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SUPER AUCTIONHEADER BIDDING, EVOLVED
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction
TL;DR header bidding
Leverage the success of desktop display
Best practices
The ONE by AOL solution: Super Auction
3
• TL;DR what header bidding meant for desktop display• How to leverage the success display publishers have seen with header
bidding• What caveats a mobile publisher needs to address with a header
bidding-like strategy• How to avoid the mistakes display publishers made (nice they laid the
groundwork for us)• How to get started when you decide your monetization strategy isn’t
driving the dollars you deserve• Learn more and get in touch with us
MOVE OVER HEADER BIDDINGA MOBILE-FIRST APPROACH
Everyone knows consumers are all in on mobile, but mobile inventory and audiences continue to be undervalued - and command fewer ad dollars than deserved. Anyone else think that’s bullshit?
The discrepancy between time spent consuming media on mobile and the share of ad spend is .publishers are already at a revenue disadvantage. As buyers are beginning to get with the program, the best thing publishers can do is maximize the value of their existing users and drive more revenue on every impression.
Unfortunately, the partners in play and legacy auction mechanics hamper this growth. To evolve the in-app business model and drive higher CPMs, mobile publishers and app developers should take a page from the header bidding handbook in desktop display - just a page, not the whole book. This resource will give guidance on:
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TL;DR WHAT DID HEADER BIDDING MEAN FOR DISPLAY?
Header bidding is a solution publishers implemented in display, primarily desktop, to get around Google’s biased, black box ad server-SSP ecosystem. Header bidding took the auction outside of DoubleClick for Publishers into the header of the publisher’s page, enabling all integrated programmatic partners to bid simultaneously.
luable bids from downstream partners, forced Google to pony up more when it won and overall drove huge revenue gains for publishers. Industry estimates range from 10-60% uplift. Oath ran an analysis for publishers on its platform before and after implementation of header bidding, and found a 53% increase in daily revenue for mobile web and desktop display.
Header bidding took the industry by storm. It led Google to acknowledge its shortcomings and change its auction logic and overall philosophy, opening their ecosystem for other demand partners to simultaneously compete with the SSP Ad Exchange. As of March 2017, Google has abolished its last look advantage, though many publishers have vocalized their decisions to continue their header bidding strategy and partnerships.
Header bidding continues to evolve. In just two years, it has moved from individual header integrations to containers; client-side implementations to server-side; and, as of Q3 2016, 73% of U.S. publishers (even more in the U.K.) with desktop display had already implemented header bidding or were planning to within the next 12 months.
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LEVERAGE THE SUCCESS OF DESKTOP DISPLAYOkay, making more money sounds pretty good...but there’s no header in-app?
emand, the ability to have all third party demand compete in real time will drive meaningful uplift for your bottom line.
1. Google’s Doubleclick for Publishers (Desktop Display) = MoPub
MoPub’s exchange gives it a similar “last look” advantage that was the impetus for the header bidding phenomenon in desktop. With MoPub sitting at the top of the waterfall (like Google’s AdX in display), they suppress mediation partners further down from surfacing their valuable bids. Their position also reinforces whatever MoPub is paying as the value of your inventory, even if it’s likely worth more.
2. Your legacy waterfall is NOT the only
in mobile too, allowing your demand partners outside your primary mediator to surface, bid, compete and drive more revenue opportunities for your inventory, at the impression level. This auction then competes with your primary partner, driving the most revenue through true competition.
3. The incumbent has not acknowledged the need for change
The market’s view is that MoPub (and other incumbents) don’t have an
as the status quo serves them well. This echos desktop display, where Google did not acknowledge the header bidding phenomenon until its bottom line was
4. Quality of demand should dictate who and how many partners you work with
Header bidding brought many technological improvements, from more transparency to better reporting, but the core value add was in driving higher revenue. This means, the partners
auction should bring quality, unique, mobile demand.
Here’s a translation of what pieces of desktop header bidding apply for in-app:
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Latency must always be top of mind
A millisecond here, a millisecond there – no big deal. We’ve heard display publishers working with as many as 14 header bidding partners, directly integrated into their header. For mobile:
• Given the constraints of network bandwidth, less powerful devices and battery drain, latency control should
• Timeout controls are crucial.
• Networks/demand that continually drive latency should be nixed.
• This leads us to our next “must” in mobile – a server side or hybrid approach.
ion.
Pure client side isn’t an option
Beyond latency, there are many reasons mobile requires a server-side or hybrid server-client approach.
• Multiple SDK implementations are much heavier than individual client side bidders in the header.
• No need to worry about client side for cookies, as desktop publishers did.
• It’s harder to change client-side code in-app than with desktop HB. Since ad SDKs ship as “shrinkwrap software,” once they’re out in the wild, they can’t
Niche players can’t jump on the bandwagon
Display is a game lots of folks knew how to play, which made it relatively easy for everyone to build header bidding solutions.
• With mobile, there are additional technologies and scenarios involved to be successful. Publishers need a
to pivot from the success they saw in display.
• Mobile infrastructure, especially server side, is no small job. It’s unlikely a niche player or open source solution
• A display platform pivoting into mobile doesn’t likely have the scale
platform does.
BUT YOU CAN’T COPY-PASTE HEADER BIDDING IN MOBILE
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AVOID THE MISTAKES MADE IN DESKTOP DISPLAY
Foregoing the consumer experience
Everything comes back to your content quality and ad experience. In desktop display, eventually this meant asynchronous solutions were the norm, i.e., when an ad call is made, the content
while an ad is being sourced. Implementing a server side solution from the start already puts the consumer top of mind.
Creating another waterfall or closed ecosystem
Some container solutions in desktop display bias their own demand, meaning they wait for all competing demand to submit bids before submitting their own. This adds latency to every ad call and may compromise the integrity of your ad experience.
Waiting for your primary mediation partner to get their sh*t together
Desktop display proved this doesn’t happen in a timely fashion – and the incumbents only acknowledge the need to evolve when their bottom line
case of these partners saying they are opening up their auctions, can you ever be sure of the terms?
Forgetting the fact that this
Industry naysayers convinced plenty of desktop buyers that header bidding was bad news, while neglecting the overarching
will likely drive higher bids and transparency if your Super Arequest driving higher bids and more buyer trust.
Letting the jargon and buzz cloud your vision or delay your decision
Pre-bid? Enhanced dynamic allocation? Wrapper vs container vs S2S? For ONE by AOL, it comes down to the simple fact that the legacy systems and players don’t maximize revenue for app developers. We need a smarter way to manage yield.
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A SMARTER WAY TO MANAGE YIELD
1. Impression registers, calling SuperAuction.
2. Super Auction simultaneously callsevery integrated demand partner,including Oath unique demand.
3. Super Auction conducts a unifiedauction.
Super Auction is a hybrid server-client side solution. This enables publishers to work with both client side and server side demand partner integrations,
serverside solution.
4. Highest bid is then sent to MoPub tocompete head to head with MoPub’shighest bid.
5. Winner will have their ad delivered
winning bidder.
SUPER AUCTION
3. DECISIONING LAYER (SDK)
DEMANDPARTNER
DEMANDPARTNER
A B
MOPUB
5.
1.
4.
2.
OATH UNIQUE DEMAND
NETWORK
DSP
PMP
Here’s how ONE by AOL’s solution, Super Auction, operates a unified auction.
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OKAY, I’M READY TO MAKE MORE MONEY.Oath is your mobile first partner.
Super Auction is how we envisioned a better solution for app developers. Want more information? Have some feedback? Want to just chat about the app ecosystem and the challenges that we face today in mobile?
Join our feedback loop. Let’s grow our businesses together.Visit our websites for self service monetization and Super Auction to learn more, or reach out to [email protected].
10ONE BY AOL SMART YIELD
Self Service MonetizationSuper Auction
PUBLISHERS
SALES CONTACT: JAMES HUGHES Director, Publisher Sales [email protected]
PRESS CONTACT: CHRISTINA MACDONALD Director, Communications [email protected]
ABOUT THE AUTHORSHAWNA LARKOWSKI: Principal Manager, Product Marketing
Shawna leads product marketing for ONE by AOL: Publishers and is focused on driving go-to-market strategy and adoption for Oath’s full suite of monetization, content, and
analytics [email protected]
