Corners of advert tech are having one other tough few weeks.
Provide-side platform EMX filed for chapter. The next day, Yahoo mentioned it was shuttering its SSP and shedding greater than 50% of its ad-tech workers. TripleLift, which had been scuffling with its branded content material division and differentiating its related TV providing, sources informed Adweek, laid off workers final week. Execs are additionally posting about layoffs at ad-tech agency Criteo, which operates an SSP and demand-side platform, and is searching for a purchaser. Criteo declined to remark.
This culling is more likely to proceed as extra advert tech gamers get squeezed forward of cookie deprecation, particularly if the tech distributors that bundle and promote publishers’ stock to advertisers can’t meet new {industry} expectations, greater than half a dozen {industry} sources informed Adweek.
“There’s no purpose to have a number of dumb pipe SSPs,” mentioned Scott Messer, advisor and a former govt at writer Leaf Group. “There are causes to have a number of sensible pipe SSPs. A product doesn’t have to promote by means of 10 Costcos, however they’d they wish to promote by means of a number of boutique shops,” he added.
Publishers and entrepreneurs need greater than a connection to the open web: they’re asking for superior tech, pace and diversifications for third-party cookie deprecation.
SSPs maximized bid density over tech
For some time, and particularly for the reason that creation of header bidding, the widespread notion had been that extra demand was good for publishers, even when that meant duplicated bid requests and inefficiencies, mentioned Justin Wohl, chief income officer of Salon.
“As an {industry}, we overstuffed the bid responses,” Wohl mentioned, noting that publishers needed to work with as many SSPs as attainable as a result of they had been nervous about lacking any sliver of demand. “[Anxiety about demand] was an overdeveloped concern.”
This made it extra essential for SSPs to maximise bid density over having superior tech, mentioned a publishing ad-tech supply.
SSPs that don’t have that differentiation [are in] a race to the underside.
Nameless ad-tech exec
“A variety of these SSPs serve market-making capabilities which have little or no to do with the precise expertise,” mentioned the supply, who was not approved to talk to the press.
In consequence, many SSPs require publishers to enter gobs of javascript on their web page, resulting in gradual webpage hundreds, gradual advert rendering, a poor person expertise and, in the end, penalties from Google search.
Whereas industry-leading SSPs, like PubMatic and Magnite, provide large quantities of stock, others, like Teads, provide options like bespoke advert models. These ad-tech distributors aren’t with out their struggles, particularly in at present’s robust financial local weather, however these within the center, the place sources mentioned that Yahoo and TripleLift sit, wrestle to distinguish themselves because the {industry} strikes towards provide path optimization, which seeks to restrict demand, not encourage it.
“SSPs that don’t have that differentiation [are in] a race to the underside,” mentioned an ad-tech exec, talking anonymously to freely focus on {industry} relations. “[For an SSP] to be the popular path for a DSP, if they’ll’t keep that over the time, [they have to] decrease the take price, after which another person goes to come back in and undercut them.”
Fixing for pace and sign loss
SSPs hoping to keep away from this crunch can develop into sooner at ferreting bid requests between advertisers and publishers with higher tech, two writer sources mentioned.
That is very true within the much less developed space of transacting by way of contextual indicators. Wohl mentioned that some SSPs can take 24 hours to discover a purchaser primarily based on contextual indicators. By that point, an article that receives a lot of visitors may already be out of the information cycle.
“Curations that may be executed in real-time shall be very invaluable,” Wohl mentioned.
And as extra of publishers’ audiences develop into unaddressable attributable to cookie deprecation, SSPs may help publishers and their patrons use different indicators, particularly by enriching bid requests with contextual and behavioral indicators, Wohl mentioned.
SSPs may also assist publishers take a look at new cookie substitute options like Fledge and seller-defined audiences that publishers wouldn’t have the sources to check themselves, the writer ad-tech supply mentioned.
TripleLift is already beginning to undertake this playbook. The corporate’s related tv division was not aggressive with different SSPs a number of years in the past, two sources informed Adweek. Late to the sport of grabbing broadcaster stock, TripleLift has leaned into its proprietary product that helps insert 2D signage and 3D product placements into TV exhibits, one of many sources mentioned. NBCU not too long ago introduced a partnership to make use of the product.
TripleLift didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Much less is extra
Whereas publishers and patrons are each anticipating extra from SSPs, their pursuits will not be 100% aligned. Publishers are searching for SSPs that make their stock extra engaging, in the end rising their income, whereas patrons need higher and cheaper stock.
“You need to search for exchanges which have the least hops between the writer and the DSP and fewer charges alongside the way in which,” mentioned Kelly McAloon, affiliate director of programmatic at media company Good Apple, describing her strategy to choosing SSPs to work with.
Whereas it’s a shift from the more-demand-is-better mindset, many publishers are eager to supply direct paths to attempt to enhance the worth of their stock reasonably than leaning on public sale dynamics inflating bid density.
“There may be undoubtedly provide path optimization to drive DSPs to orient themselves towards the stock as greatest they’ll,” Wohl mentioned. “As a writer, I’m into that. Let me provide the cleanest have a look at my stock.”
