The Return of Ad Exchanges?

Sunday, 08. 9. 2009  –  Category: Enversa Companies

The ad exchange business had been quiet over the past two years since a spate of activity in the field. Google acquired DoubleClick, in turn developing its own exchange. Microsoft purchased AdECN and Yahoo! purchased RightMedia. With big business involved in the emergent business of ad exchange, the promise to revolutionize online advertising seemed imminent. While there has been some effect on the market, it has fallen far short of a revolution.

Now, with new capabilities from both the leading ad exchanges and smaller independent networks, the promise of ad exchange in online advertising is again emerging. Google is steadily moving in the direction of ad exchange. Microsoft is working on the next version of its ad exchange. Yahoo! is integrating Apt and RightMedia’s exchange.

While Google’s Adsense and its search advertising driving revenue for the company, display advertising is an important direction for Google especially as sold through its exchange. However, rather than gear up for big launches for its exchange, Google has opted to steer that direction quarter by quarter. According to Neal Mohan of Google, that includes: improving integration of DoubleClick’s ad exchange with the ad-serving platform of Dart; integrating display with text search advertising as well as mobile, video, and other ad types; allowing purchase of re-targeting data by advertisers; and improvement of real-time ad allocation.

Meanwhile, Microsoft is concentrating on AdECN exchange’s next version. With that, the exchange along with emerging demand-side agency networks and other firms will see real-time integration. As opposed to the more static trade today with bids placed well in advance of when actually displayed, ad requests will be made and bid upon as well as served involving dozens of brokers, networks, and publishers all in real-time. Microsoft is already using the real-time capability for its own impressions and will release it broadly later in the year. With these changes, both networks and publishers will need to adjust to bidding in real-time in order to compete

Yahoo! plans to integrate Apt, its advertising platform, and Right Media, its ad exchange network. Such integration will feature a single interface as well as capabilities and tools for advertisers to buy from both Apt and RightMedia. Apt, focused on realizing the efficiencies of ad exchange to premium inventory rather than remnant inventory, includes impressions from Yahoo! properties as well as more than one hundred thirty newspapers as partners. That will ease use for both publishers and advertisers.  According to RightMedia founder and Yahoo! Senior Vice President, Michael Walrath, Yahoo! has already found it useful in learning to price both premium and non-premium impressions.  On the exchange publishers can control their inventory, pricing, and even who can bid.

Yahoo!’s RightMedia claims increases in both transactions and dollar value since Yahoo!’s acquisition of the company. However, the current focus is what the next generation ad exchange according to Mr. Walrath. Further, according to Mr. Walrath, Yahoo! is including its own inventory of display advertising. As no one has more to lose with the commoditizing of premium inventory than Yahoo!, according to Mr. Walrath, both fears and questions can be laid to rest.

Marc Pickren is the President of Enversa- a performance-based marketing agency.

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