The introduction of Programmatic advertising and Real Time Bidding Platforms in the ad tech industry has significantly changed the way ad campaigns and app install campaigns are managed and monitored.
We need to make clear that Real time bidding is not a platform itself, but that it actually involves various platforms interacting and working together to manage ad operations. Real Time Bidding Platforms include Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) for publishers, Demand Side Platforms (DSPs) for advertisers, marketplaces such as Ad Exchanges, data management platforms for data storage and enrichment, and Ad Networks that act as intermediaries in the ad serving process.
A DSP is a software tool, often available as a web interface to a media buying platform, and as mentioned above, it allows advertisers to buy ad placements programmatically. Instead, SSPs work the same way but on the publishers’ side, since they allow publishers to sell their ad inventory through auctions.
An Ad Exchange is a technology platform or digital marketplace that allows the buying and selling of Advertising inventory from multiple ad networks and across websites, mobile websites and mobile apps. In the process everything is automated and prices are determined through bidding. It’s essentially a more efficient and transparent way to buy and sell digital advertising.
Anyone can partner with an Ad Exchange to buy and sell impressions. In the context of app install campaigns, publishers use an ad exchange to sell their ad space, while advertisers use them to buy ad space. The key function of an ad network is to aggregate ad supply from publishers and match it with advertiser demand.
Ad Exchanges work thanks to machine learning algorithms that allow publishers to get the best price for their ad placement, and advertisers to reach out their target audience and boost app install campaigns.
There is a distinction that needs to be made between Ad Exchanges and Ad Network. Ad Networks collect digital Advertising inventory from a list of publisher sites or buy ad impressions in bulk from the ad exchange, sort them, and then resell them to advertisers. Basically, when advertisers don’t have enough time or resources to filter all the available advertising inventory for their app install campaign, the Ad Networks come to their aid and do this work for them.
Simply put, an Ad Exchange is an open poll of impressions, and an Ad Network is a closed group of privately traded ads. So, one of the main pros of Ad exchange is transparency to buyers, because they can clearly see the price at which each impression is sold.
The choice of a Real Time Bidding Platform is subjective, and the decision should be based on multiple factors (such as publisher niche, target audience, dominant and most successful ad formats etc.).
In programmatic advertising, Real Time Bidding Platforms have a lot of benefits:
- Real-time bidding platforms make app install campaigns faster.
- Real-time bidding platforms support mobile publishers and Advertising inventory by selling their space through ad exchange.
- Real-time bidding platforms allow advertisers to focus on a specific mobile Advertising inventory and increase the ROI (Return on investment) of their app install campaigns.
- Publishers can connect to a big pool of advertisers.
- Publishers can set a price and have control over their ad placement in app install campaigns.
- The price of Ad Impressions is maximized since they can be sold for the highest price possible.
Now that we talked about what Real Time Bidding Platforms and Ad Exchanges are, let’s see together a pick of some of the best Real Time Bidding Platforms!
Smaato
Smaato is a Real Time Bidding Platforms and it is part of Verve Group, a Media and Games Invest (MGI) company.
Their “digital ad tech platform is the only omnichannel ad server and monetization solution with controls to make monetization simple”.
With Smaato, as they also state in their website, publishers can bring their first-party data and manage all inventory in one place.
Moreover, marketers have the chance to access the highest-quality inventory so they can reach audiences from all around the world and, on top of that, on any device.
They aim to solve intricacy with simplicity and the platform is therefore designed to create a custom-tailored experience.
They define themselves as a “customer-obsessed”, authentic and data driven company.
AdColony
The second one that needs to be mentioned is Adcolony.
Adcolony is, of course, one of the highest quality mobile advertising and marketing platforms.
They were one of the earliest mobile app developers on iOS and this a big plus point for them since the founding team at AdColony deeply understood the need for acquiring new high-quality users and monetizing while, at the same time, maintaining a pleasant user experience.
They have support teams and 5 years of experience and work closely with advertisers and publishers to help them boost their campaigns and solve their real business needs.
Applovin
The last Real time bidding platform we’re mentioning is AppLovin.
Applovin is a mobile app technology platform that has team members all around the world.
Since launching in 2012, AppLovin has been instrumental in defining many of the world’s most popular mobile apps and game studios.
Their talented team of people is committed to helping the mobile app industry thrive.
Some of their values, as they state in their website, are integrity, fairness and perseverance. They seek excellence together and operate with integrity and they excel through their culture of equality.
Noteworthy is the fact that Applovin has recently acquired MoPub that provides monetization solutions for mobile app publishers and developers around the world. And many of the MoPub commercial and integration support teams will be joining Applovin’s team.
However, integrating with an Ad Exchange is not the only alternative for running app install campaigns through real time bidding.
Mapendo is a DSP for app install campaigns. You can partner with us if you want to run your app install campaign on more than one Ad Exchanges at a time, profiting from optimization data that we share among the various ad exchanges through our A.I. based technology.
Mapendo
Mapendo is a fully managed performance-based DSP, specialized in mobile user acquisition. We are integrated with multiple Ad Exchanges, where we buy ad placements programmatically through our proprietary technology. Our algorithms optimize every step of the user funnel towards installs and post-install events relevant for our clients’ KPIs. We are 100% performance-based, which means we work with fixed CPI and CPA models and get paid only for the results we deliver to our clients. Unlike other DSPs, which are self-service platforms to be used by advertisers, our campaign management team takes care of everything, from setting up the campaign to its optimization along with A/B tests; all we need is goal, budget and creatives.
