This post was most recently updated on October 7th, 2019
The introduction of header bid networks into the display ad market had been highly anticipated for quite some time. Now that header bid setups have been live for years, we’re seeing their impact on the industry and more importantly, how they affect publisher revenues.
A header bid network enables a direct stream of buying between advertisers, agencies, demand side platforms (DSPs) and publishers. Header bidding occurs via custom code in the header of each page and is usually integrated with an ad server. This allows the header bid network to “cherry-pick” the ad impressions that their demand bids to buy. These purchase decisions are based on the users demographics, geographics, psychographics and past browsing history based on cookies. If the impression is valuable to a buyer, they will purchase that ad impression(s) at a minimum RPM set by the publisher or price increments set within the ad server. If the ad impression is not bought by a buyer with the header bid network, it is simply run via the ad server like normal as if the header bid network wasn’t there. The result: the cherry-picked ad impressions are bought at a high RPM and the rest do not have to be passed back like traditional ad networks.
This header bid setup is optimal for publishers because it sets up a new tier within the ad inventory between direct sales and remnant inventory. The header bid RPMs are much higher than the remnant RPMs because of minimum RPMs and there are no passbacks. That enables incremental RPM increases without the downside of passbacks which results in definite increases in ad revenues as long as the min RPMs are set properly.
Yes, the setup for header bid networks can be complex, time-consuming and take valuable developer resources. The instruction guides given for these setups are sub-par at best for the developers and the ad optimizers on the ad server side. It takes a lot of back and forth with the header bid networks especially the first time. Publishers have to dedicate a decent amount of developer resources to getting header bid solutions setup. It is rare to get it right the first time and requires testing as well. In our experience, the initial setup takes about a month before it starts working properly.
Overall yes, however, don’t underestimate the dedication needed to set up a header bid network. In order to succeed, publishers must do the following:
If you don’t have a full-time ad optimization expert on your team, then we recommend hiring one or contracting with a company that has had proven success implementing header bid networks for many premium publishers.
If you’re interested in learning how MonetizeMore can implement header bid networks for your publisher network efficiently and effectively to increase your ad revenues, contact us here.
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Kean Graham is the CEO and founder of MonetizeMore & a pioneer in the Adtech Industry. He is the resident expert in Ad Optimization, covering areas like Adsense Optimization,GAM Management, and third-party ad network partnerships. Kean believes in the supremacy of direct publisher deals and holistic optimization as keys to effective and consistent ad revenue increases.
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