» AOL and Rubicon have entered into a non-exclusive partnership in six different European markets that allows the yield optimiser to manage the non-premium display of AOL and operated inventory. The partnership covers all Ad.com inventory – with AOL recommending the Rubicon platform to its network partners. The deal extends to six countries in total, including Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain. Both parties were at pains to stress that the deal only applies to unsold ad inventory. Having shuttered a number of regional offices, AOL is clearly looking to refocus its efforts on stronger areas: AOL still has significant reach and share in Europe’s powerhouse display markets, namely France, Germany and the UK. There are no details of how much non-premium inventory AOL has in the six countries named above, but it would appear Rubicon has achieved a significant win here. The combined ad network market of these six countries has an estimated value of around 200 million euro – and growing. They have now got a foothold in markets, particularly Spain, that have been traditionally difficult to break into.
Leading UK video ad network, WebTV Enterprise, released a report this week about the state on the online UK video ad market. The survey suggest that media planner buyers here are warming to the format with video advertising now making up three per cent of the TV ad market. The number of campaigns has also tripled in the last six months. Media buyers are now recognising the potential of targeted audiences online, and are allocating media buying budgets accordingly. The majority of those surveyed expect media spend on video advertising to increase by at least 50% in 2010. Despite the growth, campaigns remain small: agencies are typically spending between ten and twenty-five thousand pound. Chicken feed compared to some of the big TV campaigns. But there should be acceleration in growth as viewing habits change, and more video content becomes available. For publishers video advertising is good because it generates higher CPMs. This space is about to get a lot more interesting. [Web TV Market Report]
» With all the debate on the convergence between search and display, it was timely that SES London devoted a whole session to the very subject. The illustrious panel was made up of industry luminaries, including: Jonathan Mendez, Founder & CEO, RAMP Digital; James Sandoval, Founder & Managing Director, Invizua Limited; Dax Hamman, Vice President of Display Media, iCrossing; and Sacha Berlik, Founder and CEO, mexad. The majority of the panel agreed that some convergence was happening.
» The Rubicon Project believes the current ad server is a “legacy technology”, and must be put to the sword. In a blizzard of PR, hype, and typical Rubicon showmanship, the company set out its “manifesto” for content creators last week. The document lists the ways in which it intends to help publishers wrest more spend from the buy-side. I think there is a massive opportunity for the likes of Rubicon on the supply-side. Oversupply of ad inventory is driving prices into the ground. Future revenue growth for publishers now lies in extracting value from data: yield optimisers like Rubicon will have to equip publishers with the tools to better understand and build out audiences, so that they can sell at a higher price to media buyers. Rubicon is clearly positioning itself as a supply-side platform. If it’s to prosper, the new SSP will have to give publishers better technology, better inventory control, better yield management and better audience insight if the current decline in pricing is to be arrested. (The Rubicon Project Blog)
» 2010 is definitely the year of the acronym: DSP, DST, DBO, RTB and now SSP. The supply-side platform is the latest buzz word in display advertising. Doubtless you’ll see it bounced around industry blogs and websites (like this one) as if it was the ultimate panacea for all the publishers’ ills. What does a SSP do then? The SSP is essentially a turbo-charged yield optimiser, which allows publishers to gain better insight into user data and manage yield across guaranteed and non-guaranteed inventory. Pubmatic appears to be the first – although Admeld and Rubicon would probably disagree – yield optimiser to position itself as a supply-side platform. The company’s press release outlines a number of key areas where its premier product will help publisher better monetise data and inventory, including impression-level ad auction and guaranteed inventory yield management. (Pubmatic)
» Improve Digital and AOP are building up to their joint event next week. Improve Digital gives a full list of attendees and the agenda for the half-day conference. ExchangeWire will be on “the changing dynamics of buying and selling media” panel and looks forward to some lively debate on the subject. (IT Director)
» There does seem to be a lot of coverage on industry blogs and websites about DSPs. A lot of vendors are jockeying for a lead in the nascent DSP market. Today it’s the turn of LucidMedia to spell out why its DSP is better than the rest – and it’s a growing list. The article lists five key criteria for a successful DSP, all of which I might add LucidMedia’s platform fulfils: integrated RTB, intelligent bidding, retargeting, managed services, optimisation and inventory sources. (LucidMedia)
Improve Digital is teaming up with the AOP for an event on Feb 23. The event, entitled “New Rules of Revenue”, will focus on the changing display advertising landscape, and what publishers will need to do to take advantage of new trading opportunities on automated platforms. Improve Digital is bringing together panellists from both the buy and the supply side of the exchange ecosystem here in Europe, including:
Kate Herbert is Director of Client Services, DoubleClick Ad Exchange
DoubleClick recently retired version 1 of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange and has successfully migrated v1 buyers and publishers to v2. We’re pleased to report that our v1 buyers are now transacting on v2 and publishers should begin to see more spend from key buyers who are preparing to launch real-time bidding. With this new start, it’s a good time to review some best practices for publishers to optimize yield management.
Improve Digital Says Publishers Can Benefit From RTB As Pubmatic Release Whitepaper On RTB
Pubmatic released its whitepaper on RTB entitled, ‘Understanding Real-Time Bidding (RTB) From the Publisher Perspective” last week. The paper points to initial results carried out with DSP provider, Turn. Initial results from specific RTB campaigns executed by Turn showed an increase of up to 135 percent on click-throughs and 150 percent improvement in conversion rates. Why would a publisher use RTB though?
Admeld hosted its first Partner Forum event in New York this week. The event had some great panellists and provided the industry with an excellent overview of how the display market is likely to develop in the coming months. Emily Riley, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, presented a headline-grabbing report on the evolving area of automated ad trading. The research estimates that almost 30% – over two billion dollars – of US display advertising budget would be traded through DBO (Dynamic Buying Media Optimisation) and Demand-Side Platforms by year end.
» AOL and Rubicon have entered into a non-exclusive partnership in six different European markets that allows the yield optimiser to manage the non-premium display of AOL and operated inventory. The partnership covers all Ad.com inventory – with AOL recommending the Rubicon platform to its network partners. The deal extends to six countries in total, including Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Spain. Both parties were at pains to stress that the deal only applies to unsold ad inventory. Having shuttered a number of regional offices, AOL is clearly looking to refocus its efforts on stronger areas: AOL still has significant reach and share in Europe’s powerhouse display markets, namely France, Germany and the UK. There are no details of how much non-premium inventory AOL has in the six countries named above, but it would appear Rubicon has achieved a significant win here. The combined ad network market of these six countries has an estimated value of around 200 million euro – and growing. They have now got a foothold in markets, particularly Spain, that have been traditionally difficult to break into.
Leading UK video ad network, 
» With all the debate on the convergence between search and display, it was timely that SES London devoted a whole session to the very subject. The illustrious panel was made up of industry luminaries, including: Jonathan Mendez, Founder & CEO, RAMP Digital; James Sandoval, Founder & Managing Director, Invizua Limited; Dax Hamman, Vice President of Display Media, iCrossing; and Sacha Berlik, Founder and CEO, mexad. The majority of the panel agreed that some convergence was happening.
» The Rubicon Project believes the current ad server is a “legacy technology”, and must be put to the sword. In a blizzard of PR, hype, and typical Rubicon showmanship, the company set out its “manifesto” for content creators last week. The document lists the ways in which it intends to help publishers wrest more spend from the buy-side. I think there is a massive opportunity for the likes of Rubicon on the supply-side. Oversupply of ad inventory is driving prices into the ground. Future revenue growth for publishers now lies in extracting value from data: yield optimisers like Rubicon will have to equip publishers with the tools to better understand and build out audiences, so that they can sell at a higher price to media buyers. Rubicon is clearly positioning itself as a supply-side platform. If it’s to prosper, the new SSP will have to give publishers better technology, better inventory control, better yield management and better audience insight if the current decline in pricing is to be arrested. (
