Author name: khazi@cubera.co

The ad tech industry is in constant innovation as there has been instant consumer transformation preferring online shopping. As the possibility of online advertising is increasing exponentially, advertisers have to find phenomenal ways to reach the appropriate audience at the perfect time on the right screen with the ideal content. The strategies have to be productive for the entire advertising ecosystem that includes content creators, consumers, etc. Fortunately, incredible innovations in the ad tech industry have resulted in ample solutions for developing effective ad campaigns. Ad exchanges are a vital part of this whole ad tech ecosystem. Ad exchange’s prime function is to buy and sell ad slots directly to one another. This model benefits both advertisers and publishers the former gets substantial flexibility over ad formats and the latter gets more control over published ads. What is an Ad Exchange? Ad Exchange which possesses an imperative role in advertising technology is a virtual marketplace where publishers and advertisers combinedly trade available digital ad spaces. The ad space that a publisher has on their website is called ad inventory and it includes ad spaces such as native, display, mobile games, video, and in-app ad inventory. The selling and buying of ad inventory that happens in real-time are called real-time bidding. Ad exchange prevalence is based on a simple demand and supply mechanism. Publishers are in constant search for the highest bidders to sell advertising space on their website and advertisers are struggling to find the perfect ad slot where there are high chances to get better visibility. This is where the role of ad exchange commences. Real-time bidding powers this self-sufficient virtual platform, which also enables programmatic ad purchasing. A digital marketplace that automates the exchange of advertising between publishers and advertisers is known as an ad exchange. Ad exchanges use real-time bidding technology and are a component of the programmatic advertising ecosystem. They link publishers on a Supply Side Platform (SSP) with advertisers on a Demand Side Platform (DSP) (SSP) How Does an Ad Exchange Work? To have a better understanding of the functionality of ad exchange, the process has to be viewed from both advertisers’ and publishers’ perspectives. Both parties must be part of the same network to exchange ads. All of the publisher’s pages are inventoried by the ad exchange. Every ad location and ad space are taken into account as a potential impression. The publisher’s responsibility is to make their ad inventory available through an SSP. With the use of cookies, information about a user is gathered when a visitor enters a publisher’s page. The ad exchange uses this data to select the most appropriate bidders. On the other hand, the advertisers must connect to an ad exchange through a DSP. The advertisers need to get maximum cost-per-impression for the amount he is willing to pay for the ad slot. Moreover, the advertisers have to get an ad slot that matches the demand with available ad impressions. Potential bidders are notified by a bid request whenever new inventory becomes available, at which point the bidding starts. The entire process takes place almost immediately. Whenever there is a change in inventory, it also starts automatically. Ad exchanges can therefore sell digital ad inventory quickly and in large quantities. Categories of Ad Exchanges Predominantly, three kinds of ad exchanges are prevalent such as open ad exchanges, private ad exchanges, and preferred ad exchanges. Let us look into them in detail. Open Ad Exchange: A virtual marketplace that provides open auctions is known as an open ad exchange. All advertisers on the platform have access to a wide selection of publisher ad inventory through this kind of ad exchange. Given the large number of publications, open ad exchanges are likely to be chosen by marketers trying to increase their reach. An open ad exchange, however, does not provide in-depth publisher information. Private Ad Exchanges: Private Ad Exchange is a Private Market Place (PMP). Premium publishers get access to this private platform. Publishers who administer these PMPs typically choose the advertisers who can use their ad space. Publishers have control over who can bid, at what price, and under what conditions on a private ad exchange. Through the use of these PMPs, marketers, ad agencies, and brands and publishers can develop direct partnerships. This can result in more direct discussions between the parties. Preferred Ad Exchanges: A publisher can sell ad inventory for preferred advertisers at a fixed price that has been agreed upon through a preferred ad exchange or preferred agreement. This method of selling digital ad space is more custom. The publisher receives consistent ad revenue from this kind of ad exchange. On the other side, advertisers profit from steady prices. Examples of Ad Exchanges Publishers and advertisers can choose from a wide variety of ad exchanges. They can select the ideal one based on their requirements. Here are a few of the more well-liked ones: Google Ad Exchange: This is the most used ad exchange at present. Publishers can have access to both premium ads and AdSense advertisers using this. OpenX: This Ad exchange guarantees stakeholder autonomy. AppNexus: It includes ad slots from several publishers which offer advertisers a wide variety of options. Magnite: It ensures a worldwide advertising system that currently makes it possible to do more than 1 billion transactions each month. Smarty Ads: It provides a free market that links top publications with international advertising. To sum up The procuring and selling of digital ad inventory have been facilitated by ad exchanges. They provide a platform for publishers and advertisers to interact, transact business, and profit from one another. In the end, using a digital marketplace to acquire and sell ad inventory is considerably simpler than using salespeople.

The last two decades have seen a significant evolution in advertising techniques. Advertisers are doing everything possible to promote their goods and services. The days of being annoyed or frustrated by advertisements are long gone. In order to prevent you from feeling the urge to click on skip or block, marketers are now concentrating on how to make their advertising interesting and engaging. Playable advertisements are one outcome of such efforts. Mobile ad spending is projected to reach 446.14 billion U.S. dollars in 2024, so it is imperative for marketers to invest in campaigns through which they can ensure maximum customer engagement. Over the past few years, playables have become increasingly popular in mobile gaming and have captured players’ attention. Playable ads, however, are no longer restricted to mobile games! Brands can now easily create and deliver playable ads to hundreds of millions of consumers, particularly in video advertising, thanks to the introduction of new tools and the adoption of playable ads by many social platforms and ad exchanges. What are Playable Ads? In order to allow users to “try before they buy,” you must develop an abridged version of your app’s core features. Playable ads permit the users to test out that sample of your app before installing it and ultimately having access to the full experience. Playable advertisements are frequently linked to mobile game marketing because they develop the interest of the users by allowing them to test the gameplay before downloading it. Other verticals are, however, also coming up with creative ways to profit from really interesting playable ads. For its brand awareness campaigns, Australian fintech company Lendi, for instance, used playable ads on Facebook. The business increased incremental leads by 30% and decreased cost per lead by 66% by creating a playable refinance calculator. Users may be persuaded to download your app with just a brief glimpse of how it works; this is especially true if you offer in-app purchases and other incentives that can only be redeemed within your app. The average length of these gameplay snippets is under a minute. Your advertisement should feature a call to action (CTA) after the preview concludes to enable the user to click install. There are primarily two types of Playable Ads: HTML Playable App HTML ads recreate a small portion of a mobile game’s gameplay using the game’s assets and HTML code, giving users a very accurate representation of the app’s functionality. Interactive Videos The playable advertisement is made possible by combining HTML with the video from the game. Although interactive video ads are simpler to create, they are not always as interesting as HTML ads. Elements Involved in Playable Ads Playable ads are premium, content-rich ad units that typically have three main creative components to inform, engage, and motivate consumer behaviour. They are: Tutorial Prompt The tutorial prompt utilizes visual cues to show users how to interact with the advertisement. The placement and length of a tutorial should be determined by the video advertisement or style of the game. A long tutorial may quickly lose the user’s interest and lower retention rates. So, it is recommended to keep the tutorial prompt brief, allowing users to, almost immediately, engage with the playable ad. The Game/Interactive Experience When it comes to producing playable advertisements, there are many options. The ultimate objective is to deliver an innately interesting and fun experience that encourages user engagement. If the playable is an advertisement for a mobile game, it will typically give viewers a sneak peek of the actual gameplay that lasts anywhere between 15 to 60 seconds. Despite the fact that each brand’s playable ads will have a different specific objective, they will typically fall into one of the following three categories: To grab consumer’s attention To push marketing messages To encourage CTA. End Card The end card, which can be tailored for any brand and campaign type, is the last component of the playable ad experience. The final card typically contains a call to action that encourages the user to take some sort of action, like, clicking on a learn more button, downloading coupons, making a purchase, etc. What you can achieve with Playable Ads Playable ads are beneficial to both publishers and advertisers who have had to reconsider their advertising campaign strategies as a result of ad-blocking technologies and data tracking restrictions. Playable advertisements enable the analysis of each in-ad interaction point for performance and behavioral information. As a result, advertisers can now optimize each creative component for even better targeting without having to rely on conventional tracking techniques to gather crucial first-party data. Playable ads are a successful way to engage users because they give them the chance to try your app before downloading it. Additionally, users who choose to download your app will know exactly what to anticipate, which will lower churn and uninstall rates. Your audience’s lifetime value (LTV) will increase by luring customers who are likely to stick around longer, giving you better value for every dollar spent on advertising. In a nutshell Engagement dictates the shift in trends these days. With the passage of every year, more avenues open up, enabling customer engagement through gamification. Since ads have already been revolutionized in the digital realm, one can only imagine the next iteration and its impact on the industry. Web3 has spread its influence in the last few years and remains one of the most promising interactive ad spaces for brands and publishers. It won’t be long before we see advertisements being placed in a variety of locations with various features and engagement strategies. Until then, we shall surf alongside the trends of every decade, witnessing the paradigm shifts.

Video advertising possesses a vital role in marketing. This type of advertising can significantly contribute to the success of the business. It is an established way of communication with consumers that has the potential to bring evident results to the business. Thus, video advertising helps to create quality and unique content that boosts outreach, sales, and brand recognition. This blog gives you a clear picture of what are VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) tags, and how they will be useful for digital publishers. An Overview of VAST Tags The Interactive Advertising Bureau introduced VAST tags in the year 2008. It was primarily done because of the substantial change the video advertising witnessed. Back then, the IAB made numerous updations that include VAST 2.0, VAST 3.0, and the most recent VAST 4.0 which got released in 2016. According to IAB, VAST is an XML schema for running adverts in digital video players and defines which ad to play, how long it shows, and whether viewers can skip it or not.  VAST is an acronym used for Video Ad Serving Template. It is a script meant for video players and ad servers to communicate effectively. The XML data contains details about the type of ad and where the ad creative is located in the ad server. As a result, this greatly simplifies things because any publisher can display third-party video advertising because their video player is VAST-compliant, regardless of the publisher’s ad network or ad server. Because they don’t need to re-equip their video players every time video advertising needs to be displayed from a different supplier, Ad Ops staff can save time as a result. What is a VAST Tag? As mentioned earlier, the markup language used by VAST is an XML schema. The coding units in this language are called VAST tags. Through the use of these tags, advertisers can comprehend the following elements: The destination URL for audience clicks Running time of the video ad Where is the video ad located, etc? Integral Elements of a VAST Tag The main elements differ in a VAST tag according to the advertiser’s requirements from a video player.  Let us examine what are the prime elements in a VAST Tag. Media file Every VAST tag shares a link with the media file containing the advertisement creative. The tag often contains a link to the URL where the media file can be downloaded. In other instances, certain attributes are given and a link to the ad server for the creative is created. Video format The format of the video creative is also included in the VAST tag. It can be a flash video, mp4, and others. Tracking  Tracking the effectiveness of video ads is crucial because simply displaying them is insufficient. A link to a resource file on the ad server is typically present in the VAST tag. A tracking pixel records the impression or any other pertinent data as soon as contact is made. Prime Objectives of VAST Tags The innovation of VAST tags brought remarkable changes in the domain of data monetization. It has helped an ample number of publishers in increasing their scope of advertising strategy. This is hardly possible if VAST tags were not there. Some of the benefits of VAST tags are: Aligned communication between the ad server and the video players. A shared and consistent communication between publishers and advertisers for exhibiting video ads. Thus, they can display and track ad performance. Instructions can be coordinated by tags. Thus, mitigating the possibility of playback errors. More empowerment for the advertisers for executing video ads. Sufficient time and money can be saved for publishers when adhered to VAST tags. Different Kinds of Ads that can be Displayed using VAST Tags Companion ads: These are termed to be display ads, text, or rich media that are visible around or alongside the video player. In-line ads:  This kind of ad is served through the VAST protocol, which has all the essential elements. Hence, the visual experience of the ad is boosted by the video content. Overlays:  These are advertisements that appear as text or image snippets above the main video and flow naturally with it without pausing play. Joint banners: Outside of the video player, joint banners are shown on a web page. They typically start when certain things happen, such as a mouse hover, etc. Conclusion Advertisers and publishers can save time and, ultimately, money by using the Video Ad Serving Template. It offers simplified, one-way communication between ad servers and video players, which prevents technological issues. In addition, VAST tags offer tracking data, enabling all stakeholders to examine a thorough breakdown of ad performance. It is generally acknowledged that a sizable fraction of individuals prefers to watch video advertisements before making a purchase. And it is anticipated that it will significantly rise with the widespread use of social media platforms and cutting-edge electronic devices. As a result, implementing video advertisements using VAST tags will improve video ad performance on all web pages.

The CPG industry or Consumer Packaged Goods industry operates and provides for customers across multiple geographies. Every business needs assistance from the right people/entities to sail through the supply and demand seas. Now, this brings into the picture the fact that cooperation between entities plays an essential part in the smooth functioning of processes and enhances revenue streams by bringing in more opportunities. If you are someone from a marketplace looking for more manufacturers to join the fold and boost your inventory, then bear in mind that establishing the right relationship with the manufacturer is the key. Incrementality measurement forms a crucial aspect of the campaign an organization runs. To put it simply, the last touchpoint determining a conversion helps in the calculation of the success/failure rate of a campaign. While digital marketing has its fair share of challenges, CPG industries have already dipped their toes into this realm. CPG in its own right has a scale to balance, now this scale comprises of a manufacturer and a seller. Balance them the right way and you’ll have a steady flow of returns. But what about the factors that drive a balance between the manufacturer and the seller? How does it affect cooperation? And how does it eventually impact the incrementality measurement side of things? Fret not for you will know it all by the end. Trust and Cooperation are important, actually! As stereotypical as it sounds, trust is what drives sales at the end of the day. If you focus on retaining your customers rather than leaving them be while searching for new ones, chances are you’ll attract neither. If you’re a potent member of the CPG industry then you already know the wonders that trust sprouts with the passage of time. In fact, trust and cooperation are crucial aspects of driving incrementality measurement. Here’s how: Zero restriction on data flow At the end of the day, data is what determines and drives things ahead in this digital world. If there’s a restriction to the flow, it’ll often result in situations that drive results toward the negative side of the spectrum. Cooperation between the manufacturer and the seller (a marketer/marketplace here) allows a smoother flow of data. With a rich stream of data, the right insights for the right audiences can be extracted, resulting in better last clicks and subsequent conversions. Enhanced transparency between parties Now that the importance of streamlined dataflow has been established, another associated benefit that stems from cooperation is transparency. For the most part, sellers often hide the right margins and pieces of data from the manufacturers, and vice versa. This more often than not gives rise to malpractices that plague the relationship between the manufacturer and the seller. Cooperation between these two parties gives rise to better transparency and an emphasis on the data being shared. Not to mention with transparency established in the right manner, you increase the chances of onboarding more manufacturers to fill your inventory. Setting the right competitive prices Another perk that comes with cooperation is the ability to set the right prices for your products. The right flow of data and the subsequent generation of insights enables the seller side to establish the right prices for their product lineup. This enables the seller to take into account the right guidelines set by the manufacturer as well as set up the campaign in a way that supports the manufacturer’s product lineup. And it also establishes the seller’s brand image in the market and drives more customers. It is a win-win situation for the seller as well as the manufacturer. How not to be a good example of incrementality measurement, a CPG example Way back in the early 2000s Walmart initiated a practice that eventually led to a downfall in its relationship with CPG manufacturers. Turns out that Walmart, in its bid to gain more profit from its sales pulled manufacturers down. The flow of data that was supposed to establish a cordial relationship was compromised from Walmart’s side. This led to manufacturers backing out of deals with Walmart and leaving the inventory devoid of products to sell. To add fuel to the fire, Walmart’s aggressive pricing methods also forced manufacturers to terminate their relationship with the retail giant. This move led to bad incrementality measurement scores, coupled with poor sales records and backlash from manufacturers and customers alike. Cooperation or the lack thereof became the key reason for this entire ordeal. Walmart became a bad example for the CPG industry in general. They did eventually improve upon the mistakes they made though. To sum it up Every marketing strategy involves playing the right moves at the right time and place. The CPG industry benefits from incrementality measurement as it helps the marketer understand the demographic and the way to woo it. However, data collection is experiencing a paradigm shift, the idea of a cookieless world is being brought to reality. If you’re someone looking for a way to board the cookieless world and the future possibilities it holds then Cubera is the name to choose. With a state-of-the-art algorithm lineup that assists publishers and advertisers achieve their marketing goals, it is high time to step out of the box and witness the AdTech revolution firsthand.

Today ads occupy a large portion of online as well as offline world. Whether it is newspapers, billboards or online platforms, you can find ads everywhere. It is anticipated that by the end of 2032, the global advertising services market will have grown at a CAGR of 7.2% and will be worth $1 trillion. While traditional methods of offline advertising are quite simple, online advertising has many factors involved. Cost Per Click (CPC) is one such factor involved in online advertising. Deciphering Cost Per Click and the way it works Cost per click (CPC) is a digital metric that falls under Pay-per-click (PPC) marketing model. It measures the average cost an advertiser pays to the publisher every time someone clicks on their advertisement. The CPC calculates the price of showing users advertisements on social media sites, search engines, the Google Display Network, and other publishers. When deciding on bid strategies and conversion bid types to maximize clicks in relation to budget size and target keywords, CPC is a key consideration. Your CPC can help you determine how effective your search advertising campaigns are, and if you are overpaying for any of your campaigns or not. You must bid on your target keywords if you want to appear on appropriate search engine results pages (SERPs). Your ad’s placement on the results page is influenced by your bid, among other factors. which has an impact on your clickthrough rate. Cost per click is a popular method used by advertisers when running a campaign on a daily budget. The ad is automatically taken out of rotation on the website for the balance of the billing period once the advertiser’s budget is met. How to calculate cost per click? There are, basically, two perspectives when it comes to calculating cost per click: from the advertisers’ perspective and from the publishers’ perspective. Taking the advertisers’ perspective into consideration, CPC can be calculated by dividing the total PPC campaign’s cost by the total number of clicks it received. CPC = Total cost of the PPC campaign/Total number of clicks it received But, when it comes to the Publishers’ perspective, calculating CPC is whole new deal. To determine their CPC rates, some publishers and ad networks use click bidding. This implies that a computerized system constantly calculates costs based on supply and demand. The price will then change based on how many advertisers are concurrently competing for the same publisher’s ad space. Some publishers use a different formula to calculate CPC. The most popular method for determining CPC is to multiply the cost per impression (CPI) by the click-through rate (%CTR). CPC = Cost per impression/Click through rate The actual CPC calculated for an ad campaign when using an advertising platform, however, is not a “stable” metric. Over time, it changes depending on the ads, campaigns, or ad groups. When to use cost per click? CPC is a crucial metric that can help you assess the financial performance of your paid search campaigns and estimate the cost of your advertising. Several CPC use cases are listed below: In order to determine your budget and CPC-based relative return on ad spend (ROAS). If you wish to prepare a budget-based plan and forecast the expected volume of traffic. If you want to know how your average CPC stacks up against the competition in the market. In order to calculate your relative ad strength. How can you lower your cost per click? To have as low a cost per click (CPC) as possible is a major concern for businesses using PPC ads. By doing this, you can make sure that your campaigns are affordable, which raises the crucial return on investment (ROI). Understanding the elements that may keep your CPC low is necessary. Here are some recommendations to get you off to a good start: Use long-tail keywords Low search volume keywords with a definite search intent are known as long tail keywords. The best way to reduce the CPC is to use long tail keywords because they typically have a higher Quality Score. The more competitive a keyword is, the higher the bid will be because more people will bid on it. Long tail keywords being precise and having a low search volume, are less likely to be the subject of pointless searches, saving you money on advertising. Use negative keywords Negative Keywords aid in reducing the CPC as well. They stop irrelevant search queries from triggering your ads, which can reduce your CTR, negatively impact your Quality Score and raise your CPC. They permit people who are searching for your ads and are interested in your goods or services to see your ads. Maintain the Quality Score The quality score is Google’s assessment of the relevance of your ads, landing page, and keywords. This may have a significant effect on both: where your ads appear and the cost of each click. Your potential ad rank will increase and your cost per click will decrease the higher your quality score is. Creating highly targeted ads that are more pertinent to the search queries will help you raise your quality score even more. Make use of Ad Scheduling Timing plays an important role when it comes to advertising. Displaying ads during those times of the day when customers are more likely to be online, gives your ad a better reach. Scheduling your ads not only helps you achieve that but also allow you to adjust your bid during certain times of the day. This information can be used to create a unique ad schedule. With more conversions coming from your budget, this strategy will assist you in maintaining and lowering your average CPC. Optimize your landing page for better experience Depending on your CTR, quality ratings can differ greatly. Therefore, you must ensure that visitors to your landing page become paying clients. A high-quality score also results in a lower CPC. Consequently, improve your landing pages to increase conversions. Conclusion One of the most effective marketing techniques for getting results right away is cost

Marketing personalization is the primary key by which you can future-proof your business by evaluating and addressing the everchanging customers’ needs and aspirations. A recent study (the next in the personalization report 2021) depicts that those Companies that take an all-inclusive approach and outshine competitors in demonstrating intimacy with customers generate rapid revenue and business growth. Advertisers must address retailers’ ever-increasing needs and demands by delivering these needs and wants are met. In addition to building brand loyalty, this paves the way for elevated and effective customer interaction. With today’s fast-paced lifestyle, price pressures from discounters, disruption from online providers, and more transparency from shoppers, the retail environment is rapidly changing. Strategies once used by conventional retailers, such as strategic pricing and promotions, have now been easily replicated by competitors and are gradually losing effectiveness. Through effective marketing personalization, retailers can provide unique experiences tailored to individual customers. Customer expectation through personalized experiences Online pioneers have transformed the marketing landscape to the point where customers have grown to expect and demand personalization from retailers and online companies. Customers consider personalization as a  part of their hygiene; if any marketer messes up with this, they will permanently depart from those marketers. Omni-channel advertising has paved the way for a highly personalized customer experience because it successfully integrates multiple channels customers use to interact. Successful marketers seamlessly integrate their most valuable zero and first-party data, providing their clients with exceptional personalized experiences. Competitors have a hard time replicating this broad-based strategy. Successful execution of this strategy will create brand visibility and enable marketers to achieve sustainable competitive advantages. This will drive brand loyalty and turnover for the business, significantly increasing profit margins for the marketers. A recent study (SmarterHQ) indicates that more than 72% of customers like to engage with more personalized and tailor-made messages that meet their needs and preferences. As customers’ online interaction with various brands is thriving, brands are pushing themselves hard for better brand visibility, from social media to pay-per-click advertisements and email communications. Customers, by their rapid and frequent interactions with various digital touchpoints, the customer experience is gradually shifting from brand awareness to purchase and to loyalty. Marketing personalization, which used to be confined to targeted offers, now encompasses customers’ interaction with offline and online channels, underscoring the significance of effective omni-channel advertising. Customers interact with multiple personalized touchpoints, thus enabling them to appropriate their valuable time and money that suits their preferences. A proper marketing personalization process involves marketers involving customers in the dialogue so they can create individualized personalization to create custom audiences. As a result of efficient personalization, these custom audiences receive products, services, and offerings relevant to their needs and preferences. Advertisers will craft tailor-made campaigns based on rich zero and first-party data in this data-driven world. Advertisers must ensure that the communication they send to customers is relevant to the products or services they aspire to and does not bombard them with irrelevant messages. Advertisers must craft a well-executed marketing strategy backed by valuable data insights. To reach a custom audience, it is important to segment large customer groups based on similar tastes and preferences, which should be advertisers’ topmost priority. Creating identical customer profiles and personas helps advertisers define custom audiences and determine the best channels to reach them. How personalization can make the difference? Mckinsey’s recent study indicates that personalization at scale increases the chances of marketers clinching a deal by 1 to 2% by interacting with a large segment of their audience. Further, this helps reduce the marketing and sales cost by 10 to 20%. An excellent customer experience delivers a tremendous positive impact on customer satisfaction rate, improves sales conversion rates, and bolsters customer engagement. Advertisers harnessed and attained positive customer experiences have bestowed their shareholders three times higher returns than their competitors. To make the marketing personalization program fruitful, advertisers have to lay their eyes on their most loyal customers, giving them a return on investment three times higher than the mass promotional campaigns. By using their rich zero and first-party data accumulated from their loyal customer base, advertisers enhance their response rates and boost customer loyalty. Challenges persisting for integration of marketing personalization Mckinsey’s research shows that around 20% of advertisers have fully integrated market personalization strategies, and the balance, 80%, are still exploring this tremendous opportunity. Most advertisers are delving into defining personalization strategies in their core marketing activities and have begun experimentation initiatives. The prime challenges advertisers face while incorporating personalization strategies are It is very difficult for the majority of retailers to collect, integrate and collate the rich zero and first-party data. Maintaining an in-house and robust data analysis team is challenging for advertisers as it involves huge investment outlays. Every employee should use the enriched zero and first-party data across the organization. For the majority of marketers, the siloed data and organizational hierarchies obstruct the efficient and swift sharing of customer data. Breaking the siloed data and disseminating this rich data across the organization will facilitate making wise and informed decisions. Most marketers do not have the proper tools for effectively integrating personalization at scale to its core. Marketers who have implemented omnichannel advertising successfully still pose the challenge of organizing offers and administering across all touchpoints. With the right data and an efficacious data analytics team, marketers can quickly identify customers’ value triggers to facilitate efficient marketing personalization. Marketers must use a cutting-edge audience manager platform to fetch data quickly and deliver timely insights to make wise and informed decisions. With our robust audience manager platform, we gather and analyze rich zero and first-party data to activate customer segments in real-time to deliver a complete customer experience.

The ‘Bidstream data’ is something we should know about since we live in a data-driven world where ads are auctioned in real-time within fractions of a second. Bidstream data is essential to the programmatic advertising system, where advertisers and publishers connect and transact through fully-integrated ad exchanges. Bidstream data is the valuable information the publisher sends, such as the ad unit, publisher information, the type of device customers interacts with, IP address, and ad formats. Depending on the advertisers’ preferences, the ad format can be video, image, third-party tags, and GIFs (Graphic Interchange Format). It may also contain valuable information that attracts buyers, such as location or audience demographic data. The most important and helpful among the bidstream data is the GPS (global positioning system) or location information. Publishers and app developers separately sell these most beneficial data to location data specialists to enable focused customer targeting and accurate attribution.  The investment outlay by marketers for mobile location-based targeting is expected to reach $32.7 Billion by 2023 and will rise continuously thereafter. Bidstream data plays a crucial role in programmatic advertising and ad exchanges which serves as a dedicated marketplace for publishers to sell their ad inventory to advertisers. To get access to the ad exchanges and successfully transact in them, advertisers use the Demand-side platform, and publishers use the supply-side platform. The ad exchanges will act as intermediaries collecting data from supply-side platforms on behalf of publishers and passing it along to advertisers via demand-side platforms. Advertisers receive this valuable information as a stream, which is why it is called bidstream data. With real-time bidding, these activities can all be accomplished efficiently, as the AdSpace value is determined and regulated in real time. This bidstream data or bid request is transferred to the advertisers, who can decide whether to bid for that particular bid through real-time bidding. Bidstream can be regarded as the lifeline of online businesses and can be transferred quickly just before the user accesses the webpage. Besides GPS or location info, bidstream data includes rich zero, first, and second-party data. In some instances, the bid stream data also incorporate third-party cookie information and other valuable users’ information. Nevertheless, Google’s announcement that it will phase out third-party cookies by 2024 has caused serious concern among advertisers around the world.  Advertisers find it challenging to run personalized marketing campaigns due to Google’s latest announcement, as the marketers solely relied on these third-party cookies to craft effective marketing campaigns. But there is still hope for advertisers worldwide as they can access valuable information from consumers without violating privacy standards. Advertisers may be able to target their ads based on all the information related to the bidstream data, such as the device of a consumer visiting a particular website.  Advertisers can access their preferred bidding areas by analyzing bidstream data such as location data. Upon successfully identifying prospects, advertisers can specifically target these custom audiences. Publishers can offer ad inventory related to particular demographics where their products and services will get maximum sales, creating influential audience segments. Advertisers sometimes use Bidstream data to assess the efficiency of some bidding areas based upon technical parameters such as the performance of dedicated browsers and uniform resource locators (URLs). The main benefits of Bidstream Data As discussed earlier, segmenting the customers based on rich zero and first-party data ,bidstream data has revolutionized advertising and made it more facile and less time-consuming. Publishers and advertisers rely heavily on bidstream data for their success. Bidstream data a boon to publishers With a detailed understanding of customers and ad inventory, publishers can sell their ad units at a much higher price. Publishers can sell their rich data to the data management platform (DMP), which gathers and organizes data from various sources. How bidstream data will benefit advertisers Advertisers can effectively segment based on rich zero and first-party data provided by the customers through online bidding with a robust Demand side platform. Advertisers can get a holistic view of their customers and how they respond to their content, products, and services. Customers are greatly benefitted because they can only view the advertisements of products or services that are suited to their needs and aspirations. Time ahead for Bidstream Data As per Google’s latest announcement, third-party cookies will gradually disappear by 2024, which may diminish bidstream data’s value and significance. An advanced tool called Universal ID (UID’s) gives publishers more sway over their customer’s data. As a first-party cookie, Universal ID helps publishers match their users’ credentials with their device IDs by obtaining login ids, such as email addresses. As a result, these UIDs are then exchanged commercially with the ad tech platforms, which are used to track visitor activity across the web. In a revolutionary way that could modify the bidstream data, Interactive Advertising Board came up with Real-time bidding standards in 2018. The primary purpose of this standard was to provide more security and transparency in the ad supply chain with appropriate conduct and rules on Real-Time Bidding on ad impressions. Real-Time Bidding 3 (RTB3) requires publishers and advertisers to write and revise new codes to ensure brand safety guidelines and to comply with the latest policies. With this state-of-the-art RTB (3) platform, bid term requests are safer and more transparent than ever before. With our robust programmatic advertising technology, Cubera helps its valuable clients to boost their ad revenue par industry standards.

The concept of addressability is crucial in the world of advertising. It primarily refers to the capability of using media or tools to target custom audiences. Each marketing communication is strongly linked to a specific individual’s personal identifiable information (PII), such as name, email, or mailing address. This is comparable to the process of sending a person a direct mail. Although it is easy to communicate with customers, addressability is erroneous because customers visit many different websites on many devices. This blog majorly deals with addressability in marketing and how elements like cross-publisher IDs and mobile advertising IDs (MAIDs) are impacting addressability in advertising. What is Audience Addressability? An addressable audience is the total number of online customers a media platform can reach through targeted advertising campaigns. Prior to digital advertising, addressable targeting was mainly done by holders of postal addresses, such as newspapers and magazines. After that, online addressability was powered by third-party cookies that tracked consumers’ online behaviour and acted as an element for identity. Various advertiser platforms were able to effectively develop ad campaigns for specific audiences by utilizing the data obtained by third-party cookies. Third-party cookies are vanishing from the internet advertising ecosystem as consumer privacy concerns rise. Furthermore, Chrome, the leading browser globally with a market share of almost 70%, has announced that it will discontinue using third-party cookies shortly. The need for publishers and advertisers to build a robust,  scalable, cookie-free advertising ecosystem has increased due to Google’s move. What are the Factors Considering Addressability? Cross-publisher IDs and mobile IDs allow us to get ideal information about the users. With these vital IDs, it is easy for audience segmentation, audience targeting, and other audience-based ad delivery controls across devices. Thus, these two essential elements are considered significant for addressing the right audience in marketing. However, a large proportion of the populace is worried that gathering these IDs for advertising purposes will affect the user’s privacy. But the fact is that most of the risks related to consumer privacy stem from directly identifiable IDs that are linked to an offline identity. Therefore, this makes it clear that cross-publisher IDs are not a major element of concern as it doesn’t affect the user’s privacy issues. Addressability consists of mainly three notions. First and foremost, it has to engage audience, then should be able to get the feedback of the engagement. Finally, able to improve the engagement process after getting the feedback. To implement all these vital functions, marketers or advertisers are required to get an identity graph of the audience or users. It functions similarly to address, as the address enables the postman to deliver the post to the right location, and the ID graph aids the marketers in delivering the message or content to the custom audience. Addressability fundamentally depends on getting accurate information about the users. To get the most refined data, Cubera, the Big Data company, has introduced some products like Identity Graph, Audience Manager, Omni Channel Advertising Cloud, Data As A Service and Analytics As A Service. Let us have a closer look at all these essential products. Identity Graph A user’s real metrics can be vividly represented by an Identity Graph using information from several sources, including cookie ids, device ids, email ids, and customer ids. These components will make it possible for advertising to obtain an accurate portrait of a person. In essence, an identity graph is a collection of specific data on people that have been gathered from a variety of sources and media. Identity graph data is kept in the appropriate systems and is available at any time by typing queries to examine the most recent data, modify the data, and update the data. Advertisers are eagerly searching for the “Identity Graph” to recognize their clients through their digital channels as they engage with businesses through numerous websites, mobile applications, and social media platforms. Audience Manager The crucial task of compiling all the data assets is performed by the Audience Manager, which makes it easier to gather useful commercial data on visitors to different websites and streamlines the process of developing market segments. In the end, this aids in targeted advertising and the delivery of pertinent material to the custom-audience. Additionally, an Audience Manager must guarantee that data is properly acquired, safeguarded, and regulated. Omni Channel Advertising Cloud Omni Channel Advertising is the integration of various customer-interaction channels to produce a unified brand experience. These channels can be of any kind, such as online, offline, or mobile. To conveniently provide clients with a range of alternatives and to achieve a seamless customer experience, the Omni Channel Advertising model’s key goal.   Data As A Service (DaaS) Utilizing the internet to disperse computing services like servers, storage, databases, networking, and software analytics allows for quick innovation and adaptable resources to achieve economies of scale. Cubera can take advantage of massive data resources with DaaS and transform this valuable data into insights that benefit users. DaaS and predictive analytics enable businesses to give their customers customized experiences. As a result, the business will be able to serve its clients more effectively and cultivate a base of devoted clients. Analytics As a Service Companies who are unable to afford a fully operational in-house data creation center can now obtain effective data analysis tools by adopting analytics as a service. Organizations can fully or partially transform the data into insightful information using appropriate BI (business intelligence) technologies within a cloud infrastructure. This makes it easier for businesses to obtain the data they need to develop data-driven insights at a low cost and without the need for dedicated servers or data specialists. How to Address the Right Audience? As Google has announced the removal of third-party cookies short time soon, advertisers and publishers need to consider how to identify, target and engage the right audiences in a compliant, brand-safe way that does not adversely impact user experience. Predominantly, there are three alternatives for collecting pure data. Email addresses, unique IDs, and browser-based audiences are examples of first-party data. The advantages and disadvantages of each

Google, Facebook, and Amazon dominate online marketing eco-space as digital ads become more prominent worldwide due to their increased acceptability. According to research done by the renowned marketing research company eMarketer, around 64% of the total ad spend goes to Google, Facebook and Amazon. These three major companies have the lion’s share in this competitive and thriving industry. Their efficient use of the ‘walled garden’ approach makes them highly successful in the online marketing ecosystem. As the name implies, a walled garden is an enclosed platform where the platform provider has complete control over its content and applications.  The platform provider may even restrict the flow of information through media to create a monopoly for itself. The walled garden concept has gained popularity in the ad tech industry due to the rapid growth of conversions. Let’s first understand the history of the walled Garden before diving deep into this topic. The term Walled Garden was initially coined by a company called Telecommunications Inc which AT&T later acquired. In 1970s, when big players like Google, Facebook, or Amazon were still in the ideation stage, telecom providers such as Bell system used the walled garden approach.   This telecom provider had exclusive control of its hardware and little control over the information transmitted through its telephone lines. It’s not surprising that big players like Apple have total control over their iOS ecosystems, just as Bell Systems did over their hardware. This control extends from devices to applications for Apple. In marketing terms, advertisers use closed platforms to run their marketing campaigns through walled gardens, which is quite different from traditional marketing methods. The concept of a walled garden refers to data that is stored and used only for marketing purposes within silos. Walled garden platforms can keep the data in-house, facilitating the prevention of data leakage in the process. Installing a walled garden is difficult, but over time it can be one of the productive strategies for an ad tech service provider. The benefit of the Walled Garden approach to the Publishers Even if walled gardens seem to be menacing at some point, they are advantageous to publishers in many ways. It offers publishers an expansive audience outreach, efficient opportunities for monetization, and boosting referral traffic. Besides advertisers, publishers will also use the walled garden approach very effectively. To utilize the benefit of the walled garden approach constructively, they will bring on some exciting contents that induce the users to a subscription model. Publishers keep continuously catering to the audience with high-value content, engaging with them for a monthly fee. Following this strategy effectively helped renowned publishers like the New York Times gain 8 million subscribers recently. Regardless of size and reach, small and large publishers can use this strategy successfully. Large publishers immensely benefit from the walled garden approach as they possess an expansive audience and boundless reputation. The benefit of the Walled Garden approach to the Tech Companies As we discussed, three major conglomerates- Google, Facebook, and Apple, effectively utilize the walled garden strategy. With Facebook, it is effortless to target a large audience since it has over 2.89 billion users at its disposal, representing different age groups, genders, and ethnicities. All campaign performance data is housed on Facebook, and advertisers can access these platforms through its Demand Side Platform, Data Management Platform, and Dynamic Creative Optimization. Google employs an entirely different approach to target users with Gmail accounts, numbering 1.5 billion, and searches totaling 2  trillion   a year, it is easy to reach large audiences. With a data lake of rich zero, first-party data and a robust ad manager service, Google is efficiently using the walled garden approach. With its huge e-commerce platform, Amazon is generating an ad revenue of 31 billion USD in 2021 through its Amazon Ads Services platform. While Amazon is employing the same walled garden approach as other major players in this field, it is also acquiring second and third-party data from others. Apples’ business game is entirely different from its competitors as they are not using its platform for advertising purposes. Their user base is estimated to surpass 2.2 Billion by 2022 as a result of their multitude of hardware devices, including MacBook, iPads, and smartphones. Advantages of Walled Garden Through Walled gardens, companies may turn themselves into monopolies, hamper the spirit of competition, and create an unfair advantage over the other. Despite this fact, it is a magnificent tool for advertisers, publishers, and users in many ways. Major players like Facebook, The New York Times, and Google use walled gardens so that advertisers can target and customize their campaigns to maximize Return on Investment (ROI). In companies employing the walled garden strategy, user data is adequately encrypted, protected, and secured, and the former obtains the users’ consent before tracking their data. Since most users access these companies through laptops, cellphones, and tablets, they utilize cross-device data that is shared with advertisers regardless of the device customers use. Disadvantages of Walled Garden  The process of creating and maintaining a full-fledged walled garden approach can be extremely competitive and strenuous for companies. Keeping up with the competition is indeed a challenging task for all websites, but bringing forth quality content is a key to staying ahead.  The ability to constantly innovate and adapt to competitive pressures is key to a company’s success in social media, e-commerce, and search engine results. Walled gardens are beneficial for advertisers, marketers, and publishers alike. The effective walled garden strategy enables first-party data targeting, serving advertiser portals, and auction pricing.