As we've previously covered, one of the most common policy violations committed by publishers on AdSense is placing the 300x250 ad unit above-the-fold on mobile. The reasoning for this policy was simple: Since mobile screens are small, square ad units or vertical ad banners push the content below-the-fold, i.e., beneath the part of the screen that a user sees before s … [Read more...]
Programmatic Video: What It Is, How It Works, and Common Misconceptions
Demand for video impressions is going up, and the market is short on quality supply. Last year, eMarketer's 2014-18 estimates showed that 60% of all video ad spend is going into programmatic. The trend continues this year: The money being poured into programmatic video is expected to grow by 40%, reaching an unprecedented $9 billion for the channel. Ad tech vendors are … [Read more...]
Report: Google Facebook Duopoly Now Controls 20% of Global Ad Spend
Together, Google and Facebook now control 20% of global ad spend, up from 11% in 2012, and their growth shows no signs of slowing down. Monopolies are problematic enough, but what if two companies together pace steadily towards capturing the entire market? What happens to the smaller players — ad networks, exchanges, media giants, smaller publishers? This is why the Google F … [Read more...]
Ad Tech Monthly: The Washington Post Drops Ad Tech Partners, Google’s New Ad Blocker +More
Our ad tech monthly wrap-up covers the most important news in ad technology, ad blocking trends, funding, and other topics of interest to web publishers and advertisers. Quick Brief While advertisers and publishers experiment with new mobile ad formats and mix-model ad stacks including RTB waterfall, header bidding, and S2S header bidding, The Washington Post has decided t … [Read more...]
State of Header Bidding in 2017
We’ve covered the whats and hows of header bidding pretty thoroughly on this blog. ICYMI: Here’s a simplified version of a guide to header bidding technology. At this point in 2017, most media sellers are aware what header bidding is and how it works. Most major demand sources support header bidding — either by bidding through other wrappers and/or offering their own wrapp … [Read more...]
Ad Tech Conferences: The Best Events to Learn, Network, and Grow
Advertising is as much about networks as it is about technology, there's a reason we call them advertising networks after all. There are a handful of yearly events worldwide where ad ops professionals, publishers, advertisers, regulatory agencies, and ad executives gather to share knowledge, form new partnerships, and grow their reach and impact. Here are the most important a … [Read more...]
What is a Paywall?
For print media, staying profitable was always a matter of simple math, standard ad and subscription rates made it far easier to make revenue projections based on the existing subscriber base. There were, few, if any technical challenges or bottlenecks. Things were just simpler. Enter the world wide web. The Internet Changed How Media Works Now, everyone with a connection c … [Read more...]
Google AdSense Beta Launches Two New Ad Formats: InArticle and InFeed
Google seems to be taking its Coalition for Better Ads initiative seriously. In a bid make its ads less intrusive, Google AdSense is inviting publishers to join the beta for two new ad formats: InArticle and InFeed ads. Here’s what the new formats bring to the table: Native InArticle Ads These are responsive ad units (of 250px minimum width) which can be placed b … [Read more...]
Google’s Brand Safety Loss is a Win for News Media Looking to Strike Direct Deals
Google is looking at losses worth $750 million (and climbing) ever since 250 brand-advertisers pulled their ad spend following a Times Inc. report, which revealed Google’s seemingly uncaring stance on brand safety. The dust is only now beginning to settle (after Google’s vehement promises of tougher policies, third party measurement, and a string of DFP updates). Not much has … [Read more...]
Server-to-Server Header Bidding: Everything You Need to Know
Before getting into server-to-server header bidding (here on out referred to as S2S header bidding), let's quickly talk about its predecessor: Client-side header bidding. Client-side header bidding is a revenue optimization technology that many publishers have adopted to get around the problems associated with the traditional RTB waterfall set up. By opening up the ad … [Read more...]