Rubicon Project's Ashley Wheeler on Evolving Private Marketplaces

Rob Beeleramp160 Why did buyers and sellers start to adopt PMPsAshley Wheeler amp160First and foremost I think it was in an effort to find qualityamp160 PMPs arose during a time where it was the early days of programmatic when ad quality and fraud were less effectively regulated in the open auctionamp160 PMPs were a great way for buyers to say quotHey here is a trusted publisher that I can set up this deal with and I can know that it39s going to run hereamp160 I know that this is the real publisheramp160 I know that this isn39t fake trafficquotamp160 For publishers they were able to say quotThis is a trusted buyeramp160 I know the advertisements that are going to come throughamp160amp160I know the ad quality is going be goodquotamp160 It allowed buyers and sellers to really create that trusted welllit environment to transact inamp160 It39s about access and not leaving things to chanceBeeleramp160amp160But programmatic is about efficiencyamp160 My take is PMPs tend to be manualWheeleramp160 Yes there is a manual component since the terms of the deal need to be worked throughamp160 However once the deal is in place the buy goes through the programmatic pipes and automation kicks inamp160 The only manual part at that point is any optimization discussions with the client Those conversations are the silver lining of the manual parts of the processamp160 Publishers become trusted partners to their buyers and understand the KPIs of the campaignamp160 If you never had to work together to optimize campaigns you39d probably never speak to one anotheramp160 So PMPs give publishers that opportunity to form a strong relationship with buyersI39d also say it39s a matter of perspective of how manual the process isamp160 Can you imagine what it would take to execute that through direct insertion ordersamp160 It is so much more automated than the alternativeamp160 Additionally partners like Rubicon are investing resources to make the execution and optimization of PMPs as painless as possible and so with the proper tools in placeamp160the manual components get reduced to just the aspects that help publishers build that relationship with buyersamp160 The negotiation of terms and the optimization of deals to fulfill on buyer campaign goalsBeeleramp160amp160What impact has header bidding had on PMPsWheeleramp160 It created a new level of competition and fundamentally changed thingsamp160 Buyers started to see all of this new publisher inventory which was never made accessible beforeamp160 However buyers found that they won less of the bids because now they were competing with other SSPs and Google39s Adx as well as the publishers39 direct sellersamp160 Buyers saw inventory they wanted but couldn39t buy itamp160amp160Publishers saw where they could increase yield across their entire inventoryamp160 Programmatic was no longer about just unsold inventory but about their entire inventoryamp160 PMPs had to provide more value than access to publishers because now everyone had accessThat brought us to this inflection point for PMPsamp160 There are now a number of publishers willing to sacrifice shortterm yield for a longterm partnership with buyers by prioritizing specific deals in the ad server above the open auction and direct campaignsamp160 In helping buyers meet and exceed their campaign KPIs publishers are ultimately able to drive more revenue to their sites through the PMP and in this senseamp160header bidding allows PMPs to thrive in a way that they never could through the publisher waterfallBeeleramp160amp160And over time these longterm relationships mean more revenueWheeleramp160amp160Absolutelyamp160 Open auction budgets can go to anyoneamp160 PMPs are publisherspecific deals that drive portions of a buyer39s budget directly to a seller39s bottom lineamp160 You39re taking budgets and ensuring that they39re driven to you so it39s all incrementalamp160 It really is in the publisher39s best interest to work with buyers to make sure that their campaigns perform but it39s hardamp160 Many of these companies have very high quarterly revenue goals and those targets only increase as time goes on which can make it very difficult to sacrifice yield in the short term for a longerterm benefitBeeler amp160Speaking of guarantees where does PG fit into this pictureWheeleramp160amp160A PG deal is one where a buyer has a guaranteed budget that they39re willing to transact on and the publisher guarantees the inventoryamp160 It delivers on two needs that were created by the introduction of header bidding to the PMPamp160 PG eliminates the low win rates that buyers see in the open auction and allows them to deliver in full on their campaign budgetsamp160 At the same time the revenue guarantee provides publishers with the added value needed to grant priority to programmatic deals over the open auction and direct campaignsBeeleramp160amp160Will PMPs be replaced by Programmatic GuaranteedWheeleramp160 PG is explodingamp160 At Rubicon Project we39ve run more than 200 of these PG campaigns year to date across 20plusamp160publishers but even so I don39t think they will replace PMPs right awayamp160 In the near term I think we39ll more likely see directsold campaigns moving to PG as they already have guaranteed budgets that make the transition easieramp160 A PMP strategy is going to be much more audience focused and performance based but it39s possible that as the PG technology evolves it will start to pick up more of those traditional PMP budgetsamp160 It39s likely that we39ll start to see more of a hybrid solution though with PMPs and PG working in tandem based on the goals of both the buyer and the sellerClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Rubicon Project's Ashley Wheeler on Evolving Private Marketplaces

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Rob Beeler

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Rubicon Project's Ashley Wheeler on Evolving Private Marketplaces

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