The document presents insights on the evolving digital advertising landscape, focusing on the challenges posed by major platforms like Google and Facebook, which maintain significant control over audience data and ad placements. It emphasizes the importance for publishers and advertisers to build their own audience data and to consider open real-time bidding (RTB) as an alternative to the current duopoly. Key takeaways include viewing audience development as a long-term investment and the need for collaboration between CMOs and CTOs to address the disruptions in the market.

1. Presented by:
Raghavendra Agarwala
CTO
TorcAI Digital
Prashant Dixit
Director Sales
TorcAI Digital

2. Agenda
• The Digital Ad Tech Timeline: What is changing around you
• Duopoly : The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!
• Duopoly long-term side effects
• Where to start: Building your Audience
• Building a sustainable Growth
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3. The Digital AdTech Timeline
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→ Destinations
→ Ad Placements
→ Display
→ Content
→ Performance
→ Interactivity
→ Video
→ CPC
→ User/Device ID
→ Behaviour
→ Programmatic
→ PMP
→ Native
→ Actions
→ AI
→ ML
→ Predictive Analytics
→ Programmable Bidder
→ Blockchain
2008 2012 2018 2022

4. Characteristics of a Duopoly
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Characteristic
Doesn’t want Advertiser & Publisher to own Audience data
Doesn’t give access to Audience and Bid details
Can’t use custom algorithm for optimisation of buy or sell
Black box (No Transparency)

5. The Google Perspective
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6. The Google Value Chain
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User
SSP Exchange
DFP, AdSense & AdX
DSP Agency
DBM /DV 360 Deals
Publisher Advertiser

7. Google: The Audience Powerhouse
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Global DNS 8.8.8.8 GA Tag
Search Peer Links

8. The Publisher Maze
• For Google Publisher’s are merely
content creators
• Neither AdSense nor DFP require
Publisher side audience data
• The new age DMPs that connect
Publishers and Advertisers have their
respective biz models around Google
• Note: prebid.org – just a tap on the
wrist. Setting up the floor price to give
competition.
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9. The Advertiser Maze
• Google advertiser can’t really use any
analytics and/or custom bid
optimisation
• Google does not share event level
data
• DBM gives one of the highest pass
back to agencies
• No visibility in media buy
• No visibility with 3rd party audience
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10. The Facebook Perspective
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11. Facebook’s Core Value Preposition
• Facebook has over 2.2 billion active
users
• It has a host of apps that drive huge
traction across user segments
• It’s one of the biggest demand hubs
• Facebook is able to use its profile
over 3rd party inventory and execute
campaign with high accuracy
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12. Facebook: Audience Power
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Social Graphs Single Sign-on
Demography Chats

13. The Facebook Conundrum
• In Facebook world Publishers &
Content aggregators don’t exist
• Facebook needs neither Publisher
inventory nor Advertiser data
hence it would always play with its
own rules
• Facebook picks top 5% inventory at
10x price still creating a loss of 50%
for any Publisher
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14. Why build Audience
• The user you can find on Open RTB for
$0.20 CPM will be available in DBM at
$0.80-$1.00 CPM
• One algo change by Facebook can reduce
your traffic by over 35% and can spike up
your Ad cost
• Pay more for Traffic; Pay more for ads
• Misuse of your data by competition: e.g.
Insurance clients pay ₹1500 for a click
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15. Why build Audience
• In short run audience focus is not on paying Publishers in terms of
subscription or ad revenue. Such prolonged behaviour will reduce
publisher to content curator/aggregator.
• Advertisers can’t find supply combined with audience other than
Google & Facebook. This over dependence will eat into organic
growth and create unsustainable brand equity & acquisition costs.
• ‘Search’ for most of the biz can’t give any performance related ROI.
For impact ‘Search’ is really not required.
• Google-FB based attribution does allow Open RTB ecosystem to
report unbiasedly. This is a good way to kill competition.
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16. Publishers: The Audience Solution
• Enhance audience data by doing data
deals
• Focus on deep segmentations
• Get DSPs that would like to use your
audience
• Get private exchange and/or SSHB and
pass audience data in EXT
• Go beyond RFM (Recency, Frequency
and Monetary) into engagement, LTV,
CLC, etc.
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17. Advertisers: The Open RTB Way
• Audience based buy will always beat
contextual based buy hands-down
• Focused collaborative approach for an
industry cum vertical can break social
plus audience extension paradigm
• Explore Open system, it will always pay
in long run.
• Key result area in terms of impact,
performance etc.
• Analytics driven operations
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18. What Next !!
• Look for Open RTB ecosystem
• Look for audience based value adds
– Deep Segmentations
– Ext
• Create core design for data privacy in the e2e value chain
• Create hybrid between Open RTB & direct sale/direct buy
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19. Key Takeaways
• Your Audience is your strategic strength
• Look at audience buildup as a long term investment
• Be open to challenge duopoly
• Open RTB ecosystem is “the” alternative to DBM
• Open RTB adoption will require CMO & CTO to work together
• Use the compliance disruption to gain the field
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20. Many Thanks!
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Please feel free to reach us
for more details:
pd@torcai.com
Casey Newton, Silicon Valley Editor – The Verge