Advertisers in programmatic face a battleground of demand-side platforms (DSPs) with dozens of underdog startups and tech giants vying for a share of their online media spend.
Index Exchange has just released a breakdown of which display DSPs are seeing the largest share of programmatic spend in Canada, providing a rare glimpse into the often murky competition between them. The numbers are based on all impressions auctioned on exchanges and private marketplaces powered by Index’s technology through the first half of 2015.
Usually agencies license multiple platforms, which they may use for different campaigns or use simultaneously to specialize in different channels and targeting strategies. But for the adventurous marketer that wants to get directly involved in programmatic decision-making, it can be tough to discern the market leaders from the ambitious upstarts.
The data shows Google’s dominant market share has grown significantly since Index last released a breakdown of the Canadian market. In Q4 2013, Google’s DoubleClick Bid Manager accounted for 27% of all programmatic display transactions. In 2015 it makes up 38%.
Though Index doesn’t release absolute spend numbers, it’s likely that all of the DSPs in the current top 10 have seen their overall revenue increase since 2013. Overall programmatic spending has grown from $55 million in 2013 (eMarketer) to $280 million this year (Magna Global projections). However, Google appears to have grown the fastest, gaining share over most its competitors.
The exception was Turn, which also managed to grow its share significantly to 14% from 11% in 2013, displacing Eyereturn and The Trade Desk as the second-most used DSP in Canada. Torstar-owned Eyereturn remains Canada’s most successful home-grown ad tech company. Although its share slipped to 11% from 14%, it recently announced that Q2 revenues were up 76% year-over-year while gross impressions traded were up 143%.
Montreal’s AdGear and global tech firm Rocket Fuel each have 8% of the market, while agency-focused platform The Trade Desk sgarnered 6%. AOL, Yahoo, AcuityAds and Criteo rounded out the top ten.
Overall, the market has not consolidated significantly since 2013. Two years ago the top 10 DSPs accounted for 96% of all programmatic trading, whereas today they make up 97%. Anyone waiting for a big ad tech merger-fest will have to wait a little longer.
It should be noted that Index’s view of the market may not tell the whole story, since DSPs that favour Index over other exchanges (like DoubleClick Ad Exchange or OpenX) will be overrepresented in their numbers. However, given the billions of impressions that Index auctions in Canada each quarter, it’s likely to be a good approximation.
Somewhat of an irrelevant survey, as the DSP primarily used by the largest programmatic buyer in Canada, as well as the world for that matter, does little activity with Index Exchange.
Tuesday, October 06 @ 1:46 pm |