Attend DigiTech Day Berlin with Admixer

Admixer is excited to join DigiTech Day Berlin 2019. The meetup is devoted to best practices of reaching target audiences within GDPR regulations.

With the continued growth in programmatic from one side and GDPR coming into force from the other, advertisers and publishers experience new challenges in using data for building effective communication with their potential customers.

Existing practices of using data, especially when it comes to 3rd-party data, have significant drawbacks, limiting the full potential of data management tools. The evident step in this situation is shifting towards the 1st and 2nd-party data, which is more transparent, relevant, and reliable.

On DigiTech Day Head of Admixer.DMP, Ivan Fedorov, will give a keynote on how publishers and advertisers can use 1st and 2nd-party data more efficiently to:

• get insights about audiences
• allocate ad budgets wisely
• drive ad campaigns outcomes

Besides, Heads of Admixer products will be glad to introduce you our programmatic solutions and best cases of using data, creatives, and inventory opportunities available in Admixer ecosystem.

Book a meeting with one of our C-suite team members:

Aleksey Boltivets CEO of Admixer	Ivan Fedorov Head of Admixer.DMP	Elena Podshuvejt Chief Products Officer	Tetiana Sichko Business Development, Partnerships’ Manager, Admixer.DSP

Admixer Technologies Launches Office in New Region, Moldova

We’re glad to announce opening of the Admixer office in Kishinev, Moldova, which will strengthen our partnerships with brands and agencies in this market.

Along with entering the new market of Moldova, we also have a physical presence in Ukraine, Baltic countries, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, with HQ in London, Great Britain.

“The decision to keep expanding the CEE region and open the office in Kishinev was a logical step in our business growth strategy,” said Alexey Boltivets, CEO, Admixer Technologies.

As a provider of complementary SaaS solutions for the programmatic ecosystem and set of leading Sales Houses in the CEE region, Admixer’ goal is to empower brands and agencies to take control of their digital futures through world-class ad tech complimentary solutions.

Sergiu Cocieru (second from the right), will take over the role of Admixer Moldova CEO. We’re sure Sergiu’s experience in strategic digital media activities and previous collaboration with major brands like Orange, Nestle, Coca-Cola, Samsung, Purcari, and more, will straighten Admixer portfolio.

“Since Moldova is a fast-growing market being at the early stage of digitalization, we’re hoping that the office in new region will strengthen our distribution and promotion strategy for Admixer tech products,” said Elena Podshuvejt, CPO, Admixer Technologies.

The Renaissance of Advertising Networks

Non-futuristic look for a programmatic market – what could be expected as The next effective model.

Programmatic, called a few years ago as “the apex of advertising technologies,” is a rapidly growing market expanding 20% a year on average. eMarketer forecasts its growth will reach $68 billion by 2020.

But, despite irresistible market growth, the participants of the programmatic ecosystem face multiple problems, which may lead to new market configuration and combined selling models sooner or later.

What goes wrong?

Programmatic bottlenecks are lying on the surface for content producers which attract end-users. In this the article we’ll consider all issues from the publisher’s point of view.

Programmatic advertising has grown from a tiny part of a publisher’s advertising activity. Just a couple of years ago top publishers received from programmatic advertising only 10% of their total digital ad revenues, according to Operative survey. Two years passed, but it has been a little change. According to the study by IAB Europe, only 25% of the editors rated programmatic as a priority, while the rest recognized it as a non-strategic.

It is hard to believe, until seeing another estimation from marketing-intelligence firm Warc. It claims that of every dollar spent by advertisers worldwide last year on programmatic – just 0.40 cents on average came to a publisher. Advertisers spend 60% of their budgets for a “tech tax” to the sophisticated chain of vendors between them and publishers. This brings us to the most natural publishers’ desire: to sell inventory (especially premium inventory) on much more fair conditions. And programmatic can offer it for now.

Programmatic is not automatic

To avoid selling premium inventory via Open auctions for non-predictable results most publishers are now setting up programmatic direct or private marketplaces (PMP deals). This lets them keep advertising quality and ensure advertisers brand safety. Besides, leveraging PMPs, publishers control which of buyers can enter their inventory and at what price. By 2019, the combined share of these two transaction types reached 80% of the total programmatic pie, which blurs the line between direct and programmatic sales even more.

Increasingly, publishers also adopt Header Bidding model, the part of the programmatic advertising process where publishers offer inventory simultaneously to multiple buyers before addressing their ad server. This model gives publishers a lot more control over the process, including the choice of buyers. It shortens the supply chain, but still has some limitations, e.g., it can get down the site’s speed.

From a technical point of view, publishers have two main options to join and operate at the programmatic ecosystem. Both of them are, again, far from ideal:

1. To sell independently to numerous demand sources (DSPs). This is a significant waste of time and human resources for manual technical and processing management. Building PMPs, in fact, is the same handiwork, as processing direct campaigns in an old-fashion manner
2. To join some SSPs and rely on their decency, hoping for a fair profit and accepting that there are no ways to control profits level (except for Bid floors).

Getting back to premium inventory, programmatic (Header Bidding included) still doesn’t propose the variety of creative ad formats. This leaves advertisers with standard and simple ads attracting less user attention, and publishers – losing their apparent profits. The bottom line is – one side is quite satisfied.

Summarizing all programmatic bottlenecks above, here are approaches letting publishers sale effectively in the new market reality:

• shorten of the supply chain – the closer advertiser is – the better for all parts;
• an effective combination of different selling models (direct, different programmatic models, Header Bidding);
• financial transparency and reliable buying partners (less is better);
• simplicity in execution and management;
• wider use of non-standard creative ad formats.

A way out?

Technically, an “effective combination of different selling models” leads us back to not-quite-well forgotten waterfall model. The concept of the waterfall is in dividing publishers inventory into to multi-level slices, each of which then is sold for highest CPMs. Premium inventory goes to direct (if sold by their own) or nearly direct advertisers with minimum middle-smth in between. Less premium and remnant are sold automatically through PMPs and open auctions to multiple demand sources.

Publisher’s inventory pool

To manage inventory this way, publishers, again, have two options:

1. To sell independently. This option is open for a minority of Top publishers who could afford own sales, tech and integrational teams. Practically, this means building own ad network with owned media and attracting external sources.
2. To join some vendor who can offer both direct and programmatic demand with transparent financial terms.

In any case, a publisher has to be armed with an effective ad serving solution allowing to build the “new-waterfall” of direct, RTBs, and Header Bidding. Perfectly if tech vendor provides publisher access to demand, guides and leads their monetization, and offers advancements, including:

• the minimum supply chain with access to multiple demand sources
• transparent financial conditions
• different selling models: direct, RTBs (PMPs, guaranteed, open auction), Header Bidding, etc.
• opportunity to optimize all demand from mentioned sources and models semi-automatically
• support of all required media (desktop, apps, video, CTV, etc.)
• premium ad formats
• multiple targeting options
• data management tools
• as an option, a full-service outstaffing model when a vendor takes full control of publishers` monetization

New ad networks approach

Before Programmatic Era, ad networks just connected the myriad of Advertisers and Publishers, acting as brokers between the supply and demand. Now, when this process was programmatically automated, some believe the role of ad networks has diminished.

But, how strange it may sounds, the number of ad networks is continuously growing (based on Thalamus Advertising Database). Ad networks, as a source of added value to direct advertising, now re-become the substantial part of the programmatic ecosystem. Today a combination of two is a key, as ad networks provide manual management that can’t be replaced even programmatic tech excellence.

New Ad Networks place in the programmatic ecosystem

Here’s what a modern model for ad networks is. Along with being a direct broker between two sides, ad network also becomes a full-service vendor and ad tech provider. Its purpose is to fully meet the needs of participating publishers and give them all-inclusive approach. The ad network is a combination of direct management and programmatic, having in its core technology, advanced waterfall model, and support for different selling options

Publisher’s inventory pool managed by a single vendor

For small and mid-size publishers it must become a one-stop shop, solving all their monetization issues. For top publishers, ad network becomes a provider of maximum possible services and technologies, also giving them a chance to participate effectively with their demand partners.

To meet such market expectations, a modern ad network should provide the following must-haves:

• Effective monetization. Ad network linked to a large variety of demand sources (direct advertisers, marketplaces, exchanges, and other networks) should offer up to 100% fill at the most optimal rate. Also, based on high-end technology ad networks should effectively measure inventory, like viewability, data gathering, predictability, and other tools. This allows ad networks to sell publisher’s inventory at the highest-valued CPM.
• Transparent financial conditions. Publishers feel safe when they have one monetization gateway taking all their risks. This includes all ways of interplay with multiple demand sources).
• Support of all existing inventory types. Including display, mobile, video, native, CTV, and many more and enabling publishers to run all their activity in one place
• Ad serving option for publishers. This includes all possible ad management tools and different targeting options for campaigns. Also, publishers should have access to semi-automatic demand optimization.
• Own DMP.  A proper tech vendor should give a possibility to operate your own data the way you want. Depending less on data about users provided by global suppliers and managing their money is the must-have for publishers. They need to freely collect user’s data, segment it, and build look-alike audiences. Publishers also have to easily onboard advertiser’s and 3rd party data to enrich existing segments.
• Brand/inventory protection. Advertising networks also have to add extra protection for the publishers and their users concerning quality assurance and brand safety. Since programmatic is still unsafe, publishers require more control who can buy their inventory and what ads they promote.
  
• System accounts for supply-side and demand-side with detailed reports for performance control.
• Personal assistance. Though the digital world is becoming more automated and technology-based, the human touch is still required. There’s always the need to make corrections, customize, and take advantage of all opportunities.
• Localized (or local-based) ad networks. Localization always works for better cooperation: customer support, billing, or financial aspects. Read a case study about how how to build and grow your ad network Admixer Blog.

To provide such level of service, an ad network company should have a robust and reliable ad tech provider. Ideally, a provider should offer a proprietary programmatic and ad management ecosystem. You can find a detailed description in the article: How to choose a technology for digital ad network?

To sum it up

Ad networks must adapt to the new market reality, using programmatic as an additional demand source. Their primary focus should stick to technology having optimization, customization, brand safety, and localization in its core. Also, an important role remains for personal assistance to participants.

From a point of the global market, such ad networks can compete in their niches or local markets with global leaders due to closer relations with advertisers and better client-oriented approach to the publishers.

And don’t let the tech-evangelists to scare you with global automation and overall programmatic-forces. There will always be businesses where a human and personalized approach is still required. Until AI will take care of everything, of course 🙂

To learn more how to start an ad network based on Admixer.Network solution, please reach out to
Elena Podshuvejt, Chief Products Officer: epodshuvejt@admixer.net

Google EMEA Think Partner 2018: Key Takeaways

Annually, Google gathers its partners to discuss the upcoming digital trends and insights. In December 2018 60+ Google Partners from European region got together in Dublin to join Google EMEA event.

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Admixer Technologies: 2018 Year in Review

New Year season is a good time to look back on our own key insights and takeaways. The Admixer team is also reflecting on the passing year. (more…)

Case Study: how to accelerate your Ad Network using Admixer technology

We are frequently asked about successful cases on how our technology helped with the development of a particular network. We’ve already published the Case Study about our partner network from Jordan Brandformance, but this time we’re eager to introduce our another partner—one of the leading Ukrainian ad networks Go2Net. This case should be interesting for networks owners in growing markets like MENA, some countries in Asia and LATAM—markets, where the monopoly of digital advertising majors, like Google or Facebook, is not as strong as for instance in Europe and the US yet, and where publishers are still ready to join together into direct networks. Moreover, such publishers should unite and create independent local networks in order to avoid the full monopoly of leaders. This case explains the very first steps of digital ad networks formation and the importance of a good network management technology usage at a stage of early development in order to enable its further growth.

Go2Net started their business in 2007, working as a mediator between several publishers and advertisers. Until the amount of partners was small, the network owners had easily managed the network without any technological solution. But soon the quantity of partners started to grow, advertisers started to require sites of specific segments, like “Tourism”, “Sport”, “Auto” etc. Small publishers, in turn, wanted to cooperate with big well-known advertisers, which was hard to achieve via direct contracts. Also, it became necessary to reduce time, spent on ad campaigns creation, and to decrease operating expenses in general. As every publisher and advertiser used their own technology, the discrepancies in statistical data was a challenge as well.

In 2016, Go2Net began to search for a solution, which could meet their needs. Admixer platform for ad networks creation and management .Network was exactly what they were looking for. The ability to work with inventory of different types, to offer grouped inventory for sale, to set commission for each publisher and site, which was automatically calculated; additional monetization through Admixer.Adexchange programmatic demand and, finally, super detailed real-time reports — these features were instrumental for Network’s publishers. Regarding buy-side, advertisers could create ad campaigns using templates for incredible NON-Standard rich-media banners building and utilize new, precise targetings. The Network received an opportunity to reduce time for manual handling and to streamline the process of inventory and ad campaigns management. Previously it had been planned to hire more employees to reach these goals, and our new partners were happy to avoid this additional expense. Good price and support team nearby also became significant factors.

Thus, Go2Net received a comprehensive technology ready to be scaled. The number of new contracts increased and, eventually, the revenue started to grow as well. Network strengthened the relationship with publishers and simplified the payment process. It became more convenient to use one complete platform, which combined different price models, payment options and, what is more important, different reports types together. Now every publisher (as well as an advertiser) could login their own account and look through one single interface, where all the stats was calculated and consolidated. Also, it should be noted, that publishers received one unified system to run absolutely diverse inventory types: simple display banners, video, native and rich-media. The Network could group all the inventory as it wished and sell it through packages to advertisers. The platform was completely transparent and all the participants received access to all the required information on prices, domains, etc., through real-time reports.

In addition to ad tech, Go2Net also connected Admixer worldwide programmatic demand, which was possible through seamless integration to Admixer.Adexchange. After a while, they connected to Admixer DMP to use its data for precise audience targeting by age, gender and interests. In 2 years our partners have doubled their impressions volumes, which still keep growing.

“We are excited to cooperate with Admixer. They offer not only smart technology but also a media expertise, which is priceless!”

Anna Melnychuk, CEO of Go2Net.

If you have any comments or questions regarding the product or article, or you are interested in more details, please leave the comments below or reach Irina Kostiuk via email: ikostyuk@admixer.net.