Publisher

In what’s likely to be a first for any publisher globally, TMG is announcing a partnership with ClickDistrict to launch a bespoke bidder to power its Publisher Trading Desk. Here Martin Van Der Meij discusses the new solution, the ad trading strategy at one of Europe’s largest publishers and why we are likely to see more European publishers going down this route.

You have easily been one of the most progressive publishers in Europe around automated ad trading. Do you think the demand and the technology exists to allow a big European publisher like TMG trade inventory in this way?

Not yet. Technology on the demand side is built primarily for the demand side. It always has the best interests of the advertiser, agencies and trade desks, who operate on the demand side of this industry. With a publisher trading desk we are moving in the direction of the demand side but we’re still a publisher. We want to increase the advertising experience for our users. Yes, like every publisher we make money from the advertisers. But our primary business is content for our audiences. It’s about a better user experience.

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Flexing Market Muscle: 24/7 Real Media Looks To Aggregate Dynamic Supply With New Real-Time Bidding (RTB) Offering

24/7 Real Media, WPP’s marketing technology company, announced this week the availability of real-time bidding (RTB) to UK publishers within its proprietary ad management technology, Open AdStream®.

24/7 Real Media’s new RTB proposition will allow publishers to put their inventory into one ecosystem that dynamically allocates revenue and delivers optimal yield. This capability allows publishers to filter and assign value to biddable inventory based on audience and context.

Nicolle Pangis, President, Europe at 24/7 Real Media, comments: “A controlled approach to RTB improves publishers’ ability to identify the actual worth of each segment of inventory on their site. Similarly, advertisers are guaranteed quality inventory from an auction environment that ensures their messages are targeted effectively and most likely to resonate with online users.”

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OpenX announced today that it was acquiring LiftDNA for to beef up its yield management offering. Here Tim Cadogan speaks about the deal, and what it means for publisher clients.

Can you give some details on the deal between OpenX and LiftDNA?

We’re not able to disclose the specific details of the deal in financial terms. However, it’s important to note that, unlike many other acquisitions, we are already integrated and can actually able to offer the combining product, LiftDNA by OpenX™, immediately. In fact, we have been working together for clients since 2010 and already seeing significant increase in revenue for publishers: LiftDNA is already increasing publisher yield 50-150% on average.

For those non-US readers, can you give some background on the LiftDNA proposition?

LiftDNA is the first and only SSP technology to work completely within a publisher’s ad server. By directly managing all non-guaranteed demand channels – demand-side platforms (DSPs), ad networks, traditional supply-side platforms and exchanges – from inside the ad server, LiftDNA is able to process all available pricing information for the publisher and thereby maximize competition and revenue. Furthermore, because it operates within the ad server, LiftDNA reduces discrepancies and system latency, both of which further increase publisher revenue.

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The PostView is a new column written by senior execs working in the European online advertising industry.

The supply chain has always been in a permanent state of disruption. From ad networks to retargeting networks to SSPs to the Trading Desks – there has always been demand for a publisher’s inventory. But now, fuelled by the growth of RTB, is it becoming even more competitive and territorial?

The battle lines are being drawn for “first look” at premium inventory, which is going to result in the major disruption of the existing publisher revenue monetisation model.

For those not in the know, the “first look” is effectively a process where publishers pass inventory to a buyer or set of buyers before the rest of the market. Retargeters have profited from this for a while now. Not necessarily in real time, but taking the first ad calls on a lot of premium publisher’s inventory. Ask yourself, when you leave a retailer’s site and continue surfing the web, how quickly do you see a personalised ad? Skip from a well-known ecom site without purchasing and there is a high chance you will see a personalised ad about a product on the first pages of a premium publisher.

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Jason Bigler is Director, Product Management at Google and is the point man for all of the company’s display products in Europe. Here he discusses Google’s European display strategy, the bespoke approach that is required, the cross-channel opportunity, and how we get to that $200 billion figure.

We hear lots about Google’s display strategy in the US. Can you give some overview on the approach to Europe’s fragmented display market?

Our general approach actually isn’t very different on the core issues. Publishers look to us to help them maximise the value of every ad impression while advertisers look to us to help them achieve the best ROI on their advertising spend. If we aren’t delivering on either of those core concepts then we don’t have a business in any market.

However in Europe, as you point out, the market is more fragmented and each country can be in a different phase of product adoption. You really have to apply a country-specific lense when examining the best approach. As an example, we are seeing tremendous growth on the DoubleClick Ad Exchange in Europe. Spend has increased more than 130% year on year and the number of buyers and sellers has increased more than twofold over last year. This is going to be a big year for programmatic buying across most of the region. But is it exactly the same in every country across Europe? Not a chance. So in some countries we’re in full commercialisation mode and in others we’re still in the evangelising phase.

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Edgar Baudin is Co-Founder & Managing Director at Gamned. Here he discusses the Gamned offering, the state of the French exchange marketplace, the generalist versus specialist argument and the effect of Sapin legislation on real-time media buying in France.

Is much of the data-driven ad spend in the French market still coming from DR budgets and are brands still avoiding automated channels?

Most of the spending in France is still related to DR campaigns, i.e. acquisition and retargeting. The first group to adopt this technology was composed of merchants who focused on ROI, and that explains why they drive the biggest parts of the investments.

Now that brands have access to transparency and ad verification, they’ve started to switch part of their budget over to RTB campaigns. There’s still a lot of work to be done, informing and educating marketers, for them to increase their budgets and go from the test campaign phase to long-term RTB integration in their media plans. Branding campaigns will need a strong increase in data offering which is a must-have for audience and targeting setups.

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Criteo To Hit $400 Million In Revenue This Year

Criteo has become a colossus in the European ad tech space. The French company, founded by Jean-Baptiste Rudelle in 2005, has a client list which includes some of the biggest names in e-commerce (Office.co.uk, Zoopla, Glasses Direct, Boden, among others).

Last year the company generated $200m in turnover, compared with $60m in 2010 and $9m in 2009. If the trend continues, Criteo could double its revenues in 2012. There are already plans to hire 250 people this year, bringing the workforce to 750 employees. At this rate, Criteo could possibly become the largest Internet company in France.

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Sorosh Tavakoli is the founder and CEO of Videoplaza. Here he discusses the recent the Videoplaza solution, the recent series B fund raise, and trends in the video ad market.

For those unaware of the Videoplaza proposition, can you give an overview of your solution?

We position Videoplaza as a sell side ad management platform for the New IP-delivered TV. This means that we empower broadcasters and publishers to maximise their advertising revenues from their IP-delivered videos, regardless of where and how that content has been consumed.

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