Perceived Value of Ad Networks Surge, Surpassing Major Portals
The lingering effects of the economic recession, coupled with an expanding supply of efficient, and highly targeted online advertising networks, is reshaping the way big advertisers and agencies perceive the value of online media outlets. The result has been a pronounced polarization of the online advertising marketplace, with perceived demand rising for both the high-end of the most premium publishers and the low-end of ad networks and aggregators. This has caused perceived advertising value for the muddled middle of the marketplace – all but the most premium publishing sites, and the major online portals like AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo – to erode, as the ad industry focuses its attention on the top and the bottom players.
Read More: MediaPost
Pre-Bought vs. Demand-Side Platforms – Know The Difference
Demand-side platforms, or DSPs are becoming a buzzword lately, along with impression scoring and real-time bidding. These three terms all point to platforms that allow an advertiser to procure its inventory “on the spot” without any waste. This is very different from the many ad networks that pre-buy their inventory in bulk and parse out on the back-end. Full disclosure here. We are an ad network that does not pre-buy inventory. We buy on demand as clients agree to work with us so that we can get the exact inventory that independent data says will fit their goals. That said, firms like Invite Media and Media Math are now making news for similar functionality. The gist is that whether buying through exchanges or through publishers directly, and pairing the latest behavioral data with that inventory, DSPs are able to acquire only the impressions that are the best fit for their advertisers’ needs while turning away any impressions that don’t make sense for clients on the roster at that time. Many on the DSP side say that this method eliminates waste and improves metrics.
Read More: iMediaConnection
Microsoft Sticks a Cautious Toe Into The Ad Exchange Business
Is Microsoft is finally ready to a launch its long-delayed advertising exchange? Just barely. Redmond is set to roll out AdECN, the “real-time” ad exchange it bought in 2007, within the next two weeks. But only in the most cautious of tests: Microsoft (MSFT) will open up AdECN to a handful of ad buyers, and says it will only allow them to purchase a “select, limited amount of Microsoft inventory.” Which means that even as Google’s (GOOG) AdX exchange, relaunched last fall, continues to gather momentum, Microsoft will still be dabbling around the edges. And some industry sources tell me they’re not sure that Microsoft is convinced it wants to launch an exchange at all.
Read More: AllThingsDigital
