There was more than one joke at Tuesday’s “X-Series” event about how, despite some media naysayers’ opinions, RTB does not stand for “race to the bottom.” Dispelling myths and educating the industry about the potential of the real RTB – real-time bidding – was the focus of the event put on by IAB Canada.
In his opening keynote, Michael Barrett, CEO of Admeld (which was acquired by Google last year), addressed the state of RTB today and how far it’s come in the last five years.
He acknowledged that while billions have been invested in this advertising technology’s infrastructure, its users still face major challenges that companies like Admeld are working to solve. For starters, buying digital display can be a difficult process; Barrett said historically it could take as many as 32 steps from the RFP stage to when a digital ad would go live.
That said, there have been major advancements in the RTB field. During her closing remarks of the day, IAB Canada president Paula Gignac (who will be stepping down on Sept. 1) dispelled a lingering misconception about RTB. “It doesn’t take a year to plan your RTB strategy,” she said. In fact, she said a publisher could get into the RTB-sphere in 48 hours.
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However, if buying digital display gets easier and display ad targeting improves, Barrett said display advertising could grow to a $200-billion industry in less than 10 years, and is already “well on its way” to that figure.
He also addressed the advent of private exchanges as a means to keep one group’s inventory from “bumping up against” others’ and devaluing it. Some media owners choose to create walled gardens (which Barrett believes is too protective), but a popular alternative has been the development of “first look” policies – the idea of publishers using prioritized bidding to give certain buyers a first look on particular inventory slices or audiences in exchange for a specified price point or a substantial level of spend.
During his talk to a packed room at the event, Barrett also shared his opinions on best practices for the space:
1) Identify and package high-value segments
2) Connect to higher yielding audience-based budgets from buyers
3) Partner with an established marketplace
4) Develop a programmatic buying rate card, and evaluate rates on a quarterly basis
5) Choose a single source for all demand. (As Barrett said, “There’s not much to be learned in spreading out [with several partners]…on the supply side, just pick a partner…and manage your inventory that way”)
For access to video and PowerPoint presentations from the event, click here.
