Blog

Forrester Research, Inc. Ranks Admeld as a Sell-Side Platform Leader

2012-01-04T15:31:26+00:00

On January 3, 2012 Forrester Research released an independent report, “The Forrester Wave™: Sell-Side Platforms Q1 2012,” and we’re pleased that they’ve ranked Admeld as a leader. Download the report here. The Forrester report states that Admeld is one of two vendors that lead the pack because of our highly granular controls, our proven ability to support a diverse array of sales opportunities, the breadth of our current offering, and our early innovation around features like private exchanges, variable price floors, and advertiser-level bid reporting. It's successes like this that helped lead to our acquisition by Google in 2011. Our teams are hard at work combining the strengths of Admeld and the DoubleClick Ad Exchange to bring publishers the best end-to-end sell side solution. We couldn’t have gotten here without the support of our publisher partners, so thanks for continuing to put your trust in our team.

We’re Just Getting Warmed Up

2011-12-02T11:00:20+00:00

Update Dec 6, 2011 - Our acquisition by Google has now closed. Today the U.S. Department of Justice cleared Admeld's acquisition by Google. We're extremely happy about this decision, and our plan is to close the deal within the next few days. Thanks to the many friends, clients and partners who've helped us reach this point. As I said when we announced the deal in June, Google is buying Admeld because they believe in our mission to serve premium publishers with the highest level of technology and expertise. Though our mailing address may change―our mission won't. In fact, over time everything you like about working with us will get even better. In the coming weeks and months, our products and Google's will largely remain separate, but we'll begin to talk about opportunities for integration and simplification. As Google said today in a blog post, publishers are the lifeblood of the Internet, and it's highly problematic that they have to grapple with such complexity in managing their ad inventory. Helping publishers overcome this challenge is what gets us up in the morning, and we're excited to be working with Google to do it.

Making Mobile RTB Smarter

2011-09-07T13:23:49+00:00

Over the past six months, mobile RTB activity has grown significantly across our platform. Though the volumes in mobile are still smaller than “traditional” desktop RTB, mobile is expanding at a much faster rate. That said, the future of mobile RTB is not without its challenges. One of the largest is that iOS traffic, which represents a large portion of the mobile web, remains cookie-less. Cookies are critical to desktop RTB because they enable buyers to identify unique machines and use data to make educated decisions about serving ads. Cookies are also important on the desktop because they make it easy for users to opt-out. Though there are alternatives to cookies in mobile, such as using an encrypted version of the phone’s unique device identifier, these methods raise privacy concerns. In fact, for this and other reasons, Apple is expected to retire device IDs completely in their upcoming release of iOS. Other options, such as device fingerprinting, are interesting but today they also pose significant privacy questions. While the industry works out a scalable and privacy-friendly solution to the lack of mobile cookies, Admeld has built its mobile RTB API to compensate and keep budgets flowing to our clients. With publisher consent, our bid request API can pass relevant opt-in data to buyers at the point of purchase so they can make a smart decision without a unique identifier. Types of opt-in data passed include age or gender supplied by the publisher, the user’s location, or information from the browser header such as OS, screen size, and carrier. We are also very excited about a few new data points that will be available to Admeld buyers soon. For mobile applications, we will be able to pass category, age restriction, and consumer "star" ratings in the bid request. The initial feedback we’ve been getting from buyers on this has been extremely positive. In our view, the challenges of mobile RTB are few compared to its benefits. Many buyers are purchasing large quantities of ads through this method, and though it will never be the only way to buy, it will continue to break new ground in driving greater profits for publishers, better results for advertisers, and more relevant experiences for consumers.

Event Season Begins: UK & EU Edition

2011-09-01T16:42:42+00:00

September is a big month for the display space in the UK and Europe, and there are a handful of industry events that should be on every executive’s radar. If you'll be attending one of them, be sure to reach out to us at Admeld so we can connect with you there. Sept. 20 - ExchangeWire Ad Trading Summit, London Alongside an impressive speaker list, Admeld’s Chief Media Officer, Jason Kelly, will participate in a fireside chat at this event with Anthony Rhind, Co-CEO, Global at Havas Digital. Jason and Anthony will be discussing the evolution of programmatic buying and how a publisher-led Private Exchange is an important step in building publisher and advertiser confidence toward more transparent buying and selling. Sept. 20 - Admonsters OPS, Cologne In addition to leaders from companies such as News International and ZenithOptimedia, Admeld’s Co-Founder & CRO Ben Barokas will present on entrepreneurship in display media, how the adoption of Real Time Bidding has increased for German publishers, and how online advertising operations is becoming more strategically tied to revenue. Sept. 21-22 - dmexco, Cologne Dmexco is one of the region’s best digital advertising events, and Germany’s largest. On the 21st, Michael Barrett, Admeld’s CEO will participate on a keynote panel titled, “The Role of Media Companies in Networks and Exchanges.” On the 22nd, Jason Kelly, will present a seminar titled, “How Real Time Bidding has Evolved the Media Buying & Selling Process.” Sept. 21-22 - Ad:tech London, London Olympia AdTech is still a top digital advertising show, and we'll be there as well. The meeting calendar is filling up fast, please let us know when you'll be there so we can say hello. We'll look forward to seeing you!

An Acquisition Update

2011-07-27T14:05:19+00:00

It’s been about a month-and-a-half since we announced our plans to be acquired by Google, and feedback across the industry has been overwhelmingly positive. Though we’re extremely excited by the prospect of combining our companies’ efforts, the past few weeks have been remarkably “business-as-usual” around the Admeld offices. Our team is focused on what they do best: serving our clients and partners, and pushing the envelope of technical innovation. We’ve also been working with the Department of Justice, which is required to review the deal because it's over a certain size. In recent weeks, the DOJ has been gathering information in order to gain a deeper understanding of Admeld’s business and the display space in general. By all accounts, this has been a productive process and we’re confident that we’re on track for the deal to be cleared. That said, today we learned that the DOJ will be issuing a “second request” for information. Though we’re disappointed by this decision because it will delay our efforts to bring even more innovative services to our clients and partners, we recognize it takes time to analyze any industry as competitive and dynamic as this. Google has written some thoughts about the deal in a post on their blog, which I recommend reading. I hope to have more information for you soon as the DOJ updates us on their process. As always, thanks for your support.

NBCUniversal Announces Private Exchange

2011-07-22T12:12:17+00:00

Yesterday NBCUniversal announced the addition of an Admeld-powered private exchange to their Universal Audience Platform. The launch will allow NBCUniversal’s advertiser clients to have greater access to inventory across the company’s many premium brands including bravotv.com, nbc.com, oxygen.com, syfy.com, usanetwork.com and more. This represents another validation of our belief that private exchanges are a natural evolution of how premium publishers will sell their uncommitted inventory, and the importance of technology and client service in empowering publishers to forge stronger partnerships with advertisers. Publishers have a huge variety of choices about how to manage their inventory, whether through private exchanges or through other options, so we're proud to be supporting NBCUniversal in these efforts. In addition to NBCU's announcement, you can read more about their plans in an interview with Peter Naylor, their EVP of Digital Media Sales, on AdExchanger.

A Private Exchange Glossary

2011-07-11T15:12:10+00:00

Since The Weather Channel launched the industry’s first private ad exchange through Admeld in November of last year, these new platforms have been a hot discussion point on the industry’s blogs, at its conferences, and in its board rooms. Given the pace this industry moves, it’s understandable why many publishers are still exploring what private exchanges are, what they’re capable of, and what they mean for the future of selling media. Hopefully the below glossary will help clarify some of these questions, or at least move the conversation forward. Private Exchange A private exchange is an exclusive ad marketplace that gives premium publishers complete control over how they sell their inventory. In contrast with the direct ad network relationships of the past, private exchange publishers have full transparency into the buyers and advertisers, and can restrict access to each impression. Typically, buyers on private exchanges leverage programmatic means such as Real Time Bidding (RTB). Price Floor Most private exchanges enable publishers to set price floors, or minimum prices, for buyers to purchase specific portions of their inventory and audience. Because Admeld enables publishers to set floors against specific DSPs, advertisers, agencies, and dozens of other criteria, they are particularly powerful tools in eliminating channel conflict. Prioritized Bidding Just one term for what the industry is calling “guaranteed RTB” or “private ad slots”. Prioritized bidding is a technology that enables publishers to grant preferred access to specific buyers under specific circumstances. Using prioritized bidding, publishers are able to give select buyers “first look” on certain inventory slices and/or audiences in return for a specified price point and/or a significant level of spend. Publishers are allowed to set buyers on the same priority to compete for this specialized inventory, thus “first look” is not limited to one buyer. Certain publishers only offer full transparency or more granular audience targeting within their first look capabilities. Direct Market A direct market provides the ability to buy inventory futures, i.e. a “direct deal” sourced by a publisher’s sales force. In the past, this was how most inventory was sold; today, this is largely limited to premium content. In a direct market, private exchanges have an impact by allowing more inventory to be made available through RTB among select advertisers. Commit The allocation of advertising dollars to a particular publisher or group of publishers by an agency trading desk (ATD) or advertiser. Typically, the commitment is defined by a specified duration, audience, action or inventory slice.

Admeld To Be Acquired By Google

2011-06-13T20:37:15+00:00

I’m happy to say that over the weekend our company entered into an agreement to be acquired by Google. Read Google's post here. This is an exciting moment for Admeld, not only because it speaks to the quality of our platform, team, and the results we produce for our clients, but also because it underscores Google’s dedication to helping publishers get the most out of the display ad landscape. What’s driving this relationship is a shared belief that managing display advertising is still far too complicated for publishers, and together Admeld and Google can help address some of the underlying inefficiencies. Though we have no specific integration plans yet, we imagine our combined offerings can help publishers make more informed, efficient, and profitable decisions across all tiers of their inventory. To a large degree, these are the same inefficiencies that drove Ben Barokas and Brian Adams to found Admeld in late 2007. As former publishers, Ben and Brian knew first-hand the pains of manual ad network optimization, and they envisioned a platform that could automate those processes while helping publishers maximize their revenue. When I joined Admeld as CEO about 13 months later, the company had dozens of clients, most of whom reported at least a 100% increase in their revenues from ad networks. What’s more, the team had learned that technology, while the foundation of Admeld, wasn’t the full solution. In truth, publishers didn’t want just another platform. They wanted a partner who understood their business and could help them use technology to navigate this increasingly complex space. This mix of expertise and technology still resonates with publishers today, and it will always be the cornerstone of Admeld’s approach. Over the last two years in particular, display advertising has undergone more innovation than in the previous ten years combined. RTB, data management, private exchanges: the space has come a long way, but despite all the progress, it still has a long way to go. Our goal, together with Google, is to continue to move display advertising forward and ensure that publishers stay on the cutting edge. Lastly, while the transaction undergoes regulatory review, our two companies will remain independent in the marketplace. We will keep you posted as the process moves forward. In the meantime, to the many friends, clients and partners who have helped us reach this point, thank you for your confidence and trust. Our goal is to continue to serve you, and in this new phase, we’ll be able to do it better than ever.

The Sell Side Partner

2011-03-25T21:20:40+00:00

Data, RTB, exchanges, audience valuation: the digital landscape is changing so fast that publishers are often left to play catch up. Unlike advertisers, who for decades have benefited from the guidance of agencies, most publishers have had little external help in maximizing their digital ad business. Though we’ve used the term Sell Side Platform (SSP) as much as anyone else, the truth is that it only tells half the story. Premium publishers don’t need another platform, and they don’t need another vendor. They need a partner. With this in mind, Admeld is announcing the formal launch of our Strategic Advisory Services group (SAS), which I’m excited to be a part of. Though this company has always taken a consultative approach to working with its clients, with SAS we’re expanding the scope of our guidance beyond technology to sales, operations, and more. We find that publishers who take a holistic approach to evolving their organizations can more successfully respond to the constant changes in our industry. Our mission breaks down into two goals: education and execution. Education means helping publishers understand the larger landscape, analyze and optimize their existing business processes, and identify new revenue opportunities. And for execution, our approach is to leverage Admeld’s extensive partnerships across the industry as well as using our in-house technologies. I look forward to hearing about how SAS can help you, so feel free to reach out here.

Firemeld Turns 3.0

2011-03-23T17:14:54+00:00

In July of 1999 I began leading my first online advertising services team. I distinctly remember that first week: troubleshooting what seemed like an endless series of issues, all of which threatened my publishers’ brands. It was challenging, but relatively straightforward because the ecosystem was relatively simple. Over the next few years, the proliferation of buyers - ad networks, exchanges and others - made it extremely difficult to answer simple questions about each ad: what was it’s source, who bought it, what did they pay? And by the time I met Brian Adams, Admeld’s CTO, in 2008, life was even more complex. In my first meeting with Brian, he mentioned this tool he was working on that would change the way publishers viewed and managed brand protection, and a few months later, Firemeld was released. Firemeld was the first tool of its kind in our industry, and we designed it not only to answer all the above questions for our publishers, but to help our internal teams to monitor the health of every one of our clients’ sites. Today, Firemeld continues to evolve. With the growing industry focus on RTB, today we are upgrading it with a set of real time tools. Firemeld 3.0 gives publishers transparency into the RTB auctions behind each ad, including the bids, the floor price, and the advertisers’ name. Stay tuned as we continue to move this tool forward.