solving the remnant inventory problem: admonsters 2009 presentation
DESCRIPTION
Solving the Remnant Inventory Problem By Ben Barokas As an industry, it’s taken us more than 15 years to get a grip on dealing with remnant ad inventory, but I think there’s finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Over the past two or three years in particular, the R&D that’s gone toward solving this problem has begun to drive substantive results for publishers, boosting eCPMs and easing the burden on their perpetually overworked ad ops teams. We’ve moved far beyond the static daisy chain into real time optimization, but how does it all work, and what are we doing to stay ahead of the problem? At its core, optimization is about “peeling off the layers” to reveal a clearer picture of what every impression is worth. Doing this at scale means accounting for a laundry list of ever-shifting variables (discrepancy, frequency, fill, user, content, geo) across countless sources of ad demand—and the problem isn’t getting any easier. The good news is, we’re on the cusp of another phase of innovation. Between Real Time Bidding (RTB) and a host of data infusion techniques, premium publishers in particular are poised to reap gains proportionate to the high quality of their content and audiences.TRANSCRIPT
Solving the Remnant Inventory ProblemBen Barokas, Co-Founder and CRO
August 18th 2009
About Us
Select AdMeld Customers Founded in October 2007
Focus on premium publishers
80+ customers
Manages more than 300 million ad impressions daily
Raised $15M in venture funding from Spark Capital and Foundry Group
1© 2009, AdMeld Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Introduction
How does discretionary optimization work?– Create your ideal network portfolio– Calculate the true value of every impression– Deliver it with scalability and quality of experience
What does it do for you?– Boost your revenues– Save you time, lower your costs– Help protect your brand
Looking forward– RTB and Data
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Creating Your Ideal Network Portfolio
3
Analyze your site
Understand network inventory
Find the right mixIntegrate and prioritize
Optimize your portfolio
Diversification is Key
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Low Fill
High CPM
LowCPM
High Fill
Optimizing A Single Impression
5
Network ARev Share
$1.50Network BRev Share
$1.20Network C
Real Time Bid$1.10
Network DFixed 3x24 $1.00Network ERev Share
$0.50
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Getting to True Value
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Discrepancy Frequency Fill
Discrepancy
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Many sources: internet latency, ad server latency, user moving away from page to quickly
Without discrepancy management, optimization is ineffective
Achieved 20% revenue lift at IAC through discrepancy management alone
Factoring in Discrepancy
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Discrepancy
40%
0%
15%
10%
Start
$1.50
$1.10
$1.00
$0.50
Network ARev Share
$0.90Network BRev Share$1.08Network C
Real Time Bid$1.10Network DFixed 3x24$0.85Network ERev Share$0.45
10%$1.20
eCPM
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Frequency
Early views worth most
CPM is an average across multiple views
Many networks shift to CPC or CPA at higher frequencies
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Previously was done with multiple tags from networks which carries a lot of overhead for premium publishers
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Factoring in Frequency
10
Frequency
60%
100%
100%
100%
Discrepancy
$0.90
$1.10
$0.85
$0.45
Network ARev Share $0.54Network BRev Share$1.30Network C
Real Time Bid$1.10Network DFixed 3x24$0.85Network ERev Share$0.45
120%$1.08
eCPM
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Fill Rates and Pass backs
Highest paying tags usually have low fill
Managing fill is essential to calculating revenue
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Daisy chains ensure an ad is shown
What used to be done manually once a week, now done dynamically for every impression
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Calculating Dynamic Daisy Chains
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Factoring in Fill
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True Value
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The Results
15
“Common”Choice $0.47
Network ARev Share
$1.50
Network ERev Share
$0.50
OptimizedChoice $1.16
Network BRev Share
$1.20
Network DFixed 3x24
$1.00
© 2009, AdMeld Inc. All Rights Reserved.
150% Revenue LiftOver 100,000,000 impressions,
an additional $70,000
Reality Check
Doing this for large, premium publishers means:– Calculating 5000 chain combinations per impression, in
real time, millions of times a day
– Accounting for geo, frequency caps and network latency
– Maximizing revenue during traffic spikes
– Backing it up with consultative services and expertise
– Executing against publisher business rules
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Managing Business Rules
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Complete visibility into each ad, without leaving your website.
• See the network that served the ad• Report or disable problem ads• View pricing, fill, targeting info, etc.
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Real Time Bidding
A Shorter Road to True ValueWith RTB, buyers bid dynamically for each impression instead of setting blind rates (futures) beforehand
Less Risk, Less FrictionWith less risk, buyers confidently spend more at higher rates, and pubs will have more access to demand sources
RTB To Ramp Up in 2010As adoption grows, so will efficiency and performance
A Big Win for Premium PublishersThe most valuable inventory lies at the nexus of content, context and audience. Premium publishers have all three.
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It’s All About Data
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Thank You
July 16th 2009