EMEA > Yield Optimisation

Improve Digital released its new eco-system map for Europe. There is huge growth in the number of new companies on the map – compared to last year’s iteration. Let’s just say those boxes are getting very snug. Some of the big changes on last year include the growth of ad trading desks, ad traders, audience targeting networks and exchange infrastructure companies.

Comparing the new map to last year’s version shows a huge increase in the number of audience targeting networks (200% growth), trading desks (337% growth), and agency trading desks (166% growth) as the industry moves towards audience buying and automation. New players have entered the market, but much of this activity is also undertaken by ad networks moving or expanding their business remit.

There is doubtless going to be talk of a bubble in the space – and I will preface all this growth by saying that many of the European companies on the map are self-funded. The reason? We lack proper ad tech investment structures here (as I alluded to in a post last week) so we have to work quickly to what we call… PROFITABILITY. You can download the new Improve Digital eco-system here.

ExchangeWire is looking forward to hosting over four hundred of the industry’s best minds on September 20 for Europe’s biggest event on data-driven display and media optimisation. This year’s conference is probably the most diverse we have put on. There are now over 40 senior European advertiser-side marketers attending ATS London so it should make for exciting debate on the day. Incidentally, if there are any other ADVERTISER-SIDE MARKETERS (not agencies; not ad networks; not billion dollar ad tech companies sitting on a hoard of cash) you can still go FREE! Just send your details to ino [AT] exchangewire.com The full ATS London agenda is now live – and the speaker’s bios can be viewed here. There are only a few remaining tickets available. Book now to avoid severe disappointment.

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With ATS London only just over a month away, ExchangeWire is still offering free access to advertiser-side marketers. The line-up for this year’s ATS London is nothing short of sensational. We have keynote speakers from AppNexus, MediaMath, Rubicon Project, Quantcast and Microsoft. Panels include the best minds from the European digital media and ad tech space. In the interest of expanding the conversation beyond the technology and media buying bubble, ExchangeWire is throwing the doors open to all advertiser-side marketers (to avoid confusion: this offer is not open ad network or agency) to the full-day conference on September 20. The full agenda will be released at the end of this week. Speakers confirmed so far include the following:

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Akihiko Tokuhisa is both the CEO & President of Platform One Inc. and CTO of D.A.Consortium Inc. Here he discusses how Platform One combines Market One (DSP) and Yield One (SSP) into one platform and, with agencies and publishers fast embracing programmatic buying, how RTB is gaining traction in the Japanese market. He also hints at a move into China is on the cards.

Can you give an overview of Platform One’s proposition and offering in Japan and the wider APAC region?

Platform One Inc.(Platform One) launched in February 2011, and is a 100% held subsidiary of D.A.Consortium Inc.(DAC). At this stage Platform One is focused purely on the Japanese market.

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ExchangeWire‘s ATS conference series is making its way to Paris in October. ATS Paris will be the first French-focused conference on data-driven display and media optimisation. The event will take place in Salons De Louvre on Thursday, October 27. The event has already confirmed speakers from Hi-Media, DoubleClick, Improve Digital and MediaMath. More details on speakers and agenda will follow in the coming weeks. Tickets for the full-day event are now on sale. Please note that much of this event will be through French – with a select number of English panels. ATS Paris will focus specifically on the growing exchange eco-system within France, and how media-buying is likely to evolve in the French market. ATS Paris aims to educate and drive debate among attendees on the day. Be sure to book your place today.

De Telegraaf is arguably one of Europe’s most progressive and innovative publishers. Having seen the potential in RTB at an early stage the leading Dutch publisher is building successful revenue models around the automated channel. As well as being one of the first to put inventory through RTB, it also appears to be the only European heavyweight publisher to roll out a functioning Publisher Trading Desk (a publisher strategy that this blog continues to argue for very strongly). Here Martin Van Der Meij, Yield Manager at De Telegraaf, discusses RTB strategy, how it is working for De Telgraaph, the advantages for both publisher and advertiser in operating a PTD and the move towards full automated buying.

Can you give insight into the current strategy of De Telegraaf in the automated space?

When we started with Yield Management a few years back we basically had one goal. How can we improve revenue from our secondary channel? We were working with just one ad network so there was definitely an opportunity. We knew that we had to start selling CPC right from the start so we wouldn’t create a situation where advertisers could buy on a CPC basis only through our secondary channel.

When RTB came along in the first half of 2010 and we grabbed the opportunity. Our own publisher network switched to RTB in Q4 2010. Right now we’re in the process of changing our strategy to more automated-selling. How can we make it easier for agencies to buy our inventory? So we’re moving into a “private exchange” – but more importantly we’re trying to build real sales optimization within the company where we can have our sales people focus on premium products as well as keeping existing business. We’re just trying to automate everything. It’s not about our secondary channel or performance anymore that’s for sure.

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Improve Digital is releasing this week its 360Yield solution for the European market. Here Janneke Niessen, Co-founder and COO at Improve Digital, discusses the 360Yield offering and how the new solution will look to address the regional sell-side problems in the fragmented European market.

Can you talk a little about the “360Yield” offering?

Europe is a large collection of diverse cultures, languages and economies with its own unique set of problems and solutions. Improve Digital is a European Sell Side Platform that now launches the 360Yield platform to help publishers build their own Exchange and monetise their display inventory in the European market. With 360Yield, we believe we are uniquely equipped to offer the best solution for European publishers looking to earn more revenue from their media inventory.

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Jonathon Shaevitz is CEO of Maxifier. Here he talks about the Maxifier solution, managing yield on premium inventory and a real-life case study where the company’s offering delivered for a European client.

Can you give an overview on the Maxifier tech offering in the European market?

Maxifier’s believes that all campaigns are performance campaigns. So while most of our customers are selling premium CPM campaigns, Maxifier improves the performance of all these campaigns, which in turn, increasing sell through rates and protects and grows margin. Maxifier’s initial offerings to Media companies comprises of two main areas; Campaign Performance Optimization and Advertising Intelligence Reporting. Together, they give Publishers, and particularly their Ad Ops teams, unprecedented inventory visibility and control through a single interface. Starting with pre-campaign simulations and continuing through the live campaign, our self-learning algorithms yield actionable recommendations that, in turn, eliminate costly development errors and maximize the performance of both the campaign and, ultimately, the entire site or network. We want publishers to know that “Every Campaign is a Performance Campaign” and, using our tools, to build “Campaign Performance Optimization” (CPO) metrics into everything they do.

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