Ad exchanges and networks were designed to facilitate buying and selling of ad inventory, though there’s a problem with buyers knowing they can often buy exchange inventory at what is probably a much lower price. That may change with the introduction of transparency controls exchanges, allowing for the sale of leftover inventory without revealing identities.
Yahoo! s Right Media is publishing a series of publisher-friendly tools, giving sellers control over what inventory they re selling, at what price, and at what level of visibility. All of these controls will give publishers more comfort in leveraging RTB as a capability and more effectively manage yield, said Ramsey McGrory, head of Right Media and VP of North American marketplaces.
Of course, this isn’t popular with buyers who want to take advantage of the system. Buyers want buffets, they don t want to order off menus, McGrory said. Given the choice they d want complete transparency and the ability to bid one penny on every ad call.
Buyers, not surprisingly, disagree with the evening out the value exchange, since the platform is designed to illuminate a confusing online content ecosystem. Having the URLs of buyers be cloaked can be harmful because advertisers often use white lists of approved publishers. If we can t confirm a seller on a white list, we will not bid, said Mike Baker, CEO of DataXu, a media buying company.
Source: AdWeek
