Digital black book

The Little Black
Book of
Audience Data
jouncemedia.com

© 2018 Jounce Media, LLC All Rights Reserved
Jounce Media’s Little Black Book series is your
quick reference for all things ad tech. Each book
contains fundamental concepts that underpin the
advertising technology ecosystem. Master the
content in these books, and you’ll be armed to
tackle any digital marketing problem.
For more information about Jounce Media’s ad
tech consulting services, visit jouncemedia.com

Must-Know Concepts Must-Know Terminology
This book aims to be your audience data reference guide. It
contains descriptions of the fundamental concepts that underpin
the audience data collection ecosystem and provides an overview
of the landscape of data management vendors.
Ad Tech Foundation
❑ Identity Management
❑ Cookie IDs and Ad IDs
❑ Mobile Contexts
Data Collection
❑ Client-Side Pixels
❑ ID Syncing
❑ Data Syndication
❑ App SDKs
❑ Server-Side Data Transfer
Data Augmentation
❑ CRM Onboarding
❑ Transaction Syncing
❑ Deterministic Cross-Device Matching
❑ Probabilistic Cross-Device Matching
❑ Segment Design
❑ Vendor Landscape
Throughout the book, we use the following industry-specific
terms to describe the programmatic buying and selling of
advertising inventory:
Publisher A seller of ad inventory – either a website or
an app. Also referred to as the sell side or the
supply side.
Advertiser A buyer of ad inventory. Also referred to as
the buy side or the demand side.
Ad Exchange A piece of technology that conducts real-time
auctions for ad inventory. Supply-side
platforms (SSPs) all operate ad exchanges,
but also have additional pieces of publisher
technology.
Bidder A piece of technology that buys inventory on
ad exchanges. Demand-side platforms (DSPs)
all operate bidders in addition to other pieces
of advertiser technology.
Client Side Everything that happens on a consumer’s
device.
Server Side Everything that happens remote from a
consumer, either in the network or a data
center. Server side activities happen in the
cloud.

Identity Management
Depending on the advertising context, a single consumer might
be identified by a variety of labels. Personally identifiable
information (PII) is used for email, direct mail, and phone.
Cookie IDs are used for browser-based advertising (both
desktop and mobile). Ad IDs are used for in-app advertising
within mobile devices and connected TVs.
name@email.com
1 Main Street
Town, State Zip
+1-555-555-5555
Desktop
Browser
Mobile
Browser
Connected TV
Tablet
Smartphone
PII Cookie IDs Ad IDs

Cookie IDs and Ad IDs
Cookie IDs and ad IDs are the connective tissue between the
client (the user’s device) and the server (everything happening
in the cloud). Ad tech systems assign an ID to each client and
then create matching server-side user profiles.
Each time an ad tech system has access to a client, it
reads the client’s ID and then finds the matching server-
side user profile, which contains information about who
the user is and what advertising he/she has seen.
User Profile
Server SideClient Side
User 123Cookie ID: 123
Cookie IDs
• Used for advertising within a browser (desktop & mobile)
• Each ad tech system sets a different cookie ID
• Cookie data is typically accessed via a tracking pixel
User Profile
Female
Age 32
New Parent
User 456Ad ID: 456
Ad IDs
• Used for advertising within native apps (mobile & TV)
• All ad tech systems use the same ad ID
• Device data is typically accessed via an app SDK
Male
Age 40
Minivan Intender

Mobile Contexts
When using mobile devices, user behavior is tracked using a
combination of cookie IDs and ad IDs. All browser activity is
recorded using a cookie that is set on the user’s browser, similar
to desktop advertising.
Within native apps, most activity is recorded using the
device’s ad ID. But when a user loads a webpage that is
hosted within an app (called a “webview”), the user’s
behavior is tracked using a new cookie ID that is different
from the cookie set on the user’s primary browser.
website.com App Newsfeed
Click
website.com
Tracking based on a cookie ID Tracking based on an ad ID
Browser Native App Webview
Tracking based on a cookie ID, though
different from primary browser cookie

Client-Side Pixels
Ad tech companies track web-based activity through client-side
pixels that fire when websites load. Each time a pixel fires, the
ad tech company reads the ID of the cookie it has previously
set on the user’s browser.
The ad tech company then finds the matching server-side
user profile and records a new event to that profile. Over
time, pixel fires produce a user profile that contains the
user’s web browsing history.
User Profile
User 123
Male
Age 40
Minivan Intender
Website.com visit
If no cookie is present on the user’s browser, the
ad tech company sets a new cookie, creates a
matching user profile, and then records the visit
in the new user profile.
Container
Tag
Tracking Pixel
One or more additional
tracking pixels
Website.com
Cookie 123

ID Syncing
Because each ad tech system operates on a different web
domain, they have different cookie IDs for the same web
browser. ID syncing allows ad tech systems to share browser-
based audience data with each other.
By establishing that company A’s cookie 123 and company
B’s cookie 789 are set on the same browser, the two
companies can merge together the matching user profiles
to form a more complete understanding of the consumer.
User Profile User Profile
Company A Company B
Male
Age 40
Minivan
Intender
Male
Age 40
Minivan
Intender
Server-To-Server Data TransferClient Side ID Sync
User 123 User 789
Company A Cookie ID: 123
Company B Cookie ID: 789
The process of ID syncing is necessary only for
browser-based advertising. In-app inventory does
not require ID syncing because each ad tech
company uses the same ad ID.

Data Syndication
Establishing ID syncs between each pair of ad tech companies is
an unmanageably large task. Instead, data management
platforms (DMPs) act as ID syncing hubs.
By forming ID syncs with each partner in its data network,
a data management platform can facilitate data transfer
between any pair of network participants.
Data
Management
Platform
Data Broker
Attribution
Provider
Ad
Exchange
Bidder
Publisher
Ad Server

App SDKs
Ad tech companies track app usage through app SDKs. As the
user engages with the app, the SDK keeps a client-side record of
all activity. On a periodic basis (typically when the app is
backgrounded), the cache of recorded events is pushed to the
matching server side user profile via an HTTP connection.
Select data events are then syndicated server-side by the
app SDK provider to the advertiser’s media buying and
attribution partners.
Native App
User Profile
User 456
[Prior events]
App Open
App Login
App Close
User Profile
User 456
App Open
Because all app activity is recorded using a commonly
understood ad ID (either an IDFA or Android ID), ID
syncing is not necessary. App data can be easily
syndicated across ad tech companies.
Advertising SDK
IDFA 456
App Open
App Login
App Close
App Analytics
Provider
Media Buying
Company

Server-Side Data Transfer
When it is not possible for an ad tech company to directly track
user behavior through client-side data collection, data can be
transmitted server-side from one ad tech company to another.
Server-to-server data transfer can be executed in batches
via log files or in real-time user server-side pixels.
Server-Side PixelsBatch Files
Server-side pixels are most commonly used when
transmitting smaller data sets that must be immediately
ingested by the receiving party. Retargeting data is
typically transmitted via server-side pixels.
Batch files are most commonly used when transmitting
very large data sets that do not need to be ingested by
the receiving party in real time. Demographic data is
typically transmitted via batch files.
A log file containing user data is generated by the data owner
and transmitted to the receiving ad tech company. Each
record in the log file contains a user identifier, and the
receiving company updates the corresponding user profiles.
Each time the data owner tracks an event, it sends a
notification to the receiving ad tech company. This
notification specifies a user identifier, and the receiving
company updates the corresponding user profile.

CRM Onboarding
CRM onboarding enables offline-to-online data transfer. Data
onboarding networks establish matches between offline
identifiers like an email address and online identifiers like a
cookie ID.
With the offline-to-online match established, advertisers
can make their offline customer data actionable online.
Everything that advertisers know about the customer
joe@email.com can inform the ads that are delivered to
cookie ID 123.
User Profile
Offline CRM File
joe@email.com
Male
Age 40
Minivan Owner
PII + customer information
User Profile
Match Network
joe@email.com
Cookie ID 123
PII + anonymous ID
PII
(personally identifiable
information)
Anonymous
Online ID
Customer
Information
User Profile
Online DMP
Cookie ID 123
Anonymous ID + customer info
Male
Age 40
Minivan Owner

Transaction Syncing
Advertisers can also activate offline customer data by syncing
transaction IDs with ad tech companies. When a sale or other
transaction event happens, the advertiser passes a unique
transaction ID to its ad tech partner.
The ad tech company looks up the matching user profile
and stores this transaction ID. The advertiser can then
supply additional transaction information through an
offline batch file, and the ad tech company can update
the appropriate online user profile.
Tracking Pixel
Website.com
Cookie 123
Transaction ABC
User Profile
User 123
[Prior events]
Transaction ABC
User Profile
Customer 456
Transaction ABC
• New Balance
• Nike Dri-FIT
• RaceReady
Ad Tech Vendor Advertiser CRM File
Runner
Runner

Deterministic Matching
Because consumers use multiple browsers and multiple devices,
ad targeting and attribution systems need a unified way to
identify each consumer across screens. “Device graphs” match
multiple online user profiles to each other, providing a more
complete view of the consumer’s digital footprint.
Deterministic matching systems use a verified cross-device
identifier like a user login to link multiple online IDs. This
approach offers highly precise matches, but limited scale.
User Profile
jane@email.com
Cookie ID 123
jane@email.com
User Profile
jane@email.com
Cookie ID 456
jane@email.com
Browser 1
Browser 2 Deterministic
Match

Probabilistic Matching
Probabilistic matching systems link multiple IDs using inferred
data points like a shared location or a shared IP address.
Probabilistic matching offers high scale, but is less precise than
deterministic matching.
Each matched user ID is assigned a confidence level, and
advertisers can increase or decrease the desired
confidence threshold in order to control match accuracy
vs. scale tradeoffs.
166.171.250.93 166.171.250.93 166.171.250.93 166.171.250.93Most Common IP Address
adexchanger.com jouncemedia.com jouncemedia.com adexchanger.comMost Unique Site
N/A 65.206.95.146 65.206.95.146 65.206.95.146Second Common IP Address

Segment Design
Data management platforms (DMPs) and demand side platforms
(DPSs) give advertisers tools to combine more than one audience
into a targeting segment.
By using Boolean logic (AND / OR / NOT), advertisers can
specify custom definitions of the consumers who should be
targeted with advertising.
Audience A
Audience B
Audience C
OR
AND NOT
Audience A
Audience B
Audience C

Audience Data Ecosystem
1st Party Data 3rd Party Data
Data Syndicators
Browser Tag Managers
App SDKs
Offline Behavior
Content Consumption
Location History
Identity Resolution

The Little Black
Book of
Viewability
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your ad viewability reference guide. It
the viewability verification ecosystem.
Viewability Foundation
❑ Viewability Standards
❑ Technique 1: Geometric Verification
❑ Technique 2: Intersection Observer
❑ Technique 3: Viewport Optimization
❑ Ad Fraud
Measurement by Environment
❑ Web Display Viewability
❑ In-App Display Viewability
❑ Web Video Viewability
❑ In-App Video Viewability
❑ Walled Garden Viewability
View Port The portion of a website or app that is in
view.
SDK Software development kit; for advertising
purposes, SDKs enable ad tech systems to
access data about the user and the inventory
environment.
VAST Video Ad Serving Template; a standard for
serving third party video ads across media
players.
VAST 4.0 An updated version of VAST released in 2017
with the intention of improving viewability
measurement.
VPAID Video Player Ad Interface Definition; a type
of video media file that enables interactive
playback and viewability measurement.
MRAID Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions; a
set of standards that allow rich media display
ads to render in app environments. MRAID
also supports viewability measurement.
Open
Measurement
SDK
An open source app SDK managed by the IAB
that enables multiple technology systems to
measure in-app viewability.
Campaign Management Considerations
❑ Viewability Cheat Sheet
❑ Pre-Bid Targeting
❑ Discrepant Reporting
❑ Viewability Ecosystem

The Media Ratings Council (MRC) maintains widely-accepted
viewability definitions, which are included below. Some
advertisers and agencies also define custom viewability
standards.
Viewability
There are three kinds of non-viewable impressions: ads that are
out of view, ads that appear for a very short period of time, and
ads served to non-human traffic. Advertisers and publishers can
utilize viewability impression trackers to measure the success
rate with which they serve viewable impressions.
Out of View
Below the fold
Inactive tab
Covered by other content
Short Duration
Skipped video
Back button
Non-Human Traffic
Bot networks / infected PCs
Web crawlers
Display: 50% of pixels Display: 1 second Display: Human traffic
Video: 50% of pixels Video: 2 continuous seconds Video: Human traffic

Viewport
Height
Viewport Width
Ad Width
Ad Height
y-distribution
x-distribution
Technique 1: Geometric Verification
This method of viewability measurement requires third
party viewability verification solutions to load code
directly onto the page to identify the ad’s location relative
to the browser.
This measurement method can only be used when non-iframe
tags are served. Verification vendors must have access to
page details outside of the placement where the ad is served.
Iframes limit access to site configuration details.
Geometric verification is the original approach for measuring ad
viewability. The ad’s viewability is determined by its distance
from the top and sides of the viewport on a webpage.

Technique 2: Intersection Observer
To overcome the measurement limitations of geometric
verification, many browsers have exposed an “intersection
observer” API that reports the overlap between an HTML object
and the browser’s viewport.
As third party code loads into a placement on a browser, it
sends a request to the API, which returns details
describing the location of the placement relative to the
browser window. For in-app inventory (discussed later in
this book), measurement SDKs behave very similarly to the
browser intersection observer API.
The IAB manages an API called “IAB SafeFrame” that
offers similar functionality to the Intersection Observer
API. The key difference is that IAB SafeFrame support is
implemented by the publisher, not the browser.
IAB SafeFrame
Browser
Intersection
Observer API
Request to be
notified when object
intersects viewport
by 0%, 25%, etc.
Notifications
delivered to
viewability
measurement callback

Technique 3: Viewport Optimization
An alternative (and largely outdated) technique for viewability
verification relies on the way web browsers handle video files to
conserve system resources.
Measurement companies embed a 1x1 pixel video within an
ad and monitor the framerate of the video. When the user
scrolls the pixel outside the viewport, the browser
automatically reduces the video’s framerate, signaling to
the measurement company that the ad is no longer in view.
The viewport optimization technique historically relied on Flash
video pixels, which are no longer supported in many browsers.
Some vendors continue to utilize viewport optimization using
non-Flash HTML5 content through a browser feature called
“throttle rendering pipeline based on viewport visibility.”
A Note About Flash
In view: 24 fps
Out of view: 1 fps

Ad Fraud
The three viewability techniques outlined detect an ad’s position
on page. When measuring viewability, measurement companies
additionally look for non-human traffic and placement fraud.
The MRC assigns fraud detection accreditation in two
tiers. GIVT (general invalid traffic) covers basic fraud
detection such as easily identified bot traffic. SIVT
(sophisticated invalid traffic) includes more complex fraud
detection.
Examples of GIVT
• Web crawlers
• Data center traffic
• Non-human traffic patterns
Examples of SIVT
• Adware and malware
• Pixel stuffing
• Misrepresented inventory
Ad Stacking
Pixel Stuffing
Bots and
Crawlers
0 seconds
10 seconds
20 seconds
Non-human traffic patterns
General Invalid Traffic (GIVT) Sophisticated Invalid Traffic (SIVT)

Optional step for
real time bidding
transactions
Third Party JavaScript
Code from a third party measurement company
that attempts to measure viewability using three
methods:
• Geometric verification
• Intersection observer
• Viewport optimization
For both programmatic and reserved campaigns, the advertiser’s
ad server is responsible for delivering the creative to the page.
When the creative is delivered, the advertiser’s ad server often
includes JavaScript tracking code from a third party to measure
viewability.
Web Display Viewability

In-App Display Viewability
Unlike the web, in-app inventory does not support rendering
JavaScript directly on page. Instead, app developers must install
a measurement SDK to support third party viewability
measurement.
1. Deliver tag that points to
both advertiser ad server
and 3rd party tracking code
Publisher
Ad Server
3. Retrieve
appropriate
rendition from
advertiser ad
server
4. Report standard
viewability events
2. If app has OM SDK
installed, load JS and
send viewability events
In-app measurement SDKs operate similarly to the browser
intersection observer. The advertiser’s ad can periodically
request viewability information from the SDK, monitoring
the ad’s total time in view.
Advertiser Ad Server
User Profile
User 123
Impression load
3rd Party
Tracker
Proprietary or Open
Measurement SDK
Advertiser
Creative
In 2017, the IAB launched a developer-friendly solution to in-
app viewability measurement by offering an open source SDK.
The new SDK reduces the need for apps to install multiple
proprietary SDKs to establish compatibility with viewability
vendors.
Mobile Rich Media Ad Interface Definitions (MRAID) is a set of
standards which allow rich media creative to render in-app.
This protocol is designed to work with both HTML5 and
JavaScript and is compatible with the Open Measurment SDK
for in-app viewability measurement.

Web Video Viewability
The first video ad serving template (VAST) was developed by the
IAB in 2008 to support consistent video ad delivery across
publishers. VAST 4.0, released in 2017, formalizes support for
viewability measurement by enabling the publisher’s video
player to communicate with browser intersection observer APIs.
Because early versions of VAST did not support viewability
measurement, many marketers utilized an interactive
video format called VPAID to measure viewability. VPAID
ad serving allows the marketer to load JavaScript on page.
Intersection observer enabled browser
VAST 4.0 VPAID
1. VAST 4.0 tag loads and requests viewability
information from player
2. Player sends a request to browser
intersection observer API
3. Browser responds with ad viewability details
1. VPAID tag takes control of video player
2. VPAID tag loads JavaScript in browser,
similar to web display measurement
For more information about VAST and VPAID ad serving, refer
to Jounce Media’s Little Black Book of Video Advertising

In-App Video Viewability
Mobile app inventory typically does not support VPAID ad
formats. Instead, marketers must utilize VAST 4.0 (or customized
versions of earlier VAST standards) to communicate with the
app’s measurement SDK.
1. Deliver VAST tag that
points to both advertiser
ad server and 3rd party
tracking code
Publisher
Ad Server
3. Retrieve appropriate rendition from
advertiser ad server
4. Report standard VAST engagement events
2. If app has measurement SDK installed, load
JavaScript and request viewability events
This approach is very similar to the way advertisers
measure in-app display inventory, but it carries the
additional requirement for both the publisher and the
advertiser to integrate measurement code with the video
player.
User Profile
User 123
Video Start
Video Complete
3rd Party
Tracker
Proprietary or Open
Measurement SDK

Walled Garden Viewability
Walled gardens do not allow third party ad serving on their
platforms. This policy limits independent viewability
measurement. Today, many walled gardens integrate with
independent auditors directly to provide advertisers with
consistent viewability metrics across all digital inventory.
Walled gardens send impression-level reports to third
party viewability vendors, who then report aggregated
viewability statistics to advertisers.
Because the walled gardens do not allow third party
measurement code to render directly on page, many of
these measurement integrations are not yet accredited
by the Media Ratings Council.
Campaign running total:
• Viewable = 21 impressions
• Non-Viewable or Bots = 14 impressions
Viewability Rate = 60%
Campaign ID
Viewable T/F
IP address
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
✓
✓
✓
✗
✗
Viewable IP
Impression A TRUE HUMAN
Impression B TRUE BOT
Impression C FALSE HUMAN
... ... ...
Third Party
Viewability
Solution

Web
with VPAID support
Web
VAST-only
App
with Proprietary SDK
or Open SDK
App
without
measurement SDK
Walled
Garden
Banner ✓ ✓ Only if using
MRAID ✗ As reported by
walled garden
Native ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ As reported by
walled garden
Video: VAST
3.0 or earlier ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ As reported by
walled garden
Video: VPAID ✓ Ad cannot render Ad cannot render Ad cannot render
As reported by
walled garden
Emerging
Video Formats
VAST 4.0 (or later),
VPAID-I, VAST interactive
template
✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ As reported by
walled garden
Viewability Cheat Sheet
Achieving consistent third party viewability measurement across
all ad formats and inventory requires a diverse set of technology
solutions.
This cheat sheet should help marketers identify the solutions
required to meet their measurement objectives.
AdvertiserCreative
Publisher Inventory
App refers to both mobile in-app and connected TV apps

For each available impression, the bidder (DSP) checks a
content ratings table that contains historic viewability data
for each publisher and placement. The marketer can then
define rules for whether (and how much) to bid based on
predicted ad viewability.
xyz.com
Format: 15 sec video
Viewability = High
Format: 300x250
Viewability = Low
Content Ratings
Table
Pre-Bid Targeting
For inventory purchased through a DSP, advertisers can employ
pre-bid viewability targeting solutions that predict inventory
quality based on the information declared in each bid request.
Bidder
Ad
Exchange
Ad
Exchange

Publisher-Side Measurement
When publishers measure viewability,
measurement trackers load from the publisher’s
ad server.
Optional step for
real time bidding
transactions
Discrepant Reporting
A common pain point of campaign operations is discrepant
viewability reporting between publishers and advertisers.
Publishers load viewability code from the publisher ad server,
which renders before the advertiser ad server delivers a
creative asset. This causes publishers to over-state the actual
viewability of their inventory.
Advertiser-Side Measurement
When advertisers measure viewability, trackers
load from the advertiser ad server, often 500-
1,000ms after the publisher’s tracker loads.

Web
Viewability
App
Viewability
SIVT
Fraud
MOAT ✓ ✓ ✓
IAS ✓ ✓ ✓
DV ✓ ✓ ✓
Google ✓ ✓ ✓
Comscore ✓ ✓ ✓
Meetrics ✓ ✓ ✓
AdForm ✓ ✓
Pixalate ✓ under review ✓
Sizmek ✓
Flashtalking ✓
Innovid ✓
Extreme Reach ✓
Adledge ✓
AdLoox ✓ ✓
WhiteOps ✓
Forensiq under review under review
Protected under review under review under review
Viewability Ecosystem
Walled Garden Measurement Partners
DSP Pre-Bid Viewability Targeting
Media Ratings Council Accreditations Other Viewability Solutions
App SDKs
See http://mediaratingcouncil.org/Accredited%20Services.htm for additional detail

The Little Black
Book of
Video Advertising
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your programmatic video reference guide. It
the digital video advertising ecosystem and provides an overview
of the landscape of video ad tech vendors.
Ad Tech Foundation
❑ Programmatic Components
❑ Third Party Ad Serving
❑ Cookie IDs and Ad IDs
Video Ad Serving
❑ Online Video Platforms
❑ In-Stream vs. Out-Stream
❑ Video Renditions
❑ Engagement Tracking
❑ VAST
❑ VPAID
❑ Video Viewability & Fraud
❑ Flash Deprecation
Inventory Access
❑ Media Rights Management
❑ Demand Mediation
❑ Server-Side Ad Insertion
❑ Mobile App and Connected TV
an app. Also referred to as the sell side and
the supply side.
the buy side and the demand side.
technology.
device.
cloud.

Optional step for
real time bidding
transactions
Open Internet Supply Chain
Each time an open internet publisher sells an ad impression, its
ad server selects from many potential demand sources. If the
publisher decides to fill the impression via a programmatic
auction, five technology components communicate with each
other to deliver the ad. These five components are consistent
across desktop and mobile devices, and across banner, video,
and native ad formats.
A Note About Real Time Bidding
The real time bidding (RTB) ecosystem relies on separating
the ad exchange and bidder into two independent pieces
of technology. Walled gardens and ad networks often
combine these buy-side and sell-side technology
components into a closed auction environment.

Third Party Ad Serving
Site Served Ads
Site served advertising gives publishers control over
the way ads are rendered on their properties. This
enables publishers to implement custom ad formats
that are tightly integrated with organic content.
2. Publisher ad server
delivers creative assets
to page and notifies
3. Advertiser ad server records
that an impression was delivered
1. Publisher traffics creative
assets in publisher ad server
Third party ad serving centralizes creative
management for advertisers, but requires
standardized ad formats that are supported by all
publishers.
2. Publisher ad server
requests creative from
3. Advertiser ad server delivers
creative assets to page
1. Advertiser traffics
creative assets in
Most enterprise marketers deliver digital impressions through a
third party ad server. This third party ad server manages creative
delivery across nearly all publishers on an advertiser’s media
plan.
Some premium publishers require site served ads, in which
creative delivery is controlled by the publisher’s ad server.
In these cases, the publisher often loads an impression
tracker from the advertiser’s ad server.

Online Video Platforms
Online video platforms (OVPs) orchestrate the delivery of video
content within both web and app environments. The OVP
fetches video content from either its own hosting environment
or from third party sources and then renders video playback to
the user.
In addition to managing video delivery, the OVP is also
responsible for enabling user controls like play, pause, and mute.
Long form video content is often programmed via
the VMAP standard, which allows content
distributors to insert pre-roll, mid-roll, and post-
roll video ads within an extended piece of video
content.
Client Side Server Side
Video Content
Video Ads

In-Stream vs. Out-Stream
In-Stream Video Outstream Video
While outstream formats vary, these ad units are
most commonly configured to automatically play
when in view, and are typically set to mute by
default.
In-stream video is most commonly user-initiated
(user presses play to start video). Some in-stream
publishers also support skippable ads in which users
can skip past video ads after a short duration.
Video-first publishers typically insert video ads that are similar
to TV commercial breaks. This advertising format is called in-
stream video because ads are introduced within a larger video
stream.
Text-based publishers often introduce standalone video ads
within their content feeds. This format is called outstream video
because ads are introduced outside the context of a larger video
stream.
Primary
Content
Mid-roll
Primary
Content
Post-rollPre-roll

Video Renditions
Because of the diversity of both screen sizes and connection
speeds, video advertisers produce multiple “renditions” of each
video asset. These renditions are typically generated
automatically by the advertiser’s ad server.
At run time, the advertiser’s ad server makes multiple renditions
available to the OVP, and the OVP decides which rendition to
fetch. The most sophisticated players can switch between
renditions on the fly as the user’s connection quality changes.
Standard
Definition
16:9
In practice, advertiser ad servers typically produce
over a dozen renditions of each video asset. These
renditions vary the video’s encoding format, aspect
ratio, player size, and playback bit rate.
High
Definition
4:3
Request for
preferred
rendition
Content delivery
Client Side Server Side

Engagement Tracking
User Profile
User 123
Video Complete
Previously collected user
data:
• Search click
• Website.com visit
• Retargeting ad
exposure
In web-based environment, ad tech companies use
cookies to manage user profiles. In app-based
environments, ad tech companies use mobile ad IDs.
Video Complete
Tracking Pixel
Additional pixels for events
like video start, mute,
expand, etc.
User 123
Marketers often want to measure the degree to which users
engage with video ads. The most common engagement metric
is a completed ad view, though some advertisers also track
events like play/pause, mute/unmute, and full screen
expansion.
OVPs make it possible for advertisers to record engagement
events in third party measurement systems. When an
engagement event (e.g., video complete) happens, the OVP
fires the appropriate advertiser-supplied tracking pixel,
sending a notification to the advertiser’s measurement
system.

VAST
The video ad serving template (VAST) is a standard format that
OVPs use to play video ads. VAST files contain information about
where to find various video renditions as well as instructions for
how to load engagement tracking pixels.
In the most common case, the OVP retrieves a VAST file from the
publisher’s ad server. This VAST document then instructs the OVP
to communicate with the advertiser’s ad server to fetch a video
ad and post engagement events.
1. Deliver VAST tag from
selected buyer
Publisher
Ad Server
User Profile
User 123
Video Start
Video Complete
3. Report engagement
events to server-
side user profile
2. Retrieve
appropriate
rendition from
The VAST standard is managed by the Internet
Advertising Bureau (IAB). Full documentation is
available at https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-
video-ad-serving-template-vast-4-0/

VPAID
VAST ad serving limits tracking to a short list of events that are
reported by the OVP. VPAID is a solution that allows advertisers
to implement custom tracking like viewability monitoring,
audience verification, and fraud detection.
In traditional VAST ad serving, the OVP fetches and plays a
video file. In VPAID ad serving, the OVP fetches dynamic
code (either Flash or JavaScript) that takes temporary
control of the player’s viewable area. Upon completion of
the video ad, the VPAID wrapper returns control back to
the OVP.
VPAID ad formats also enable advertisers to render
interactive video ads, though production complexity
prevents most advertisers from utilizing this
functionality.
1. Deliver VAST tag with VPAID
media file from selected buyer
Publisher
Ad Server
2. Optional: Load 3rd
party tracking code
for viewability,
fraud, and audience
verification
3. Fetch video player from
Advertiser
Ad Server
Measurement
Wrapper

Viewability & Fraud
The Media Rating Council (MRC) defines a viewable video
impression as having 50% of pixels in view for at least 2
seconds. The MRC also certifies third party measurement
companies to verify video ad viewability and video ad fraud.
Publishers can always measure video ad viewability by
adding custom code to their OVP. In order for advertisers
to independently verify video ad viewability, they must
serve ads using either VPAID or VAST 4.0 specifications.
For a deep dive into the techniques for measuring video
viewability in web, mobile app, and connected TV
environments, refer to Jounce Media’s Little Black Book
of Viewability.
Browser with intersection observer API
VAST 4.0VPAID
1. VAST 4.0 tag loads and sends a request to
intersection observer API within browser
2. Browser responds with pertinent viewability
details
1. VPAID tag takes control of video player
2. VPAID tag loads JavaScript in browser, which
informs the creative asset of its position on
the page

Media Rights Management
Publisher
Ad Server
MRM
Backfill
Demand
Partner
First Right of Sale
Priority Level 2
Priority Level 3
Priority Level n
Content
Owner Ad
Server
House
Ad
Serve Ad
if delivery required
if no direct-sold
campaigns
Serve Ad
Conduct
Auction
Serve Ad
if auction
yields a buyer
if auction
fails
Video content owners often sign distribution deals with
publishers. When signing these deals, both parties agree to
business rules that specify which companies have the right to
sell advertising and how ad revenue will be distributed.
Media Rights Management (MRM) is a system for managing
these complex agreements across many publishers and
content owners. Video MRM is similar to waterfall-based
display ad serving. The publisher ad server checks a pre-
determined sequence of demand sources and stops once it
finds a buyer. While MRM may not produce revenue-
maximizing ad delivery, it ensures the publisher respects
the content owner’s negotiated “first look” sales
arrangements.
if no direct-sold
campaigns

Demand Mediation
In the simplest case, the MRM system loads a direct-sold
campaign that delivers the advertiser’s video asset. But in
many cases, the MRM system awards the impression to a
demand aggregator that represents multiple potential buyers.
In even more complex scenarios, the demand aggregator
may award the impression to another aggregator. This
hand-off process is known as mediation and can cause
significant delays in the ad serving process.
Direct Sold
Campaign
(1 Step)
Direct Sold
Campaign
Serve Ad
Exchange
Marketplace
(2 Steps)
Video Ad
Exchange
Serve Ad
Video
Bidder
Demand
Mediation
(3+ Steps)
Video Ad
Exchange
Serve Ad
Video
Bidder
Advertiser
Video Ad
Server
Video Ad
Exchange
Advertiser
Video Ad
Server
Advertiser
Video Ad
Server
Each step in the mediation process requires loading a new
VAST tag in the user’s browser or app. The process by
which one VAST tag calls another VAST tag is often called
“daisy chaining” or “VAST redirecting.”

Server-Side Ad Insertion
Demand mediation is typically executed client-side -- Each step
in the ad serving process results in new code being loaded in
the user’s browser or app. Server-side ad stitching moves many
of the ad serving steps away from the client device in order to
accelerate ad delivery.
In a server-side implementation, all demand sources are
checked via server-to-server requests. When the final
video asset is selected, a new piece of technology called a
splicer stitches the ad into a continuous video stream that
is delivered from the publisher’s web domain.
Server side ad insertion also breaks the functionality
of ad blockers. Because video ads are served from the
same domain as primary video content, ad blocking
technology cannot detect the presence of advertising.
Primary
Content
Mid-roll
Primary
Content
Request and receive a
single stream of video
content from the
publisher’s domain
MRM
Ad
Exchange
Select demand
source in publisher
ad server
Manage demand
mediation via
server-side daisy
chain
Select optimal
video rendition in
Publisher
Ad Server
Content
Owner Ad
Server
House
Ad
Backfill
Demand
Bidder
Ad
Exchange

Mobile App & Connected TV
The infrastructure that powers browser-based video advertising
is being applied to in-app and connected TV environments.
The primary difference between these environments and
browser-based advertising is the use of ad IDs instead of
cookies, and this difference makes mobile and OTT strong
candidates for server-side implementations.
1. Deliver VAST tag that
points to both advertiser ad
server and 3rd party
tracking code
Publisher
Ad Server
3. Retrieve appropriate rendition from
4. Report standard VAST engagement events
2. If app has measurement SDK installed, load
JS and send viewability events
User Profile
User 123
Video Start
Video Complete
3rd Party
Tracker
Proprietary or Open
Measurement SDK

Vendor Landscape
Video Supply Video Demand
Ad Exchanges
Ad Networks
Demand Side Platforms
Advertiser Ad Servers
Video Players
Publisher Ad Servers
Viewability & Fraud
Audience Verification
(technology for publishers) (technology for advertisers)

The Little Black
Book of
Search Engine
Marketing
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your search engine marketing reference
guide. It contains descriptions of the fundamental concepts that
underpin the paid search ecosystem and provides a deep dive into
search engine marketing capabilities.
SEM Foundation
❑ Paid vs. Organic Search
❑ Emerging Search Platforms
❑ Classic Search Creative
❑ Ad Extensions
❑ Dynamic Keyword Insertion
Campaign Design
❑ Search Remarketing Lists
❑ Match Types
❑ Keyword Strategies
❑ Shopping Campaigns
Throughout this book, we use search-specific terminology and
acronyms, which are defined here:
Campaign Performance
❑ Search KPIs
❑ Optimization Techniques
❑ SEM Management Platforms
Must-Know Concepts
Auction Dynamics
❑ Search Auction Pricing
❑ Ad Availability
Must-Know Terminology
SERP: Search Engine Results Page; the result of a user’s search
query
SEM: Search Engine Marketing; shorthand for paid advertising
on search platforms
SEO: Search Engine Optimization; shorthand for a collection of
techniques that brands can use to boost their rankings in
organic search results
Query / Search Term: The text string a user enters into a
search platform
Keyword: The rules advertisers use to match their search
campaigns to user queries
PLA: Product Listing Ad; an outdated term for shopping ads
RLSA: Remarketing Lists for Search Advertising; a Google-
specific term that describes the ability for search advertisers
to alter campaign behavior for high value audiences
Ad Load: The relative number of paid ads vs. organic listings
Product Feed: A structured list of an advertiser’s products
which includes descriptions, specifications, and prices
Quality Score: A metric used by search engines to predict the
usefulness of search ads to the user
Ad Rank: A metric used by search engines to determine which
advertisers win search auctions and how much they pay

Paid vs. Organic Search
A typical search engine results page (SERP) is comprised of both
paid and organic results. Paid results include both keyword ads
and shopping ads and are positioned based on a combination of
ad relevance and advertiser willingness to pay.
Organic results are placed entirely based on expected
relevance to the user’s search query. Companies often employ
search engine optimization (SEO) techniques to boost the
ranking of their content in organic results. We won’t address
SEO in this book.
Search Query
Keyword Ads
Organic Results
Shopping Ads,
previously
called Product
Listing Ads
(PLAs)

Emerging Search Platforms
Google, Bing, and Yahoo currently capture nearly 100% of US
search advertising budgets, but consumer search behavior is
rapidly shifting toward new search experiences.
Consumers are increasingly using vertical search engines for
tasks like travel and shopping. Additionally, image search and
voice search are reshaping the consumer experience.
Legacy Search Image Search
Voice SearchVertical Search
Travel Shopping
Pinterest Lens Amazon Product
Recognition
Google Image
Search

Search Creative
Search advertising is the original native ad format. Paid search
ads are designed to look similar to organic search results.
For any search query, search engines present various
combinations of keyword ads, shopping ads, and organic
results.
Keyword Ads
* Optional ad components
Search auctions influence the decision of how
many ads should appear on each SERP. More on
this later in this book.
Anatomy of a Search Ad Anatomy of a SERP
Headline
$Price
Seller
Offer Link*
Headline 1 – Headline 2
www.URL.com/path1/path2
Description description description description description
Ad Extensions*
Shopping Ads

Ad Extensions
Ad extensions allow search marketers to enrich their paid search
ads with additional information about their business and
products.
While extensions provide added useful information to
consumers, their primary benefit to marketers is the
increased screen real estate occupied by advertising, boosting
clickthrough rates.
Google periodically tests new ad extension
features while sun setting existing ones. The list
above is up to date as of Q1 2017.
Headline 1 – Headline 2
Call Out
Rating: X based on Y reviews
Address - (555) 555-5555
Site Link Site Link
Site Link Site Link
• Site Links
• Location Extension
• Callout Extensions
• Structured Snippets
• Price Extension
• App Extension
• Seller Ratings
• Review Extension
Google search currently supports the following extensions:

Dynamic Keyword Insertion
To further improve search advertising performance, advertisers
can implement dynamic headline text that adapts to user
queries.
Dynamic keyword insertion increases the perceived relevance
of search ads, driving up clickthrough rates.
[User Query] – Headline 2
Ad Extensions*

Through either a website pixel or a custom email list,
advertisers can specify unique creative, bidding strategies,
and keyword eligibility for high value consumers.
Search Remarketing Lists
Advertiser
Website
<Search platform tracking pixel>
Advertiser
Website Visitors
Search marketers also have the option to adjust campaign
behavior for different groups of users.
Non-Visitors
Website Visitor Search
Non-Visitor Search
• Personalized ad copy
• High bid price
• Expanded keyword list and looser match types
• Standard ad copy
• Standard bid price
• Standard keyword list and match types
Google’s search remarketing product is called RLSA
(remarketing lists for search advertising), which is a
common industry shorthand.

Match Types
Keywords are the primary mechanisms by which advertisers
target search ads. Advertisers can specify both positive and
negative keywords that match ad campaigns to user search
queries.
Both positive and negative keywords can be applied using a
variety of matching rules, which are specified below.
Positive Matches Negative Matches
Trigger ad eligibility based on user query Prevent ad eligibility for close but undesired matches
Table
Broad Match: Suppress all queries that
contain coffee table or any synonyms
[Coffee Ice Cream]
Exact Match: Suppress all queries for the
three-word search query “coffee ice cream”
Coffee
Broad Match: Target all queries that
contain the word ”coffee” and any close
synonyms
+Coffee +Shop
Broad Match Modified: Target all queries
that contain the words “coffee” and “shop”
in any order; no synonyms
“Green Tea”
Phrase Match: Target all queries that
contain the phrase “green tea” but never
“tea green”
[Green Tea]
Exact Match: Target all queries for the
two-word search query “green tea” but not
any other variation
Refer to the end of this book for a cheat sheet on
match types.
Google automatically sets negative keywords to
‘exact match’ unless otherwise specified.

Keyword Strategies
Advertisers commonly organize their search marketing efforts
around brand keywords (my brand as well my competitors’
brands) and non-brand keywords, as these have very different
performance profiles.
While matching against the names of competitor brands is an
important part of many traditional search marketing
campaigns, some industries and competitors choose not to
engage in these types of price wars.
Competitor
Keywords that contain my
competitors’ brand names
• Bottom of funnel
• Modest CTR and conversion rate
• Modest scale
Coffee
Iced Coffee
Coffee Beans
Vanilla Latte
Latte
Espresso
Espresso Beans
Steamed Milk
Hot Chocolate
Mocha
Keyword grouping and structural negatives offer
more control and unique insights into campaigns.
Alternatively, Google offers automated
optimization tools to achieve similar goals.
Enforcing separation of brand vs.
non-brand search queries requires
using negative keywords. This
technique is knows as “structural
negatives”.
Brand
Keywords that contain my brand name
• Bottom of funnel
• High CTR and conversion rate
• Limited Scale
• “Must buy” to defend against
competitors
Non-Brand / Generic
Keywords that do not contain any
brand names
• Top of funnel queries
• Low CTR and conversion rate
• Very high scale
• More competition

Shopping Campaigns
$$
$$
$$
High Resolution images, rich product
details, and accurate pricing improve
shopping impression share and
clickthrough rate.
Product Details
Keywords from product feed are scanned and
automatically targeted to relevant search queries.
No Keyword Targeting
Keywords cannot be chosen or actively targeted by
brands. Keywords are targeted without brand input.
Negative Keyword Targeting
Brands can limit where their ads show through negative
targeting. If a brand sells pants for women-only they
may negatively target ’men’, ‘babies’, and ‘children’.
Product Group Targeting
Marketers can assign multiple products to a “Product
Group” which can be targeted by one or more shopping
campaigns.
Shopping ads (formerly called product listing ads or PLAs) allow
an advertiser to upload a feed of all available products. The
feed includes product images, specifications, and pricing.
Shopping campaigns cannot apply positive keyword targeting.
Instead, the product feed is used to determine search query
relevance. Campaigns can, however, use negative keywords.
Shopping Feed Design Shopping Campaign Targeting
Feed specifications are set by search platforms and are different
for each product category. In addition to product descriptions
and prices, feeds may include information about product colors,
sizes, and materials.
Product Feed
Caffe Latte
Our dark, rich espresso balanced
with steamed milk and a light layer
of foam. A perfect milk forward
warm up.
$$

Search Auction Pricing
Search advertising is priced on a CPC basis, in which advertisers
only pay when a user clicks on a search ad.
Ad positions are awarded based on an auction that balances
the needs of advertisers, consumers, and the search platform.
CPC Bid Price Quality Score Ad Rank Paid CPC
$1.50 2.00% $0.030 $1.26
$2.50 1.00% $0.025 $2.01
$1.00 2.00% $0.020 $0.51
$1.00 1.00% $0.010 NA
Value to the advertiser Value to the user Value to the search engine
A
B
C
D
Advertisers are charged the minimum possible price
required to win the auction. In this example:
Advertiser A’s
Paid CPC
Advertiser A’s
Quality Score
Advertiser B’s
Ad Rankx >
$1.26 2.00% $0.025
Actual amount paid
Google does not disclose the factors used to calculate
Quality Score, but it is commonly assumed that
predicted clickthrough rate is the primary driver.

Search Ad Availability
Ad load (the relative proportion of paid search ads vs. organic
listings) will vary based on the user’s search query.
Queries with high commercial intent (for which ads are useful)
tend to carry a high ad load, and queries with low commercial
intent carry either a low ad load or no ads at all.
Expected Value of Advertising
Determined by Search Auction Outcome
How much revenue does the search engine expect
to make for this ad position?
• Auction competitiveness: Advertiser willingness
to pay for this inventory
• Predicted performance: Historic click-through
rate for this inventory and this user
Expected Value of Organic Results
Determined by Search Platform
What is the user experience penalty of delivering
an ad rather than an organic result?
• Short term cannibalization of more relevant
SEO results
• Long term negative impact on user retention
Serve ad if:
advertising value > organic value
Should we use this inventory for a
paid ad or an organic listing?

Search KPIs
Because search is priced on a CPC basis, advertisers are
accustomed to measuring post-click performance and do not
typically assign value to unclicked search ads.
Clicks are measured either via click redirects or via custom
landing page URL parameters. Post-click conversions are
measured via a tracking pixel.
Search Platform
<Search platform tracking pixel>
Advertiser
Landing Page
Advertiser
Checkout Page
<Search platform click tracker>
Clicks: measured by all marketers, and
often used as a primary search success
metric for marketers who do not operate
e-commerce businesses (e.g., CPG).
Post-Click Conversions: primary KPI for
marketers who sell goods or services online,
but who cannot track revenue (e.g., insurance)
Post-Click Revenue: primary KPI for marketers
who sell goods or services online and have high
order value variability (e.g., e-commerce)

Optimization Techniques
Classic search marketers who measure success on a post-click
basis have four levers available to improve campaign
performance.
While reducing bid prices is sometimes appropriate, it often
leaves campaigns with low impression share. Instead, savvy
search marketers focus on creative optimization, targeting
optimization, and landing page optimization.
Cost per Post-
Click Conversion
CPC Conversion Rate
Increase CTR by
optimizing creative
Increase CTR by
optimizing targeting
Lower CPC by
reducing bid price
Lower CPC by increasing
clickthrough rate
Increase conversion
rate by optimizing site
Viable approach, but limits
campaign scale
Utilize high impact ad formats
that align with targeted
search queries
Improve landing page
experience by optimizing for
usability and accelerating
page load times
Apply rigorous positive and
negative keyword lists as well
as audience, geographic, and
other targeting rules

SEM Management Platforms
The most sophisticated search marketers deploy complex
campaigns across multiple search platforms, which creates a
major setup and reporting burden.
SEM management platforms streamline campaign workflow,
enabling search marketers to execute multiple complex
campaigns through a centralized user interface.
Centralized Search Campaign
Management User Interface
Campaign Structure
Keyword Lists
Product Feed
Ad Creative
Budget Allocation

Match Type Cheat Sheet
Synonyms Order
Interrupted
Phrase
Extra
Search Terms
Google Syntax
Broad Match Yes Any Yes Yes
Broad Match Modified No Any Yes Yes +
Phrase Match No Set No Yes “”
Exact Match No Any No No []
Example Keyword: Women’s Pants
Synonym: Words similar to terms searched
If yes, the following queries become eligible:
women’s slacks girl’s leggings
Order: The sequence in which terms are input
If any, the following query becomes eligible:
pants women’s
Extra Terms: Additional terms added before or after keyword(s)
women’s pants sale formal women’s pants
Google syntax is widely used to denote different match
types specifically when using a bulk editor. For
example, [women’s pants] is shorthand for describing
an exact match keyword.
Interrupted Phrase: A break between keywords
women’s blue pants women’s petite pants
Close variations of keywords are included by default
in all match types. Close variations include typos,
misspellings, plurals, abbreviations, acronyms, and
symbols.

The Little Black
Book of
Real Time Bidding
jouncemedia.com

This book contains descriptions of the fundamental concepts that
power the real time bidding ecosystem. Master these concepts,
and you’ll be armed to tackle any RTB advertising problem:
Bidding
❑ RTB Supply Chain
❑ Bid Request & Bid Response
❑ Auction Pricing
❑ Private Marketplaces
Ad Serving
❑ Third Party Ad Serving
❑ Video RTB
❑ Native RTB
❑ Header Bidding
❑ Real Time Bidding Landscape
Publisher A seller of ad inventory – either a website
or an app. Also referred to as the sell side
or the supply side.
Ad Exchange A piece of technology that conducts real-
time auctions for ad inventory. Supply-side
but also have additional pieces of
publisher technology.
Bidder A piece of technology that buys inventory
on ad exchanges. Demand-side platforms
(DSPs) all operate bidders in addition to
other pieces of advertiser technology.
device.
cloud.
Targeting
❑ Brand Safety & Contextual Targeting
❑ Pre-Bid Viewability Targeting
❑ Location Targeting
❑ Retargeting
❑ Frequency Capping

RTB Supply Chain
Each time a publisher makes the decision to sell an ad
impression programmatically, five technology components
communicate with each other. These five components are
consistent across desktop and mobile advertising, and across
banner, video, and native ad formats.
Buy-Side Technology
Sell-Side Technology

Bid Request and Response
For each available RTB impression, an ad exchange conducts an
auction. The ad exchange sends a bid request (a description of
the impression) to multiple potential bidders. Bidders evaluate
the bid request to determine whether it is a match for
campaign targeting criteria, and if so, how much it is worth to
the advertiser. Bidders then send a bid response (a price) back
to the ad exchange. The winning bidder is then awarded the
impression by the ad exchange.
Ad ExchangeBidder
Bid Request
Bid Response
Win Notification
Ad Creative
2
4
1
3
In addition to sending bid requests to third party bidders, ad
exchanges often operate their own internal bidders.
Advertisers who have not licensed a DSP (an external bidder)
can run campaigns directly with each ad exchange.
Advantages of internal bidders:
✓ Preferred inventory access
✓ Unique access to publisher data
✓ Lower fees
Advantages of external bidders:
✓ Consistent targeting across ad exchanges
✓ Global frequency capping across ad exchanges
✓ Easy access to advertiser data

RTB auctions historically operated on a second price model
in which the winning bidder pays the price offered by the
second highest bidder. This bid price vs. clear price spread
is called price reduction.
Publishers have the option to
blacklist bidders from auctions.
This preserves brand safety and
eliminates channel conflict, but
also increases price reduction.
Publishers can also set price
floors, below which bids are
rejected. If only one bid clears
the price floor, the highest bidder
price reduces to the floor.
Price Reduction Blacklists Price Floors
Auction Pricing
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$5.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$4.00 Floor
Many RTB auctions are now conducted on a first price basis
in which the buyer pays the price they bid. The primary
benefit of a first price auction is improved transparency of
auction pricing and fees.

Private Marketplaces
Publishers are willing to provide preferred access to inventory in
exchange for price and volume commitments. These
commitments were traditionally negotiated via insertion orders.
In the programmatic landscape, private marketplaces facilitate
similar commitments.
Placement = Sports Section
Priority = First Look
Price = $2.00 CPM
Volume = 5,000,000 Impressions
Bidder
Deal ID ABC
Bid Request: Deal ID = ABC
Bid Response: Bid = $2.00
Ad Exchange
Once publishers and advertisers agree on the business terms of a
private marketplace, the publisher’s ad exchange assigns a deal
ID to the transaction. All qualifying bid requests are populated
with an optional deal ID parameter, and the advertiser’s bidder
targets this deal ID.
Private marketplaces disrupt the typical “highest bid wins”
model of programmatic transactions. In a private
marketplace, it is possible for a low bid to win the auction
because the advertiser has made a broader business
commitment to the publisher.
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
Bidder
Bidder

Brand Safety & Contextual Targeting
Bid Request
Page = xyz.com
xyz.com
Safety = PG Rated
Context = sports,
fitness, basketball
Bid Response
Bid = $X.XX
Every bid request contains a publisher identifier – either a URL or
an app identifier. Bidders can analyze this identifier to determine
whether the available impression meets campaign targeting
criteria.
Ad ExchangeBidder
Content Ratings
Table
Publishers have the option to issue blind bid requests in
which the publisher identifier is omitted. Blind bid requests
typically capture weak demand, but this may be a rational
choice for publishers who:
1. Want to limit channel conflict with direct sales
2. Want to prevent audience data leakage
3. Have NSFW content
By checking the publisher identifier against a ratings table,
bidders can prevent ads from running alongside inappropriate
content and can also target campaigns toward contextually-
relevant content.

Advertisers can employ pre-bid viewability targeting solutions
that predict inventory quality based on the publisher ID of
each incoming bid request.
xyz.com
Viewability = High
Content
Ratings Table
Pre-Bid Viewability Targeting
There are three kinds of non-viewable impressions: ads that are
out of view, ads that appear for a very short period of time, and
ads served to non-human traffic.
Out of View
Short Duration
Non-Human Traffic
Below the fold
Inactive tab
Covered by other content
Slide show
Back button
Bot networks / infected PCs
Web crawlers The Media Rating Council (mediaratingcouncil.org) has
defined precise viewability standards, and advertisers and
publishers can license MRC-accredited technology to
measure ad viewability.
Bidder
Bid Request
Page = xyz.com

Location
Lookup Table
Location Targeting
Bid requests contain two sources of location information: IP
address and GPS coordinates. The client device’s IP address
is included in every bid request, and bidders can use this
information to infer the user’s approximate location,
typically accurate to the city level.
IP = 111.222.333.444
City = New York, NY
Lat/Long = XX˚ / YY˚
Address = 201 Route 9
Point of Interest = Ford Dealer
Ad ExchangeBidder
Bid Request
IP = 111.22.33.444
Lat/Long = XX˚ / YY˚
Bid Response
Bid = $X.XX
It is also possible to build segments of users who have
recently visited specific points of interest. These “location
segments” allow advertisers to retarget users after visiting
high value locations like auto dealerships and retail outlets.
Additionally, some bid requests from mobile devices specify
the user’s latitude and longitude, reported from the
device’s onboard GPS. When available, these GPS
coordinates enable much more precise location targeting.

Retargeting
By including a tracking tag on their websites and in their
apps, advertisers can collect the user ID of every visitor.
The advertiser’s bidder can then target this list of IDs, also
known as a retargeting pool. All bid requests specify a user
ID, and the advertiser’s bidder can selectively bid for
impressions whose user ID is a member of the retargeting
pool. The consumer will then see ads from marketers
whose websites and apps he/she recently visited.
xyz.com visit
User ID 123
User Profile
Tracking Tag
User ID = 123
Bid Request
User ID = 123
Bid Response
Price = $X.XX
Ad Exchange
Bidder
1
2
3
Cookie ID: 123
IDFA: 456

User Profile
Frequency Capping
Each time an ad is served, the bidder updates the user’s profile,
keeping a running log of recent ad exposure. Advertisers can
enforce rules to limit ad exposure to no more than X
impressions per hour, day, week, etc. Once a user’s profile
indicates the frequency cap has been reached, the bidder will
reject all new incoming bid requests.
Ad Exchange
Ad Exchange
Ad Exchange
By working with an external bidder that buys across
all ad exchanges, advertisers can enforce global
frequency caps. Internal bidders can only enforce
local frequency caps within a single ad exchange.
Bidder
Impressions delivered:
cnn.com 7/18/15 8:49:48
webmd.com 7/18/15 9:05:22
weather.com 7/18/15 9:18:37
weather.com 7/18/15 9:18:55
cnn.com 7/18/15 9:52:05

Advertisers traditionally gave creative assets directly to
publishers who would serve ads on their websites. These “site
served” ads enabled the publisher to maintain control of its
website and app user experience, but required the publisher to
directly traffic high volumes of advertiser campaigns.
1. Deliver selected ad
exchange’s ad tag
Bidder
Advertiser
Ad Server
Ad
Exchange
Publisher
Ad Server
3. Deliver winning bidder’s ad tag
4. Deliver advertiser ad server’s ad tag
5. Deliver creative assets
2. Conduct
server-side
auction and
identify winner
In programmatic environments, advertisers
overwhelmingly use third party ad servers, which deliver
ads across a broad range of publisher inventory. Third
party ad serving streamlines campaign workflow and
centralizes advertiser campaign performance data.

Video RTB
The video ad serving template (VAST) is a standard format that
video players use to render video ads. VAST files contain
information about where to find various video renditions as well
as instructions for how to load engagement tracking tags.
After an RTB auction, the video player received a VAST file from
the winning bidder. This VAST document then instructs the player
to communicate with the advertiser’s ad server to fetch a video
ad and post engagement events.
1. Deliver VAST tag from
winning bidder
User Profile
User 123
Video Start
Video Complete
3. Report engagement
events to server-
side user profile
2. Retrieve
appropriate
rendition from
The VAST standard is managed by the Internet
Advertising Bureau (IAB). Full documentation is
available at https://www.iab.com/guidelines/digital-
video-ad-serving-template-vast-4-0/
Publisher
Ad Server
Ad
Exchange
Bidder

Bid Request
Type: Native
Type: News Feed
Elements
• Headline (required)
• Thumbnail (required)
• Brand Name (required)
• Logo (optional)
Native RTB
With version 2.3 of the OpenRTB spec, the IAB formalized
support for native advertising in the RTB ecosystem. OpenRTB
2.3 allows publishers to conduct both open exchange and
private marketplace auctions for native inventory.
Ad exchanges and bidders must upgrade to OpenRTB 2.3 in order
to fully support native advertising transactions. Some however,
implement workaround solutions with earlier standards.
Note that when transacting native advertising via RTB,
creative assets are sent with the bid request. This enables
ad exchanges to execute more refined creative quality
controls when selecting a winning bidder.
Ad ExchangeBidder
Bid Request
Bid Response
2
1
Bid Response
Price: $4.50
Elements
• Headline: “Tune In 7pm”
• Thumbnail:
• Brand Name: A&E
• Logo:

Header Bidding
When publishers integrate multiple RTB ad exchanges as header
bidding partners, they issue duplicate bid requests to DSPs for a
single impression. In these cases, the DSP bids into multiple
auctions, most of which do not fill the impression.
Bid duplication can improve publisher yield, but it also
injects unproductive cost into the RTB market. This cost
primarily penalizes DSPs.
Supply path optimization is an emerging technique in which
bidders attempt to exclusively bid into the ad exchange that
has the best access to a publisher’s inventory at the lowest
total take rate.

Real Time Bidding Landscape
Buy Side Sell Side
Ad Exchanges (SSPs)
Publisher Ad ServersAdvertiser Ad Servers
Bidders (DSPs)

The Little Black
Book of
Private
Marketplaces
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your private marketplace (PMP) reference
guide. It contains descriptions of the fundamental concepts that
underpin the PMP ecosystem and provides an overview of the
landscape of PMP vendors.
Ad Tech Foundation
❑ Private Marketplace Terminology
❑ Programmatic Components
❑ Publisher Ad Serving
❑ Second Price Auctions
❑ Deal IDs
Private Marketplace Variations
❑ Deal Priority
❑ Preferred Pricing
❑ Publisher Data Targeting
❑ Automated Guaranteed
❑ Programmatic Guaranteed
❑ Google First Look
Private Marketplace Ecosystem
❑ Private Marketplace Discovery
❑ Deal Principals
supply side.
technology.
device.
cloud.

PMP Terminology
The programmatic advertising industry has adopted many
variations of private marketplace transactions and uses diverse
and often inconsistent terminology to describe these variants.
Based on our experience operating private marketplaces
for both buyers and sellers, we use the following
terminology when describing private marketplaces.
Preferred
Deals
Private
Auctions
Programmatic
Guaranteed
Programmatic direct is a commonly used term that can
describe a wide range of PMP variations. We will not use
the programmatic direct label in this document.
Does the advertiser use its own bidder?
(Is the impression transacted via RTB?)
Will the campaign target the advertiser’s
1st party audience data?
How many buyers
participate in the PMP?
Does the publisher
guarantee inventory
volume?
No
Yes
Multiple
buyers
Just one
buyer
No
Yes
No Yes
A Note on Programmatic Direct
Automated
Guaranteed
Custom
Audiences

Programmatic Components
Each time a publisher makes the decision to sell an ad
impression programmatically, five technology components
communicate with each other. These five components are
consistent across desktop and mobile advertising, and across
display, video, and native ad formats.
Buy-Side Technology
Sell-Side Technology

Publisher Waterfalls
Traditional publisher ad servers operate using waterfall logic in
which monetization channels are checked in a prioritized
sequence. The ad exchange trafficked at priority level 3 only
gets access to impressions that cannot be filled at higher
priority levels.
Waterfall priority levels are determined based on the
historic average yield of each monetization channel. As ad
exchange B’s yield improves, it might be reprioritized
above ad exchange A.
Ad
Exchange
A
Publisher
Ad Server
Ad
Exchange
B
Priority Level 1
Priority Level 2
Priority Level 3
Priority Level n
Direct Sold
Campaign
House
Ad
Serve Ad
if no direct-sold
campaigns
if auction
fails
Conduct
Auction
Serve Ad
if auction clears
floor
Conduct
Auction
Serve Ad
if auction clears
floor
if auction
fails

RTB auctions operate on a second price model in
which the winning bidder pays the price offered by the
second highest bidder. This is called price reduction.
Publishers have the option to
blacklist bidders from auctions.
This preserves brand safety and
eliminates channel conflict, but
also increases price reduction.
Publishers can also set price
floors, below which bids are
rejected. If only one bid clears
the price floor, the highest bidder
price reduces to the floor.
Price Reduction Blacklists Price Floors
Second Price Auctions
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$5.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
$4.00 Floor

Deal IDs
Publishers are willing to provide preferred auction treatment in
exchange for price and volume commitments. These
commitments were traditionally negotiated via insertion orders.
In the programmatic landscape, private marketplaces facilitate
similar commitments.
Placement = Sports Section
Price = $2.00 CPM
Bidder
Deal ID ABC
Bid Request: Deal ID = ABC
Bid Response: Bid = $2.00
Ad Exchange
Once publishers and advertisers agree on the business terms of a
private marketplace, the publisher’s ad exchange assigns a deal
ID to the transaction. All qualifying bid requests are populated
with an optional deal ID parameter, and the advertiser’s bidder
targets this deal ID.
Private marketplaces disrupt the typical “highest bid wins”
model of programmatic transactions. In a private
marketplace, it is possible for a low bid to win the auction
because the advertiser has made a broader business
commitment to the publisher.
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
Bidder
Bidder

Deal Priority
Deal priority is the most common private marketplace
implementation. The ad exchange sends bid requests to all
bidders, and collects bid responses, some that specify
participation in a private marketplace and some that do not.
The ad exchange first considers all bids that contain a
prioritized deal ID. If none of those bids clears the deal’s
negotiated price floor, the exchange then evaluates all
remaining bids in a traditional open auction.
Ad Exchange
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
DSP A
Private Auction
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
DSP B
DSP C
DSP D
Open Auction
DSP D
DSP C
DSP A
DSP B
Floor
It is possible for ad exchanges to configure multiple levels
of private marketplace priorities. In these cases, there
may be 2 or more sequential private auctions. If all private
auctions fail to clear their negotiated floors, the ad
exchange then conducts an open auction.

Preferred Pricing
Preferred pricing, also known as bid bias, is a less common
approach to executing private marketplaces. Publishers set rules
to either increase or decrease a particular bidder’s price in order
to alter their likelihood of winning the auction.
The bid bias decision may be based on the presence of a
deal ID, or may alternatively be based on the identity of
the advertiser.
Ad Exchange
DSP D
DSP C
DSP A
DSP B
DSP A
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
DSP B
DSP C
DSP D
x2
Preferred pricing is most commonly used to:
• Penalize low quality ads that disrupt the user experience
• Reduce programmatic win rates for advertisers with
whom the publisher has a direct sales relationship
• Award priority for direct sold campaigns in which the
publisher bids on its own inventory

Publisher Data Targeting
While deal IDs are typically used to indicate the availability of
a high value ad placement, publishers can also use the deal ID
field to communicate audience information with buyers.
By issuing a deal ID that is tied to a particular audience,
publishers can enable more sophisticated audience
targeting for advertisers and command premium prices.
Female, 34
Chicago
Female, 34
Chicago
Female, 34
Chicago
Allergy Sufferer
Bidding Inputs Audience = Allergy Sufferers
Price = $5.00 CPM
Deal ID ABC
Ad Exchange
Deal IDs provide a mechanism for publishers to share
audience data with trusted buyers while protecting data
leakage for general programmatic buyers. The meaning of the
deal ID is known only to private marketplace participants and
cannot be inferred by general buyers.
$5
$4
$3
$2
$1
$0
$5.00 Bid
$2.00 Bid
$1.00 Bid
Bidder B
Bidder C
Bidder A
Deal ABC

Automated Guaranteed
In order to reserve publisher inventory, a new line item must be
created in the publisher’s ad server. Automated guaranteed deals
reduce this manual setup effort.
Publishers expose a self-service tool to advertisers, who
can then book campaigns directly in the publisher’s ad
server. The resulting campaigns are given priority above all
non-reserved programmatic ad exchanges.
A Note on Custom Audiences
Some publishers allows advertisers to specify user targeting
lists, either by uploading email addresses or by passing a list
of cookie IDs through a pixel. This is most commonly called
“custom audience” targeting and is available across most
social advertising platforms and some premium publishers.
1. The advertiser sets campaign
targeting parameters in an
automated guarantee workflow
tool. This step may optionally
include the ability to target the
advertiser's 1st party data.
2. The publisher’s ad server creates
a new line item with reserved
inventory. At run time, this line
item is prioritized above remnant
programmatic ad exchanges.
3. If selected by the publisher’s
ad server, the advertiser’s ad tag
loads directly on page, bypassing
the ad exchange and bidder
transaction steps.

Programmatic Guaranteed
Reserved inventory can also be transacted via an RTB ad
exchange and bidder, though adoption is nascent.
Programmatic reserved deals require advertisers to buy 100% of
eligible bid requests, but the advertiser maintains the ability to
consider programmatic reserved delivery when enforcing
frequency caps across the rest of its programmatic buys.
In practice, programmatic guaranteed private marketplaces
are only available for publishers who use DoubleClick’s
publisher ad server and ad exchange, though advertisers can
transact via multiple bidders.
1. The publisher configures targeting
rules in its ad server, similar to the way
it would book a direct-sold campaign.
2. The publisher’s ad server then
reserves the required inventory and
allocates it to be transacted via a
preferred ad exchange.
4. The advertiser is required to
bid for 100% of bid requests and
must bid at or above the deal’s
price floor.
3. The ad exchange issues bid
requests for eligible impressions
along with a deal ID.

Google First Look
Publishers who use Google’s ad server and ad exchange have the
ability to prioritize programmatic demand above all other
revenue channels.
Publishers can configure “first look” access for select
Google Ad Manager buyers who bid above a publisher-
determined price floor. Google First Look auctions do not
utilize deal ID parameters. Instead, publishers set
whitelists of buyers whose bids are eligible for First Look
access. If the First Look auction fails, Google Ad Manager
then conducts an open exchange auction, which competes
with all other demand channels.
Priority
Level n
House
Ad
Direct Sold
Campaign
Price
Priority
Direct Sold
Campaign
Direct Sold
Campaign
First Look
Ad
Exchange
A
Ad
Exchange
B
Ad Server
Exchange
Exchange

PMP Discovery
Sellers have the option to merchandise private marketplace
availability via deal discovery marketplaces.
Most major demand side platforms (bidders) offer
advertisers the ability to find, negotiate, and launch
private marketplaces within a single interface.
In practice, sellers typically build awareness of private
marketplaces through face-to-face communication with
buyers. The primary benefit of a deal dashboard is its
automated setup of private marketplace deals which
reduces the need for human interventions and potential
setup errors.
Buyer Seller
Ad Exchange
(SSP)
Bidder
(DSP)
1. Sellers (publishers or
supply-side platforms)
publish private auction
deal availability in
multiple buying platforms
and begin issuing a new
deal ID in bid requests.
2. Buyers (either brands
or agencies) discover
deals in DSP dashboard
and request access.
3. Sellers add buyers to
list of approved deal
participants.

Deal Principals
Because private marketplaces require setup effort, both sellers
and buyers typically enforce minimum budget requirements.
Based on this, direct publisher-to-advertiser deals are rare.
Instead, it is most common for intermediaries like
agencies, DSPs, and SSPs to broker deals on behalf of
advertisers and publishers.
Brand Agency DSP SSP / Network Publisher
Buy Side Sell Side

PMP Ecosystem
RTB Private Marketplaces Non-RTB Private Marketplaces
Ad Exchanges (SSPs)
Bidders (DSPs)
Automated Guaranteed
(AppNexus)(Rubicon)(Rubicon)
Social Advertising Custom Audiences
Publisher-Direct Custom Audiences
Two-Sided Marketplaces

The Little Black
Book of
Walled Gardens
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your walled garden reference guide. It
campaign operations for walled gardens including Facebook,
Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, Twitter, and YouTube.
Walled Garden Fundamentals
❑ Walled Gardens vs. RTB
❑ Native Ad Formats
❑ Transaction Models and Auction Pricing
Measurement & Optimization
❑ Third Party Ad Serving & Tracking
❑ Third Party Viewability Verification
❑ Third Party Audience Verification
❑ Closed Loop Measurement
terms to describe ad transactions in walled garden
environments:
Audience Targeting
❑ Customer Matching
❑ Web Retargeting
❑ App Retargeting
❑ Third Party Data and DMPs
Campaign Operations
❑ Off-Platform Advertising
❑ API Marketing Partners
❑ Walled Garden Vendor Landscape
RTB Real time bidding; a popular specification for
programmatic ad transactions on the open web.
Walled gardens do not support RTB.
DSP Demand-side platform; a piece of technology
used by marketers to buy inventory
programmatically outside the walled gardens.
SSP Supply-side platform; a piece of technology used
by non-walled garden open web publishers to
sell inventory programmatically.
SDK Software development kit; a collection of
reusable code that developers can integrate into
their apps. Walled gardens and other ad tech
companies distribute SDKs that facilitate
audience data collection in mobile apps.
DMP Data management platform; a central marketing
data repository that is responsible for
distributing targeting lists to walled gardens and
other media buying platforms.
CRM Customer relationship management; a database
that contains information about a marketer’s
customers.
API Application program interface; a set of tools
that allows third parties to request and transmit
data. Walled gardens expose APIs that allow
advertisers to manage campaigns through
external platforms.

Walled Gardens vs. RTB
Both walled gardens and real time bidding (RTB) environments
transact advertising through an auction model using similar
technology.
In RTB environments, advertisers can bring their own bidding
logic via a DSP, but in walled gardens, advertisers must traffic
campaigns using the walled garden’s ads management tools.
Real Time Bidding (RTB)
In an RTB auction, the advertiser brings its own
technology (a DSP) that determines how much, if
at all, the advertiser bids for each available
impression.
Walled Gardens
In a walled garden auction, the walled garden’s ad
manager controls all bidding logic on behalf of
advertisers.
1. Walled garden checks ads
manager for eligible campaigns
2. Walled garden ads manager
determines bid prices for advertiser
campaigns
3. Walled garden selects
winning campaign
1. Publisher’s SSP sends bid
requests to DSPs
2. Advertiser’s DSP submits a bid
3. Publisher’s SSP selects
winning advertiser

Native Ad Formats
Walled gardens overwhelming utilize non-standard native ad
units that are designed to match the style and format of organic
content.
Advertisers traffic a collection of text, image, and video
components, which the walled garden assembles at run
time to render the final creative.
Sponsored
While all walled gardens utilize component-based
native ad formats, the specifications for supported
creative assets vary from platform to platform, forcing
advertisers to produce multiple creative variations.
Sponsored
Image
Brand Logo
Video
Copy

Bid Price
Predicted
Performance
Ad Value Closing Price
$9.00 0.10%
probability of user converting
$0.009 $5.01 CPA
$1.00 0.50%
probability of user clicking
$0.005 $0.81 CPC
$5.00
($0.005)
80%
probability of ad being viewable
$0.004 $3.76 CPV
$3.00
($0.003)
100%
probability of ad serving
$0.003 NA
Auction Pricing
While most programmatic advertising transacts on a CPM basis
(advertiser pays for an impression), walled gardens offer a
diversity of transaction models.
In order to normalize bids for multiple transaction models,
each campaign’s bid is converted to an apples-to-apples
metric that represents the walled garden’s expected revenue.
Value to the advertiser Value to the user Value to the walled garden
CPA
CPC
CPV
CPM
Advertisers are charged the minimum possible price
required to win the auction. In this example:
Advertiser A’s
Paid Price
Advertiser A’s
Predicted Perf.
Advertiser B’s
Ad Valuex >
$5.01 0.10% $0.005
Actual amount paid
A
B
C
D
The four most common transaction models are:
• CPC (pay when the user clicks)
• CPA (pay when the user converts)
• CPM (pay when the ad serves)
• CPV (pay when the impression becomes viewable)

Customer Matching
Because consumers typically log in to walled gardens, these
platforms are uniquely positioned to enable marketers to target
their current customers.
Through either a web-based interface or API tools,
advertisers can supply lists of their current customers, and
the walled gardens can match those customer lists to
targetable advertising IDs.
Data vendors can also use customer match capabilities
to onboard offline audience data into the walled
gardens. This third party targeting data is made
available for purchase to all walled garden advertisers.
CRM
Record
Marketer
Customer File
joe@email.com
Male
Age 40
Minivan Owner
PII + customer information
Registration
Record
Walled Garden
Login Match
joe@email.com
Mobile Ad ID 123
PII + anonymous ID
PII
(personally identifiable
information)
Anonymous
Online ID
Customer
Information
User
Profile
Targetable
Audience
Mobile Ad ID 123
Anonymous ID + customer info
Male
Age 40
Minivan Owner

Client Side
Website.com
Tracking pixels from one or
more walled gardens, DSPs,
or other ad tech companies
Container
Tag
Web Retargeting
In order to execute retargeting in a walled garden, advertisers
must place a tracking pixel on their website.
Each walled garden collects retargeting data through a
proprietary tracking tag, requiring advertisers to load
multiple pixels on their website.
User Profile
Server Side
Facebook User ABC
…All previously
collected Facebook
data…
Website.com visit
User Profile
Twitter User DEF
An emerging approach is to load a single DMP’s
pixel on the advertiser’s website and then send
retargeting data to each walled garden via server-
to-server data transfer.
…All previously
collected Twitter
data…
Website.com visit

App Retargeting
There are two methods for retargeting a brand’s app users in
walled gardens. In approach #1, the walled garden’s SDK is
installed directly into the marketer’s mobile app, similar to a
web retargeting pixel.
In approach #2, an independent data collection SDK
collects data and then syndicates data server-side to the
walled garden.
Brand App
Walled Garden SDK
Independent
Ad Tech SDK
User Profile
Mobile Ad ID 123
Brand App Open
User Profile
Twitter User DEF
…All previously
collected Twitter
data…
Brand App Open
User Profile
Facebook User ABC
…All previously
collected Facebook
data…
Brand App Open
1
2

Data Management Platforms
Data Management Platforms (DMPs) collect audience data from a
variety of web, app, and offline contexts in order to build
audience segments for ad campaign targeting.
Through identity syncing integrations with walled gardens,
DMPs can transmit audience lists that advertisers can
target.
User 123
• Website visits
• App usage
• Location history
• Offline transactions
DMP User Profile
DMP data is typically sourced from third parties and
purchased by advertisers. In addition, advertisers who
warehouse their 1st party customer data through a DMP can
transmit these audiences to walled gardens for targeting.
User Profile
Facebook User ABC
…All previously
collected Facebook
data…
Organic Grocery Buyer

Instead, walled gardens will load an impression tracker
from the advertiser’s ad server, which enables basic
campaign delivery reporting in the same platform as the
rest of the advertiser’s media plan.
Critically, walled gardens do not supply the ID of
the user who was served each impression. This
prevents the advertiser from conducting reach,
frequency, and conversion analysis.
User ID Unknown
Advertiser Ad
Server User Profile
User ID 123
Advertiser Ad
Server User Profile
• Video impression
• Retargeting
impression
• Website conversion
• Walled Garden
impression
Campaign ID
For most of an advertiser’s media plan, creatives are delivered
by the advertiser’s ad server. Walled gardens typically do not
support third party ad serving.

Viewability Verification
In the context of digital inventory quality concerns, many
advertisers have engaged third party verification companies to
measure whether digital campaigns are delivering in-view
impressions.
While walled gardens have traditionally self-reported
viewability metrics, many are now integrating with
independent auditors in order to provide advertisers with
consistent viewability metrics across all digital inventory.
The MRC (Media Ratings Counsel) defines a display
impression as viewable when 50% of pixels are in
view for at least 1 second. Video ads must have
50% of pixels in view for at least 2 seconds.
Verification
Company
Analytics Engine
• Pixels in view = 82%
• Time in view = 1.8 sec
Viewable Impression✓
• Viewable = 21 impressions
• Non-Viewable = 14 impressions
✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✓ ✓✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓
✗ ✗✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
✗ ✗✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗
Viewability Rate = 60%
Campaign ID
Page scroll events

Advertisers, particularly large TV buyers, want to measure the
number of impression that reach a target demographic (age +
gender) audience. In the TV world, this metric is known as TRPs,
or Target Ratings Points.
Many walled gardens have integrated with independent
audience verification companies, who can measure TRPs
for digital ad exposure.
Unlike their integrations with ad servers, walled
gardens supply user IDs to audience verification
partners because this information is critical for
detecting age and gender.
User ID 123
Verification
Company
User Profile
• Age = 34
• Gender = Female
On Target Impression
• On target = 6 impressions
• Off target = 9 impressions
• Unmeasurable = 20 impressions
Campaign ID
User ID
On Target Percentage = 40%

Closed Loop Measurement
Marketers who operate offline businesses, typically retailers and
CPG brands, want to measure the impact of online ad exposure
on in-store purchases.
To accomplish this, walled gardens partner with closed loop
measurement companies who track offline sales. These
measurement companies merge user-level ad exposure data
with point-of-sale transaction data to determine sales lift.
Unlike their integrations with ad servers, walled
gardens supply user IDs to closed loop
measurement partners because this information
is critical for sales attribution.
User ID 123
Offline
Measurement
User Profile
• Age = 34
• Gender = Female
Converted Impression
15 people
6 buyers
40% purchase rate
Campaign ID
User ID
Exposed
Users
Non-Exposed
Users
15 people
5 buyers
33% purchase rate
Sales Lift = 7 percentage points

Off-Platform Advertising
Some walled gardens enable advertisers to extend campaigns to
off-site publisher inventory. The primary benefit to advertisers is
the ability to use walled garden targeting data across a broader
inventory footprint.
Publishers can expose their inventory to walled garden
advertisers either via the walled garden’s auction
environment or via an independent ad exchange.

API Marketing Partners
Walled gardens expose APIs that authorized third parties can
access to configure campaigns and retrieve performance data.
API partners provide a central point of control for marketers
to manage all walled garden media buys.
Centralized Campaign
Management User Interface
Campaign Structure
Targeting
Ad Creative
Performance
Budget Allocation
Called API Marketing Partners
Called Pinterest Marketing Partners (PMPs)
Called Platform Marketing Developers (PMDs)
Called Ads Partners
Full campaign management API available
but no API partner program
Analytics and reporting API available
but no API partner program

Walled Garden Ecosystem
Campaign Management Data Management
Walled Gardens
API Marketing Partners
App SDKs
Viewability Verification
Closed Loop Measurement
Data Management Platforms

The Little Black
Book of
Header Bidding
jouncemedia.com

This book aims to be your header bidding reference guide. It
the header bidding ecosystem and provides an overview of the
landscape of header bidding vendors.
Header Bidding Basics
❑ Publisher Waterfalls
❑ Google Dynamic Allocation
❑ Header Bidding Workflow
❑ RTB vs. Proprietary Demand
❑ Bid Duplication
❑ Yield Impact
Header Bidding Operations
❑ Ad Server Configuration
❑ Templatized Ad Serving
❑ Header Bidding Wrappers
❑ Server Side Header Bidding
❑ Google Last Look
Emerging Solutions
❑ Video “Header” Bidding
❑ In-App “Header” Bidding
❑ Header Bidding Ecosystem
supply side.
technology.
device.
cloud.

Publisher Waterfalls
Ad
Exchange
A
Publisher
Ad Server
Ad
Exchange
B
Priority Level 1
Priority Level 2
Priority Level 3
Priority Level n
Direct Sold
Campaign
House
Ad
Serve
Ad
if no direct-
sold campaigns
if auction
fails
Conduct
Auction
Serve
Ad
if auction
clears floor
Conduct
Auction
Serve
Ad
if auction
clears floor
Nearly all publisher ad servers operate using waterfall logic in
which monetization channels are checked in a prioritized
sequence.
if auction
fails
Traditionally, publishers assigned waterfall priority levels
based on historic average yield of each monetization
channel. While ad exchange B may have weaker average
yield than ad exchange A, there are some impressions for
which exchange B produces more revenue. In these cases,
waterfall logic leaves money on the table.

Digital black book

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Similar to Digital black book

Similar to Digital black book (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Digital black book