data-driven and ROI-focused world of online advertising, publishers need to make sure they are servicing their advertising clients by offering demographics and (hopefully) psychographics on their user base and audience.
Luckily for publishers, there are a number of ways to approach this unique problem. Many data companies exist to anonymously track and monitor audiences, providing publishers with the data they need to command higher CPMs in any direct deal negotiations. Companies that publishers should look for include Quantcast, comScore and eXelate. For each of these companies, a simple bit of code is dropped on the publishers website which then sends back information via the code or "pixel" to the companies, providing the publisher with valuable information on their audience and demographics. This data, in turn, can then be used to make informed decisions on where to focus outreach efforts to buyers, ensuring that any sales efforts taken forth will thus be put to good use.
Know your audience, and command a higher CPM. It's that simple.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)