Monthly Archives: December 2013

Common Publisher Questions: Differences between AdSense and Ad Exchange

Emry Downinghall - December 20, 2013 - Ad operations, Ad partner strategy, Google AdX - 19 comments

When speaking to publishers or people looking to better understand the ad optimization space, the most common questions I’m asked revolve around Google, mainly DFP, AdSense and Ad Exchange. Read More

Introduction to Ad Optimization (Presentation)

Emry Downinghall - December 5, 2013 - Uncategorized - 2 comments

The StudyBreak Media team recently had the opportunity to present our story, along with the core fundamentals of ad and yield optimization at a course at NYC’s General Assembly.

Digital Advertising Terms and Definitions Glossary

Emry Downinghall - December 3, 2013 - Ad operations, Definitions, DFP - 6 comments

General terms:

Ad tag – Typically served as javascript through a website’s ad server, an ad tag allows a website to communicate with an ad partner and serve an appropriate ad
Ad exchange – an ad partner that serves as a broker between a publisher and an advertiser. Ad exchanges use RTB technology to sell a publisher’s inventory in an auction-like manner. Typically, you can set a price floor within an ad exchange and you’ll receive a higher rate due to the auctioning process.
Ad network – an ad partner that serves as a middle man between a publisher and an advertiser. Typically, ad networks provide you with a static rate for your inventory that rarely fluctuates.
Auction Price Floor – This is the same idea as a standard price floor but in an auction or programmatic environment the floor serves as a minimum but can be exceeded by higher bidding. For example if you set your price floor at $1 you can still receives bids at $1.25 but not $.75.
Creative – You will often here this word used to refer to the actual images the advertising display

How To Pitch Your Digital Media Solutions to Publishers

Emry Downinghall - December 1, 2013 - Ad partner strategy, Editorial, Principles - no comments

Working closely with a wide number of demand partners over the years, one thing I’m consistently asked is what’s the most effective way to communicate value with publishers? This is an answer everyone in the space is seeking, from the largest fish (Google) to the smallest specialty rep firms or SSPs. As you’re probably aware, there isn’t one definitive answer (outside of every publisher is different, which of course isn’t helpful). But, there are certainly some best practices and there are absolutely things you should avoid when trying to win a new publisher’s business. Here are some suggestions for best practices: