If you’re running a website that uses ads for monetization, you’re probably seeing the term “programmatic advertising” everywhere now. For those who’ve only heard of it, they just know this new way of advertising is changing how people publish and benefit from ads online. You might be wondering, “What is programmatic advertising? Should I really care about it?”
As a publisher, you should know that programmatic advertisements are as close to reinventing the wheel as possible for the online ad world. With all the hype around it, knowing what it is and how it works is also important. Today, we’re going to break it down for you in a way that makes sense.
From telling you what it is to how it can be the key to your success, we’ll tell you everything. As a Google Certified Publisher Partner, we’ll even tell you an easy way to hop on the bandwagon to get ahead of the trend before it’s too late to catch up!
What is Programmatic Advertising?
First things first: the basics. In advertising, there are two main players: the agencies or advertiser who wants to publish ads and publishers like yourself who have websites or apps that can publish those ads.
Traditionally, when advertisers wanted to publish an ad online, what would they do? They would look for relevant websites or apps by publishers and developers, negotiated on price and placement, and then published ads based on whatever the agreement was. The right ad placement meant you and the advertiser struck a goldmine of a partnership that benefited both. If things didn’t click, it was back to the drawing board for the advertiser, and you were doing the same dance with another advertiser. In traditional advertising, there was plenty of trial and error.
Programmatic advertising essentially automates the entire process for everyone. Instead of advertisers looking for the right publisher, placement, and negotiating prices, it’s all done through data-driven decisions.
How Does Programmatic Advertising Compare to Non-Programmatic Advertising?
Traditional advertising has worked for the longest time, but it’s not the most efficient way to go about it. You see, even after doing a fair bit of research before moving forward with a deal, there’s still plenty of guesswork involved with traditional ads.
Programmatic advertising uses real-time data to match ads with the best available spaces. As a publisher, programmatic advertising helps you manage your ad inventory and automatically sell to the highest bidder for you. For the advertisers, programmatic advertising makes data-driven decisions for ad spaces that make their ads visible to the most relevant audience.
This makes programmatic advertising faster and more efficient for advertisers and publishers like yourself. With this method, you completely eliminate negotiations, let advertisers bid for your ad space, and automatically sell it to those willing to pay the most for it.
How Does Programmatic Advertising Work?
There are three key elements in programmatic advertising: Demand-Side Platforms, Supply-Side Platforms, and Ad Exchanges. We’ll explain what each of these are and what they do to paint a clear picture.
Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs)
Advertisers use DSPs to identify the best placements and times to show their ads. By using real-time data, these tools highlight the perfect platforms to reach their target audiences when they’re likely online and active.
Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)
As a publisher, you’re going to use SSPs in programmatic advertising. They help you track all the ad spaces on your platform and advertisers who are bidding for them there. SSPs automatically sell to the highest bidders, making your life much easier.
Ad Exchanges
Like the name suggests, ad exchanges are where all the buying and selling takes place. DSPs and SSPs transact for ad spaces here. Ad exchanges show DSPs all the available ad spaces across different platforms, automatically bidding for the best ones. SSPs use ad exchanges to see all the bids for the ad spaces, selling automatically to those with the highest bids.
Why You Should Partner with the Best Programmatic Advertising Agency
Even with all the basics down, enjoying the benefits of programmatic advertising isn’t as easy as one-two-three.
If you want to take advantage of programmatic ads but don’t know where to begin, we’ve got you. As a Google Certified Publisher Partner, we have the advanced technology, knowledge, and expertise you need.
As experts already helping +900 websites get the most out of it, we’ll be more than happy to help you maximize the potential of programmatic advertising for your website. Contact us today to get started!
