Real Time Bidding Advertising Platform

RTB platforms are an important issue in modern marketing. They mean a lot to the advertising, its development, and success. The issue concerns the methods of advert selling and buying, which are considered to be the most influential in the whole media market.

The essence of real-time bidding

Real-time bidding platforms have a special mechanism of functioning compared to any other ways of media buying. They work on a per-impression basis using online auctions. The latest are open market or private. Thus, RTB platforms allow bargaining, trading, and controlling media purchase process automatically. Besides, the whole process takes a few milliseconds. Such a solution appeared to be win-win, offering plenty of advantages to both advertisers and publishers.

RTB bidding system is a part of the programmatic approach. The latest is one of the advanced technologies used in the digital market. The key thing about programmatic advertising is the automation of the process and minimization of human involvement. Thus, certain errors, extra spending, and efforts are not required. Advertising specialists can concentrate on the creation of a sophisticated strategy and advertising campaigns.

Speaking about ad RTB as a part of the programmatic approach, we can say that in this case, the advert inventory is bought and sold through programmatic auctions. The latest are somewhat reminiscent of financial markets. The principle is similar to the traditional ways of purchase. There are two sides of a deal – advertisers and publishers. Advertisers search for the best advert inventory, which corresponds to their requirements, while publishers offer certain media inventory (in other words, the advert location on their webpages, which might be either digital or physical).

Any RTB company is based on the following sides involved in the process:

  • supply side (here we are speaking about the publishers; they select the advert format and size appropriate for the placement. The inventory is controlled via SSPs)
  • demand side (here we deal with the advertisers, including various agencies, networks or DSPs. They select valuable users and adjust bidding parameters)
  • ad exchange (it is responsible for the transactions).

The deals are made via Advert Exchangers. They are a huge pool of advertising inventory, which can be purchased by means of automated tools from various publishers. To say it simply, exchangers are databases with the inventory, which is available on the Internet sites (those, which are a part of the definite exchange). The exchangers allow connecting various advertisers and publishers all over the world. Using them, it is possible to find reliable partners and targeted audience, offer creativity to your targeted advertising, and bring better ROI for your business. Today there are open market and private exchangers. The first ones open more opportunities and a larger amount of inventory. At the same time, private exchangers are considered more reliable, as they include only approved websites, visitors, and resources.

Real-time ads buying and its advantages

Compared with the past, the majority of processes of online adverts purchase have become automated thanks to the development of programmatic marketing. The salespeople used to discuss the prices, budgets, advert placement, targeted audience, number of impressions, etc. Today there is no need to spend so much time and energy on those things, as there are adjustable parameters, which allow making the whole process automated. Such an approach became possible for the following reasons:

  • better audience segmentation
  • the possibility of traffic monitoring
  • the opportunity to select the winning RTB bidder by means of the computer.

Real-time auction sites offer various setting, which might be selected according to the requirements of the advertising campaign:

  • targeted audience
  • advertising format
  • geographic area, etc.

There are many ad formats available through RTB networks:

  • video
  • mobile
  • display
  • search
  • social, etc.

Thus, real-time advertising purchasing offers the following advantages:

  • improvement of the efficiency of advertising campaigns
  • automation of the larger part of the process
  • minimization of errors due to the human effect
  • almost instantaneous deals
  • minimization of by-side spending (thanks to the absence of necessity to negotiate, organize meetings, etc.).

As we’ve mentioned, real-time bidding companies offer plenty of benefits to both advertisers and publishers. The advantages for the publishers are as follows:

  • maximization of the revenue thanks to the highly-competitive process of bidding
  • scalability, which opens access to a wider range of demand sources
  • the increase in the conversion rates
  • lots of opportunities for monetization (which depend on a definite platform you apply).

The advertisers may also enjoy many benefits, which are:

  • cost-effectiveness (compared to the traditional buying process, here the advertisers have to pay only for the relevant and valuable users, selecting the most appropriate bid for them. Besides, there is a per-impression basis)
  • the possibility to choose, where the advert will be placed
  • access to premium-quality inventory (advert exchangers work with various publishers opening wider opportunities to the advertisers. There is an opportunity to make bids on multiple websites)
  • optimization of the campaigns (there is a considered mechanism of work with the target audience with advanced targeting specifications)
  • access to the global audience.

There used to be a problem with such advert exchangers, as people tried to set as minimum bids as possible. However, as time passed, the exchangers were modernized. Today it is possible to set a minimum bid by the publishers in order to avoid fraud and other troubles. Besides, the majority of RTB platforms, which exist nowadays, work only with reliable websites. Among the most popular resources, we can mention the ones applying affiliate marketing. They are more popular among the advertisers and allow increasing the profit.

Compared to the traditional process of advert buying, RTB system is thought to be more flexible and time-efficient. Besides, it opens more opportunities for the evaluation of the success of the campaigns via leads conversions, clicks, and other means. The exchangers make direct cooperation between publishers and advertisers possible.