1. Best Practices for
Optimizing Programmatic

2. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
#profitablepublisher
What You’ll Learn
• Common publisher RTB strategies in use today
• How to build a proper infrastructure from the ground up
• How to include segmentation in RTB strategy
• How to scale your operations based on skillset
• Where header bidding falls in programmatic strategy
• What a mature RTB operation looks like

3. The Publisher Yield Curve
IMPRESSIONS
$$$
Custom
Direct
Sales
Partner
RTB
Programm
atic Direct
© 2015 Operative Media, Inc.

4. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
#profitablepublisher
Maximizing RTB Revenue
High-eCPMExchanges
SolidFillRate
Exchanges
Backfill
IMPRESSIONS
$$$
HeaderBidding
PMP

5. Scenario 1:
“The Robots Scare Me”

6. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
#profitablepublisher
“Robots Scare Me”
Have zero exchanges and rely
on networks and AdSense
Deterred by volume of tasks needed
to optimize programmatic
Rely on AdSense and house
ads for backfill
Be honest with yourself:
Why don’t you use exchanges?
Do something small,
start with AdX (for DFP users)
Call for help
CURRENT STATE OPTIMAL STATE

7. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
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Developing an Infrastructure
1. Prepare for a testing period where you vet exchange partners for eCPM and fill
2. If you just look at CPM, you’re missing half of the equation
3. Partner Vetting: Forge good partners early on
• Test reporting tools to make sure you can capture all necessary data for your business
(i.e. site delivery, demand sources, bid landscape, floors, viewability, etc.)
• Make sure that there is a solid support infrastructure at the exchanges, a technical
resource available to answer questions (setup, reporting, best practices)

8. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
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9. Scenario 2:
“Set it and Forget It”

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“Set it and Forget It”
“Sort of” have a yield person
Varied number of exchanges and networks
Occasional optimization based on “performance”
Little to no daily maintenance
Occasional reporting
Few, if any, taxonomy changes
“Sort of” Have a yield person
Consolidate partners
Optimize daily with concrete performance metrics
Daily maintenance and reporting
from BOTH partners and ad server
Redesigned taxonomy to be
optimal for programmatic
CURRENT STATE OPTIMAL STATE

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1. Work with 3-4 solid partners (plus AdX) to inject competition
2. Segment your remnant inventory into private marketplaces, high-
performing exchanges, open exchanges, and backfill channels
3. How to segment your inventory:
• Make it descriptive of what you are offering
• Limit supply across verticals to lift eCPMs
• Split your inventory and package to maximize eCPM
• Be consistent between the ad server and exchanges
Segmentation

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Less Effective Taxonomy:
All Exchange inventory RoS/RoN
No partner differentiation by platform
No differentiation between PMP/RTB
No packaging of inventory on open
market
No 1:1 ratio between ad server lines and
exchange inventory
Taxonomy Examples
More Effective Taxonomy:
RTB inventory segmented by
platform/site/section/size
Ability to package inventory
(i.e. mobile/display, international/domestic, etc.)
Ad server lines for both PMP/RTB inventory
(at different priorities)
Make sure there is a line for each
ad product per exchange
Ability to allocate impressions by either
SoV or daily goals

13. Scenario 3:
“Yeah, if you could do this
too, that would be great.”

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“Yeah, if you could do this too,
that would be great.”
Ad Ops runs programmatic
(on top of regular ad ops work)
Same team optimizing
direct and indirect campaigns
PMPs and programmatic direct compete
for time with direct optimization
RTB is ignored or underutilized
“Sort of” Have a
dedicated yield person
Ideally, have two.
One for programmatic
direct and one for RTB.
Consider a separate yield analyst
Make sure to have a decision engine
CURRENT STATE OPTIMAL STATE

15. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
#profitablepublisher
Staffing and Skillset
1. Delivery analysis
2. Working knowledge of ad servers and
the ad selection process (for
troubleshooting or evaluating new
partners and best practices)
3. Experience working in 3rd party ad tech
systems to build inventory, generate
code and tags, pull reports, and
integrate with other systems
BASIC SKILLS ADVANCED SKILLS
1. Data analysis
2. Partner evaluation
3. Ability to automate via APIs
4. Consultative industry
knowledge to move from
RTB to private marketplaces
5. Working knowledge of the buy
side and bid optimization/KPIs
You need a programmatic stakeholder(s), internal or external, that can do the following:

16. Scenario 4:
“Headed for a Heartbreak”

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“Headed for a Heartbreak”
Implemented
header bidders
UX suffers
Inventory taken by
headers has high ROI
Remaining inventory…?
(which can be 80-90%)
Open exchange waterfall
for incremental revenue
Dedicated yield manager to
avoid pitfalls of previous scenarios
CURRENT STATE OPTIMAL STATE

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Header Bidding: What to Look Out For
1. No control or insight (black box, be aware of bid ranges)
2. Doesn’t work across all inventory
3. Has very low fill rates (about 10-15%)
4. Page load latency
5. Doesn’t allow for optimization or new partners

19. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
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Our Model (Sample Client Setup)
PRIORITY INVENTORY
1
Takeovers, Exclusives, Custom Units
2
3
4
5
PMP Deals Through Rubicon with Ultra
(Mindshare agency trading desk)
6
7
8 Direct Deals
9
Lower Value Direct Deals, ad networks (Undertone, Kargo)
10
11 OpenX Header Bidder, Amazon Bidder (A9)
12 Operative Compete
Network line type (OpenX, AOL, Rubicon, PubMatic
being optimized by performance) competing
AdX Dynamic Allocation
13
14
15
16 Ad.com / House / PSA

20. © 2015 Operative Media, Inc.
#profitablepublisher
What We Learned
• Common publisher RTB strategies in use today
• How to build a proper infrastructure from the ground up
• How to include segmentation in RTB strategy
• How to scale your operations based on skillset
• Where header bidding falls in programmatic strategy
• What a mature RTB operation looks like

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