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The size and format of your banner ads play a crucial part in determining their effectiveness. If you are a Google AdSense user, it is imperative for you to explore all the available options it offers to ensure best performance of your banner ads. Ad formats that are more noticeable get more clicks and bring more revenue home. This is why certain sizes and formats of banner ads are preferred by publishers who have delved into this realm long enough. Why do the Banner Size and Format of an Ad matter? You can add different banner sizes and ad formats from Google AdSense to your website. Although, not all of them deliver the same caliber of outcomes. You’ll get a higher CTR with ads that are more prominent and easily visible when the page loads. Make sure to select an ad size that is straightforward to see. Some of the Google AdSense banner sizes, which are either too small or too large, may negatively impact the user experience. The number of advertisers that are running ads in that format on your website is also a factor that has an impact on ad performance. Since certain ad formats and banners are more popular with publishers, using them will give you access to a wider ad selection and higher revenue from them. The mobile-friendly ad formats will perform better than others on your website if mobile users account for the majority of your website’s traffic. 5 Best Performing AdSense Banner Sizes and Formats Leaderboard (728 X 90) One of the most popular ad sizes, leaderboard, has a high demand from publishers. Google claims that compared to other formats, leaderboard ads typically have the most available ad inventory. This indicates that it outperforms the majority of other ad formats. It works well on forum websites and when positioned above the main content. The placement of the ad after the page’s header makes it the first thing a user sees when they arrive at the page, making it highly visible without detracting from the user experience, as long as the quality of the ads is high. The leaderboard supports both text and image formats. When both formats are enabled, the leaderboard can aid in boosting ad revenues. Publishers will encounter fewer difficulties when selling slots of this size because these banner ads adhere to Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standards. Leaderboards work best on desktop and with forums, but you can also use it with pages designed for tablets. Medium Rectangle (300×250) Publishers and advertisers alike favor this ad unit. It is small but noticeable, especially when positioned above the fold. It can fit most sidebars alongside the content. It works on both desktop and mobile platforms and supports both text and image ads. It is a very popular ad size among publishers due to its adaptability and the abundance of available inventory, making it one of the higher-paying ad sizes. Placing a Leaderboard alongside a Medium Rectangle ad unit is a well-liked pairing that you might want to experiment with on your pages. Large Rectangle (336 X 280) As the name suggests, this ad size is bigger than the medium rectangle. However, it is less adaptable because it is not mobile-optimized and may only fit larger sidebars without degrading user experience. It works best at the end of an article or in between paragraphs of content and supports both text and image ads. Because of its size, it is more noticeable, which encourages more interactions and higher click-through rates. Due to this, it has become yet another popular ad size and a fantastic inventory choice for your website. Mobile Leaderboard (300 X 50) Designed specifically for mobile devices, this ad size is gaining popularity as more people use them to access the internet and view content. A mobile banner fits all smartphone screens, regardless of width, making it simple for mobile users to see. Publishers and advertisers typically place it at the top or bottom of content. However, since some visitors might find such banner ads annoying, it is advised that publishers prominently display the “close” or “skip” functionality to provide a positive user experience. Wide Skyscraper (160×600) Wide skyscraper is an ad format that is significantly taller than it is wide. This ad format is less intrusive when compared to others since it can be placed on the sides of pages. Advertisers are increasingly drawn to it because of its size and visibility. It is compatible with the vast majority of themes, ad formats and was created specifically for desktops. The skyscraper might not be rendered on the mobile platform to its full potential due to its constrained size and screen. When visitors land on a page and scroll down to read the content, they can see the skyscraper. Due to the fact that many users do not scroll down, advertising experts frequently advise placing ads above the fold. However, the ad is somewhat resistant to such challenges due to its visibility and design. Conclusion There are numerous ways for your website to generate income. Most bloggers still prefer AdSense as their primary source of income because it pays out quickly and is excellent for beginners. The simplicity of implementation and high potential for profit make banner advertising a preferred option for publishers and advertising. Publishers have a number of options for monetizing their website thanks to the wide range of banner ad sizes. But before choosing a particular ad size, it is always preferable to comprehend your inventory. Even if you find an ad size that is working well, testing out different sizes is a good way to approach website optimization.

A publisher spends a lot of time formulating and designing the right ad inventory and its designated strategy. However, at times certain aspects of this management strategy might slip past the careful eyes and run amok. Over the years, advertising techniques have evolved to a great extent. While there are a number of perks associated with their development, there also exists a number of elements that pose a threat to the publisher’s strategy. Invalid traffic happens to be one major contributor to the set of major problems faced by publishers. While its awareness and detection has increased, there are ways still being devised to combat its threat. What is invalid traffic? Invalid traffic refers to advertising impressions produced by bots or any other type of nonhuman traffic. According to a study by Cheq, bots and fake users make up 27% of organic and direct traffic, and IVT costs the advertising industry $42 billion annually. Although Invalid traffic and ad fraud are frequently confused, not all invalid traffic is malicious. The protection of advertising costs and ensuring the validity and viewability of impressions depend on the ability to identify all types of IVT (Invalid Traffic). A few common practices make up the bulk of all IVT. These practices include the accidental interactivity of a publisher with their own ad space on a programmatic advertising platform, bot traffic to increase the number of impressions in general, and other tools deployed for increasing the number of impressions. These practices are quite common and can be found almost on a thorough investigation of the matter. The dichotomy lies in their ability to sabotage the publishing efforts and ruining the landscape for the advertisers as well. What causes invalid traffic? There are, basically, two ways through which invalid traffic can hit a Publisher’s website. The first one being, where the Publisher himself is voluntarily creating the bot or nonhuman impressions, or the other one, where the invalid traffic is unintentional. In the second case, the causes of the created impressions are generally unknown to the publishers. Here are three major causes that can cause unintentional invalid traffic: Getting Hacked Bots now make up a significant portion of web traffic, and their usage is on the rise. While there are helpful bots like search engine bots, SEO crawlers, monitoring bots, etc., the existence of malicious bots cannot be disregarded. According to a 2019 Imperva study, malicious bots made up a staggering 24.1% of all web traffic. Bad bots that hack credentials and stuff credentials have seen the biggest increase in usage. The frequent DDoS attacks put a heavy burden on networks and, sometimes, even completely shut them down. Purchasing Traffic Purchased traffic, as the name suggests, entails paying to bring customers to your website. There are numerous ways to accomplish that. Pay per click campaigns, display ads, and content discovery campaigns are a few popular ways to buy website traffic. While it might seem like a good way to increase traffic on your website, this is ultimately bad for a brand’s reputation and revenue regardless of their advertising techniques. Expired and Redirected Domain Publishers frequently purchase expired domain names and redirect their websites to them. The rationale behind buying an expired domain is that, once the redirecting process is complete, the existing backlinks, rankings, and domain authority might benefit. Publishers may, however, send unwanted bots and crawlers to their new website while redirecting traffic, and they may also get Google warnings about invalid traffic as a result. Due to users searching for the old website, the website may also experience high bounce rates. Publishers who receive transferred impressions might also find it challenging to pinpoint the sources of and reasons for the traffic that is coming to their websites. How do we deal with invalid traffic? Be informed Being informed about your traffic and users is the key to deal with invalid traffic. Start by segmenting your audience according to their usage of various channels, devices, locations, etc. Be on the lookout for any unusual user behavior or sudden change in their number. Bot/invalid traffic can be identified by if the visits last less than one second and in most cases, if the user is not scrolling past 10% of the page depth. Ad codes on channels, geos, and traffic segments with high risk may need to be removed based on what you observe. Refrain from Purchasing Traffic Purchasing traffic is a costly idea as whether or not a lead is generated by a click on your advertisement, you are still charged for that click. Along with that, purchased traffic is a short-term solution. Once your subscription expires, the traffic dries up. Also, scammers abound in the website traffic buying industry. You might end up spending hundreds of dollars on ineffective fake traffic. Rather than purchasing traffic, invest in top-notch content, search engine optimization and user experience to organically increase traffic on your website. As a result, you would eventually benefit because advertisers would be willing to pay more for the high caliber of your website and the conversions it produces. Do not click on ads on your own website Do not click on ads on your own website. For fraudulent ad clicks, AdSense has a very strict policy. Self-click detection and elimination techniques are available from some ad providers, but doing so runs the risk of suspending accounts. If you must click your own site, whether for testing purposes or simply because you are curious about the destination URL, do it in a controlled setting using Google Publisher Console. Keep in mind that the true goal of advertisements is conversion, and Google pays you for each genuine click. Inform Google as soon as you can if you accidentally clicked on one of your ads. Also, ensure that the advertisements don’t interfere with the user experience. Clicks will result in Invalid Traffic if your ad tags overlap other content or are hidden behind other page elements. You can also make use of the best practices for ad viewability. To sum it

Publishing companies are always on the lookout for originating good quality content that kicks off alluring high traffic to their websites. If the publishing company is set to mint money, it can sell its ad spaces to advertising companies. If all the right elements are in place, publishers who wish to monetize their websites through advertising can do so successfully and profitably. The essential criteria to sell ad spaces for web publishers Advertisers strive to communicate their message and ensure that the right audience receives it. For marketers to accomplish this, they need a robust and highly engaging website that can reach the appropriate audience leading to further reductions in advertising expenses. As a result, we can now begin identifying the requirements for selling advertising spaces High Traffic– It is easy for publishers with a large reputation to attract advertisers to their sites because of the massive traffic they receive. Advertisers often flock to websites with good traffic figures. While it is a general sentiment shared among all advertisers, it isn’t a mandatory factor that determines a campaign’s success. Certain ad networks have their own criteria which the advertisers need to fulfill. Maintaining brand safety is crucial for publishers to avoid inappropriate ad placements that may adversely affect their revenue streams. For publishers, the quality and quantity of people visiting their webpage are crucial. Therefore, they have to focus more on increasing page views, which is the primary metric for measuring the number of visitors. Quality of the Content- A publisher must come up with original, relevant, and engaging content that hooks their readers and encourages them to return to their sites. It is imperative that publishers avoid containing illicit content on their sites, such as pornography, hate speech, weapons and ammunition, illegal drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, and malware. Competent design– Publishers must ensure that their websites are aesthetically designed, and provide a great user experience. They should create their website with elegant designs that appeal to the eyes and should be made so the users can easily navigate between the pages. Websites should be designed to provide a holistic user experience while reducing latency and loading time to maintain user experience. Publishers must ensure that their website supports mobile platforms. The value of loyal audience – The most important thing for publishers is generating website traffic and building a loyal following. A website’s utmost paradigm is its engaging and loyal audience. Companies are willing to pay high prices for exposure to an active, engaged, and loyal audience that will visit their websites repeatedly. Transparency – Publishers need to provide credentials and contact information on the website’s home page to meet the standards of transparency. Digital advertising nowadays is bugged with problems encountered by both publishers and advertisers in dealing with unauthorized resellers, domain spoofing frauds (mimicking a reputed business with fake websites), and security breaches. In such a situation, publishers should highlight their transparency standards by displaying their metrics, content guidelines, and authors, so advertising companies clearly understand who they are dealing with. The use of Ad servers– Every publisher needs a robust ad server to collect data, impressions, and clicks, which will generate valuable insights about advertisements on their websites. With this information, the publisher can make wise and informed decisions about the kind of advertisements most relevant to the visitors. This can help improve advertisers’ advertising techniques by delivering quality ads to their custom audiences. The methods to sell advertising space Those publishers who attract a lot of traffic, have large audiences, and produce original, engaging content should monetize their ad spaces using well-crafted strategies. The most prominent strategies followed by publishers are as follows: Utilization of Programmatic advertising – Ad spaces are traded on real-time auctions through automated platforms in programmatic advertising, automating the buying and selling process between publishers and advertisers. Advertisers compete for ad spaces enabling publishers to maximize their revenue. Through effective programmatic advertising, publishers can know the intrinsic value of their ad inventory through dynamic real-time insights. This helps them to craft customizable ad inventory for highly competitive bidding environments. A Real-Time Bidding process uses an auction process to buy and sell ad impressions for a targeted audience. Publishers and advertisers are connected via ad exchanges via Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) and Supply Side Platforms (SSPs). Through a robust Supply-Side Platform, website owners can manage and sell ad inventories through Real-Time Bidding. Through SSP, publishers can monetize their ad spaces and receive bids from various advertisers through DMP. The importance of Ad Networks–Ad networks link advertisers and publishers, and more importantly, this platform facilitates more efficient data and creative management.  Ad networks are a good choice for publishers who want more control over the whole process and are interested in selling custom cohorts to brand-safe advertisers. Sell Ad Spaces Directly – Publishers can directly sell their ads to brands and advertisers. In this scenario, there is no need for an ad network or SSP. To effectively accomplish this feat, publishers should build a solid and everlasting relationship with advertisers by manually sourcing them and negotiating the terms and cost parameters. Once publishers have established a long-term and durable relationship with specific advertisers, they can reserve ad space on their websites specifically for them. While this is time-consuming, publishers can set pricing terms once a relationship has been established. The Affiliate Advertising Method – The best method for selling ads is through Affiliate Advertising, where publishers put their affiliate links on their websites, blogs, and social networks. Affiliate advertising offered by publishers allows influencers, big companies, small and medium websites to earn commissions based on sales. In 2022, it is estimated that the total business spending in the US will exceed USD 8.2 billion through affiliate marketing. As we briefly discussed how publishers could monetize their ad spaces to maximize their returns, they must consider the kind of ads that work best for their website’s specialty. In deciding whether to use direct, programmatic, affiliate marketing, or ad networks, publishers should weigh the pros and cons of each strategy.

The number of email users has tremendously increased to 4.25 billion (Statista) people by 2022. Considering the world population of 8 billion people by 2022 (un.org) was a phenomenal achievement. Email marketing campaigns generate the most leads and the highest return on investment for marketers across the globe. The drive to increase personalized content across all emails has become the need of the hour for reaching new customers while retaining the existing customer base. Such desperate situations call for the inclusion of creativity and practical solutions in all the emails the marketers send to their customers.  Recent studies suggest that personalizing your emails increases the conversion and opening email rate by 25% (business. com). As time progressed, advertisers resorted to finding innovative ways to create the most effective and revenue-generating campaigns with the tremendous popularity of email campaigns. Microsites and personalized email marketing To accomplish the purpose of effective email marketing to its core, email experts across the globe devised a contemporary and revolutionary artifact called microsites. We can now delve into understanding a microsite and how it helps personalize email marketing. Microsites can be best described as customized and dedicated mini websites or a multi-page newsletter that allows users to skim and engage deeply through each content in the email newsletter. A microsite can be best described as a minuscule website that provides concise information but will detail specific market information, products, and services or that has generic content. Advertisers mainly use microsites to target a specific audience or to attain a particular outcome. The microsite’s content should be different from the content of the brand’s main website. Microsite emails allow their prospects to finish off their marketing actions without leaving their inboxes. Customers can go through the content they prefer, which substantially aggravates email campaigns’ personalization. By using microsite emails, readers find it convenient to read and click the articles and cruise between the articles, thus increasing the click-through rate. By keeping personalization as its top priority, micro-site emails help advertisers create marketing campaigns with a higher chance of conversion. The surge in the volume of emails is virtually bombarding our mail inboxes, adversely affecting the engagement and reader’s connection to the various brands. A recent study found that microsite emails have facilitated effective conversions by email campaigns astonishingly over the past three years. Effective marketing campaigns should focus on the needs and aspirations of their valuable customers and should incessantly strive to deliver the products and services that cater to their requirements. Brands must understand their trusted customers’ growing appetites and communicate with them effectively without being intrusive to succeed and stand the test of time. Advertisers are trying to craft microsites to reduce friction, ensuring a seamless browsing experience, display offers and purchases to their customers without leaving their inboxes, thus gradually replacing the concept of click-through rate (CTR). Personalization is the key to productive marketing campaigns, and microsite emails place baggage of opportunities for achieving the true essence of personalization.  Brands thriving in advertising have brand newsletters smartly showcasing ideas and issues relevant to the products and services. Brands should consciously incorporate data visualization, elegant images, and thoughtful product placement in their microsite emails to be more creative and remarkable. By using microsite newsletters, brands can guide customers through the customer journey and influence every decision they make with knowledge and insight. The best possible ways to create wonders in microsite emails Following are some prime practices for creating highly effective, engaging email microsites for advertisers: 1.  An alternative gateway for brands, microsite emails should be designed in such a way that they are simple, crisp, visually engaging, and relevant to the content. This ensures that visitors will like your microsite email and consciously try to understand the site’s contents, thus increasing the session time. 2. Advertisers must effectively capitalize on the richest zero-party data enriched with first and second-party data to unveil what customers like and suit their needs, thus banging on the concept of personalization. Integrating carousal formats in the microsite emails will invigorate the best web experience and take the visual experience to the next level. 3. Advertisers should ensure that they should refrain from bombarding their customers’ mail inboxes with various kinds of brand emails. Advertisers should ensure that their emails are not pushy and that the email communication should be well thought off to efficiently promote customer engagement. Marketers can better understand their products and services’ latest and future market trends by adequately engaging with their valuable customers. Advertisers should ensure that their mails should be exciting to attain a wholesome web experience. 4. Advertisers should ensure that they enrich their zero-party data with first and second-party data, which, if fruitfully utilized, can make a huge difference in their marketing campaigns overnight. Gaining a deeper understanding of their customers through online and offline data through effective Omni channel advertising will help advertisers to craft high-performing personalized messages. The factors to be considered before developing a full-fledged microsite Advertisers must consider economic factors, as developing a microsite can be costly especially for successfully running one marketing campaign. Advertisers must also implement AI and machine learning tools to accurately analyze patterns of customer behavior in order to create relevant, trend-driven content for microsites. Advertisers must ensure that the contents of the microsite emails should be condensed, crisp, and customized without incorporating too much information, flamboyant color themes and distracting images. As microsites are not the main websites, advertisers must consider that the contents in the microsite have only what the users need, which helps seamless customer engagement. It is important that advertisers ensure users are not confused by personalized messages and actions and that they are aligned with the brand tone and voice as effectively as possible.   The future is bright for microsite emails if they are designed creatively and personalized to target a specific audience which would boost conversion exponentially.

There is a reason why Ad Mediation has been around for quite some time now. And its resurgence in recent years has led to practices being developed across multiple organizations, including the likes of big house publishers and brands with big demographics. It is kind of like a one-stop solution for the publishers’ inventory needs, boosting the revenue figures by a significant margin while requiring less manual work. A whopping $645 billion is expected to be spent on global digital ads by 2024. Not only this but the number of professionals entering this realm is bound to increase as well. Experts in the advertising realm are already flexing their skills to get things done. The employment rate of marketing and advertising professionals is projected to increase by 10% in the US from 2020-2030. These figures not only paint a promising picture for advertisers and publishers but also convey the importance of Ad Mediation in a similar manner. So, what is Ad Mediation? To put it simply, Ad Mediation is a solution that empowers the publisher by increasing the number of ads over the given inventory space. Think of it as a solution that allows the publisher to provide the publishing space to different ad networks which eventually produce the highest bidders by using different methodologies. It involves the usage of technology to automate and streamline the bidding process while increasing the monetization of ads. The solution works in such a manner that it eliminates the publisher’s need to look for the best ad networks manually. Crucial aspects such as the CPM (Cost Per Mile), efficiency, and display ad fill rates are taken into account while measuring the functionality of an ad mediation platform. Maximization on the ROI under the right circumstances not only gives the best bidding requests, but also surfaces the ad networks that can take care of specific needs of the publishers. It enables not only the best bidder from the bunch to take the top spot but also the one below the former if the request isn’t fulfilled or denied. This collection of ad networks and their subsequent automation not only introduces the best players in the game but also performs better than relying on a single ad network for the same. There have been some indications over the fact that ad mediation performs 20% better than having a single ad network.   And how does Ad Mediation work? It all starts from a mediation platform where the publisher gains access to multiple ad networks. Once the publisher gains access to the plethora of ad networks, that’s when the bidding process commences on the inventory spaces available. The advertiser from an ad network with the best ROI emerges at the top upon the completion of the bidding process. Bear in mind that this process happens for all ad networks involved. In simpler words the highest bidder from the bunch wins the competition. Publishers then rank other ad networks from the bunch and come up with a list of all probable names that may suit their requirements. Upon the formation of the list, the ad request is relayed which is then analyzed by the best performers of the bidding process. If the highest bidder does not possess the right resources to comply with the request filed in the first place, the request is then transferred to the next best one. The process continues till the best ad network from the list of probable ad networks selected by the publishers is fulfilled. And what benefits do I get from ad mediation?   For the most part, Ad Mediation offers a plethora of perks that include: Increase in the number of ad inventories sold Perhaps the biggest perk of having ad mediation by your side is the ability to increase the number of ad inventories sold to the ad networks. Since there are a plethora of ad networks that comprise the final list, the best bidders shall be available at all times. In case of a bidder not matching the requirements set by the publisher, the next one can step in and do the job. So, the flow of bidders to a request never ceases.   An improved ad management structure The single SDK deployed to take care of all the operations in this system adds the luxury of stepping back from the manual selection of the right bidder and ad networks. Automation is a major player here and its influence enables the publisher to focus on the other tasks at hand.  A boost in CPM rates  The Cost Per Mile rate often goes high when there are more players involved in the game. With the elimination of single entities governing the overall flow, more advertisers get the chance to step into the realm of advertising. Since there’s a high number of bidders from the very beginning of the process, the CPM rates are bound to go high. By the time the best bidder gets selected, the margins have already been covered and taken care of. A word before bidding adieu     The growing number of ad networks is determining the number of players in the industry. Automation, combined with powerful tools is assisting the publishing and advertising parties at every step. Ad Mediation might be around for some time now but its influence has been renewed in recent years. The profit margins for publishers have increased exponentially, something that wasn’t achievable with a single bidder. It is clearly evident that Ad Mediation is the stepping stone that all future publishers are looking for. If you’re a publisher looking for a robust ad network, then Cubera is here to assist you. With the best in-line algorithms and sophisticated solutions to help with your publishing needs, you can rest easy with the right bidders approaching you. It is time for you to boost your ROI and get ahead of the game.

‘Washing powder Nirma’ is a familiar chime you cannot resist singing along with. The ad was first released on Akash Vani radio in 1975 and later on TV screens in 1982, reaching almost every consumer in the Indian market.  But we have progressed far from the ‘Nirma’ days, when radio and TV spaces were the slots to catch. Digital advertising now accounts for 51% of ad revenue, surpassing TV at 26%. Digital is a new battlefield to dominate, and in this war my friend, a good Demand Side Platform (DSP) might as well be your most handy and versatile sword. Finding the proper sword (DSP) can be tricky, but I am here to give you a checklist of features so you can choose your weapon of choice! Audience Targeting Digital advertising thrives on precision targeting. Audience targeting isn’t just a nice-to-have; it is a critical feature that makes your campaigns more effective. Your brothers down south need the ads for a new brand of coconut oil more than their northern counterparts. The DSP you choose should have the sharpest tools to cut through the unnecessary noise and aim ads based on geographic locations, behaviour, and audience interests. Say your ad campaign is promoting a new chain of cafes in Bengaluru; you would not want those impressions wasted in Chennai. Are you selling high-end skincare? Make sure that your ads reach those in the right income bracket and are likely to make a purchase. Omnichannel Support Over half of smartphone users’ time is spent on social media platforms. But that is not the only place that they are engaging. They watch YouTube videos, stream other websites, and play games on their mobile phones. By 2030, India is expected to see around a billion active screens, of which only 240 million will be large screens like TVs and Laptops. The balance will be phones, tablets, etc. To capture your audience’s attention, you need to meet them where they are. From the billboards outside their office buildings, the games they play in their Ubers back home, to the Spotify ads in their showers. Choose a DSP that can ensure your brand stays relevant. Real-Time Optimisation Real-Time Optimisation is an ideal battle strategy- swift, precise, and effective. A top-notch DSP is equipped with machine learning algorithms that leverage AI tools to stay up-to-date and automatically adjust bids and targets based on real-time performance data. Your DSP should also be able to effectively reallocate your ad spend to campaign channels that show higher performance. Transparency A central feature of your DSP should be transparency. This ensures that you safeguard your brand image by keeping a subpar DSP from handling the reputation of your campaign.  Imagine this: You just ordered a pizza using a delivery app. You tracked the delivery, watched the little scooter icon move closer and closer to your door, and now –ding-dong– it arrives! But when you open the box, it isn’t your pizza. Instead, it is someone else’s order with extra mushrooms (and you definitely did not ask for those). The delivery app does not tell you anything about this mishap, so you are stuck staring at a pizza you did not order and have no idea where your real one is. This is how a lack of transparency in advertising feels. You have spent your budget, but where did it actually go? Which part of your campaign worked? Which aspect is bringing in the customers? Without good reporting, you remain in the dark, similar to the mismatched pizza delivery. Integration With Data Providers For a DSP to effectively reach the right audience, it must have access to a broad range of data sources. This includes first-party data (your own customer data), second-party data (data shared by trusted partners), and third-party data (external data gathered from other sources). Access to these three data types allows the DSP to target and personalise campaigns accurately. Without this data, your ad campaigns will be like shooting a shot with your eyes closed. The recent decline of third-party cookies drives media companies to focus on first-party data collection and utilisation. Companies are investing in data partnerships to enhance audience targeting capabilities with contextual data models. Lucky for you, Cubera Tech provides you with an entire AdTech ecosystem to ensure that your ad campaigns are fail-proof. Rest assured that your DSP has access to the exact data you need! Fraud Detection In digital advertising, fraud is one of the most significant challenges marketers face. Without effective fraud detection mechanisms, your budget could be wasted on fake impressions, bot traffic, or low-quality placements without actual results. As programmatic advertising grows, so does the potential for fraud in automated ad purchases. Ad fraud involves malicious activity where bots, fake clicks, or fraudulent websites exploit your ad budget. This can be via fake impressions by displaying your ad on websites with no real traffic, using bots to mimic human traffic to provide skewed metrics of the campaign’s success and even stacking your ad under another but still charging you the full amount. Using first-party data can drastically minimise the number of frauds that take place. Fraud detection goes beyond just a feature. You are now ready to put your armour on, pick up your best featured DSP and charge into the digital battlefield!

Marketing is becoming more personal, and marketers are slowly becoming data analysts. Naturally, marketers are now using tools to better their advertising. Retargeting has been a breakthrough in the digital advertising world. Here, the most promising individual customers can be directly targeted and made into actual consumers. Retargeting gives brands a second, third and even fourth chance at winning over potential customers. Let me explain with a personal example. Recently, I wanted to buy a ready-made hot chocolate mix online. I added it to the cart and was ready to pay when my mom called. By the time I finished the conversation, I’d forgotten about the purchase, and the item remained in my basket. But for the next 3 days, all my ads on Instagram, YouTube, and even random online articles were about the same hot chocolate mix. There were ads showing off its velvety texture, videos of happy customers savouring their mugs, and even offers to entice me to come back. And you know what? It worked. The constant reminders led me to complete my purchase. Cha-ching! Another sale for the hot chocolate brand, thanks to a well-executed retargeting campaign. That, in a nutshell, is the magic of retargeting. I, a user, showed interest but did not convert and was thus subject to the retargeting campaigns of the hot chocolate brand. It stayed on the top of my mind, reinforced my interest, and ultimately boosted their conversions. Let me be clear though, retargeting is not about hounding potential users until they give in. Think of it as a gentle nudge that strategically shows them tailored and relevant content. The reality is that most people do not convert on their first visit to a site. According to Shopify data, an astounding 97% do not! The psychology of retargeting is that familiarity breeds trust. The more they see your brand around, the more the users think it is reliable and are more likely to convert.  People hate missing out; trust me, the FOMO is very real, and advertisers usually double down on it. Nobody wants to pass up on a good deal or a limited-time offer. Only 12 hours left to buy an item? Are only 4 pieces of it remaining? These subtle pressures nudge users toward making a decision- a fast one. Retargeting is also cost effective while building loyalty. You should minimize how much time you waste reaching a newer, wider audience that might turn a cold shoulder towards your product. Instead, you can create a rapport with potential and existing customers and build loyalty. Shein ads follow me around even after I complete a purchase. So, when winter rolls around and Shein shows me their new sweater collection, I am more likely to purchase from them as I am familiar with the brand, and it has been on my mind since the last purchase. Voila! Shein now has a loyal customer. BEWARE: The Risks of Overdoing It Overexposure can annoy. Seeing the same ad repeatedly can come across as intrusive or even creepy, leading users to develop a negative perception of your brand. Make sure to strike a balance- frequency capping is your dear friend for the same. Privacy concerns are real. Consumers have become increasingly aware of how their data is being used. Hence, retargeting campaigns can sometimes raise eyebrows. Be transparent about your data policies and ensure you adhere to privacy regulations like the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA), whichever applies to you. If you’re ready to level up your advertising strategy, explore the power of retargeting with Cubera’s Edge. It is beyond just chasing clicks. Remember, the game goes on until the sale is made. Retargeting is a power-up that helps you get there.

If you have just stepped into the world of programmatic advertising, welcome! You are now about to embark on a rollercoaster ride that can transform how your brand connects with its audience. But before you formulate intricate advertising strategies, one crucial step is setting up the basics of your DSP (Demand-Side Platform) campaign. When you are eager to launch your first campaign, the temptation to rush through the setup is real. However, the initial stage of setting up is where you define your campaign’s identity. Its goals and even its boundaries are defined here. In fact, it is where you give your campaign direction. After all, anything successful starts with a well-defined plan. Thoughtfully configuring your basic settings gives your campaign a clear roadmap. Let us say you are planning a road trip. You do not just hop into the car and drive, right? You pick a destination, check your budget, and try the best route with the least potholes. When you configure your basic settings, you are mapping out your advertising journey. You decide What you want to achieve. How much you are willing to spend. And where and when your campaign will “travel” to. Skip this step, and you will be wandering. This, nobody wants- not you, not your brand, and certainly not your wallet. Naming your campaign sounds almost insultingly simple. I know what you’re thinking- “How hard can it be?”  But let me tell you, when you’re juggling multiple campaigns, a solid naming system is a lifesaver. Your DSP will usually have these three ad formats: banner, native and video. These are standard options, and they provide versatility in reaching different types of audiences. Don’t you worry though, this doesn’t lock you in. Later, you can customize your campaign by adding as many creative types as you like, such as interactive ads and even high-impact visuals. Starting with these formats ensures your campaign is adaptable, covering a broad range of publisher inventory. Next up: timing. This step is all about defining when your campaign will run and ensuring you are operating in the right time zone. Let us say you’re launching a holiday sale. You will want your ads live well before the shopping rush, but off of the web before the ‘post-holiday fatigue’ sets in. Here’s where things start feeling real- money. Your DSP will ask you to set a budget, both for the campaign overall and for each day. You’ll also get to decide how the budget is spent: Spend as fast as possible: Great for flash sales or urgent promotions. If you’re promoting a limited-time offer, like “25% off Black Friday Weekend.” Pace evenly through the day: Ideal for campaigns where steady visibility is necessary. If you’re new to DSPs, start small. Think of this as your test drive. Once you see how things are performing, you can increase your budget and make a splash. Categories: Playing Cupid for Ads Here is a part that many people overlook: choosing advertising categories. This step helps match your campaign with publishers and audiences that actually want to see your ads. For example, if you are running a campaign for outdoor gear, you’d like your ads to show up on sites about hiking, travel, or adventure sports- not, say, celebrity gossip blogs. Meeting the ‘right match’ is important here too! Your DSP uses categories from the International Advertising Bureau (IAB). You’ll have two options: Include Categories: Your ads will only appear in the categories you pick. Exclude Categories: This ensures your ads avoid specific topics or industries. It’s like curating the guest list for a party. You want the right crowd to show up. Let’s see how these steps look when they are put together for your ‘organic skincare’ launch: Campaign Name: GlowSkin_Launch_IND_Q1 Formats: Banner, Native, and Video for a versatile approach. Dates: January 3 to March 31, targeting the “new year, self-care” mindset. Timezone: IST to focus on your Indian audience. Budget: ₹4,30,000 total, with a ₹18,000 daily cap for consistent visibility. Spend Strategy: Pace evenly throughout the day. Categories: Include “Health & Beauty,” “Self-Care,” and “Natural Products.” With this setup, your campaign is locked, loaded, and ready! Start your advertising journey with Cubera’s DSP’ Edge’ now.

Anybody who’s worked in digital advertising knows that identity is the backbone of this entire ecosystem. Whether it’s targeting the right audience, capping how many times someone sees an ad, or measuring conversions, identity signals make it all possible. But while the concept of identity feels obvious to most ad tech pros, the mechanics behind it are often less clear. How exactly do publishers establish user identity? How do platforms process these signals to enable advanced advertising features? Let’s unpack all of this. This guide will cover: • The major types of identity signals • How publishers collect and transmit these signals • The pros and cons of each identity type • Where each identity signal is heading in the future What is an Identity Signal? Let’s start with the basics. An identity signal is essentially a unique value tied to a user, their device, browser, or even personally identifiable information (PII) like an email address or phone number. These signals are created by websites, publishers, identity vendors, or operating systems and passed along to advertisers via SSPs (supply-side platforms). Advertisers use these signals to: 1. Target audiences based on attributes, behaviors, or interests. 2. Cap ad frequency to avoid overexposing the same user. 3. Measure outcomes, like clicks and conversions, by tying ad exposures to user actions. To get into the weeds, let’s break down how each signal works, starting with the oldest kid on the block: cookies. Cookies What Are They? Cookies are small text files stored on a user’s browser by websites. When it comes to advertising, the focus is on third-party cookies—files dropped by ad platforms rather than the website the user is visiting. How Do Cookies Work? Imagine this: You visit a snowboard website. A cookie with a unique ID like “1234” is dropped on your browser. The website’s SSP reads that cookie and attaches your ID to an ad request. Now advertisers on DSPs (demand-side platforms) can use that ID to show you snowboard ads. The process becomes more complex with cookie syncing, where different platforms map their unique IDs for the same user (e.g., “1234” for the SSP becomes “5678” for the DSP). Pros: • Easy to implement and universally supported on the web (for now). • Enables cross-site tracking and retargeting. Cons: • Privacy nightmare: Users often don’t know cookies track them across sites. • Fragile: Many browsers, like Safari and Firefox, already block third-party cookies. • Dependent on Chrome: Google keeps pushing back its cookie deprecation plans, but the writing’s on the wall. Future Outlook: Cookies are hanging by a thread. Chrome’s planned cookie consent system will likely limit their reach even further. While they’re not dead yet, relying on them long-term is risky. IP Addresses What Are They? An IP address is a unique identifier assigned to your network router by your internet service provider. It’s like a digital home address for your devices. How Do IP Addresses Work? Every time your device sends an HTTP request (e.g., loading a webpage or an ad), the server reads your IP address. Ad platforms use this to identify users at the household level. This cross-device capability is why you might see ads for your dad’s CPAP machine after Thanksgiving dinner. Pros: • Universally available: Every ad request has an IP address (unless masked by a VPN). • Cross-device tracking: All devices on the same network share the same IP. • Essential for connected TV (CTV): Links ad exposure on TVs to user actions on phones or laptops. Cons: • Inaccurate: Tied to households, not individuals. • Privacy-invasive: Users have no control over IP collection unless using VPNs or privacy tools. Future Outlook: Privacy-focused tools like Apple’s iCloud Private Relay and Microsoft’s similar features are chipping away at IP tracking. While it’s unlikely to disappear entirely, its role in advertising will diminish over time. Device IDs What Are They? Device IDs are alphanumeric identifiers assigned by operating systems to devices like smartphones, tablets, and smart TVs. Examples include Apple’s IDFA and Android’s GAID. How Do Device IDs Work? Native apps can access these IDs to track user activity within apps and across devices. For example, a DSP can use an IDFA to serve targeted ads on a user’s iPhone and measure conversions on the same device. Common Platform IDs: • iOS and tvOS (iPhones, iPads, Apple TVs): IDFA (Identifier for Advertisers) • Android (Phones, Tablets): GAID (Google Advertising ID) • Amazon Fire OS (Fire TV, Fire Tablets): AFAI (Amazon Fire Advertising ID) • Roku (Streaming Devices, Smart TVs): RIDA (Roku Identifier for Advertisers) • Samsung (Smart TVs, Mobile Devices): TIFA (Tizen Identifier for Advertisers) Pros: • Persistent across app sessions. • Cross-device capability (to some extent). • Gives users some control: Device IDs can often be reset manually. Cons: • Apple’s ATT (App Tracking Transparency) framework has drastically reduced IDFA availability on iOS. • Limited to specific platforms: Each operating system has its own device ID format. Future Outlook: Device IDs remain essential for platforms like Android and CTV, but Apple’s restrictions highlight their fragility. Their role will persist, especially in ecosystems that benefit from advertising growth. Deterministic Identifiers (Hashed Emails) What Are They? These identifiers are based on PII, like email addresses or phone numbers, that are hashed (encrypted) to create privacy-compliant identity signals. How Do They Work? When users register on a website, their email is hashed into an encrypted value. This hash can be matched across platforms, enabling cross-device and cross-site tracking. Solutions like Unified ID 2.0 and LiveRamp’s RampID standardize this process. Pros: • Privacy-centric: Users can opt-out or reset their identifiers. • Cross-device tracking: Ties together ad exposures and conversions across devices. • Durable: Less likely to be blocked or phased out compared to cookies or IP addresses. Cons: • Friction: Requires user registration, which smaller publishers might struggle to achieve. • Vulnerable to burner emails: Users can bypass tracking with temporary email services. Future Outlook: Hashed identifiers are poised for growth as cookies decline. They’re especially valuable for platforms requiring logins, like streaming services. However, adoption will hinge on industry-wide collaboration and standardization. Probabilistic Identifiers What Are They? These identifiers use multiple signals—like IP address, user agent, and browser configuration—to create a probabilistic match for a user. How Do They Work?  By combining non-unique data points, probabilistic identifiers build a “fingerprint” of a user. While less precise than deterministic methods, they’re