Authored by: Alyssa Budke, Field Marketing Manager

In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) in advertising can easily be overlooked. In our latest report, “The State of DE&I Investment in Digital Advertising,” we found the reality of DE&I commitments, which includes how they are defined and what challenges advertisers and publishers are facing. For those committed to making a meaningful impact, this report is both a call to action and a roadmap for the future. Keep reading as we break down our top findings.

Defining & Dictating Commitments

81% of marketers plan to increase their DE&I commitments in the next year, reflecting a growing awareness and commitment within the industry. However, there is still confusion between marketers and publishers when it comes to how these budgets are defined.

Publishers & Marketers Define DE&I Budget Commitments Differently

94% of publishers think that marketers define DE&I commitments by counting any spend with a diverse-owned ad tech company, but only 37% of marketers agreed. We found that 9 in 10 marketers define a commitment to DE&I in digital advertising as prioritizing diverse-owned publishers. Publishers don’t feel that they are the focal point. 

Marketers have not made publishers aware that a significant percentage (49%) of their commitments to DE&I in digital advertising at the brand level. Publishers may see DE&I as merely a corporate formality, devaluing its role in digital advertising. Brands and agencies must clearly share responsibility for setting goals and supporting overall corporate DE&I commitments. Marketers must ensure their commitments are transparent and aligned with publisher expectations.

Overcoming Barriers and Driving Innovation

To truly advance DE&I in digital advertising, the industry must address the barriers that diverse-owned publishers face. We found that the top barriers for marketers executing DE&I budgets is brand safety and ad fraud. Ad tech innovations, such as Private Marketplaces (PMPs), can play a pivotal role in alleviating these barriers. PMPs offer a solution by balancing the efficiency of programmatic advertising with the need to maintain the unique voices and perspectives of diverse publishers.

As for publishers looking to monetize their inventory, their main challenges are ad blockers and technological barriers scaling inventory with ad tech partners. The industry must step up to help the success of DE&I in programmatic media. To that end, we’ve partnered with Dentsu to launch a new Publisher Tech Fund initiative. This program is designed to empower and create access for diverse-owned publishers to grow their programmatic capabilities. Learn more about it here.

Standardizing Success Metrics

6 in 10 survey respondents said they would like to see industry standards for DE&I campaigns. The lack of uniformity in how success is defined and tracked makes it difficult to assess an initiative’s success. The top way marketers are tracking success is solely through spend tracking. To see how impactful their DE&I dollars were, they look at engagement and reach. The industry is currently in need of deeper insights to better understand the impact of their campaigns. This will ensure DE&I doesn’t end up as just another line item.

The Future of DE&I in Digital Media

The future of digital advertising depends on our collective commitment to DE&I. Addressing current challenges and embracing innovative solutions, we can create a more inclusive and representative media landscape that benefits everyone. Now is the time for action. So, read our State of the Industry report’s calls to action and seize this opportunity to make a lasting impact.

The post The Realities of DE&I Commitments in Digital Advertising appeared first on TripleLift.

TTD’s announcement of the SP500+ and release of the top 100 publishers aims to set standards for what defines premium in a programmatic world. It offers tenants that are essential to consider but can, and should, provide the flexibility of choice to extend beyond a set list and reach any part of the open web that meets the criteria. Commitment to quality ad experiences, direct supply paths, and placement-level targeting and optimizations are all things we can all agree on – translating to better performance and less ad waste across the industry. 

By prioritizing the right practices from the start and eliminating poor industry behaviors, the entire ecosystem benefits. Consumers enjoy respectful ad experiences, advertisers achieve better performance, and publishers maximize their placements while keeping audiences engaged. Getting there requires a rigorous onboarding process that ensures safety, security, and brand suitability with direct access to publishers across the open web. Creative ad solutions allow publishers to focus on high-quality, attention-grabbing ads rather than quantity. And putting curation levers based on placements, performance, and audiences into the hands of buyers ensures they are buying wherever is best for their campaigns. 

At TripleLift, we firmly believe in the open web’s potential for all publishers, big and small. Growth opportunities can be found across a spectrum of publishers and streaming services with highly engaged audiences worth tapping into. It’s important to recognize that only focusing on the largest publishers may limit reach, especially with underrepresented communities who have a diverse and impactful online presence. As the largest diverse, independently owned SSP, we know how crucial it is to reach and engage diverse audiences through a healthy mix of publisher inventory and unique creative experiences that marketers shouldn’t overlook.

For example sake, let’s parallel this with the financial world. The S&P500 and Vanguard’s Emerging Markets ETF are two major funds you could put your money in. The S&P 500, like TTDs SP500+, includes large-cap companies that provide steady returns every year. However, those who are willing to invest in smaller startups through Vanguards Emerging Markets ETF could see just as much and even better growth than the S&P500 returns. Each strategy has benefits, but investors see the best opportunity by combining the two. Similarly, in advertising, tapping into a combination of established publishers and niche/smaller publishers who are committed to investing in a better advertising experience will yield the best results.

At TripleLift, we are pushing for the most inclusive approach to advertising possible—one that puts into practice the SP500+ tenants but goes beyond. We remain committed to fostering an inclusive, open web that benefits publishers and communities of all sizes. By prioritizing a healthy mix of high-quality, diverse content, we can ensure a thriving and equitable advertising ecosystem that benefits everyone. 

The post The Tenants of a Thriving and Equitable Advertising Ecosystem appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Jordan Grossman, Manager, Field Marketing

By next year, advertisers will fall into two distinct categories: those prepared for cookie deprecation and those who are not. The prepared advertisers —leveraging contextual advertising solutions—will confidently face the day Google eliminates third-party cookies, having spent significant time testing reliable cookieless alternatives. These advertisers will know their campaigns are well-managed and secure.

Conversely, unprepared advertisers will scramble to find new, addressable solutions as the inevitable deprecation approaches. This scenario is unfolding in programmatic advertising, with less than 10% of brands having solid plans to supplement cookie-based advertising.

“It’s going to be chaos for them,” said Paul Bannister, Chief Strategy Officer at Raptive, referring to the ill-prepared advertisers. “This is the last lifeline people get.”

“A New Signal For Success,” the industry’s first-ever data front, and the official launch of TripleLift Audiences, highlighted these themes. Representatives from brands, agencies, publishers, and DSPs gathered to explore the future of digital advertising in a cookieless world.

Below, you’ll find highlights from the evening’s insightful panel discussion.

Preparing For Cookie Deprecation Today

The delay of third-party cookie deprecation didn’t surprise many industry leaders, including Marion Sayre, Client Solutions Director at Kepler, and Ash Grant, Head of Digital Trading at Expedia. Whether regulatory-focused or the creation and testing of the Privacy Sandbox caused the delay is debatable. However, the delay has provided advertisers with enough time to test new alternatives.

Most audience segments are only available on the 53% of the web that supports third-party cookies or cross-domain identifiers. Advertisers are already missing out on nearly half the internet and need a better solution.

Jenny Harvey, Director of Business Development at LiveRamp, emphasized the need for parameters in place, whether it’s testing LiveRamp’s cookieless identifier, the Ramp ID, or seeking out partners like TripleLift who already have offerings on the market.

The Inefficacy of Third-Party Cookies

Many of these targeting challenges arose out of necessity, not because third-party cookies will disappear, but because they aren’t as effective as the industry expected. A study by Truthset found that 49% of email and postal address matches used for third-party data are incorrect when leveraged on the 53% of the addressable web.

There’s a growing need for an industry-wide solution today because third-party cookies aren’t the present or the future. As Ash Grant, head of Global Digital Trading at Expedia, asserts, “aimlessly chasing those users around the internet just because they fit into some third-party data set isn’t necessarily the best way to go about reaching those users.”

Contextual Advertising Powered By Publisher First-Party Data

The unpredictability and inaccuracy of third-party data have led to a renewed interest in contextual advertising. By 2030, contextual advertising spending is expected to grow by 13.8% annually, according to Statista. The industry sees contextual advertising as a privacy-safe option to reach audiences with value deterministically. Advertisers increasingly prefer contextually-enabled ads to boost engagement. Publishers agree. As Bannister notes, “value and privacy are on a connected spectrum,” highlighting the need to engage users while protecting their privacy. “You’ve got to find those moments of value to help engage users.”

TripleLift Audiences Moves To General Availability

Balancing privacy, value, and cross-site accuracy derived from signals not supported by cookies is a challenging industry problem. However, a harmonious balance may already be available. Airey Baringer, VP of Product at TripleLift, introduced TripleLift Audiences, made possible by TripleLift’s acquisition of the first-party data platform 1plusX. This unique offering delivers cross-site audiences without using cross-site identifiers.

Testing across brands and verticals has shown that TripleLift Audiences regularly matches or exceeds the performance of cookies, delivering broader reach not limited by browser or device. TripleLift Audiences helps campaigns perform at scale. This solution grants brands access to the premium web without third-party cookies or rising data fees.

TripleLift Audiences’ unique ability to predict cross-site audience memberships based on consumed content is a testament to the technology’s power. As Baringer states, TripleLift Audiences is not just a solution for a cookieless future but a robust targeting solution for today’s advertisers, regardless of the cookie’s fate.

“TripleLift Audiences wasn’t built to be a solution to the cookieless future – it was created to be the next great targeting solution for advertisers today,” said Baringer. “TripleLift Audiences performs because it’s a scalable and performant solution that doesn’t accrue additional fees – all elements that enhance advertiser campaign necessities. It is a solution for today, not tomorrow.”

Panelists at the event universally agreed that testing today to prepare for tomorrow sets brands ahead for the foreseeable future.

Want to see the full panel discussion? We’ve got you covered here. And for more on TripleLift Audiences check out our resources page.

Let’s get started. Reach out—our team of targeting experts is ready to help you take the next step in your cookie-less journey.

The post TripleLift’s ‘A New Signal For Success’ Sparks Conversation Around Cookie-Apocalypse Preparedness Today vs. Tomorrow  appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Alyssa Budke, Field Marketing Manager

Did you miss out on the latest buzz at AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O last week? Don’t worry, we’re here to fill you in. The three-day conference brought together pioneers, innovators, and forward-thinking leaders in the programmatic advertising space. Topics ranged from Retail Media Networks to first-party data solutions. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or a newcomer eager to navigate the dynamic nature of programmatic advertising, Programmatic I/O 2024 offered something for everyone. Let’s unpack our top digital advertising trends and takeaways from this year’s event.

The First Commerce Media Summit

AdExchanger introduced a new Commerce Media Summit to the agenda this year. The day started with EMARKETER giving a State of Commerce Media presentation. They highlighted key trends, including how retailers have successfully pushed advertisers to diversify their RMN spending. 77% of advertisers are spending on-site, but we also see high participation in paid search (69%), social commerce (65%), and off-site (60%).

When it comes to measurement for RMNs, Zach Darkow, The Home Depot’s Sr. Director of Marketing Activation & Measurement hosted the “Inside the Measurement Toolbox for Retail Media” session. He noted that there’s a need for measurement standardization, and we should be looking beyond ROAS as the be-all-end-all KPI. He introduced ROMO, (Return on Marketing Objectives) noting that all marketing efforts should be analyzed when measuring retail media impact.

Our very own CRO, Ed Dinichert, gave the final presentation of the day educating the audience on how we’re leveraging our creative tech and contextual data to allow for better informed creative experiences for shoppers. Want to see the next step in off-site advertising? We just launched Adaptive Commerce Solutions. Check out our announcement as the First Supply-Side Platform (SSP) to Enable Responsive eCommerce Native Supply For Amazon Ads Buyers.

What Will Post-Cookie Ad Tech Look Like

There were plenty of sessions about the soon-to-be post-cookie world, but our key takeaway is that first-party data is not a replacement for third-party data, therefore, we must rethink the way we measure success. Mike O’Sullivan and Ian Meyers, the co-founders of Sincera led an eye-opening session on how post-cookie ad tech actually works, including the importance of attention measurement, MFA detection, consent collection, and inventory quality management.

For attendees looking for solutions, our VP of Product Management, Airey Baringer led a session on how the industry is transitioning from a reliance on outdated legacy technology to more sustainable and privacy-first solutions, such as TripleLift Audiences. Discover how this innovative approach is setting new standards for targeting in a post-cookie world, empowering advertisers to take control of their data targeting strategies with new signals for success.

Progress in Inclusivity and Sustainability

DéVon Christopher Johnson, co-founder of BOMESI (Black Owned Media Equity & Sustainability Institute), brought together publishers to discuss how advertisers focused on brand safety unfairly affect minority-owned publishers. They spoke about how Ad Tech players have a role to play in minority-owned publishers’ success. At TripleLift, our Underrepresented Voices Deal easily allows advertisers to spend on minority-owned inventory through a simple deal ID, and because we’re an NMSDC-certified minority business enterprise recognized by the ANA, all spending with TripleLift can be counted towards advertiser supplier diversity goals.

As sustainability becomes a more prominent concern within the industry, publishers wonder if prioritizing sustainability might hinder their monetization, specifically from programmatic campaigns. Emry Downinghall from Unwind Media thankfully assured attendees that sustainability strategies will not hinder publishers’ monetization and that there is a path toward both increased sustainability and improved business outcomes for publishers. These strategies included curated deals and inventory throttling.

We’re looking forward to the next event! In the meantime, for the latest insights on other digital advertising trends, check out our resources across the web, CTV, and retail media here. 

The post Digital Advertising Trends From AdExchanger’s Programmatic I/O 2024 appeared first on TripleLift.

Today, TripleLift is excited to unveil Adaptive Commerce Solutions, a new suite of products tailored for retail and commerce buyers. This new suite is being introduced as TripleLift becomes the first Supply-Side Platform (SSP) to support the Amazon Ads Native Responsive eCommerce (REC) format on third-party supply. 

Including Amazon Ads Native REC, within TripleLift’s Adaptive Commerce suite, allows advertisers to dynamically generate ads that use real-time assets from their Amazon product pages, such as price, star ratings and Prime logos to scale across TripleLift’s native supply footprint – offering incremental supply for Amazon Ads buyers. 

Native REC formats are an important complement to standard display advertising for Amazon Ads buyers. Advertisers across CPG, Grocery, Hardlines, Softlines, and Entertainment, can now leverage an ASIN (Amazon Single Identification Number) to enhance their campaigns with Adaptive Commerce Solutions, designed to boost consideration, including product page views, and return on ad spend (ROAS). TripleLift has integrated with Amazon DSP to ensure this new format can be accessible in the current buyer workflow. We’ve seen early interest from buyers and TripleLift is excited to highlight participating beta partners including Flywheel Digital, Kepler, Tinuiti, and SparkX Global.

Creating Better Experiences for Retail Buyers

Enabling Responsive eCommerce Display formats across more ad opportunities has proven invaluable to retail buyers. According to a recent study conducted by eMarketer and TripleLift, as advertisers continue exploring how to maximize their retail media investments, over half (55%) of advertisers plan to increase their reach and spend across more sites in the next 12 months (February 2024). With TripleLift, buyers can now add scale and prospect for new customers by extending into new native supply.  

The cross-site experience continues to evolve, especially in ease of implementation, creative and reporting inconsistencies, and scalability across different publishers, posing a challenge for advertisers. TripleLift has positioned itself as a long-time leader in native ads, and is now a first mover in retail media. By expanding Amazon Responsive eCommerce ads to include new native supply, retail buyers not only have access to incremental scale, but can now unlock placements across more top publishers.

The Intersection of Creative & Performance   

Intentional creative helps drive customer engagement; and performance is only as good as the creative. According to a Nielsen Study, 65% of a brand’s sales lift from advertising came from the creative. As brands and agencies invest in offsite retail media capabilities, we are starting to see a pathway for creative to replicate onsite creative experiences in the open web. TripleLift’s creative technology is challenging the norm by transforming assets from product pages to render seamlessly into publisher editorial content. TripleLift’s native placements are also designed to be larger, breaking out of the iframe, to catch the consumer’s eyes and cause less disruption than competing native providers. 

Through the launch of TripleLift’s Adaptive Commerce Solutions buyers can now highlight shopping elements clearly to the consumer and blend seamlessly into surrounding content without any additional creative lift or cost for the advertiser. Our integration with Amazon Ads opens the door to a new era in retail media, with new TripleLift-designed formats teed up for release in the near future.

For more great insights into the challenges, growth, and opportunities with Retail Media, check out our Retail Media hub here. 

The post Exciting News in Retail Media: TripleLift is The First Supply-Side Platform (SSP) to Enable Responsive eCommerce Native Supply For Amazon Ads Buyers appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Alana Schept, Senior Field Marketing Manager

Last week the 2024 IAB NewFronts showcased the latest trends, innovations, and opportunities in digital media and advertising, bringing together brand marketers, media buyers, publishers, streaming platforms, ad tech companies, and more to explore the future of digital media. This year’s presenters provided a glimpse at the latest CTV advertising trends, from immersive, non-traditional advertising experiences and cost-friendly streaming models to investment in growing multicultural audiences through diverse media content.

Let’s dive into a few highlights from the event and explore the driving forces shaping how brands connect with consumers.

Innovation Takes Center Stage

As consumers continue gravitating toward free-ad-supported streaming subscriptions, brands are exploring new avenues for integration. From interactive, shoppable, pause, and in-show ads, publishers, MVPDs, and OEMs like LG Ads have begun leveraging immersive experiences to captivate their audiences. 

Innovation was a hot topic at the 2024 NewFronts, and we were excited to help drive the conversation. Along with many other presenters, TripleLift explored how brands are leaning into innovation, forging deeper connections with consumers via personalized, engaging, non-intrusive CTV ad formats. 

With industry experts from iSpot.TV and VaynerMedia, Andrew King, VP of Product Management at TripleLift, took the stage to explore the latest in CTV advertising, including our High-Impact CTV formats. Bought programmatically, these exciting formats can be measured against, and even outperform iSpot benchmarks. In March 2024, 50% of the impressions TripleLift delivered were incremental to linear TV. Our strongest categories for incremental performance included travel, electronics & communications, education, lifestyle & entertainment, and retail. It has never been clearer: keeping up with modern consumer behaviors and reaching audiences at profound levels of attention and engagement requires investment in non-standard ad formats.

FAST Focus

The ad-supported CTV landscape is at a tipping point. Premium publishers and platforms like Netflix, Roku, Amazon Prime, and Disney now offer ad-supported tiers. Their significant investment in ad-supported streaming tightly follows user behavior: cord-cutting has passed the point of no return. Viewers, especially younger audiences, can no longer be reached at scale on linear TV alone. 

Free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) continues to take over the streaming market, with the number of global FAST users more than doubling between late 2020 and 2023. 

Several players took the stage this year to announce new FAST channels, content additions, and advertising solutions to their platforms, with LG Ads sharing that 8 in 10 people in the US are using ad-supported TV, with 69% of people who prefer ad-supported TV models over subscription models. 

Revry, a global streaming network that focuses on queer content and creators, announced PrismRiot Ad Network, its new FAST channel offering brands unprecedented access to the LGBTQ+ community, reaching over 110 million US households. Similarly, MyCode announced its Hispanic unit, Remezcla, and introduced its new FAST channel dedicated to Gen Z Latino audiences. 

To support this wave of inventory, SSPs like TripleLift are here to help publishers monetize, measure, and protect their inventory. TripleLift’s trusted partnerships with top publishers allow brands to scale CTV campaigns across an expansive library of premier CTV publishers, including FAST apps like Revry, Pluto TV, Canela Media, and dozens more.

The abundance of new, ad-supported content and the permanent, secular shift of cord-cutting creates an opportune moment for brands to embrace streaming. Advertisers, regardless of size, stand to benefit.

Reaching Multicultural Audiences Through Media

Companies like Revry, Canela Media, and Estrella TV, highlighted initiatives cultivating inclusivity and equity through advertising that authentically reaches marginalized communities. 

According to Nielsen, black adults spend 31.8% more time with TV each week than the general population. However, these viewers feel that they are underrepresented in the advertisements targeted to them. 

Brands must connect with viewers organically. Fortunately, partnerships with diverse-owned content providers, publisher partners, and data and solution tools are resources that can be leveraged to achieve that desired organic reach. 

As an NMSDC-certified minority business enterprise recognized by the ANA, all spending with TripleLift can be counted towards advertiser supplier diversity goals.  Through minority-owned inventory deals, diversity tentpole packages, and robust contextual targeting solutions, TripleLift satisfies diverse spending goals, increasing monetization for publishers, and helping advertisers support historically marginalized communities. 

As consumer behaviors continue to shift, marketing strategies must evolve. At the close of the 2024 NewFronts, attendees left excited about the future of media and advertising. Consumers are showing both a need for and an interest in new technologies and innovative advertising formats. At TripleLift, we believe we are well-positioned to continue to help advertisers break through the noise and succeed in today’s complex television landscape.

Want to learn more about TripleLift’s CTV offering? See more here.

The post Advertising Trends From the 2024 IAB NewFronts appeared first on TripleLift.

TripleLift has always been known for offering solutions that initially appear improbable, but later seem inevitable. We proved Native can be scaled across thousands of publishers and perform better than display. At the time, it sounded impossible, but now it’s common sense. 

We’re proving the improbable once again. 

Today, many industry experts consider it unlikely that solutions designed for the end of third-party cookies are producing results today—but TripleLift’s customers know the truth: TripleLift’s cross-site audiences without cross-site identity solutions are driving real results today, with no fear of third-party cookie deprecation.

88% of brands/agencies said audience targeting solutions were the most critical focus area of their companies in the next 6-12 months.

TripleLift Audiences is a unique solution that can deliver proven and scalable results without cross-site IDs powered by publisher first-party data. And, it’s available to advertisers today, all at no extra cost.

These three case studies illustrate how TripleLift advertisers leverage our ID-less targeting solution to drive more scale, lower data costs, and better outcomes using TripleLift Audiences, without fear that their results are rely on third-party cookies.

Financial Services Company Delivers 3x More Impressions Using TripleLift Audiences

A Financial Services brand, keen on raising awareness about its B2B small business solutions, partnered with TripleLift to reach key decision-makers and hit campaign outcomes, including delivering 30MM impressions. To effectively reach this target audience on a large scale, the brand utilized TripleLift Audiences.

The deals targeted a diverse set of small business owners, all identified via TripleLift Audiences’ publisher first-party data with no cookies enabled. TripleLift optimized toward CPM and CTR and continuously monitored performance to ensure target segments were delivering to performance goals and scaling efficiently.

TripleLift Audiences deals delivered 100 million ad impressions, over 3 times the brand’s initial goal. This was possible through TripleLift Audiences’ ability to effectively identify nuanced audience targets, which resulted in a 60% lower CPM than the benchmark. Not only did the campaign deliver at scale, but also drove a 25% higher CTR compared to cookied deals, surpassing both scale objectives and TripleLift’s benchmarks. Bolstered by this success, the brand expanded the utilization of TripleLift Audiences deals to all ongoing B2B and B2C campaigns, significantly enhancing delivery and performance across their portfolio.

Through cost efficiencies and relevant ID-less targeting, TripleLift Audiences drove scale without the presence of third-party cookies.

Electronics Brand Outperforms Campaign Objectives While Saving Costs

A world-leading technology brand, on the precipice of launching new consumer product lines, needed to grow its already-large consumer awareness while cutting costs during a period of the year where advertising pricing is at a premium. To maximize consumer awareness and impact, the brand activated TripleLift Audiences to reach their target consumers at scale, with no extra data costs.

The brand activated three campaigns each promoting a unique product. For each campaign, the brand compared TripleLift Audiences performance against cookied deals, and even tested TripleLift Audiences against their own first-party customer data.

TripleLift Audiences drove 325 million ad impressions across three campaigns saving an impressive 25% on data fees, due to the free cost of TripleLift Audiences publisher first-party data when compared to their previous spend allocation with third-party data providers. This maximized the brand’s budget and campaign outcomes, ensuring dollars were spent on working media exclusively vs. 3PD. For one campaign, TripleLift Audiences exceeded the brand’s Cost Per Qualified Lead expectations by 40%, and on another campaign performed on par with the brand’s own first-party data which leveraged third-party cookies. As a result of this scaled ROAS, the advertiser committed additional spend to TripleLift Audiences, doubling down on performance, scale, and cost savings.

By activating TripleLift Audiences, the brand was able to reinvest previously allocated data fees into working media.

A Big Box Retailer Left The Cookies Out and Performed Big During The Holiday Season

A Big Box Retailer wanted to usher high-value holiday shoppers through its doors by driving awareness of seasonal deals, gifts and expansive product offerings. Reaching a new audience through third-party data providers was unlikely, so the brand tapped TripleLift to expand reach while achieving maximum engagement. 

The campaign utilized TripleLift Audience cookie-free data segments to reach an audience of over 100 million shoppers, prospects, and customers across the United States interested in holiday activities like baking, gifting, shopping, and travel. With a focus on performance, the Retailer directed TripleLift to optimize toward the most efficient deals and segmentation.

The campaign, fueled by TripleLift Audiences, delivered 80 million ad impressions at a 28% more efficient CPM than traditional cookied deals. By optimizing toward performance, TripleLift powered a 58% lower CPC, which created high efficiency for the brand. As a result, this retailer was eager to add TripleLift Audiences to their next promotional campaign.

TripleLift Audiences performs across any campaign objective and doesn’t require third-party cookies.

Check out our research page to learn more about how we’re improving the future of cross-site identity for our clients with ID-less targeting through TripleLift Audiences.

The post Tomorrow’s Problems, Solved Today: How Three Brands Drove Results With TripleLift Audiences appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Alyssa Budke, Field Marketing Manager

Welcome to Voice of the Publisher, powered by TripleLift. Every month we invite one of our publisher partners to provide a deep dive into their inventory and share their expertise and unique POV on the programmatic landscape. 

This month, we welcomed Ryan Maynard, VP of Programmatic Sales Operations, Shobha Vembar Doshi, SVP of Programmatic Strategy & Operations, and Iana Feliciano, Sr. Director of Programmatic Advertising, to our NYC office. 

Continue reading to learn more about Raptive’s exclusive and expansive inventory, and their insights on topics like supporting diverse-owned creators, cookie deprecation, and AI-created content.

Raptive’s Powerful Creator Network

Raptive’s 5,000 exclusively represented publishers are not only media brands; they are creators, driving conversations in critical areas of our cultural discourse.

Highlights

Discovery: Raptive creators are in 75M+ top Google results.

Inspiration: Over 1,000 Raptive creators have follower counts of over 200,000.

Opted-in: Newsletter subscriptions, typed URLs, and content shares

Engaged: People spend 2.75x more time on Raptive’s creators’ sites than the average site.

Raptive curates scale with impact. They have over 195MM unique visitors, reaching 78% of people online. Excelling across verticals like Food, Home, and Travel, Raptive is one of the top 10 media companies in the world (via Comscore). 

Maximizing the Dollars Flowing to Diverse-owned Creators

Diverse-owned creators come to Raptive to propel their business forward. On top of driving spend to their creators’ sites, Raptive provides additional services to create lasting growth for their creators’ businesses, including SEO, email marketing courses, and engagement strategies. Diverse creators can also participate in Raptive’s Remarkable Voices program which offers additional training, mentorship, and support to enhance their digital strategy, grow their audience, and increase their ability to monetize at substantial levels.

Raptive is the #1 source* of spending on diverse media outlets across the open internet, with 58% of total advertiser investment flowing to the 400+ websites owned by the diverse creators and publishers represented by the company. Raptive’s diverse creators reach 40M consumers monthly and represent brands across 27 verticals. You can activate this inventory with TripleLift today through our Underrepresented Voices Curated Deal or a PMP. Learn more here. 

*Jounce 2024

Our Conversation with Raptive

What industry trends are you focused on?

We’re always staying on top of macroeconomic and industry trends, but privacy and cookie depreciation is pretty timely. There are a lot of ways to adapt to cookie deprecation, so we’re looking to differentiate our solution suite. For example, we’re adopting TripleLift Audiences. Overall, we’re looking to future-proof our privacy strategy for our creators.

How does AI play a role in the content your creators make and monetize?

We have a strong stance on not allowing AI-created content from our creators. There are a lot of ways to steal and copy original content, so we’re currently looking into the best ways to monitor. For creators that are applying to our network that are 100% AI, they are denied. For current creators that usually create 5-6 pieces of content per week that then shoot up to 50 per week, they’ll get audited. We want to always uphold our standard of premium content.

What’s something an advertiser may not know about Raptive?

We have trillions of data points from our creators that advertisers can use to reach even the most niche of audiences. For example, a major condiment brand was able to activate across all sites with recipes that called for that condiment. We can leverage data to make your campaigns a success.

How are your SSP partners differentiating themselves?

We love how TripleLift is creating new and unique formats that our creators can opt into and drive incremental revenue. We also appreciate SSPs that are bringing us unique data, so reporting differentiation is a big one for us as well.

Learn how you can activate Raptive’s premium diverse-owned inventory here.
This is the fourth installment of our Voice of the Publisher Series. To get caught up, check out our blogs here.

The post The Perfect Pair: How Raptive and Their Exclusive Creators Drive Programmatic Success appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Miranda Dennis, Associate Director, Product Marketing

First-party data has become the most indispensable asset in digital advertising. And everyone wants a piece of it. 

Advertisers are armed with CRM data; publishers own a wealth of first-party signals; and leveraging this data may be the most effective and scalable strategy for cookie-less targeting. There are so many flavors of first-party data that are well-known, tested, and trusted today. 

But what about contextual? 

Contextual targeting is a critical, yet often outdated form of cookie-less targeting on the open web. It enriches your campaign scale and is privacy-safe. 

Cross-domain identity solutions only account for maybe 30% of addressable supply, so it’s imperative to bolster your cookie-less solutions with contextual first-party data. What might have been previously perceived as a dusty tactic of the past has been brushed off and emerged as a leading alternative in cookie-less targeting strategies. 

Today, we’ll take a deep dive into the current state of contextual and show you how the elevated contextual of TripleLift Audiences drives outcomes for both our buyers and publishers.

Contextual Targeting Today

Traditional contextual advertising matches a webpage’s content with a brand’s content alignment and targets ads based on the page’s content—like being served an advertisement for pet food while reading content about cats. 

This is executed through various signals loaded in bid request attributes to accurately match the ad to a web domain. These signals include the content itself, URL, user intent, sentiment analysis, historical performance data, metadata, keywords, and so many more. 

We’ve known contextual works well and has been an effective tool in a media planner’s toolkit for a long time. With TripleLift Audiences, contextual transforms into a future-proofed first-party data option by converting those attributes into targetable, curated segments.

Elevating Contextual with User Behavior

TripleLift Audiences segments inventory using a contextual x behavioral approach. This means we look at the number of visits a user makes before considering them “in-segment” for a particular segment.

Let’s take a look at how this works:

Looking at the left side of the above diagram you can see a behavioral segment defined by TripleLift for a “Basketball Enthusiast” as a person who visits content related to basketball across the same publisher three or more times.  While the user has visited multiple basketball sites, you can see they don’t fall “in-segment” on nba.com because they have only visited that domain once.  

This allows us to build segments based on behavior not just the content of a page. And we do this on a per-publisher basis.

Elevating Contextual with Accuracy and Reach

Contextual can be improved by page-level curation — not just the URL level. Page-level curation ensures the same broad reach as URL-level curation, but with more accuracy and fewer wasted impressions.

Imagine you’re researching the best cat treats across publishers. You’d want to look at the content of the page at the page-level and not just how the URL gets categorized. Let’s look at these examples to find the best opportunity for reaching cat lovers and targeting all the cat treats ads to them, we would want:

This level of precision is important for contextual, which can err on the side of being too broad. TripleLift Audiences works because it finds the right balance of accuracy and precision, without sacrificing scale. 

Contextual Targeting With TripleLift is Better

You’re now prepared to reach cat lovers looking to buy treats—or cats who have found their owners’ credit cards. But don’t stop there. TripleLift Audiences elevates the game and makes it possible to find so many more audiences with accuracy and scale. 

Learn more about how TripleLift Audiences can help you achieve better results. Explore our most recent case study proving how contextual targeting can help brands achieve results in a privacy-safe environment. 

The post Solving the Contextual Conundrum appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Grant Nelson, Senior Product Manager

I use my GPS when I go anywhere, even if I’ve been there a million times. I trust it because it’s always been accurate. But what if my GPS was slowly giving me less and less accurate information and providing longer, more wasteful routes without telling me? 

This is what’s occurring right now with signal loss and current ID solutions. 

TripleLift data shows that without third-party cookies, cross-site ID solutions’ coverage drops to 30% for probabilistic identifiers and 5% for deterministic identifiers. Advertisers need a solution that reaches the other 70-95%.

Advertisers rely on matching users across sites to credit conversions and build audience targeting profiles. Third-party data providers that provide audience targeting data rely heavily on third-party cookies to link online with offline data to make it targetable. That’s why your audience targeting probably doesn’t work on the 47% of traffic without a third-party cookie.

You need a better solution. 

Publishers, advertisers, and data providers are increasingly leaning on cross-site identity solutions to replace this function, but this will result in running out of gas. Smart advertisers and buying platforms have begun benefiting from the realization that ID solutions aren’t enough. 

Cross-site identity solutions can lead you down two roads:

1. Probabilistic: Solutions that rely on technical attributes exposed by a browser as a user surfs a site, such as IP address, user-agent, URL parameters.  These solutions don’t require the user to affirmatively choose to share identifying information, as they operate passively. 

2. Deterministic: Solutions that request from a user an email address or a phone number and use that information or a deterministic derivative to link that user on one context or site to another context or site. 

Passive Identifiers & Probabilistic Solutions

Probabilistic solutions rely on the uniqueness created by many possible combinations of attributes surfaced by a browser to servers. Unfortunately, Google Chrome and the other browsers are working hard to reduce the possible combinations observable. 

Suppose you’ve just landed at an airport and are looking for your hired car to take you to a hotel. If you knew the car’s license plate, you could identify with certainty which vehicle is yours. Today, Chrome provides the license plate via third-party cookies. Without the license plate, knowing the car’s manufacturer, color, and size, you still have a good chance of finding your vehicle. 

Passive ID solutions would rely on manufacturer, color, and size to generate an ID, for example, “red-ford-pickup” or “gray-honda-4door.” These are pretty useful, but not as accurate as a license plate. 

Now, imagine that all vehicles are the same color, reducing “red-ford-pickup” to “ford-pickup” and “gray-honda-4door” to “honda-4door” This is similar to the impact of Chrome removing useragent variation. 

You can still (maybe) find your car, but it will take much longer than it used to. 

This has a few consequences advertisers need to consider: 

• You should expect to see high coverage numbers for probabilistic solutions, but this doesn’t matter. What matters is discernibility and the total number of unique IDs that actually represent different devices. 

• One user ID in a probabilistic solution is not one device; it’s an unknown number of devices that appear identical. And the number of devices that appear identical is growing every day. This means a probabilistic userID is less a user ID and more of a cohort ID, but the only thing the cohort has in common is they happen to browse the web similarly. Reporting will get muddier, and attributions will lead to false conclusions even if they appear to be backed by numbers. 

Deterministic User PII-Provided Solutions

Deterministic solutions rely on the user providing the same email address to both parties that want to link data. So, the user provides the same email address to a publisher and to an advertiser, or the same email address to an advertiser and also a data broker. 

Advertisers are considerably more adept at collecting email addresses, from checkout flows to coupons and discount drives, to newsletters. In short, consumers are more likely to provide an email address to a brand. Buying platforms report that advertisers are making huge gains in getting email addresses, but that’s only half of the equation — you need something to match to. 

Publishers have considerably more difficulty collecting email addresses. 

To understand what a cookieless future will look like, we wanted to understand how often publishers send requests that include universal ID solutions relying solely on email addresses or phone numbers. We found publishers only send one of these IDs around 5% of the time. Advertisers relying solely on ID solutions will be competing over this tiny fraction of inventory and will be paying the resulting markup accordingly. These solutions play a valuable role, but their coverage is very low. 

We anticipate that publishers will increase their efforts to get users to provide email addresses, but we are skeptical that users will change their behavior en-masse. Most have already made up their minds on whether or not to share email addresses. Many provide burner email addresses via Apple HideMyEmail or Firefox Relay.

Cross-Site Audiences Without a Cross-Site ID Dependency

Against this backdrop, TripleLift Audiences was created as a solution to create cross-site audiences without a reliance on cross-site identity, cookie, or otherwise. 

TripleLift Audiences creates and deploys audience definitions to individual publishers, but are targetable across sites. This ensures consistent audience definitions while working on twice the inventory as cookie-dependent audience targeting solutions.

TripleLift Audiences enables advertisers to reach users based on purchase intent and interests and can find content based on topic sentiment. This has driven strong performance results for our advertisers, and it’s not limited to only the part of the internet with cross-site identifiers. 

TripleLift Audiences safely gets you to your destination. 

To learn more about how TripleLift Audiences can help you achieve better results, explore our Data and Targeting research page.

The post Your ID Solution Is Not Enough appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Airey Baringer, VP, Product Management

In the last installment of our retail media blog series, we explored the creative challenges and opportunities in this growing ecosystem. In this edition, we will examine the challenges related to addressability and data protection in retail media.

From extending audiences across the open web to protecting retailer data, we will dig into why retailers should be paying attention to their data strategy especially as third-party cookie deprecation has become much more real. 

Retailer First-Party Data: The Ultimate Value to Advertisers

Currently, retail media networks are in a unique position to deliver more personalized targeting than ever. Retailers have access to extensive first-party data like consumer login information, past purchase data, and what advertising avenues led the consumer to a purchase. Because of this, some of the main reasons advertisers turn to retail media networks are to target a specific audience segment and access closed-loop attribution. These benefits are obvious for on-site advertising within the retailer’s ecosystem. When moving outside of the retailer’s ecosystem, both advertisers and retailers need to consider additional factors to deliver successful outcomes.

Offsite Retailer Audience Targeting Requires Unique Considerations

Successfully targeting retailer audiences offsite and outside of the retailer’s ecosystem requires unique considerations.

First, a retailer’s exact audience can only be targeted offsite where an identity match is possible. While third-party cookies enable scaled offsite targeting today, by the end of 2024, they will no longer be available. Third-party identity solutions are scale-limited because match rates between retailers and most websites will be low. People simply don’t log in to most of the websites they visit and identity solutions only work for a minority of offsite ad impressions.

To account for low identity match rates, retailers should choose offsite data partners who have the ability to scale offsite audiences using lookalike, or audience expansion capabilities. These partners will use a small amount of identity-matched impressions as a seed set of data to create lookalike audiences powered by machine learning and artificial intelligence.  As a result, advertisers will be able to target both the retailer’s known audiences as well as consumers with similar behaviors.

Advertisers should also think about the retailer’s audiences differently when targeting them offsite.  When a consumer browses a retailer’s site, they are in an active shopping mindset and expect to see product offerings. Offsite, however, a consumer is generally consuming content unrelated to shopping. As a result, the expected ad responses from consumers will be different in an offsite environment than they will be in a retailer’s environment. Savvy advertisers will seek to treat offsite audiences as being higher in the purchase funnel and should focus on driving those consumers to the retailer’s ecosystem.

This consumer mindset difference actually plays well into the ability to target lookalike audiences based on a retailer’s known audiences.  The lookalike audiences enable effective prospecting campaigns to find new customers who behave similarly to known customers.

Retailers will benefit from choosing partners that enable targeting of both exact match and lookalike audiences.  Advertisers benefit by leveraging offsite targeting to find both exact match and lookalike audiences with the goal of driving them to the retailer ecosystem to complete a purchase.  Despite the addressability challenges, retailers and advertisers will benefit from offsite strategies if their goals are clear.

Data Is The Most Protected and Valuable Asset for Retailers

As a retailer, your first-party data is the most precious resource and the primary product advertisers are buying access to.  Enabling your first-party audiences to be targeted outside of the retail ecosystem will require high-trust relationships with third-party partners and diligence paired with smart technical system design to prevent data leakage. 

Data leakage devalues the retailer’s first-party data asset by making it available from more places than just the retailer.  Additionally, data leakage increases the risks of exposing consumer data, decreasing the retailer’s brand image and trust with consumers, and limits the retailer’s business growth opportunities. The audience information and customers the retailer worked so hard to earn are effectively exposed in multiple places, making it less important to work directly with the retailer.

Data leakage can be detrimental as there is liability for non-consented access to your customer data, consumers may lose trust in your company, your reputation may be damaged, and consumers may take legal action to control how their data is accessed and used. 

Due to the decentralized architecture of RTB and programmatic advertising, data leakage is very common and difficult to prevent. It is imperative to understand areas of vulnerability within the programmatic landscape and partner with trusted third-party partners to keep your data protected.

Optimizing the Advertiser Buying Motions

We know that offsite is important for retailers to retain advertisers by providing more scale and targeting capabilities. It is also beneficial to retailers to prospect new customers by driving consumers to buy on their site. To best serve advertiser needs, retailers should carefully consider the buying motions required to take advantage of retailer audiences, both onsite and offsite.

Advertisers frequently complain about the number of new buying platforms that must be adopted to transact in retail media as retailers often create a new buying platform for advertisers to adopt.  However, there is another path that lets advertisers use their existing buying platform(s) or DSPs of choice while retailers retain full control over their data.

Retailers can work with a supply-side partner (SSP) who will be able to represent all of the retailer’s onsite ad inventory and all of the offsite ad inventory in a single solution.  Further, advanced SSPs will be able to facilitate the creation and management of a retailer’s audience matching and lookalike audiences so they can be easily targeted onsite, or offsite, using an advertiser’s DSP of choice.

To do so, the SSP will package both onsite and offsite inventory into deal IDs based on the advertiser’s desired audiences.  Advertisers can target those deal IDs on any DSP.  The SSP will ensure the privacy and protection of the retailer’s data by preventing data leakage throughout the programmatic lifecycle while ensuring the advertiser reaches their desired audiences through inventory supply curation.

Retailers that use this approach will better match the needs of advertisers while still enabling effective and private targeting of retailer audience data.  Advertisers will benefit from this approach because they can use their existing buying platform(s).

Looking for more insights beyond addressability and data protection in retail media? Make sure to check out our other retail media blogs here. 

The post Addressability and Data Protection in Retail Media appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to Voice of the Publisher, powered by TripleLift. Every month we invite one of our publisher partners to provide a deep dive into their inventory and share their expertise and unique POV on the programmatic landscape. 

This month we welcomed three Mediavine Revenue team members Erin Tully, VP, Programmatic Sales, Michelle Peguero, VP, Programmatic Sales, and Vin Zingale, VP of Buyer Development, to our NYC office. Keep reading to learn more about Mediavine and their insights on topics like SSP differentiation and economic inclusion in media.

Get to Know Our Mediavine Superstars

Erin, Michelle, and Vin bring Mediavine’s solutions to advertisers around the globe. With over 144MM monthly uniques according to Comscore, Mediavine exclusively represents the advertising for over 10,000 blogs in the Lifestyle space. They are a Comscore Top 20 publisher, offering high impact & high viewability packages via private marketplace deals (PMP) and proprietary keyword targeting, as well as custom creatives through their programmatic guaranteed pipes.

The Power of Lifestyle Content with Mediavine

• Exclusively represents more than 10,000 sites in the lifestyle space 
• Consistently ranked Comscore Top 2 in Lifestyle and Food
• Grow, Mediavine’s first-party data solution, integrates with multiple audience targeting methods

Uplifting Diversity in Media

Mediavine and TripleLift help amplify overshadowed and overlooked voices by providing access to opportunities to build successful, sustainable businesses. 

In the September 2023 Industry Benchmark Report, Jounce Media determined that 77% of DE&I inventory evaluated for the study was exclusively represented by Mediavine.

Prior to the Jounce study, Mediavine had already dedicated substantial resources to fostering equitable ad spend among diverse site owners, and formally announced their program last fall.

Uplift by Mediavine is a community of talented, passionate independent business owners exclusively represented by Mediavine. The marketplace empowers advertisers to keep their commitments to diversity and equity by making it easy to identify and spend with underrepresented voices at scale.

AAPI-owned, Black-owned, Disability-owned, Hispanic-owned, LGBTQIA+-owned, and Woman-owned; these self-identified publishers create the invaluable lifestyle content that everyone wants to read.

Working with TripleLift means access to all of Mediavine’s Uplift inventory—plus our own network of diverse-owned inventory, UNREP. Learn more about the UNREP curated deal. And because TripleLift is NMSDC certified as a minority-owned business, you can count all spend towards your diversity commitments.

Our Conversation with Mediavine

What’s something unique about Mediavine that you want readers to know?

We’re exclusive with our publisher domains. If a site is on Mediavine, you cannot access it or the inventory anywhere else.

How are your SSP partners differentiating themselves?

We enjoy having in-depth conversations like the Publisher Speaker Series here at TripleLift. It’s important for us to keep in touch with our SSP partners outside of scheduled meetings so we stay in the loop with what our partners are working on or struggling with. We’re here to offer support and create opportunities for our valued partners.

Any advice on how SSPs can find success with DSP marketplaces?

Don’t focus only on the top 3 DSPs in the market. There are plenty of DSPs and specialized niche companies built on top of DSPs to work with that provide value to advertisers. 

What are your favorite Mediavine sites?

• Vince’s favorite: “One of our owned and operated Mediavine sites, The Hollywood Gossip”
• Erin’s favorite: “I don’t cook, but my husband does, so I send him a lot of our food sites.”
• Michelle’s favorite: “I’ve actually met the owner of Ask Chef Dennis. He’s the sweetest and made his blog to share recipes with his students. He’s the best.”

For more information on our UNREP package and how to activate Mediavine publishers, check out our Deals and Packages. And make sure to check out the previous installment of Voice of the Publisher to get all caught up on streaming.

The post Uplifting Diversity in Media: A Conversation with Mediavine appeared first on TripleLift.

As a premium environment, CTV often commands a premium cost. But with that cost comes expectations from advertisers around inventory, performance, and efficiency. 

As streaming evolves, advertisers can expect more opportunities in 2024 to improve their campaigns.  

With increases in CTV viewership, new publishers and platforms have entered the space. That means more programmatic inventory available than ever before, creating a favorable environment for consumers and advertisers to find high-quality content at affordable price points.

The Metrics are the Medium

With its full-screen impressions and close to 100% Video Completion Rates (VCR), CTV provides an unbeatable solution for advertisers prioritizing video metrics like Viewability and VCR. While CTV CPMs are higher than web and mobile video, advertisers get peace of mind knowing their ads are seen on larger screens with high engagement metrics, ensuring a better return on investment.

The Streaming Consumption Surge

Serving into high-quality television environments with incredible metrics is becoming more accessible than ever to advertisers. The surge in streaming viewership has attracted new platforms and publishers, creating more competition and choice that benefits both consumers and advertisers. As subscription fatigue continues driving high churn, ad-supported services, including Free Ad-Supported Television (FAST), have become more popular with consumers. 

FAST models and ad-supported subscription tiers have increased the available inventory sold programmatically, giving a larger pool of advertisers better access to high-quality impressions.

The Shift in Supply Distribution

 FAST isn’t just good for advertisers – consumers like it, too.  FAST viewership is expected to reach nearly 115M viewers by 2027, and 89% of consumers believe FAST delivers great value.  The popularity of the FAST model has in turn democratized distribution for publishers, helping small and mid-sized publishers reach living room environments, creating an even larger pool of professionally produced, premier content for advertisers to appear in, resulting in new opportunities to achieve incremental reach from a broader set of publishers than in the past.

Achieve Streaming Efficiency

The CTV landscape has the necessary conditions for advertisers to achieve more efficiency than ever before. The inherent performance of CTV video metrics, coupled with higher viewership and a plethora of diverse supply sources gives advertisers an opportunity to efficiently reach new audiences while still serving alongside quality content. With TripleLift CTV, the combination of meaningful partnerships, creative technology, and data activation gives advertisers the chance to maximize scale and reach audiences across brand-safe, high-quality content at the most efficient prices.

To help you get started, check out TripleLift’s CTV Efficiency Package.

The post Start 2024 on the Right Track with Streaming Efficiency appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: James Oyedele, Senior Product Manager

In last month’s feature from our retail media blog series, we explored the challenges and opportunities we see in today’s retail space, specifically around offsite advertising. In that post, we touched on the importance of creative in retail media. Today, we’re taking a deeper dive.

Creative Has Been an Afterthought in Offsite Advertising

Online shoppers primarily focus on the items that initially brought them to a retailer’s site. However, when executed well, intentional creative can drive shoppers to explore products they never knew they needed. So, it’s no wonder Google reports that creative execution drives 70% of a campaign’s success.

On-site ads can drive significant results for advertisers. These ad experiences blend seamlessly into the retailer’s content and are contextually relevant and enriched with their first-party data. 

Moreover, creative elevates on-site advertising with helpful additions, like an item’s cost, customer ratings, availability, and the option for consumers to add items to their shopping cart. 

Often incorporating rich media elements, such as carousel touchpoints and video, on-site advertising excels in repurposing product listing assets into engaging creative.

On the flip side, offsite retail media campaigns do not reach the same levels of creative innovation that we see on-site. Advertisers typically have to repurpose standard display ads used in programmatic campaigns, making them undifferentiated and unsuited to the specific outcomes advertisers desire from retail media investments, resulting in poor engagement and performance. 

Here’s the reality: retailers are missing out on the huge potential to set themselves apart from other media networks by offering their advertisers differentiated creative. 

Perhaps the best example of retail-specific creative lies in Amazon’s Responsive eCommerce Ads. These allow advertisers to include product listing assets such as prices, customer ratings, offers/promotions, and prime shipping, to both on and offsite ads. Amazon, who account for roughly 75% of the retail media industry, have established a standard for retail creative. 

Performance Relies on Creative

Creative must be considered when trying to improve the performance of offsite campaigns. Campaigns executed through a retailer’s network typically have a specific objective: bring a customer to the retailer’s site to buy a product. Standard display banners often do not communicate that objective. 

There is the opportunity to enhance creatives with retailer-specific customization, re-creating intuitive e-commerce across publishers where customers are reached at higher stages in the purchase consideration funnel. As brands and agencies push retailers to provide better offsite capabilities, we are starting to see a pathway for creative to replicate onsite creative experiences in the open web. 

Harnessing the Power of Creative In Retail Media

Improved and expanded creative capabilities are the key to overcoming many challenges facing the retail space today. Poor creative impacts all advertising—and creative in the retail media space in particular needs an upgrade. Offsite campaign performance will suffer without better creative. But it’s not all doom and gloom. As brands and agencies push for better experiences and retailers look to differentiate themselves, the space will continue to evolve to better meet the needs of retailers and brands alike.

For more information on retail media, CTV, first-party data, and so much more, check out our resource center.

The post Retail Media: The Power of Creative appeared first on TripleLift.

2023 was an eventful year in the digital world. From Taylor and Travis to the Twitter rebrand, so much happened it’s tough to remember everything, especially in the world of online advertising. To that end, we compiled a collection of TripleLift’s Greatest Hits of 2023 to catch you up on the really important stuff that went down this year.

Quality Publishers & Direct Inventory

High-quality publishers are a cornerstone of our business. We’re always working to create the most extensive list of premium publisher partners possible. Not to toot our own horn, but we’re really proud of the progress we made this year.

• 200+ New Publisher Partners 
• 9,000+ Total Publisher Partners

Powerful Creative Tech

TripleLift has always lived at the intersection of creative and media. And this year, we made significant advancements in creative technology. 2023 was a terrific year for our TripleLift built formats, which consistently outperformed against industry standards—native redesign in particular. 

• Increased rCPM by 83%
• 90% Increase in Publisher Revenue for One Publisher Partner 
• Increased Publisher Revenue by 100% for Hearst and 41% for Raptive (formerly CafeMedia)

Our Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising provided compelling data proving how well Native performs for our advertisers.

• 5x more engagement from Native ads than Display ads
• 42% more likely for Native to capture consumer attention than Display ads
• Compared to display, Native drives 2x higher CTR

Connected TV

2023 was a big year for our CTV team. From live sports to brand new deals, when it comes to connected television, we’re on a roll that’s not slowing down any time soon.

• Added 10+ Premium CTV Publishers
• 70% Average Increase in CTV Premium Publisher Revenue 
• 55% Increase in the Number of Brands Choosing Our CTV Solutions
• Earned one client 66% incremental reach with CTV Spots
• Introduced Our Live Sports Package

Smart Data Targeting

When it comes to targeting, this year, it starts and ends with TripleLift Audiences, our innovative first-party data solution that entered beta this year and has been a great success so far. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights to date.

• 26% Increase in rCPM.
• 33% lower CPCs
• 1,300 Off-the-Shelf Segments
• Over 75 Custom Segments

Strategic Partnerships

In this business, quality partnerships are a must. Thanks to our partnership with Adelaide, we became the first SSP to offer guaranteed deal packages based on AU (Attention Unit) score. Additionally, in 2023 we partnered with iSpot.tv, allowing brands to leverage our proprietary systems and iSpot.tv’s audience measurement to optimize their campaigns.

• Partnership Adelaide Performed 8% Higher Than Benchmark
• iSpot Measurement on TripleLift CTV Campaigns Offer up to 66% Incremental Reach

Economic Inclusion & Sustainability in Online Advertising

We’re not just committed to making the digital world a better place, we’re committed to doing good from a social and environmental standpoint as well. In 2023, we took significant steps toward fulfilling these commitments.

• Onboarded 5,838 Sites to Our UNREP Package
• Influenced $90M in Ad Spend Across Over 90 Accounts
• Hosted 1,082 Meetings in September Unlocking a $10 Donation to Big Brother Big Sisters Each
• Announced Our Commitment to Significantly Lowering Emissions and Supporting Minority-Owned Businesses.

Happy Customers

As the most supportive team in Ad Tech, we don’t take our commitment to customer success lightly—and our 2023 NPS survey proves it. Take a look at the numbers below to hear what our customers have to say.

• 81% Agreement That TripleLift Is Their Go-to SSP for Native
• 71% Agreement That TripleLift Is Their Go-to SSP for Omnichannel Solutions
• 78% Believe TripleLift Delivers Strong Results
• Nine of 10 Clients Trust TripleLift as a Partner
• 91% Expressed Satisfaction With TripleLift Sales and Client Reps

Thank you to our partners, advertisers, publishers, and everyone else who has made 2023 such a great success.  But at TripleLift, we don’t rest on our laurels—we’re excited to continue elevating digital advertising across every screen in 2024.

The post That’s a Wrap: Looking Back on 2023 appeared first on TripleLift.

At TripleLift, economic inclusion in media matters. Elevating digital advertising across every screen means uplifting minority-owned publishers with unique perspectives and helping them monetize their content so they can continue their important work.

Learn more about our commitment to a more equitable digital landscape, and how we leverage our partnerships to make an impact.

The Problem: Inequity The Digital Landscape

Demand for diverse-owned inventory is on the rise. However, while there is interest,
spending on diverse-owned media only accounted for 1.85% of total spending in 2022. With tens of billions of dollars on the table, it is crucial that diverse-owned publishers get a larger, more equitable piece of the pie.

The Promise: TripleLift and Our Partners Can Make a Difference

TripleLift has the technology, the products, and the services to contribute to a more equitable digital world. 

To make good on our commitment to amplifying publishers owned by women, minorities, and  LGBTQ+ individuals, we’ve cultivated relationships with strategic partners like Raptive that can provide quality inventory at scale for our advertisers.

The Hurdle: Visibility for Underrepresented Publishers

Buyers are looking to advertise with underrepresented publishers, but for some, finding these publishers is difficult. One survey found that 54% of respondents consider finding diverse publishers a top challenge.

With so many great publishers out there and so much interest from advertisers, connecting the two has become a top priority for our team here at TripleLift.

The Solution: Our UNREP Package

We’ve been bringing innovative solutions to the ad tech industry since we entered the space in 2012. Curated Audiences, for example, are content and performance-based deals that are easy to activate and customize. These deals make it easy to reach specific goals — like advancing equality with your ad spend with UNREP, a Curated Audience that buys impressions on sites majority-owned by women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Our relationship with Raptive, the #1 source of diverse-owned media on the open web, and a significant contributor to our UNREP Curated Audience, helps us provide advertisers with the quality inventory and scale they need. Raptive’s publishers account for nearly 30% of all available diverse-owned ad inventory (Jounce Media, 2023), exclusively representing over 1,000 publisher sites, providing over 35B monthly available impressions.

The Takeaway: Underrepresented Publishers Deserve Attention and We’re Committed to Elevating Them

The demand for diverse-owned inventory is growing. However, low visibility makes it difficult for advertisers to meet their supplier diversity goals. Bolstered by Raptive’s extensive diverse-owned inventory, our UNREP Curated Audience takes all the stress out of elevating underrepresented voices. Contact us to discover how we can make a difference together. 

To learn more about how we elevate the digital landscape, check out our Resource Hub.

The post Building a Strong Network of Underrepresented Publishers with Raptive appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Annie Vines, Senior Director, Business Development

In the first installment of our retail media blog series, we introduced off-site advertising, a growing trend in the space. Brands and advertisers are increasingly leaning into retail media, and with so much demand, Retail Media Networks are turning to off-site advertising. 

We’ll be taking a deeper dive into the challenges and opportunities with this new and growing segment in this installment of our retail media blog series.

The Opportunities

As more demand flows through retail media networks, retailers need to provide more opportunities to activate their first-party data and reach customers at a higher level of the purchasing funnel. 

Enter off-site advertising.

Retailers now offer audience extension across publishers on the open web, driving consumers back to their sites to purchase. 

Off-site advertising is the missing piece of the funnel for retail media buys. By taking ads off-site, brands can leverage retailer data across their marketing campaigns. Additionally, retailers increase the potential of their ad business by expanding media beyond their owned and operated properties.

The Challenges

Non-Standardized Creative Formats

Creative is a crucial part of the equation. In fact, when it comes down to it, creative may be the most important element of digital advertising. According to Nielsen, creative drives 56% of a campaign’s ROI. And Google reports that creative execution drives 70% of a campaign’s success.

Retail media networks generally restrict creative execution to standard IAB display and video formats, making them undifferentiated from creative executions in traditional programmatic campaigns. This creative restriction creates a much more basic viewer experience than what is possible on-site, ultimately impacting campaign performance. 

Creative availability also provides a challenge in off-site advertising. Brands and agencies may not have access to core creative or social assets that are common on-site. Massive brands with thousands of products may instead rely on the retailers’ product catalogs or SKU data to populate their ads. Without retail-specific creative teams, sourcing new assets is difficult and time-consuming.

Limited Data and Targeting

Off-site Retail Media campaigns typically involve the activation of retailers’ first-party audiences in the open web. Currently, offsite advertising provides less information and control for retailers and brands. Third-party cookie deprecation has made this increasingly difficult to do precisely.  On-site, it’s possible to know 100% of your audience—offsite, that simply isn’t the case. To achieve the scale, retailers and brands require a more holistic audience strategy beyond ID solutions that rely on logged-in users.

The Takeaway

Off-site is nascent and still being explored. However, trends suggest it will become a significant part of retail media as retailers mature their offerings and brands demand full-funnel activations. Off-site campaign performance will suffer without better creative and audience targeting options.  As retailers learn, and brands push retailers to provide better offsite capabilities, we will see these challenges addressed. 

However, while there are growing pains, the potential offsite advertising has for retailers and brands alike makes it something to keep an eye on. Today, this quickly growing segment shows no signs of slowing down.

Stay tuned for the next installment of the series, where we’ll be discussing creative in more depth.

The post Retail Media Growing Pains: Off-site Advertising appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to Voice of the Publisher, powered by TripleLift. Every month we invite one of our publisher partners to provide a deep dive into their inventory and share their expertise and unique POV on the programmatic landscape. This month we welcomed Fethi Berk Ziyadeoğlu, Director of Ad Operations at Fubo, to our NYC office. Keep reading to learn more about Fubo, and Fethi’s insights on topics like live sports and tech innovation.

Getting to Know Fethi

Fethi is an established authority in the world of programmatic advertising. Currently serving as the Director of Ad Operations at Fubo, Fethi manages relationships between programmatic partners. Before joining the team at Fubo, Fethi held the role of Programmatic Solutions Manager at DISH Network.

Cutting the Cord in Favor of Fubo

Fubo aggregates and distributes hundreds of leading sports, news, and entertainment networks, including exclusive sports rights and original programming.

With an average subscriber net worth of $960K and an average income of $91K, Fubo delivers a premium, engaged audience to advertisers looking to attract new customers.

Fethi’s Tips for Success in CTV

From your experience, what are advertisers most interested in today?

Recently, we’ve seen that advertisers are increasingly focused on audiences over content types and genres. For example, ensuring that a brand’s ads are running during NFL games may be a priority, but leveraging first-party data and targeting NFL watchers throughout the season is equally, if not more, important to them.

What is the value SSPs bring to Fubo?

In my opinion, innovative SSPs are setting themselves apart. An SSP with new, monetizable technology that is two steps ahead of its competition allows us to unlock incremental revenue faster. Being able to onboard new solutions in a turnkey way differentiates SSPs for us at Fubo.

Advertisers are looking for efficient rates, but what additional services can SSPs provide?

Aside from price, SSPs can offer tailored customer service like post-campaign measurement and reporting, industry benchmarking, or other unique insights to strengthen future campaigns. These custom benefits can help an SSP stand out and earn an advertiser’s business.

What’s something unique about Fubo that people may not know?

We believe that if sports fans were to build a streaming service, it would be Fubo. Our platform streams over 55,000 sporting events per year including national sports leagues like NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB plus over 35 regional sports networks across the U.S. We also stream niche sports like pickleball and even cornhole tournaments. Brands today are increasingly interested in women’s sports and local sports, so our ability to deliver both puts us in a unique position to help advertisers reach their target audiences.

While many of our users come to Fubo for sports, they stay for the entertainment. As a full cable TV replacement, Fubo also has a wide range of entertainment content for the entire family in addition to sports.

To learn how you can activate Fubo’s premium inventory and other similar sports content, make sure to check out our CTV Sports Package.

This is the second installment of our Voice of the Publisher Series. To get caught up, check out the first post here.

The post Ditching the Cable Bundle: A Deep Dive with Fubo’s Ad Operations Director appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Caroline Gosnear, Product Marketing Manager

Retail media has become a hot topic in the digital world. But what exactly is it? It’s an umbrella term that describes advertising directly on a retailer’s site or on the open web using a retailer’s first-party data. 

How is this new topic gaining so much traction?  New buying behaviors are unlocking new budgets, allowing retail media to quickly become one of the fastest-growing ad categories alongside CTV. 

This is the first in a series of posts on retail media. Today, we’re covering the basics, but in upcoming posts, we’ll detail what the industry needs to know to win in this new environment— from creative to addressability, and everything in between. So, make sure to keep your eyes peeled for more content in the near future.

Shifting Consumer Behavior 

The pandemic changed the way we all consume. For example, services like grocery delivery became commonplace due to shelter-in-place mandates, but have remained popular in a post-pandemic world. With shifting consumer behavior, advertisers must also shift their strategies to meet their customers where they’re spending the most time—and where they are most likely to purchase. 

Retail Media Networks also have access to rich first-party data that satisfies the growing demand from advertisers for solutions that do not rely on third-party cookies.

The Potential of Retail Media 

Not surprisingly, Amazon is leading the pack, capturing 75.2% of the $45.15 billion US retail media advertising market this year. That’s more than 10 times that of Walmart Connect, the second-largest player in the space. Amazon is expected to see its US ad revenue increase by $5.04 billion this year—more than Google and Meta combined at $3.34 billion. Even with only a few physical stores, Amazon leads due to its diverse offering of data, creative formats, device types, and scale.

Additionally, on the retailer side, retail media unlocks new revenue streams. Joint Business Plans, often referred to as JBPs, now include agreements contingent on spend commitments via Retail Media Platforms. For example, a brand may only have access to seasonally relevant end cap space in-store if they hit their advertising minimums through the retailer’s media network.

Buying online—and, therefore—advertising online is beneficial for both retailers and brands. Rich first-party data makes targeting more successful, driving overall sales. By monetizing their site, they are unlocking ad revenue, driving sales, and providing incremental value for their brand buyers.

Offsite Advertising

While onsite advertising describes placements available on retailers’ owned and operated inventory, we also see retailers beginning to offer offsite extension in order to add scale and prospect new customers. 

Offsite advertising allows the retailer to use brand dollars to unlock upper funnel awareness tactics and influence consumers to view the product on their site.

Offsite ads mostly appear in display placements on non-retail publishers across verticals such as home, food, sports, and technology. The idea is to target consumers as they browse relevant content and drive them to the retailer’s site. For example, home cooks looking for pasta recipes may see a display ad inviting them to the Walmart website to purchase pasta.

Offsite Retail Media’s Growing Pains

Retail Media is still the new kid on the block and offsite is relatively new. While there have been areas of offsite innovation, challenges remain. Currently, brands and agencies are limited in options for creative formats that align with the retail media-specific campaigns, yielding poor user engagement and therefore suboptimal performance. But, stay tuned for the next series installment to learn more about the challenges of offsite advertising and where you should be keeping an eye out.

Retail Media TL;DR

Retail media provides a massive growth opportunity for the entire programmatic ecosystem from brands, retailers, and publishers alike. While Amazon is leading the pack, there is still plenty of pie left to claim in the retail media space, and as more retailers continue to enter the space, now is the time to look for ways to differentiate.

For more great insights on all things Ad Tech, make sure to check out our other blog posts, case studies, and whitepapers.

The post Retail Media: Ad Tech’s Hottest Topic appeared first on TripleLift.

The holiday season has arrived, bringing the enchantment of sparkling lights, festive decorations, and a deluge of holiday-themed commercials. Q4 is the peak season for consumer spending. And it’s a crucial time for advertisers to drive purchase intent and brand affinity via holiday streaming content.

Despite economic uncertainties, audiences are anticipated to open their wallets generously during the holidays this year, with the average shopper planning to spend $875+ on gifts, decorations, food, and other holiday items, according to an NRF study. 

Across connected TV (CTV), the holiday season is the perfect time for advertisers and publishers to engage audiences through unique holiday content, smart targeting, and high-quality, unique advertising.

The Universal Appeal of Holiday Content

Holiday content transcends the boundaries of platforms, apps, and publishers, captivating audiences worldwide. Publishers looking to capitalize on the surge in audience interest have been investing in new holiday-themed content or securing licenses for beloved timeless classics. Moreover, the appeal of holiday-inspired content extends across different verticals and genres, like cooking, crafting, and travel, emphasizing the need to understand its total impact on audience satisfaction. 

With all of the unique holiday content available, audience engagement peaks with increases in viewership and attention during the holiday months, reaching the highest points in December and into January. But audiences aren’t just passively watching – an analysis conducted by Playground XYZ revealed a nearly 50% increase in the average Attention Time for holiday-themed content. Co-viewing has also become a noticeable trend, with 60% of families watching at least one holiday movie together, as reported by Statista. With holiday content across nearly every streaming service, there is no shortage of opportunities to get your message out to consumers while they are leaned in. 

Smart Strategies for Holiday Advertising

CTV provides the ideal platform for delivering your brand message, with nearly 100% completion rates, sound-on engagement, and the advantage of the largest screen in the household. Layered on top are the advantages of programmatic technologies, which allow advertisers to flex their messaging and approach as the holiday season goes on.

The flexibility of programmatic CTV can be a game-changer for both national and local brands, offering an array of publishers to deliver against and providing speed against optimization of messaging, targeting, and approach, ensuring campaigns remain agile and effective. 

Increasing ad frequency during the holidays can break through the clutter of the season. However, monitoring performance is critical to avoid overwhelming viewers with the same message too many times.

As the season carries on, performance-driven creative is crucial to achieving optimal results. Aligning to contextually relevant content like food or lifestyle, can increase performance, depending on the type of advertiser. Additionally, creative supplementations, like QR codes, can add value to the viewer experience, encouraging audiences to take action.

Conclusion

The holiday season offers a golden opportunity for advertisers to engage their target audience, increase brand visibility, and drive sales across CTV. Advertisers of all scales can make the most of the season by embracing holiday content and thoughtful strategies.

To make your holiday campaign ring in the new year, check out TripleLift’s easy-to-activate CTV Holiday Bundle inside our Holiday Hub.

The post Holiday Streaming Content: A Warm Embrace for The Advertising Space appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Neil Smith, VP of CTV Revenue

In advertising, staying ahead of the game requires adaptability, agility, and a keen understanding of where your target audience spends their time. With the ever-expanding landscape of connected TV (CTV) and the transition of top content from linear to streaming environments, it has become crucial for advertisers to recognize the significance of live sports. Live sports on CTV offer a unique opportunity for advertisers to reach diverse and engaged audiences as they shift from legacy platforms and transition into a new wave of viewership.  

The proliferation of streaming platforms has given rise to a wealth of live sports content. In the fall alone, major leagues like the NFL, NBA, MLB, and college sports are in full swing across various apps, platforms, and channels. This multitude of sports events ensures that advertisers have a variety of options to choose from when aligning their brand with specific events and audiences. 

According to Nielsen Fan Insights, 80% of sports fans, 76% of NFL fans, and 89% of soccer fans regularly have or sometimes watched sports on any streaming or online channel this year. Those numbers are expected to continue to grow as Sports viewers across digital environments are expected to increase by 13% this year, according to eMarketer – highlighting the growing popularity of this content across streaming environments.

But it doesn’t come without its challenges, which is why you need to work with a partner who cannot only offer desirable content but also aggregate and simplify the activation process for maximum performance and efficiency. 

Distribution Fragmentation: The Challenge of Multiple Channels and Platforms

As the popularity of live sports on CTV continues to soar, distribution has become increasingly fragmented. Different entities own the ad sales rights to various sports events, making it challenging for advertisers to reach the total addressable market for audiences watching that content across the entire streaming universe. 

Historically, ad sales rights were owned by the TV Programmer and the traditional MVPDs through which the content was distributed. However, a host of virtual MVPDs and FAST platforms distribute TV Programmer content today. These new entrants have both ad sales rights and meaningful audiences. Additionally, many live sports leagues have gone direct-to-consumer with their own CTV streaming offerings. 

Advertisers typically approach one publisher for a direct opportunity, but they are missing out on all other channels that the initial content provider shares distribution rights with, minimizing the total reach of that potential audience. This complexity can be daunting for advertisers, requiring them to navigate a maze of sales channels. Working with a partner like TripleLift, who can aggregate all those pathways, will help extend your campaign and find incremental audiences. 

Accessibility & Scale: Premium Content for All

One of the most attractive aspects of advertising during live sports events is the accessibility and scale it offers. Contrary to the misconception that advertising during live sports requires an exorbitant budget, CPMs for live sports are pretty competitive and comparable to other premium CTV content.

Advertisers with varying budgets can tap into live sports content’s immense reach and impact. The scale of live sports is enormous, allowing advertisers to swiftly reach a massive and diverse audience, especially among younger audiences who have adopted streaming-first methods for watching sports.

Attention and Engagement: The Live Sports Advantage

Live sports viewers are a distinct group, inherently more engaged and attentive. They are emotionally invested in the game, which translates to higher levels of viewer engagement. Advertisers can better capture their audience’s attention by delivering relevant ads during live sports events. Studies show that ads displayed during live sports events have significantly higher performance and engagement compared to ads outside the live environment. A study by EDO showed that the NCAA New Year’s Six bowl games were the top college football games of the year in terms of engagement, with last season’s ads in those games yielding 71% increases in engagement than the prime-time average outside of live sports. This is a testament to the captivated and focused audience that live sports can provide.

Simplify with Live Sports Packages

Clients can opt for live sports packages to simplify the buying process and ensure that advertisers reach a broad sports-loving audience. These packages consolidate the advertising opportunities across sports leagues, channels, content, and distribution partners by providing a one-stop solution for reaching sports enthusiasts across a wide range of live sports content. 

In the world of CTV, capitalizing on live sports content offers a unique opportunity for advertisers to engage with a captivated, broad, and passionate audience. The accessibility, scale, and engagement potential of live sports make it an indispensable avenue for advertisers looking to make a lasting impact. With the right strategy, live sports across CTV can help advertisers score big with their target audience.

Get in the game with TripleLift’s Live Sports offering today!

The post Live Sports on CTV: The Value You Expect, But Easier Than You Think appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to Voice of the Publisher, powered by TripleLift. Every month we invite one of our publisher partners to provide a deep dive into their inventory and share their expertise and unique POV on the programmatic landscape. 

This month we welcomed Walker Linares, Director of Programmatic Partnerships at LG Ad Solutions, to our NYC office. Keep reading to learn more about LG Ad Solutions, and Walker’s insights on topics like FAST, ghost-watching, and more.

Getting to Know Walker
Walker Linares is a seasoned vet in the world of programmatic advertising and partnerships. Currently serving as the Director of Programmatic Partnerships at LG Ad Solutions, where he is responsible for growing and managing the success of advertising monetization partners. Walker previously held various roles at The Trade Desk, including Director of TV.

Going Beyond Linear with LG Ad Solutions
With 35 million Smart TVs in the U.S., 150 million globally, and 300 owned FAST channels, LG Ad Solutions offers advertisers direct-to-glass access to millions of homes. 

With our premium CTV and native inventory, we give brands massive-scale and incremental reach beyond their linear campaigns.

Walker Linares, Director of Programmatic Partnerships at LG Ad Solutions

Highlights From Our Q&A with Walker

How can advertisers combat ghost-watching on connected devices?
Ghost-watching is a challenge for others in our space. However, because we have first-party ACR data, we know when the TV is off, ensuring ads only appear — and advertisers only pay for impressions — when viewers are actively watching the content.  

We’re seeing DSPs removing SSP from the publisher stack. How do you balance the needs of the big players and your needs as a publisher?
Too much consolidation can be a bad thing. Do we need to work with 30 SSP partners? Probably not, but we need more than one or two. SSPs can create custom and tentpole packages that make it easy for advertisers to buy our inventory.

Can you tell us about the benefits of FAST channels? Why are buyers apprehensive about FAST channels?
FAST is not low-quality content — it’s where eyeballs are. The quality of content has improved over the years, and people are watching at scale during primetime. 

It needs to be part of your plan because it’s unique. Unique reach, scale, and consumer behavior have shifted to direct-to-glass FAST channels. It shouldn’t be your only strategy, but it needs to be part of your plan. 

Understand the bigger picture and allocate your investment accordingly.

What’s the biggest challenge in the CTV space that you wish could be solved?
Education is critical. It’s crucial to understand the buy side — how agencies are structured, how they allocate budgets, and how pre-existing relationships and commitments have changed as part of this new strategy.

The buyers that are the most ahead of the curve and having the most success are the ones that started breaking down some of those traditional barriers and were a little bit more flexible. It goes back to understanding what you’re trying to accomplish and what the blocker is.

Can you comment on any changes you’ve seen in planning cycles for buyers?
You still see the same kind of strength in the upfront, but we’re also seeing more scattered dollars than in years past. Buyers are willing to take a little off the table. They’ll still keep their upfront commitments, but they want more flexibility. And I think that’s going to continue.

What does it take to be successful at selling CTV in such a complex landscape?
The most successful individuals are the ones who listen and care about the buyer — knowing who you are talking to, what they do, and what they care about is crucial. 

It’s not about feature selling. Loyalty matters, so being able to track an app install is interesting. It comes down to preparing for who you’re talking to. In the long run, you’ll become a more trusted partner and help them understand the ecosystem. 

For more information about CTV, make sure to check out our CTV Spots one-sheet.

The post Behind the Screen: FAST Channels, Combatting Ghost-Watching, and More with Walker Linares appeared first on TripleLift.

Ready or not, in 2024, we’ll all be living in a digital world without third-party cookies. Fortunately, test results show that our solution for targeting in cookie-constrained environments, TripleLift Audiences, can provide superior monetization and scale, a true win-win-win for publishers, advertisers, and consumers.

Problem: Declining Addressability

Today, nearly half of global ad requests occur in cookie-constrained environments. When Google deprecates third-party cookies across Chrome in late 2024, about 90% of the open web will be unaddressable.

We have been discussing the coming cookie-pocalypse as an industry, but often forget that almost half the internet is already unaddressable. This is a boiling the frog exercise happening before our eyes.

Ed Dinichert, Chief Revenue Officer at TripleLift

Solution: First-Party Data

TripleLift believes that making publisher first-party data available to buyers at scale can help solve declining addressability in an increasingly cookie-constrained digital landscape. 

That’s why we introduced TripleLift Audiences, a first-party data targeting solution made for cookie-constrained environments. And now, we’re excited to report that the results of the industry’s first-ever large-scale test show massively improved outcomes for both advertisers and publishers. All without third-party cookies. 

Our solution effectively addresses the 47% of the internet that already operates without cookies. We’re creating a path forward today as the industry braces for further addressability outages in 2024.

How it Works: Audience Segmentation

Instead of dropping a cookie on users and following them around the web, we build audience segments with publishers using their first-party data, identifying and reaching audiences on a publisher’s own site. With hundreds of websites already on board, we can address 30 billion daily ad impressions, across 800 contextual and behavioral audience segments like baking enthusiasts, football fans, and family travel planners.

Results: An Effective Solution for Targeting in Cookie-Constrained Environments

The results, delivered with a major global consumer electronics brand, show improved performance for impressions enriched with publisher first-party data. The advertiser achieved 33% lower cost-per-click (CPC) when compared to targeting in environments where third-party cookies were present. The test was conducted at scale, with 230 million impressions delivered. 

Publishers also saw improvement, with CPMs increasing by 26%. TripleLift Audiences allows publishers to monetize content previously rendered untargetable by third-party cookie deprecation, enabling them to re-offer those impressions through first-party data targeting.

Conclusion: A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

Today, there are no added data costs for advertisers and publishers participating in TripleLift Audiences. We encourage buyers looking to lock in greater efficiencies to participate in our beta opportunity — and reach previously untapped audiences.

As we inch closer to saying goodbye to third-party cookies altogether, TripleLift Audiences proves that an advertiser’s targeting goals and a publisher’s monetization goals do not have to be mutually exclusive. A better internet is possible, one that protects consumer privacy while ensuring ad relevance and improved addressability.

Let’s create a better internet together.

The post The Results Are In: TripleLift Audiences Provides Superior Targeting and Monetization appeared first on TripleLift.

Written by Matthew Morgan, Managing Director, Publisher Client Services

At TripleLift, our commitment to making a positive impact extends beyond the world of digital advertising. This September, we are proud to support Ukrainian Action. Specifically, and in keeping with our broader commitments to climate sustainability, we are helping provide renewable power sources to a school in Ukraine.

Allow me to share some background on our sustainability efforts and about this particular donation.

A Future Powered by Renewable Energy

Our Environmental Commitment reflects our investment in a better future for all, demonstrated by measurable actions, like pledging to reduce absolute scopes 1&2 GHG emissions by over 50% by 2030, and working to reduce scope 3 GHG emissions associated with travel by 55% per FTE by 2030.  

It is imperative that companies are more aware of their carbon footprint and we are dedicated to going green and lowering emissions on a global scale.

Green Curated Deal 

In line with our sustainability efforts, TripleLift launched the curated GREEN Deal in April 2022. With over 10.5 billion impressions, this initiative provides advertisers with a platform to connect with websites that prioritize sustainability in their products, content, and charitable endeavors. 

The GREEN Deal empowers advertisers to reach their target audience while contributing to their sustainable business goals.  

Investing in Education with Sustainable Solutions

We are proud to partner with Ukrainian Action to provide renewable power sources for a school in Ukraine, providing environmentally friendly and reliable energy where it’s needed most.

Ukrainian Action is a humanitarian organization I started with friends to provide critical support and aid to the people of Ukraine. Led by a dedicated team of volunteers and driven by a deep commitment to making a positive impact, Ukrainian Action has achieved remarkable results in its efforts to assist Ukraine during challenging times. 

The organization’s core mission includes delivering supplies through humanitarian aid convoys, providing crucial support to orphanages and classrooms, and collaborating with partners to install renewable power sources like solar arrays and battery configurations. 

Ukrainian Action’s tireless efforts have resulted in the delivery of over 205 donated vehicles, including pick-up trucks and ambulances filled with essential supplies.

The children of Ukraine face many obstacles, and by supporting schools with renewable energy sources, we are contributing to the empowerment of children through education.  

Schools provide a crucial foundation for children’s education and personal development. As stated by Afshan Khan, UNICEF Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, “Schools and early childhood education settings provide a crucial sense of structure and safety to children, and missing out on learning could have lifelong consequences.”

If you would like to add to our donation and help fund additional renewable energy sources for schools, you can do so here.  

Thank you,  

Matthew Morgan

The post Empowering Education and Resilience: Our Support for Ukrainian Action appeared first on TripleLift.

Written by Thomas Brandon, VP, Agency Strategy and Economic Inclusion

At TripleLift, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) are more than just words – we’re taking action to drive change and support meaningful initiatives that extend beyond our status as a minority-owned business. In the month of September, we’re partnering with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, to aid efforts that mentor kids of all backgrounds to go to college and be more prepared for a career in an industry like media and advertising. More on that in a moment.

There is a big movement underway for the advertising industry that embodies a significant shift to help build a more equitable and inclusive world, by growing and elevating diverse-owned media and setting measurable targets.  In fact, many brands and holding companies have signed up to meet goals of 2-5% of their spend going to minority-owned inventory providers.

As a minority-owned business, we qualify for diverse spending goals. But, our commitment to DE&I is not just about revenue – we are focused on educating and empowering people through the work we do, the employees we support, and the communities we serve.

Certified Minority-Owned Business

TripleLift is one of the few ad tech businesses certified by the National Minority Supplier Development Council. The NMSDC is the largest third-party organization that sets business standards for supplier diversity and has a rigorous certification process that our business partners rely on when seeking partners for opportunities.

We are recognized as a diverse supplier by the Association of National Advertisers. The ANA Certified Diverse Supplier list has been created to support marketers starting or improving their supplier diversity program. A diverse supplier is a business owned and operated at least 51 percent by an individual or group that is part of a traditionally underrepresented or underserved group.

We are registered in the M.A.V.E.N Diversity database, which ad agencies use as a tool for verifying ownership and tracking spend with diverse media vendors. This tool is usually utilized at the HoldCo level.

Supporting Minority-Owned Publishers

TripleLift is advancing equality by enabling advertisers to buy impressions on sites operated by owners in underrepresented communities. Our UNREP (Underrepresented Voices) deal represents impressions on sites majority owned by women, minorities, and members of the LGBTQ community. These media owners – and their audiences – have been historically underserved by advertising. With over 5B available weekly impressions on sites like Black Enterprise, Essence, and El Mundo, we’re a standard bearer in the space.

In the past, and in times of great need, we have spurred greater investment in these publishers by waiving our normal fees to drive more spend, more quickly and helping these publishers capture more of the revenue. 

Helping Greater Diversity in Advertising

This month, we’re demonstrating our commitment to diversity in a tangible way.  For every meeting we hold in September, we’re giving $10 USD to Big Brothers Big Sisters of America (BBBSA).

BBBSA is the largest donor- and volunteer-supported mentoring network in the United States.  It currently has 6 million participants and pairs mentors (“Bigs”) with mentees (“Littles”) servicing 5,000 communities across all 50 states.  Two-thirds of Littles are Black, Indigenous, People of Color and since 1904, Big Brothers Big Sisters has operated under the belief that inherent in every child is an incredible promise.  With a goal of helping children reach their full potential, data shows that Littles are more likely to improve their grades, go to college, and start a career if they have proper mentorship.  

Helping them helps us all.

As BBBSA themselves say: “It takes little to be big.”  Please join us to help make a difference.  

The post Going Beyond Minority-Owned Status: Our Commitment to a Diverse Advertising Industry appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Sara Nirenberg,  Sr. Research Analyst & Alyssa Budke, Field Marketing Manager

Believe it or not, it’s time to start thinking about the holiday season, and in #AdTech, that means holiday ads. Don’t worry, you can leave your stockings and menorah in the garage for now, it’s July after all. But if you’re looking for success during the holiday season and beyond, we’ve got this handy guide for you.

Keep on reading for research and actionable insights to help you sleigh your KPIs this holiday.

The Problem: Your Holiday Assets Need to Go Further

Holiday marketing is a whole different ball game. Last year, global holiday spending was flat. And this year, data shows 70% of consumers plan to cut back this season. In 2023, you’ll need quality holiday insights to nab as much revenue during this critical time as you can. 

The Promise:  We’ve Got the Insights to Get You in the Spirit

As the most supportive company in AdTech, TripleLift is always here to help, especially when it matters the most. Just like Santa relies on Rudolph to guide his sleigh, you can count on us to guide your holiday planning. We’ve got digital advertising insights to help you make better connections with your consumer. 

Ready to start holiday planning in July? Good. Grab a Piña Colada, or whatever your favorite summer drink is, and let’s get going.

The Opportunity: Break Away from Cookiecutter Holiday Ads

Last year was tough for marketers. With macroeconomic factors squeezing revenue globally, the cost of doing business took a nice big bite out of advertisers’ margins. This year provides you with an opportunity to do something a little different and ease your anxieties about:

• Building and maintaining relationships as consumer sentiment changes​
• Understanding the customer journey, and its impact on brand health and loyalty ​
• What, when, and how to communicate to the consumer

With our insights and solutions, your budget can eight days when it was only supposed to last one. Figuratively speaking, of course. It’ll go further than expected, is what we’re saying.

The Solution: The Right Message at the Right Time 

We know it’s not quite the gifting season, but we’ve got an early holiday gift for you nonetheless. There are three areas of holiday advertising we can help you improve, stretching your budget further.

And make sure to check out the complete Advertiser’s 2023 Guide to Unwrapping Holiday Spend for even more information.

Understanding the Consumer

Before you can build (or strengthen) your relationship with your customers, it’s important to understand consumer behavior and sentiment going into the holiday season. 

Here are a few consumer insights we think are crucial for successful holiday planning in 2023:

• Consumers, especially younger ones, take Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts into consideration while shopping
• The economy is unpredictable, and consumers are cutting back on their holiday spending accordingly 
• Shoppers are spending more time on mobile, especially those with a little extra budget to spend 
• This year, convenience is more important than ever. Consumers want to know the products they want are in stock and that their order will be easily fulfilled with options like Buy Online Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS) 

With these key insights, you can align the right messaging at the right time within the customer journey for maximum impact. 

Building Relationships with Your Customers

Feelings and emotions build relationships, memories make them last. How you communicate with your customer, and align your values with theirs, will differentiate your brand this holiday season. So, how do you do this?

Firstly, make sure your holiday ads speak to the right customers. What Gen Z looks for and what Boomers look for in a brand can be very different. Let your customer know you get them. For example, if you’re looking to catch the eye of Gen Z, leverage those CSR efforts we mentioned before.  Looking to target boomers? Highlight the quality of your products. 

Secondly, understand what the holidays mean to your customers. For example, 53% of people plan to cook or bake for Thanksgiving, and 48% plan to do so for Christmas. Or that 50% of people will be traveling this holiday season? For some folks, the holidays are staying put and ordering in, for others, they’re for traveling and spending the night in the kitchen. Your messaging should evoke these memories. Make sure your audience knows choosing your brand is an investment in what the holiday season means to them.

Pairing Insights with Solutions

Pairing these insights with TripleLift solutions is where the real holiday magic comes from. 

Let’s kick things off with smart targeting. Elevated by our placement-level optimization, commitment to first-party data, and our award-winning data activation technology, TripleLift Audiences, our new offering, provides the best available data where you need it most. ​

Next up: deals. Last year, deals and discounts fueled discretionary spending and holiday growth. But deals aren’t just for your customers, check out our curated inventory deals so you can promote your discounts this holiday season more efficiently. 

Lastly, it’s time to talk about customization. Whether you’re adding a QR code to your CTV spot or creating custom CTAs for your native placements, we can help you ensure your holiday ads are as efficient and effective as possible. 

The Takeaway: The Holidays Are Stressful. Creating Great Holiday Ads Shouldn’t Be

We can’t help you avoid your obnoxious uncle, or pretend to like your cousin’s cranberry sauce. However, we can help you make create the best, most efficient holiday campaign as easily as possible.

You’ve done the research, we’ve done ours. Let us help you reach your target audience and maximize your holiday budget. Even if you’re not looking forward to Christmas with your in-laws, you can still look forward to hitting your goals.

If you’re looking for even more holiday cheer, make sure to visit our Holiday Hub, for more info including our Advertiser’s 2023 Guide to Unwrapping Holiday Spend.

The post Christmas in July: Better Holiday Planning for Better Holiday Ads appeared first on TripleLift.

Continuing with third-party cookies and Universal IDs is a game of diminishing returns. Now is the time to elevate your contextual strategy by supplementing it with behavioral capabilities. We’ll show you how.

The Problem: You’ve Been Overlooking Contextual Targeting

When third-party cookies are fully deprecated, 90% of traffic will be expected to lack a cross-domain identifier. That’s almost 100%. If you’re one of the 80% of advertisers relying on third-party cookies, reaching your audience is going to be tough. But you don’t have to say goodbye to addressability when you say your final, final goodbyes to cookies. 

Modern contextual targeting has entered the chat. 

The Promise: Contextual Targeting is More Capable Than Ever

Taking a second look at contextual is like finally updating your operating system and enjoying all the new functionalities you never knew you needed. It’s not just keyword analytics anymore, especially if you layer behavioral data on top. 

“Contextual targeting has had a glow-up, and I’m here for it. New technology at TripleLift (powered by 1plusX) allows for deeper analysis not only about the topics and content of websites but also how users’ interactions inform future recommended content. It’s time for a media planning makeover.” 

– Charlotte Schaefer, Associate Director of Product Marketing, TripleLift

The Opportunity: There’s Room for Improvement 

Traditional contextual advertising assumes that any person reading content relevant to the advertised product or service will be interested in the product or service. But not every NBA fan is looking for new kicks to hoop in. Some of us are just happy to sit on the couch and watch the pros. And that means lots of ad dollars go to wasted impressions. Therein lies a big opportunity to improve the quality of audience segments, resulting in more efficient targeting.

Let’s explore how to make the most of this opportunity.

The Solution: Improving Your Contextual Targeting Strategy 

Updating your contextual targeting strategy for the modern era doesn’t have to be a daunting task if you have the right insights. We’re here to introduce you to a side of contextual targeting you’ve never seen before. 

These days, you can leverage audience segments based on specific pieces of content readers consume, making first-party data even more actionable and allowing you to more effectively target your ad spend without third-party cookies. This new and improved contextual targeting helps shoe brands, for example, avoid wasting precious ad spend on basketball fans with no interest in actually hitting the hardwood. 

With modern contextual targeting, there are so many new layers that will supplement your keywords analysis strategy, including:

• User Intent
• Sentiment Analysis
• On-Page Engagement (i.e. clicks, scroll depth, etc.)
• Historical Performance Data

We’ve got highly efficient targeting covered, but we know what you’re thinking: what about scale? When it comes to contextual, the word of the day is deals, specifically, multi-publisher deals. So why not reach out to see if you’re a good fit for our publisher first-party data alpha program?

The Takeaway: Context(ual) Is Key

Contextual targeting, with its new and improved capabilities powered by behavioral data, is an essential tool in your cookieless survival kit. But you don’t have to wait until we’re living in a digital world totally devoid of third-party cookies to start thinking about how to incorporate contextual targeting into your strategy. You can and should start now. 

Want more information on contextual targeting? Check out our updated Prepper Playbook. And don’t forget to check out our previous post to learn how to make first-party data your MVP.

The post Bringing Your Contextual Targeting Up to Date appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Evon Hung, Senior Analyst, Product Research

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, staying on top of the latest changes can be difficult. When it comes to programmatic native, TripleLift set the standard and we’re always here to answer your questions.

The Problem: Digital Marketing Ads Can Be Confusing — Especially Native

Distinguishing between the various digital ad formats available is tricky. As digital marketing ads continue their rapid evolution, staying up to date with the most recent changes in each offering becomes more and more difficult. Consequently, it’s not uncommon for buyers to feel a little hesitant about activating native.

Fortunately, we’re here to help make sense of it all, answering the most frequently asked questions about native, so you can take advantage of all the benefits it has to offer.

The Promise: We Can Help You Optimize For Better Programmatic Campaigns

With multiple native formats, not to mention all of the customizable elements and features available, understanding how native ads can meet certain KPIs, how to use them, and how to activate them can be confusing. Trust us, we get it. But we can help.

In the decade plus that TripleLift has led the industry in the programmatic space, revolutionizing native advertising, we’ve collected valuable advertiser feedback and user experience data. We’ve compiled these insights into our Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising, allowing us to empower advertisers to optimize their native campaigns.

We’re here to answer your frequently asked questions and combat any fears or uncertainties you may have.

The Opportunity: Capturing Consumer Interest with Programmatic Native

Before we get into the FAQs, let’s see how native advertising effectively drives consumer interest. Though native is capable of driving performance at every level of the sales funnel, it specifically excels in increasing higher levels of customer experiences, making it optimal for an omnichannel marketing strategy. Most notably however, native succeeds in capturing general interest. 

Native ads garner double the click-through rates than traditional banner ads, effectively and efficiently drawing the consumer’s attention, while generating opportunities to interact with the brand or product. Native ads are also 42% more likely to capture consumer attention than banners do (TripleLift’s Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising), generating multi-faceted consumer interest with different touchpoints. 

With performance on your near horizon, the question then becomes: how do you achieve it with native?

The Solution: Customization, Targeting, and Deals Make Better Digital Marketing Ads

What is native used for? 

Native is great for increasing traffic, brand awareness, driving ad engagement, and expanding reach, largely due to the format’s customizable nature. Customizations address specific needs including disclosures, FDA compliance and more effective images, captions, CTA to drive product sales. Whether you are aiming to achieve higher or lower funnel objectives, there’s a native format for you.

What’s the best way to activate native?

Native can be activated similarly to activating Display ads! TripleLift can easily repurpose display creatives and social assets, or you can tap into TripleLift creative services for custom creatives and headlines and captions. For easy performance optimization to ensure you hit your KPIs and relevant audiences, make sure to leverage Deal Ids. Our campaign and partner management teams are there every step of the way. But wait, there’s more. Brands don’t need to be tied to a single DSP to activate our inventory or deals because we partner with the most popular DSPs to make activation easy.

Will third-party cookie deprecation affect native? Should I still include it in my campaigns?

Great news *drum roll* – even when third party cookies are gone for good, native will continue performing! When third-party cookies disappear, TripleLift will still be able to help you reach your target audiences by leveraging privacy-safe publisher and advertiser First-Party Data — packaged on a deal ID.

The Takeaway: With Native, The World Is Your Oyster

With the right optimizations, native is the digital marketing ad solution you can lean on today, and for years to come. With roots in innovation, and a track record of pushing the envelope, TripleLift has the native offerings you need to achieve the performance you deserve, and then some. 

Learn more about how to effectively activate a native campaign. And don’t forget to check out our Native Best Practice Guide as well.

This is the third entry in TripleLift’s three-part programmatic Native blog series: Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising series. Don’t forget to read our previous entry, Programmatic Native Advertising: How It’s Performing Now & Where It’s Going.

The post Mastering Programmatic Native: Frequently Asked Questions About Your New Favorite Digital Marketing Ads appeared first on TripleLift.

2024 won’t be the beginning of cookie deprecation, it’ll be the end of it. A strategy based on first-party data is the key to cookieless success. Let’s dive in.

The Problem: Third-party Cookies Are Already Disappearing

Cookie deprecation isn’t impending, it’s already begun. Firefox and Safari already block third-party cookies. Furthermore, when Chrome finally follows suit in 2024, things will get tough for the 80% of advertisers still relying on third-party cookies. 

It’s already crunch time and that means it’s time for first-party data.

The Promise: We’re All-in on Embrace First-party Data 

We’ve revised our playbook for 2023 with freshly supplemented materials so advertisers can update their battledecks, and create and test winning strategies today, setting themselves up for cookieless success tomorrow. 

But let’s take a quick step back. What is first-party data, you ask? It’s data that is owned either by the publisher or advertiser. Our publisher first-party data solution helps advertisers expand beyond their own CRM data and into the highly scalable world of publisher first-party data. And most importantly, it doesn’t require third-party cookies or ID graphs while still delivering advertiser results at scale.

TripleLift is so confident in the power of first-party data that we acquired 1plusX in March of 2022, to build technology that will allow us to package publisher first-party data to target at scale.

“TripleLift’s publisher first-party data solution enables targeting where there aren’t third party cookies, such as Safari, first impression visitors, and even Chrome. This helps advertisers nearly double their audience reach compared to only using third party data providers, and at a lower price. Stay tuned to participate in beta opportunities.”

Grant Nelson, Senior Product Manager

The Opportunity: Challenges You’re Overcoming with First-party Data 

What will a world without third-party cookies look like? We’re already becoming familiar with the challenges (opportunities) a cookie-less landscape presents. Nevertheless, when the dust settles, players in AdTech will have to suit up for a whole new ball game. Let’s take a look at some numbers and see what they’re up against, according to our proprietary data (Source: TripleLift Data Analysis, 2023).

• First, expect 90% of online traffic to lack a cross-domain identifier. 
• Second, web users identified with an identity solution will drop to less than 10%. 
• Finally, right now, roughly 50% of all programmatic ad requests come from cookie-constrained environments and are not targetable.

But we’re not here to ruin your day; we’ve got solutions. So, as NPR’s Ira Glass always says, stay with us.

The Solution: First-party Data

The future of the digital ad space is not all doom and gloom. In fact, the deprecation of third-party browser cookies will ultimately make the digital landscape a better place for everyone: publishers, advertisers and consumers. 

The key? Grounding your strategy with publisher first-party data. Here’s how.

The first step is to work with supply partners who have the ability to unleash a publisher’s first-party data. Activating on deal IDs is key as it allows publishers to leverage their valuable audience data, and allows advertisers to target those audiences, whilst protecting the publishers’ data by not making segments available in the bid stream. Moreover, multi-pub deals provide greater scale vs a typical 1:1 PMP. And finally, it’s crucial to test your strategy in cookie-constrained environments, like Safari and Firefox. And lucky for you, there’s plenty of opportunity to do that right now. 

The Takeaway: Future-Proofing Your Targeting Strategy Doesn’t Have To Be a Slog

If you haven’t started getting ready for a digital world with limited third-party data, or you’re just feeling a little overwhelmed, we’ve got you covered. In the bottom of the ninth, with the game on the line, setting yourself up for success doesn’t have to be stressful, especially when you have an MVP just waiting to knock it out of the park for you. Our new and improved Prepper Playbook has everything you need to call the right shots.

If you still feel like you need a little extra support, we’re always here to help. 

The post Cookie Deprecation Has Already Begun. Make First-party Data Your MVP appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Evon Hung, Senior Analyst, Product Research

This is the second entry in TripleLift’s three-part programmatic Native blog series: Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising. Don’t forget to read our first entry, How Marketers Make the Most of Native Advertising for a Successful Media Mix Strategy.

Ever wonder why you might be browsing a website, then all of a sudden, you scroll past an ad for a Kate Spade Medium Satchel in Autumnal Red, the very same bag you were eyeing less than an hour ago?  Or reading an article, and in the midst of the content, suddenly find an ad for the pet treat delivery service you’ve been considering? What you’re experiencing is Native advertising. And while giants like Amazon and Google churn out trillions of ads per day, when it comes to programmatic Native, it all started with TripleLIft. 

Programmatic Native Skyrockets Digital Advertising

Native advertising isn’t new – print magazines and editorials have been doing it successfully for decades. Remember those magazines in the check-out aisle at your local grocery store? They had the latest and trendiest products featured seamlessly within the latest Branjelina news. Online Native content functions the same way. And as media has shifted in favor of digital, Native ads have ultimately become standard in the advertising industry.  

Rewind to 2013: it’s been a decade since programmatic advertising hit the scene, online ads are mainstream and we’re all posting our embarrassing versions of the Harlem Shake on Instagram. The field is well established with robust real-time bidding capabilities and a variety of programmatic buying options. However, banner ads are the only ad format available in the programmatic space. And while initially banner ads generated high consumer curiosity, they are quickly garnering a reputation for providing a jarringly intrusive user experience. 

Enter TripleLift: to close the gap, TripleLift invents an innovative new format: programmatic Native, providing viewers an ad experience with a more seamless, intuitive, and content-first approach. By pioneering this new product category and opening monetization efforts, TripleLift became the leader of Native to an essential SSP marketplace. 

Ok, back to present day. 

Since its inception, programmatic Native has redefined publisher partnerships and shifted major DSPs like DV360 and The Trade Desk to support innovative, non-standard formats. This is largely due to not only the advanced technology and forward-thinking user experience, but the performance that programmatic Native provides. For example, Native ads actually garner 2x higher click through rates than traditional banner ads (TripleLift’s Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising, 2023), effectively and efficiently earning the consumer’s attention, while creating an opportunity for them to interact with the  brand or product. 

Programmatic Native Ad Technology is Everywhere 

As the format continues to evolve, its adoption rate continues to grow. In 2023 alone, marketers plan to allocate over a third of their new budget towards Native (TripleLIft Proprietary Data, 2022) with projections of programmatic ad spend in the United States reaching an all-time high of $83.4 billion. 

The advertising industry continues to show strong interest in the evolution of Native technology. It’s one of the reasons that the top DSPs chose our Native video as the preferred medium to show longer length content, empowering brands with amplified storytelling capabilities. By 2019, TripleLift had made a name for itself thanks to its managed service and creative activation processes and optimizations. When new players entered the market, TripleLift expanded its Native offerings by integrating the mechanics across a portfolio of video formats such as Online Video and now CTV. As Native continues its expansion in global markets, and a digital world without third-party data draws nearer, the format will only continue to thrive. 

First-Party Data Solutions Paired With Traditional Formats Will Upgrade Audience Targeting 

3rd party cookie deprecation is underway and demand for audience retargeting, and overall targeting capabilities, are on the rise. In ever-changing environments, the future of digital advertising requires flexible and savvy solutions. TripleLift’s relationships with publishers allow In-Feed Native to seamlessly fit into its surrounding context. With access to site optimizations, this backend technology should alleviate the stress of the so-called “Cookie Apocalypse”. 

Prioritizing partners who offer an array of first-party data solutions to connect with target audiences, along with premium in-feed Native formats will set brands up for success as the digital ecosystem continues to evolve.  What’s more, this approach will provide an upgraded user experience and better monetization opportunities for publishers. When advertisers are no longer able to rely on third-party cookies to target niche audiences, formats like In-feed Native, with high brand recall and awareness will be crucial for brands looking to stand out.

Learn more about how to best activate programmatic Native in our Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising.

The post Programmatic Native Advertising: How It’s Performing Now & Where It’s Going  appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Evon Hung, Senior Analyst, Product Research

This is the first entry in TripleLift’s three-part Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising series.

Success is a multi-faceted word. In practice, it’s a positive result or metric. On a deeper level, it’s a concept that provokes existential exploration: what exactly equates to success? How do we best measure success? French philosopher Montesquieu once claimed that success depends on knowing how long it takes to succeed, which happens to be a great perspective for advertising. 

Success Measured Beyond CTR 

A successful ad campaign can be measured in a multitude of ways. Once a campaign concludes, wrap reports frequently start and end with whether the click-through-rate (CTR) was achieved, if viewability met expectations, and whether the cost-per-click (CPC) surpassed benchmark norms. While campaign KPI metrics are important, it’s equally, if not more vital to also consider and contextualize the story that surrounds the lift or decrease of each metric. 

Simply put—there is more to measuring success than CTR. When consumers interact with content and a native ad, a low CTR may be outweighed by high average time viewed. The consumer may be so engaged with the content that they would prefer to continue reading rather than click out. Clicks don’t reflect this behavior, but the holistic performance story leads to increased brand loyalty, favorability, and consideration. Now that’s success.

Native Ads Captures the Crux of Consumer Engagement and Attention

Impactful and optimal advertising takes time. Building a dynamic relationship with the consumer naturally leads to attention, engagement, and ultimately action. Advertisers must effectively speak to the consumer throughout the funnel in an approachable and authentic way; while simultaneously creating opportunities for them to interact with the brand. The first step is generating awareness. So, how can advertisers structure their media mix to hit the ground running? By considering the overall user experience and retention rate.

When scrolling a website, consumers are selective with their attention, dodging visuals they perceive as ads, leading to banner blindness. Native is the perfect solution in this environment thanks to its seamless design, performant nature, and customizable elements. Native ads actually garner 2x higher click through rates than traditional banner ads, effectively and efficiently earning the consumer’s attention, while creating an opportunity for them to interact with the brand or product.

The Perfect Pairings for Programmatic Native, Banners, and Online Video Advertising

Beyond awareness and guiding the consumer down the funnel, it’s important to generate consumer retention of the brand or product in tandem. Capitalizing on speciality ad formats designed to encourage engagement is a great way to retain interest and achieve purchase consideration. Online video solutions are designed for brand recall, favorability, and to further captivate viewers. But when paired with Native, In-Stream drove statistically significant increases in purchase intent and message association (source: TripleLift & Kantar MWB Brand Lift Study 2021). In a separate TripleLift campaign, a CPG brand ran a campaign that included Branded Video, Native, and Display ads that lead to considerable lifts in return on ad spend and incremental sales, over 2.5x the industry benchmark norm. (source: TripleLift & Kantar Catalina Sales Lift Study, 2022). These successful campaigns incorporated two or more complementary formats in a strategic power play, increasing perception, attention, and engagement of the brand. In other words, pairing suitable and compatible formats can directly lead to consumer purchase action. 

A common myth is that activating campaigns with only one ad format achieves the highest return – in reality, doing so actually prematurely caps the return on investment. While each specialty ad format has its strengths, a strategic mix of formats is greater than the sum of its parts. Native ads seal the deal in kindling conversions and producing real, actionable results, as long as they are expertly customized, optimized, and blended strategically into your media mix. Learn more on how to best activate programmatic Native. 

Omni-channel Campaigns that Include Native Ads Generate Impactful, Optimized Results

When on a budget, native meets advertisers where they are, providing full optimization solutions that drive real results. It’s a format designed to reach consumers at the sweet spot of engagement and attention, while delivering on key performance indicators. By maximizing the custom capabilities and audience targeting of Native, and pairing it with other specialty formats like  Display, Online Video, or CTV units, your media mix will greatly increase consumer interest, while catering to specific campaign goals like awareness or favorability. 

Good things take time, but great things take a little longer. In order to achieve greatness and secure long term success, TripleLift can help you achieve the perfect omnichannel strategy that hits all your KPIs, not just in the short term, but for quarters to come—starting with programmatic Native. 

Download our latest white paper, The Ultimate Guide to Native Advertising to learn more on how to activate.

The post How Marketers Make the Most of Native Advertising for a Successful Media Mix Strategy appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Matt Simon, Sr. Director, U.S. Sales, TripleLift

As the dust settles on one of the classic Super Bowl games, it’s not just sports fans that will be taking stock.

As one of the biggest dates in the marketer’s calendar, brands regularly spend big to catch the attention of fans globally during this unique event. Getting airtime doesn’t come cheap, however. This year saw the likes of M&Ms, Netflix, and Uber pay up to $7 million for converted TV ad slots.

But Super Bowl LVII was conspicuous not just for those who did appear on our TV screens, but also for those who didn’t. The rising cost of TV ad slots – up 25% since 2020 – coupled with economic uncertainty saw many Super Bowl staples decide against appearing on the live game broadcast.

The way fans watch these tentpole events is also changing, which may be another factor in the advertiser shift. Almost half of consumers use multiple screens to follow the big game, meaning there is more than one opportunity for brands to get in on the action. Here are some game-changing tips on how to do that.   

Fast on your feet 

Agility is the name of the game in unpredictable economic times. Programmatic allows marketers to be highly flexible with their campaigns, with the ability to turn them on or off, or shift spend, in real-time. This flexibility also gives advertisers the chance to test the effectiveness of their ads, tweaking messaging or creative to ensure that it achieves maximum impact and ROI. 

No more Hail Marys

We need to call time on spray-and-pray advertising. With outcomes so closely tied to spend, programmatic offers an accountability that brands can use to justify their investment. As an added benefit, programmatic algorithms are constantly evolving thanks to data, allowing marketers to optimise investments based on specific KPIs.

As budgets continue to be closely watched, accountability and flexibility are the quarterbacks on any brand team planning to invest in big sporting events.

Efficiency all over the field

Programmatic buys are not limited to a single channel. While it is a mainstay in the online advertising space, its growing usage in audio, out-of-home, and CTV applications also allows marketers to run effective omnichannel campaigns.

Through video, audiences can be reached across a range of channels and formats, with consistent messaging. It also helps you stay within the eyeline of consumers as they flit between devices and environments. Even if a brand has already bought its TV slot, marketers can use the power of programmatic to re-engage viewers or supplement TV creative with custom messaging across other devices and formats. Our research shows that a native video ad with custom call-to-action has 3X higher CTR than those without. 

Never break a sweat

What could $7 million get you? A 30-second ad at the Super Bowl. But any brand, regardless of the budget, can tap into billions of high-quality impressions across a range of environments, thanks to programmatic. While a traditional TV ad slot carries with it a certain amount of cache and influence, programmatic can help brands to reach an even wider audience.

Whether fans were tuned in to cheer on the Eagles or the Chiefs, or simply to watch Rihanna’s half-time show, there is no denying the gravitational pull of the Super Bowl. And for live sporting events both big and small, brands can harness programmatic to provide a cost-effective and highly targeted tool to engage watchers across multiple video environments.

From the first kick to the final touchdown, TripleLift can help you power your Super Bowl with online video all year round. 

The post The Super Bowl is a Lesson in Impactful Video Advertising During Uncertain Times appeared first on TripleLift.

Connected TV (CTV) has laid the foundation for a new era in television advertising.  2022 saw a meteoric rise in time spent on the platform, surpassing linear TV viewership. In fact, in Q1 2022, time spent streaming grew 10% globally, according to Conviva. As CTV consumption continues its hockey-stick-like growth, streaming services seek a way to monetize audience attention. But with over 200 streaming services available worldwide, the competition for getting viewer attention is heating up faster than an episode of Love Island.  

It’s never been clearer: traditional in-break ads alone aren’t enough. 

In-Show advertising technology is radically changing the marketplace for product placement, lifting the fortunes of studios, networks, brands, and consumers. Integrated ad experiences will propel us into the next phase of television advertising, with leaders in streaming television like NBCU leading the way.

On Peacock, NBCUniversal named TripleLift as the partner to power In-Scene Ads, enabling marketers to digitally insert brands – 2D signage and 3D product placement – directly into content during post-production. This innovation uses data and technology to create a more dynamic experience for advertisers, and a more personalized one for viewers, at scale. A win/win/win situation for advertisers, publishers, and viewers.

Enhance Brand Awareness with In-Show Ads

Product placement is everywhere, so it should be no surprise that it has become a $23 billion business. It’s 2023, and 15 minutes of ads are no longer acceptable for viewers. Research shows that prominent placements enhance brand recall and a more positive connection with the brand. 

TripleLift also found when brands pair a 30-second CTV ad pod with a 10-second product placement, there was an increase in brand lift by 67%. And brands with two 30-second spots saw a 51% increase in brand lift. Moreover, brand recall was higher as viewers engaged more with in-screen programming. In yet another study, TripleLift and Mediascience discovered a 50% increase in brand recall and an 11% increase in ad engagement when regular video ads were paired with virtual brand integrations. The numbers don’t lie. Combining creativity with CTV forms more meaningful connections, better engagement, and the ability to drive customers seamlessly down the marketing funnel. 

The key is striking the right balance to ensure a subtle product placement without disrupting the viewing experience. With viewers opting for CTV, In-Show advertising is growing and evolving to fit into the new media landscape. 

Dynamic (and Creative) Monetization Opportunities with In-Show Advertising:

In-Show solutions offer a new way for advertisers to reach audiences at scale and for publishers to increase revenue while ensuring viewers enjoy a premium experience with limited disruption. Solutions include split screen, dynamic overlay, brand and product insertion with visual effects creative implementation.

In-Show solutions benefit not only the brand and publishers but also the viewer. A good in-show placement can: 

• Monetize the content with few interruptions
• Minimize ad format frequency
• Insert placements effectively in proximity to pre-existing spots
• Preserve the contents’ narrative when introducing in-show ads

In-Show solutions are scalable, repeatable, and measurable compared to traditional product placement, making them even more attractive to buyers. And new technology ensures placements are always complementary to the production value of the content in which they’re viewed. Thanks to TripleLift’s in-house creative experts, our team can craft unique and appealing reactive templates that are scalable across all programming—ultimately leading brands to enhance the viewing experience while maintaining creative excellence.

In-Show Advertising is poised and ready to take over, and for good reason. Consumers want an uninterrupted viewing experience,  publishers want to monetize the increased attention paid to their platforms, and advertisers want a chance to extend their reach. In-show satisfies all of these cravings. 

Let’s chat if you’re ready to get started with In-Show Advertising.

The post In-Show Advertising is the Future of CTV Advertising appeared first on TripleLift.

Free ad-supported channels (FAST) are popping up everywhere. But are they a good opportunity for advertisers? Well, with the right information, they certainly can be. 

With over a thousand FAST channels in the market, advertisers need to know how they can work with these new channels and the opportunities for their ad dollars in 2023. Fortunately, we’ve got the insights you need to make the right decision regarding FAST.

What Are FAST Channels?

FAST provides a similar viewing experience to linear television — complete with commercial breaks — but is delivered at no cost through internet-connected TVs. FAST channels are supported by video advertisements that typically run 15-30 seconds.

FAST channels address niche interests such as news, cooking, and true crime, among others. They can also be dedicated to reruns of popular broadcast shows or to a big event like the World Cup.

However, the most popular FAST channels are fairly broad. Currently, the top watched channels are mainly from broadcasters: Pluto TV (ViacomCBS), Xumo (NBCU), Tubi (Fox), Peacock (NBCU), The Roku Channel (RokuTM), IMDbTV (Amazon), and Samsung TV+ (Samsung).

Are FAST Channels Here to Stay?

FAST channels are yet another disruption to the broadcast television industry, a new, albeit familiar, development in an industry where television manufacturers, broadcast studios, and OTT subscription players attempt to find new ways to garner revenue.

But where does FAST fit into consumer viewing behavior? Viewers see FAST channels as a complement to the premium content they pay for, like Netflix and Disney+. Additionally, FAST channels fill a gap found when consumers cut the cord, allowing them to quickly find and watch continuous content without searching and finding specific shows. Finally, familiarity with the format makes FAST a desirable option for viewers.

Key Statistics for FAST Channel Growth

• 4.1 billion USD is the expected revenue of linear free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) in the US in 2023. (Statista)
• 9 billion USD is the FAST channel ad revenue projection by 2026. (S&P Global Market Intelligence) 
• 1,400 is the minimum number of FAST channels across 22 networks. (Variety)
• 18% is the increase in FAST channel ad impressions in 2022, and viewing time has gone up 10% year-over-year. (Conviva) 

Just how big are FAST channel audiences? Multiple FAST platforms are now more prominent in the number of viewers compared to cable and satellite TV platforms in the U.S. Networks continue to fuel this growth with idle content in their libraries, putting that content to good use, earning revenue with the FAST model. 

Many viewers have hit their limit on monthly content subscriptions, so FAST channels are a welcome way to fill their content gaps. The bottom line: FAST channels are experiencing faster user growth and overall consumption compared to paid subscription services.

What Are the Advertising Opportunities?

The rise of FAST channels presents a new opportunity for advertisers to reach their target audience. As many FAST channels are a collection of content related to a specific niche interest, as long as marketers have a basic understanding of the interests of their target audience, FAST has the potential to make strong connections between brand and consumer.

Moreover, if a brand previously had success reaching customers on traditional broadcast television but, thanks to cord-cutting, has seen a decrease in reach, FAST channels are a great way to regain the demographic. 

Chris Yates, General Manager of on-demand content for Redbox, told Streaming Media the top uses for their service, Free Live TV, are live events like news. While Redbox didn’t share numbers, Yates said, “ Watch time is really high,” thanks to binge-watching live content. But what about advertising? Bill Condon, Senior VP of Advertising Partnerships for Xumo, said they primarily sell 15-second and 30-second ads yet see advanced ads with greater CPMs in the future. Condon noted, “There’s been a ton more demand. So actually, we’re not seeing prices go down.”

So How Does FAST Advertising Work? 

Advertising on FAST can be bought via programmatic auctions. It’s typically arranged with the channel operators mainly using the same ad-buying tools they’d use online. The next step is contextual advertising, where channel operators will align relevant brands with themed channels and content that fit their target audience’s interests.

The same CTV advertising done today within subscription services can also be done in the FAST ecosystem. Advertisers can work with programmatic solutions to run dynamic overlays, split screen spots, and even brand and product insertions. You can view examples of these ads or get a deeper explanation of how this works in this ungated whitepaper.

“Programmatic is driving a significant amount of our revenue where folks want to come in, and they want to buy on the audience, or they’re bringing their own data to layer on that,” says Condon. “We’re also seeing a significant increase in folks wanting to buy us from a programmatic guaranteed standpoint.” Fundamentally, the higher the data quality the advertiser brings, the better they can target.

FAST Channels Opportunities in a Nutshell

FAST channels can be an excellent opportunity for advertisers for three reasons:

1. Their growth potential: These channels are free, available 24/7, and have no access limitations. It’s easy to see how viewership will continue to grow.
2. Higher intent and attention: Quality thematic content appeals to easy-to-define target groups (=intent) and can generate greater audience attention.
3. Personalization will increase: Beyond adding contextual advertising capabilities, channel operators plan to embed AI inside FAST to personalize viewing guides, increasing target audience viewership.

Data suggests FAST channels are here to stay and are an excellent opportunity for advertisers to connect with target buyers across a specific piece of content and an entire channel. If advertisers haven’t begun exploring FAST channels, 2023 is the time to start.

The post FAST Channels Are On the Rise: Advertisers Take Note appeared first on TripleLift.

Two decades ago, we witnessed a transformation in how people consume content. This digital shift has changed advertising from search and social media to smartphones and on-demand streaming. Advertisers have quickly capitalized on the opportunity to extend their brand’s message via short-form videos. With so much data, content sources, and entertainment options available, traditional advertisers are looking to keep their audience’s declining attention span. Thus, video will continue to be a driving force in advertising in 2023. See what our resident video experts say about the latest video trends and why you should consider them in your marketing mix.

Continued “Bundling” Across Streaming Providers

Whether it’s HBO Max and the Discovery app merging catalogs, or the Paramount + and Showtime package deal, bundling seems the hottest new trend in streaming.

“As the landscape continues to consolidate, we’ll likely see more of these partnerships as streamers try to validate whether or not their audiences are compatible as a combined service. Marketers will be interested in which entity ultimately manages customer PII when two streaming providers merge. Who will own the relationship with the consumer and the data about what they stream? And how will combined services ultimately determine the amount of CTV supply for marketers?”

Rebecca Aliab Deng Senior Lead, Engagement North America

Rebecca Aliab Deng

Senior Lead, Engagement North America

Video Ad Spend Will Keep Growing

“The influx of streaming options hasn’t alleviated brand safety & fraud concerns, so advertisers will continue to purchase CTV directly from publishers or suppliers who directly connect to premium inventory. Additionally, advertisers are relying more heavily on CTV as an alternative to mobile advertising due to IDFA privacy changes. CTV buying doesn’t rely on cookies, so advertisers can still rely on contextual targeting and first-party identifiers to hit their target audience.”

Fay Wu Senior Director of Publisher Client Services

Fay Wu

Senior Director of Publisher Client Services

“There’ll be continued programmatic adoption in CTV,” continues Wu, “especially regarding signaling and accurate measurement. Publishers who don’t have a CTV supply will find alternative ways to increase their video supply. This may explain why outstream, vertical, and high-impact video units have recently regained more popularity. As more consumers shift to mobile, vertical video allows for a more engaging user experience.”

Growing Popularity of CTV In-Show Formats

“Marketers have historically used linear TV for upper-funnel branding campaigns. However, CTV allows marketers to go deeper with their target audience —  offering interactive ad formats where the viewer can be served a call to action. In addition to being highly measurable, this opens up more opportunities for marketers to leverage CTV for full-funnel marketing campaigns. Think of being served an ad for a great new pair of jeans and then being able to purchase them right on your TV!” says Alexander Herguth, Senior Director of Publisher Development at TripleLift.

Improved Frequency Capping

Frequency capping has been an ongoing challenge that CTV marketers and tech providers are trying to solve. With CTV ad spend and viewership significantly increasing each year, the challenge is to provide users with a good viewing experience and effective marketing (nonrepetitive). We’ll see the push for more enriched ad request signals sent to buyers, who will make informed decisions about ads to send to the user. According to Herguth, “Along with ad-podding, we should see fewer instances of duplicative commercials/ads running again and again.”

More FAST Channels

“We will continue to see significant growth in FAST channel viewership and, subsequently, more choices of FAST channels to consume,” says Herguth. FAST allows content creators to build content bundles for niche and broad audiences. Moreover, with contextual targeting on the rise, creators, we should see more FAST options to meet the demand brands have for privacy-centric solutions.” 

Alexander Herguth Senior director of Publisher Development

Alexander Herguth

Senior director of Publisher Development

The Rise of OTT & CTV in Asia-Pacific (APAC)

”The pandemic accelerated the growth of OTT and CTV in APAC and globally as streaming content transpired into a habit. Yet, at the same time, people were confined within the four walls of their homes. According to IAS’ Streaming Wars CTV study, CTV has become mainstream in Indonesia and Australia, with the majority of consumers having access to it and a whopping majority of respondents preferring the AVOD model and being willing to see ads in exchange for free streaming video.”

Jeraldine Huang Demand Sales Manager

Jeraldine Huang

Demand Sales Manager

“CTV consumption will continue to grow in 2023, with the discoverability of content on CTV becoming a key focus.” Huang continues, “AVOD models have increased as video consumption increases, underpinned by the rapid growth of CTV, the control and scale provided by programmatic will become even more essential.”

All in all, relevant and well-crafted videos will be the name of the game to keep consumers’ attention. By leveraging data, media, and emerging trends, you’ll be able to integrate video into your marketing strategy to make the most of your efforts and enhance your business’s bottom line.

Interested to know other possible marketing trends in 2023? Then read Marketing Trends 2023 for CTV, Marketing Trends 2023 in a Data-Driven, Cookieless World, and Marketing Trends 2023: DSPs.

The post Marketing Trends 2023: CTV and Video Will Lead. Will Advertisers Follow? appeared first on TripleLift.

Screen time is growing exponentially. Coupled with increased privacy restrictions and economic pressures, several media businesses are looking to more ad-supported models. DSPs will have to adjust to new technologies, business models, and strategies to stay ahead. 

One such strategy is supply-path optimization. In basic terms, supply-path optimization gives media buyers the power to bid on and win inventory at the most reasonable price. In turn, publishers can maximize their long-term revenue goals. Essentially, it’s a way for demand-side platforms (DSPs) to streamline how they interact with supply-side platforms (SSPs). So now you get the optimization part.

For DSPs, SPO offers more pricing and dynamic auction transparency,  plus it benefits the overall advertising environment. 

Some of our TripleLifters dive deeper into the exact supply-path optimization topics to look out for in 2023, plus the new business models that you can’t afford to ignore.

A Shift in Supply Path Optimization

“Supply Path Optimization (SPO) mean different things to different audiences; if you’re a DSP, it may mean improving win rates and overall bid efficiency, as well as de-duplicating auctions in the supply path. For brands or agencies, it may mean the most efficient buys or identifying a set of preferred partnerships. But I predict 2023 will be a pivotal moment for defining SPO to be inclusive of maximizing addressability.”

Miranda Dennis Associate Director, Product Marketing

Miranda Dennis

Associate Director, Product Marketing

Solve the Third-Party Cookie Deprecation Challenge

As Miranda continues, “Think of it this way: SPO helps buyers make ROI-impacting decisions about who they partner with regarding supply. But when you look at browser addressability, the third-party cookie apocalypse has already happened on browsers like Safari and Firefox. Instead of just thinking about minimizing the number of supply sources, buyers may consider being expansive first and including strategies like first-party data, contextual, and other privacy-forward solutions that ensure unidentified users are being reached across cookie-constrained environments. I expect buyers will start looking for innovative partners to solve cookie deprecation as part of their SPO checklist to reach maximum addressability in cookie-constrained environments and winnowing down from there.”

SPO Will Enhance Transparency

“Ongoing SPO efforts have started exposing the questionable players in our space. This will only continue pushing publishers to reevaluate their ad stack and cut partners who aren’t driving incremental value,” says Fay Wu, Senior Director of Publisher Client Services at TripleLift.

Each buyer’s optimal path is unique. That’s why having confidence in the best-chosen supply chain is critical. Companies can gain better results by accurately measuring success based on performance, innovation, and long-term partnerships. We believe there’ll be more spend in programmatic, where buyers can achieve scale and performance with greater transparency than in other channels.

Will Subscriptions Still Be a Thing in 2023?

With the potential for continued macroeconomic headwinds in 2023, subscription services across multiple industries may look for new revenue streams such as advertising. Cue opportunity for DSPs. So many subscription services have popped up in the last few years. These might be CTV, news, dog toys, and food delivery — it’s enough to make you forget what you’ve subscribed to.

“Going into 2023, with the economy where it is and inflation still a driving factor, several people will be re-evaluating their subscriptions and focusing on only the ones with the most value (or only having one active in a month at a time). This will lead to businesses currently relying on subscription revenue to re-introduce other revenue models and the resurgence of ad-supported content.”

Cynthia Butler Director of Yield Management

Cynthia Butler

Director of Yield Management

Programmatic Retail Media Networks

“Retail media networks increasingly employ a programmatic approach, where retail media inventory is connected to off-site properties and third-party media for omnichannel reach in retail campaigns. For instance, Walmart recently partnered with the Trade Desk to launch its own DSP. Instead of creating a proprietary network, other retailers partner with existing retail media solutions, such as Criteo, that group the inventory of different retailers to provide an extensive reach for brands and advertisers.”

Jeraldine Huang Sales Manager

Jeraldine Huang

Sales Manager

Keen to know what else will happen in 2023? Then catch our Marketing Trends 2023 for CTV or Marketing Trends 2023 in a data-driven, cookieless world.

The post Marketing Trends 2023: DSPs appeared first on TripleLift.

The AdTech industry began honing in on innovative data solutions in 2022. Driven mainly by cookie panic and a global shift toward a more user-friendly digital ecosystem, this focus on data will remain a key priority in 2023. We asked some data-savvy TripleLifters to give us a preview of the biggest data trends in AdTech next year. 

With Third-Party Cookie Deprecation…

Right now, we know the deprecation of third-party cookies might feel like “someone else’s problem,” especially if you’re a buyer who’s focused on executing media plans for 2023. After all, if the third-party cookie is still viable in 2023, why should a buyer care?

Well, even if cookies are available (on Chrome only!), marketers may still want to test out strategies in cookie-constrained environments (like Safari!) during the busiest time of the year: Q4 2023. 2023 will be the last holiday season before third-party cookies are finally deprecated, so when it comes to finding first-party data solutions, buyers should really get going.”

Miranda Dennis Associate Director, Product Marketing

Miranda Dennis

Associate Director, Product Marketing

…First-Party Data Infrastructure Will be Crucial for Effective Advertising

“With the shift to privacy-first advertising and the deprecation of ad IDs, first-party data and user intelligence are becoming the new lifeblood of AdTech. SSPs and DSPs, capable of securely processing bid requests with first-party data, will command a bigger advertising market share. SSP/DSP-owned data clean rooms and deep integrations with major cookieless solutions can be a solid offering for prominent brands. – Jeraldine Huang, Demand Sales Manager.

Privacy and Identity Aren’t Going Away Anytime Soon 

Ongoing SPO efforts have started exposing the questionable players in our space and this will only continue pushing publishers to reevaluate their ad stack, ultimately cutting partners who aren’t driving incremental value. Buyers want to work with a reduced number of trusted SSPs and prioritize partners who deliver on unique formats & data solutions, which will open more opportunities for preferred/exclusive partnerships. Trimming down partners will also reduce the risk of data leakage, an ongoing concern for both publishers & advertisers, which is why TripleLift will be at the forefront of Media + Data innovation.”

Fay Wu Senior Director of Publisher Client Services

Fay Wu

Senior Director of Publisher Client Services

Fay Wu concludes that “IDFA privacy changes will likely cause advertisers to push more of their budgets toward contextual advertising. Advertisers may turn more to direct-to-consumer advertising to collect more first-party data. The quality of first-party data will begin to improve over time.”

User Identification Beyond Cookies

“Brands, SSPs, DSPs, and other ad tech companies will continue to rally around alternative ways to identify users as cookie deprecation finally comes to fruition. The Trade Desk’s unified ID is a prime example of these efforts and has seen support from prominent brands like Procter & Gamble, Disney, Albertsons, and Amazon Web Services.

Rebecca Aliab Deng Senior Lead, Engagement North America

Rebecca Aliab Deng

Senior Lead, Engagement North America

Additionally, brands will look to data management platform (DMP) solutions to help them enrich and deploy their existing first-party data set. TripleLift’s acquisition of 1plusX speaks to this need in the marketplace. We’ll likely see more partnerships and innovative data-driven solutions in 2023.” – Rebecca Aliab Deng, Senior Lead, Engagement NA at TripleLift.

Brand Consolidation: Contextual and Omni-Channel Environments

“With cookie deprecation on the horizon and increasing privacy constraints, brands are looking for relevant strategies to reach their audiences and continue to perform against KPIs. Publishers with diverse verticals and varying content will become more in demand. Platforms who curate contextual packages that can prove incremental reach and scale across omnichannel solutions will earn greater SOV% from advertisers. Brands will be more inclined to shift strategy and budgets to better performing partners further consolidating their media spend accordingly.

Ali Wendroff Senior Director of Global Engagement

Ali Wendroff

Senior Director of Global Engagement

Contextual Metadata Will Enrich Programmatic CTV Executions

“While content metadata is available today, it’s not organized across the ecosystem. Publishers send this information in the bid request with varying levels of granularity and DSPs are not yet at a point where they can offer a robust targeting capability against the attributes. SSPs will provide unique value in organizing and delivering transparency, as well as grouping and packaging the information in an actionable way for buyers, all while increasing revenue for publishers’ inventory.” 

Rachel LaMura Senior Director, Product Marketing

Rachel LaMura

Senior Director, Product Marketing

The way AdTech conceptualizes data will continue to evolve as new technologies and regulations enter the ecosystem. Embracing this evolution and driving change will be crucial for success in 2023 and beyond. 

Looking for more predictions? Read our Marketing Trends 2023 for CTV.

The post Marketing Trends 2023: Data-driven in a Cookieless World appeared first on TripleLift.

Have you considered CTV trends to get ahead of for next year? There’s been an explosion in the connected TV (CTV) and over-the-top (OTT) market. One of the most common questions regarding CTV is: what’s the difference between OTT and CTV? Put simply, OTT is a delivery method for content, and CTV is a type of device. According to Insider Intelligence, CTV is estimated to reach an ad spend of $21.6 billion and $37.45 billion by 2025. You must be strategic and innovative to get a piece of the pie. 

We’ve asked some of our CTV experts what trends to expect in 2023, so you can start planning your next moves.

CTV Advertising with Netflix, Netflix, Netflix

In July, Netflix announced it lost about 1 million subscribers over the previous quarter. in. Comparing its growth to just one year prior, it seemed like it was on a path to world domination. And, while it announced promising returns this past Q3, Netflix still is trying to find ways to increase revenue and retain long-term viewers by cracking down on password sharing and rolling out an ad-supported subscription tier, Netflix Basic with Ads. So, what CTV trend can we expect to come from this?

“Their new ad-supported program will set the tone for what’s acceptable in CTV advertising (and what viewers are willing to accept). If interruptive ad breaks are used, ad loads increase to unacceptable levels, and frequency capping goes unchecked — viewers will vote with their feet.”

Sonja Kristiansen SVP, Platform Partnerships

Sonja Kristiansen

SVP, Platform Partnerships

AVOD on the Rise

While much of the TV advertising conversation this year was focused on audience and measurement challenges for marketers, Chelsea Glincman, Director, Business Development at TripleLift anticipates a CTV trend in 2023 will shift focus back to the viewer. New entrants like Netflix will bring the viewer ad experience conversation to the forefront, and high ad loads with 30-second spots just won’t cut it anymore. As more AVOD inventory comes online, providing viewers with a less disruptive, elevated ad experience will retain audiences and ultimately make streaming services worthy of brand dollars.

All in all, Chelsea expects AVOD inventory to explode. Subscription fatigue and slowing subscriber growth will continue to drive more viewership and, therefore, brand dollars into ad-supported environments. Because of that shift, services with a viewer-first approach to content quality and ad experience will win.

Ali Wendroff, Senior Director, Global Engagement, couldn’t agree more.

“2023 is the year of the viewer. With AVOD on the rise, inventory will increase as digital streamers continue to take market share from Traditional/TV Upfront deals. Buyers will look for affordable, diverse options to scale their buys across platforms that can support them from a service, KPI, and viewer audience perspective. SSPs that prescribe inventory strategies with streamlined deal activation will prevail. DSPs that accommodate more flexibility, effective targeting, and campaign measurement will challenge buyers to spend smarter, and consolidate efforts where they can. Ultimately, the availability of service, support, and real-time metrics will be critical to allow for more agile buying decisions based on content, audience targeting, and viewer behavior.”

Ali Wendroff Senior Director, Global Engagement

Ali Wendroff

Senior Director, Global Engagement

Growth in Free-Ad-Supported Television (FAST) Services

To Beau Juda, Senior Director, Business Development, “FAST Platforms will become the new MVPDs! With live sports and local news shifting to CTV, consumers will continue to cut the cord at an accelerated rate as MVPDs lose this competitive advantage.”

A recent Kantar study found FAST is gaining speed – becoming the fastest-growing tier of streaming TV. Additionally, as long as the content is free, 75% of consumers aren’t bothered by ads. Couple that with 69% saying they’d replace paid streaming services with ad-supported ones.

But viewership growth isn’t the only trend to expect from the FAST economy. According to TripleLift’s VP, Product Management for CTV, Andrew King, these “game-changing” developments are everywhere you look.

“Whether it be the growth in FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television), ad innovation with new formats and brand experiences, or the use of AI/ML to improve content discovery, contextual advertising, or virtual product placement. There’s a push across the industry to build CTV into a better brand-supported experience for everyone. 93% of U.S. households are streaming-enabled. 78% of adults 18-44 over-index with streaming media compared to traditional linear. We’re way beyond just reaching niche audiences, and in 2023 I predict we start seeing real scale across new content and ad experiences.”

Andrew King VP Product Management

Andrew King

VP Product Management

Emerging CTV Ad Products

There’s a push across the industry to build CTV into a better brand-supported experience for everyone, and large-scale industry giants have validated that non-traditional ad formats will continue to proliferate across the advertising ecosystem.

“Emerging ad products, enabled by digital and programmatic technologies will scale as a core deliverable for platforms and a key mechanism for brands to reach consumers.”

Craig Bender Director of Marketplace Development, CTV

Craig Bender

Director of Marketplace Development, CTV

Emerging CTV Ad Products

For US households, Linear TV remains an effective medium to attract viewers. We’ll see more platforms consolidate and ad-supported hybrid models. All in all, it’s all about video consumption. With CTV AdTech and attribution maturing, CTV spend will increase.

Are you ready to take on CTV?

The post CTV Trends in 2023 appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Andrea Ravikumar, Alana Schept, Jill Patel, and Aileen Tobin, CTV Team Members at TripleLift

This is the third and final entry in TripleLift’s three-part CTV Myth Busters series!

Read more from Part 1 of the series – How Advertisers Can Stay on Top with the Expansion of CTV and Part 2 of the series – The Great Give Up – Are Marketers Ignoring fraud in CTV?

Fact or Fiction?:  0% of buyers are completely satisfied with their current CTV targeting solution.

FACT!

As the demand for quality CTV inventory grows, so does the demand for transparent and accurate targeting and reporting. Buyers cannot afford to waste their spend on unqualified audiences and are looking for new, easy-to-activate solutions that drive efficiency.

In a recent study with The Drum, TripleLift asked CTV buyers to rate their satisfaction with their current targeting capabilities. The results?  Not a single buyer said they were 100% satisfied. In fact, 62% of buyers across linear, digital and programmatic teams said their targeting strategy has significant room for improvement.

So what steps can buyers take to improve campaign targeting and reporting? Well, it boils down to transparency, and transparency starts on the supply side. With that in mind, we’ve created a handy checklist to empower buyers to advocate for higher transparency with their supply partners to maximize their CTV campaigns. 

Supply Partner Checklist:

1. Does your supply partner implement pre- and post-bid fraud protection that scans all ad requests to uncover invalid traffic and prevent it from reaching advertisers? 
2. Does your supply partner engage third-party measurement, such as brand lift and sales lift studies, in addition to front-end metrics to track ROI and engagement within ad campaigns?
3. Does your supply partner provide content metadata? In an ecosystem of hundreds of CTV providers, buyers need to have clarity about the programming their ads are running alongside.

An increasingly popular solution for transparency and targeting is content metadata, the descriptions or attributes of the content itself that are passed from the supplier to the SSP. In a recent customer survey, TripleLift found buyers rated the importance of leveraging content metadata as a 4.4 out of 5! 

Getting In Your Prerequisites and Going Beyond Standard DSP Offerings

Since many DSPs don’t have robust content metadata targeting available in their UI, buyers should rely on supply partners to curate unique inventory packages and activate them in their DSP of choice. Content metadata often comes through the bid request in a way that’s too granular to report and target easily, so SSPs can take on the heavy lifting of sorting and cleaning up that data to turn it into a curated package that buyers can easily execute.

Making the Grade with Content Metadata

When it comes to brand safety, genre targeting is a great place to start. Genre targeting goes deeper than typical CTV contextual targeting by publisher and is an additional lever advertisers can pull to increase transparency and reach audiences more efficiently. If an advertiser prefers not to advertise in certain categories, such as politics, news, or children’s programming, TripleLift recommends using genre targeting to exclude those content categories from a campaign – something that a DSP cannot do. This is also extremely important and useful when activating FAST publishers who offer a wide variety of content types.

Another targeting parameter buyers can use to ensure brand safety is rating. The Content Ratings sent through the bid request follow the five MPAA rating categories: G, PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17. Since bid requests frequently include rating, advertisers can target a specific rating category. 

As of October 2022, approximately 90% of bid requests are sent with genre attached, 60% with rating, and 40% with language. Buyers interested in targeting their campaigns towards these fields, like series, should work with their SSPs on a campaign-basis; publishers may be willing to share this additional data if they are properly compensated for it.

Going for Straight A’s with CTV Executed with Media + Data

Content metadata is quickly becoming a must-have for buyers. The targeting and reporting capabilities it provides lead to innovative and effective campaigns. Buyers cannot get left behind in this revolution and should be pressing their CTV supply partners on ways to leverage this data for more performant campaigns.

This concludes our 3-part CTV Myth Busters blog series! Keep an eye out for more CTV thought pieces coming from TripleLift soon.

Read more from Part 1 of the series – How Advertisers Can Stay on Top with the Expansion of CTV and Part 2 of the series – The Great Give Up – Are Marketers Ignoring fraud in CTV?

Sources: Moat QBR 2022, TripleLift Data, 2022

The post CTV’s Extra Credit – How Content Metadata Can Change the Game appeared first on TripleLift.

With 90% of consumers planning to shop online this holiday season, Cyber Week is the time for an awareness play to peak customer interest and capitalize on retail’s golden hour with an effective native campaign.

It’s no secret consumers feel a pinch in their pocket this holiday season. So this year, it’s more important than ever for creative to connect with consumers and engage with them personally.

Luckily, we’ve got insights to help you wrap up this year with a little extra holiday cheer.

Holiday Highlights

Deals

Consumers across income segments use deals to spend more. And with dollars on the line, timing campaigns to reach your target audience is critical. 

Deals will reach their deepest discounts during Cyber Week, with Cyber Monday, year-over-year, accounting for the largest single day for conversions. Despite macroeconomic trends, forecasts predict consumers will spend just as much as last year. 7 pm-11 pm PST on Cyber Monday are expected to remain the golden hours for e-commerce, with Adobe predicting $12M USD spent every minute from 8-9 pm PST. 

But your consumers aren’t the only ones who deserve a deal. Check out our ETDs and get yourself a deal this holiday season. 

Buy Now, Pay Later

For consumers looking to make their dollar stretch this holiday season, buy now, pay later (BNPL) services are particularly appealing. The top three reasons consumers will leverage a BNPL offer are: 

• To free up available cash
• Purchase items normally out of their price range
• Purchase big-ticket items

If you’ve got a BNPL offer, now is the time to let your consumers know.  

Plan for Your Shopper

Whether the pandemic is over or not, it’s imperative to have options that appeal to the whole spectrum of holiday shoppers. Here are some stats to help you prepare and time your campaigns:

• 1 in 3 shoppers will use curb-side pick-up this holiday season 
• During the December holidays, 1 in 3 shoppers will use Buy Online and Pick-Up in Store (BOPIS), peaking Dec 22- 23.
•  Free shipping is top of mind for your consumer, impacting whether or not they will purchase or abandon their cart 

Vertical Considerations

• Toys & holiday decor will continue to drive growth, with shoppers engaging with early promotions and late shoppers looking for last-minute gifts 
• Electronics are slated to drive nearly one-quarter of total holiday spend, with sustained sales driven by discounts delivering soft growth YoY 
• 1/3 of all consumers plan to buy home products as gifts
• Apparel will remain the #1 category this year. However, consumer spending is expected to drop by 25%

 If you’re looking to get the most bang for your buck this Cyber Week, TripleLift Native outperforms Social with effective CPMs and lower costs. Want to learn more? Reach out, and we’ll show you how we can help.

The post Reach Your Peak This Cyber-Week appeared first on TripleLift.

Earlier this week, marketers added another challenge to their growing list that includes a myriad of global and economic hurdles: changes to Twitter’s content moderation practices. Twitter has long been a stellar partner to brands, but the current changes to the platform’s content moderation practices are leaving our industry questioning the safety and stability of the platform for advertisers. 

In the past, Twitter made user and advertiser decisions based on a predetermined roadmap. Today, it’s unclear if a roadmap even exists. Media dollars are a finite resource that need to be spent with meaning and purpose, but it’s hard to place bets on a moving target.

While The Global Alliance for Responsible Media, a coalition of platforms, advertisers and industry groups that is fighting harmful content on social media, is currently monitoring the changes to Twitter’s content moderation practices and will provide an assessment in the coming weeks. But marketers deserve confidence in their ad buys now. 

In challenging times, marketers need three things: ease, stability and performance. TripleLift has the tools to make it easy to convert your existing Twitter ads into scalable video and native placements, stability in partnerships with leading publishers and what you need to meet your performance goals.

Find out how simple it can be with TripleLift today.

The post Advertisers Take Flight: Navigating Twitter’s Uncertain Future appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Andrea Ravikumar, Senior Manager, Product Research at TripleLift and Jill Patel, Product Marketing Coordinator for CTV at TripleLift

This is the second entry in TripleLift’s three-part CTV Myth Busters series. Read more from Part 1 of the series – How Advertisers Can Stay on Top with the Expansion of CTV .

Fact or Fiction?:  Fraud in CTV is Preventable. FACT!

Just like any new ad format, CTV fraudsters are working overtime to keep up with the increase in viewer consumption and inventing new ways to spoof advertisers. Due to a lack of standardization with measurement, data and reporting, and transparency standards, digital ad fraud schemes spiked by 70% between 2020 and 2021 – leading to a $140 million dollars of ad spend waste in CTV alone. Tuning out fraud in CTV means advertisers need to be diligent and choose their partners wisely to ensure their impressions are being served accurately and efficiently

Should Advertisers be Concerned?
YES! But in a recent study, TripleLift found 49% of CTV buyers don’t consider fraud protection when choosing a CTV partner. And we get it – it is easy to throw your hands up and surrender to the fraudsters. But in order to efficiently prevent fraud, every player in the ad transaction process has to do their part. That starts with correcting a few misconceptions.

How Can Marketers Find the Safest Inventory?
Many advertisers believe that fraud in CTV doesn’t occur in private marketplaces (PMPs). 1 in 4 CTV buyers say purchasing directly from publishers and platforms through PMP/Programmatic Guarantee deals is the most effective method to prevent fraud. The thought is that since these exchanges are exclusive and host reputable publishers, there’s no way for fraudsters to attack. But unfortunately, PMPs aren’t immune to fraud and restricting spending to private deals only limits scale and increases CPMs. Fraudsters go where the money is, and as the industry has shifted to commit more spend to PMPs, fraud has followed. 

That’s why it’s crucial to pick the right suite of advertising partners. They can offer useful tracking and reporting tools to flag and block specific sites from running your ads and protect brand safety. You can also help take the power back – by checking your site list to ensure ads are running on reputable sites and CPMs are within a reasonable range. 

Who’s Responsible for Remediation to IVT?
When a large amount of Invalid Traffic (IVT) – impressions that are generated by bots or any form of nonhuman traffic – occurs, there is debate about who’s responsible for remediation. In TripleLift’s CTV buyer survey, 69% noted that SSPs aren’t accountable for fraud. Instead, they said the ad verification partner was on the hook for remedying spend on wasted impressions. Sounds great for TripleLift, right? Not so fast!

As mentioned before, every platform in the buying journey needs to take part in preventing fraud and verifying valid traffic, especially SSPs. An SSP is the supply source for impressions and should do the work to send quality bidding opportunities. A stellar SSP will have straightforward fraud prevention and an IVT protection strategy that their buyers and sellers understand and allows advertisers to feel more secure with their CTV buys. 

What Should Advertisers Ask Their SSP?
Now that you’re more familiar with CTV ad fraud and the role an SSP can play, be sure to ask the following questions to understand your partner’s credentials:

• Supply Path Optimization (SPO): Is the SSP bidding directly with a publisher rather than a string of intermediaries? Do they understand the importance and benefits of SPO?
• Pre-Scanning: Is the inventory checked for signs of fraud before a bid is even made?
• Quality Inventory: Do they have an initiative or plan in place to prevent ads from being served on sites with misinformation or controversial content? No one wants their brand showing up next to a horror story.

By checking these boxes upfront, you’ll minimize fraud incidents and get the most out of your ad spend. 

To learn more about CTV, download our white paper and check out our TripleLock CTV Promise.

Read our third and final entry in the series CTV’s Extra Credit – How Content Metadata Can Change the game.

The post The Great Give-Up – Are Marketers Ignoring Fraud in CTV? appeared first on TripleLift.

Did you know that procrastinators have bigger brains?

Yes, you read that right. According to a study published in the journal of Psychological Science, people identified as procrastinators on average have a bigger brain. In particular, the part of the brain that controls fear. 

So what does being a procrastinator (with a big brain) have anything to do with third-party cookies? If we take a step back, over the last two years, we’ve been talking about the deprecation of third-party cookies, but much of our industry has been slow to test and implement solutions. 

We know that some of you are ‘addicted’ to third-party cookies. “Targeted scale” sounds appealing, but how effective are they really? 

For the vast majority of the big-brain procrastinators out there, if you’re not taking action to address your third-party cookie addiction, you’re leaving money on the table.

Here’s the reality – change is already here and it’s more than just cookies. More and more states across the U.S. are proposing a new data regulation requiring consent from users. 

Legislation changes coupled with the fact that roughly 50% of all ad requests do not have an identified user on the open web means lost revenue for publishers and missed KPIs for advertisers. Not to mention a crappy ad experience for consumers.

The challenge is that digital advertising relies almost exclusively on creating an identifier match between an advertiser data set and publisher data set. For most digital advertising use cases, this match isn’t actually required.  Our technical systems require it, and we built them that way because identifiers were available, but conceptually, the ID match is not required.

The cookie-apocalypse as some call it, has already arrived, causing the available pool of cookies to shrink dramatically. 

Who doesn’t love a good analogy? Here’s another: Every publisher and advertiser has a choice: be the mouse that hunkers down, and makes the most of their ever shrinking cookie-jar. Or be the mouse that puts uncertainty and fear of change aside and seeks sustenance somewhere else? 

It’s your choice – you know how the story ends…

Finding and testing solutions takes guts. It takes time. It takes resources. But the results are well worth it. But first, let’s just establish one thing. First-party data is better than third-party cookies. Full stop.

Yes, I know that a first-party data strategy isn’t always the comfortable option. But it’s better.

First-party data is directly observable, works across browsers, scales across all sites, it’s privacy-forward & secure and with first-party data you can avoid failed cookie syncs. 

In fact, publishers who have adopted a first-party data strategy have seen better results across the board. Learn more what you can do with a first-party data strategy today.

The post Closing the Addressable Gap: Just Do It appeared first on TripleLift.

Connected TV has solidified its place as the golden child of the advertising industry over the past three years. After all, it’s the place where most audiences – especially younger ones – go for entertainment.

And it’s not dying out any time soon. In fact, 2022 saw streaming viewership surpass cable TV for the first time. That should come as no surprise given consumers streamed 15 million years of content the year prior. 

Today, there are more than 200 streaming services available worldwide. As the competition for viewers time and attention ratchets up, so does the competition for ad dollars. The stakes for streaming services have never been higher. 

Whether you are heavily engaged in CTV or are a smaller, mid-market player, you need offerings that can generate new revenue streams and help you stand out. Enter In-Show Advertising. 

TripleLift set the gold standard for In-Show Advertising with our industry-first In-Show integrated ad experiences. But we’re not precious about the formula. To make it easy for streaming services of all sizes to reap the benefits of In-Show Advertising, we’ve outlined a research-backed, 5-point system that we like to call The Anatomy of an In-Show Placement. 

Level up your ad experiences and start driving incremental revenue today.

The post The Anatomy of an In-Show Placement appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Andrea Ravikumar, Senior Manager, Product Research at TripleLift

This is the first entry in TripleLift’s three-part CTV Myth Busters series.

Fact or Fiction?: Consumer habits for CTV viewing are shifting faster than advertisers can keep up with. FACT!

We’ve heard the same narrative for over five years now: consumers streaming more than ever on a variety of devices. In fact, Nielsen just reported that time spent streaming TV surpassed linear for the first time in July 2022. 

This huge shift in consumer attention from linear TV to CTV has led to a significant opportunity for brands, marketers, and advertisers and thus more competition in the marketplace. In fact, the time spent viewing digital video will surpass TV viewing by 2024, with Digital Video ad spend hitting $76B and growing through 2026. Whereas TV ad spend will fall short at $68B and continue to decline. 

With increased ad spend and more unlocked inventory, it’s hard to navigate CTV’s unpredictable waters. That’s why you need a suite of partners who have your back and can help you to navigate the dynamic CTV landscape.

CTV that Works Smarter AND Harder
Anecdotally, in-break CTV ads are thought of as only an awareness, top-of-funnel driver. If a user can’t directly engage with the ad, how can it do anything other than getting a brand or product name out there? 

A recent survey of CTV buyers conducted by The Drum found that perception is changing. Today’s buyers see CTV as a format that calls to each part of the buying funnel. In fact nearly 50% more respondents indicated that in-break CTV ads for driving a purchase than awareness.  Gone are the days when performance is only tied to GRPs and directional lifts in sales. With CTV having the same measurement capabilities as digital, why should it be held to a lesser standard?

As consumer viewing behavior shifts to streaming on CTV, there are plenty of on-demand viewing and one-to-one addressable opportunities for brands, marketers, and advertisers to take advantage of. 

Picking the Right Swim Lane
How do you decide where to run your ads when you have so many options? Linear ads are traditionally purchased with individual network upfront commitments. The same is true of CTV. In fact, TripleLift’s CTV Buyer Survey found that 55% of the annual CTV budget is already committed to a specific network before the year even starts. So how should you spend the other 45%?

Strategic supply side partners providing thoughtful proposals can be the difference between running a spray and pray campaign without frequency caps and an innovative, targeted and campaign featured on the main stage at Advertising Week .

Here are two top tips from our research:

• Explore FAST and AVOD networks to find a loyal and dedicated fan base that is leaned into both the content and, therefore the surrounding brand messaging.
• Combine direct-to-publisher partnerships with deals that span multiple publishers to create a healthy mix of inventory and scale your campaign.

A True Partnership
You can’t chart your CTV path alone. It’s important to have tour guides to help you find the best path along the way. Asking the right questions and knowing some basics will help you level up your buys.

CTV has plenty of opportunities to discover what works best for your brand. If you’d like to learn more about the myths and facts of CTV, then download our free white paper. 

We have just begun to scratch the surface of all that’s possible with CTV advertising. Learn more in Part 2 of this series – The Great Give-Up – Are Marketers Ignoring Fraud in CTV?

The post How Advertisers Can Stay on Top with the Expansion of CTV appeared first on TripleLift.

This article was originally published on ExchangeWire on August 2nd, 2022
Henry Shelley, Managing Director, APAC at TripleLift, outlines four steps advertisers can take to prepare for the post-cookie landscape.

While the deadline for Google’s phasing out of third-party cookies has been extended to 2024, the so-called ‘cookie-apocalypse’ is still on the horizon. And so too is the major industry rewiring that could lead to profound changes and expected consequences including fragmented media planning, siloed campaign measurement, ineffective targeting and reduced addressability. 

The good news is that work is being done on a new iteration of digital advertising which addresses these challenges. Advertisers, on their part, can take steps to ensure they are prepared for the next stage of digital advertising’s evolution. 

Step One: Harness the power of first-party data

First-party data is the clear successor of the third-party cookie and will play a crucial role in running successful campaigns. Publishers are in a strong position to collect consented first-party data – including  user IDs, on-site activity, and sign up details – and create rich audience segments for targeting purposes. 

Online campaigns typically focus on maximising reach and include a few limited targeting parameters such as age, gender, location, and device type. While third-party data is often used to refine these parameters, it still doesn’t offer precision targeting. In short, advertisers aren’t reaching who they think they’re reaching. First-party data can overcome this challenge; advertisers should embrace this data. 

And with supply-side solutions helping publishers to take better control of their data to enhance audience segments, advertisers can continue to deliver their campaigns at scale and with good performance without relying on third-party cookies. 

Step Two: Strike a balance between scale and performance

Facing the prospect of fragmented media planning, advertisers may feel their best bet is to completely restructure their buying strategies in favour of cookieless browsers. However, there are ways for advertisers to navigate the new landscape without compromising on scale and performance investments. By partnering with supply-side platforms (SSPs) and adopting a one-to-many (one advertiser to many publishers) approach, advertisers will be able to scale their digital campaigns across publishers, formats and browsers, while targeting audiences more precisely.

Step Three: Broaden your horizons through deal ID

The ability to scale and increase reach is invaluable for advertisers. It’s also something that is lacking in one-to-one (one publisher to one advertiser) deals due to inherently restricted definitions of publisher audience segments.

Advertisers should ensure that they have access to audience segments by leveraging a private marketplace, or deal ID. By working with a SSP that offers multi-publisher deals, advertisers have access to segmentation at scale – especially if the supply partner has first-party data activation capabilities. The benefits for advertisers are many: from accessing wider pools of trusted, premium inventory, to the ability to match their objectives with publishers’ offerings. Deals protect publisher data providing, in return, more reliable audience segmentation.

Step Four: Act now

While Google has delayed blocking third-party cookies until 2024, advertisers can and should use the additional time to prepare for the expected changes. 

For any advertiser who follows the mantra ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, it’s worth reconsidering your approach. Currently,  almost half (47%) of all ad requests lack data from third-party cookies, so advertisers are likely losing more than half of their potential audience. While the buyer journey may look different without third-party cookies, it’s likely to be more fruitful. In fact, at TripleLift, we’ve found first-party alternatives deliver at least double these accuracy rates at 70% or higher. 

What more do you need? It’s time to act. If you haven’t started testing solutions on browsers that no longer support third-party cookies, now is the time. Test, learn and reap the rewards.

The post ExchangeWire: A Positive Guide to Advertising in the Post-Third-Party Cookie World appeared first on TripleLift.

DMEXCO is Europe’s leading digital marketing and technology event. This year’s event will cover privacy compliance, data, and much more. With so much to talk about, we thought we’d break down the top three things to know before you arrive at DMEXCO. 

Increased Relevance on SPO and DPO

Supply Path Optimization (SPO) and Demand Path Optimization (DPO) deliver various efficiencies, including cost savings, improved win rates, and extended reach across quality inventory. With the consolidation of the media landscape, a fight for efficiency and third-party cookie deprecation becoming the norm, the need for SPO and DPO is more relevant than ever.

Since SSPs began making further investments to maximize efficiency in the supply chain with investments in SPO, the benefits have been wide-reaching. SSPs not only play an essential role in the SPO process directing the most qualified inventory available, but also in DPO by enabling media owners to maximize monetization of ad inventory, helping to minimize bid rejections, and providing a real-time framework to make smarter bids in the future. One example of this is Loss URL, which helps demand partners understand why they may be losing market share by win rate and the actions to take in order to improve efficiency and ultimately achieve better results.

Further deprecation of third-party cookies will redefine SPO and DPO, with first-party data becoming a new currency in these processes.  By bringing together media and data, SPO can be approached in a new way that allows publishers and buyers to gain a whole spectrum of possibilities, including increased monetization for publishers and more efficiency for buyers. 

It’s a First-Party World

Despite Google’s delay in deprecating third-party cookies from Chrome, third-party cookies are already on their way out across the browser ecosystem. Those who continue to wait to develop a first-party data strategy will undoubtedly be left behind. This is especially true for publishers looking to maintain a healthy, privacy-compliant relationship with their users.

From context signals and engagement data to user login information, it will take a mix of insights and solutions to fulfill the requirements of the digital advertising industry. Publisher websites offer a highly valuable source of first-party data, which can be leveraged across browsers and doesn’t depend on unreliable third-party syncs. The icing on the cake – as we are now moving away from third-party cookies – is that this makes first-party data more effective than its third-party equivalent. A TripleLift survey found that first-party data delivers targeting accuracy that is at least double that of third-party methods, with rates at 70% or higher.

Finding solutions that can meet the needs of every publisher and advertiser going forward is of the highest priority and a driving force behind TripleLift’s acquisition of 1plusX. The powerful combination – a scaled SSP and a savvy DMP – successfully marries media and data. Enriching TripleLift’s scaled inventory with 1plusX’s privacy-centric data technology. 

Consider Data Clean Rooms 

With the demise of third-party cookies, audience reach and targeting processes are evolving. User identification is becoming increasingly fragmented, and leveraging consumer data is becoming more challenging.

This fragmentation has prompted the industry to find new ways to maintain addressability.

While data clean rooms may not be new, they have emerged as powerful privacy-safe and secure collaboration environments for digital buy and sell-side players. In addition, mutually beneficial data collaborations without access to each other’s data make data clean rooms an appealing proposition for advertisers and publishers. 

Solutions such as 1plusX Connect aim to create powerful integrations with publisher data infrastructures and enable secure data collaborations with advertisers. To achieve this they rely on technologies such as clean rooms. The technology empowers both publishers and advertisers to collaborate on their first-party data in a safe space and extract actionable insight from it.

See You at DMEXCO

Reading about these solutions and technologies is great, but learning about them in person is better. 

Attending DMEXCO in September? Meet us in person at TripleLift booth to learn more about the future of SPO post third-party cookies and how our Media + Data strategy can help you to future-proof your business. 

Plus, don’t miss our masterclass exploring the interplay of data clean rooms and identity solutions with Media Impact, Ad Alliance, NetID, and MediaMarktSaturn.

The post 3 Things to Know Before DMEXCO appeared first on TripleLift.

Kama is the General Counsel at TripleLift where she is responsible for leading a global team of attorneys supporting TripleLift’s fast expanding international business, operations and product lines. Among others, her responsibilities include ensuring that TripleLift’s technology, practices and procedures meet global regulatory requirements – particularly the ever shifting privacy requirements – and partnering with the business on our go to market privacy and policy strategy.  

1. What does TripleLift’s mission – to help make advertising better for everyone – mean to you? And how will you continue to help the company further it? 

As TripleLift’s General Counsel, I want to advance our mission by making it easier for our employees, customers (both publishers and advertisers) and their users to navigate the ever-changing regulatory landscape impacting online media and advertising. TripleLift’s mission is grounded in creating a better user experience which includes better data protection, already an integral part of TripleLift’s strategy. TripleLift has worked hard to lay a strong foundation for ethical data stewardship. In my new role, I want to identify opportunities for improvement and provide an even more robust, world-class privacy forward approach to advertising, while continuing to put the individual first.

2. What do you hope to accomplish in the first 90 days as TripleLift’s General Counsel?

Having been with TripleLift since March 2020 as Deputy General Counsel, I am coming into the role of General Counsel with certain advantages to leverage. Specifically, I have already had an active role in helping drive our strategy, product development and global expansion efforts, and equally importantly, I have already built strong relationships with key stakeholders across our ecosystem –  our employees, the executive team, as well as our partners and customers. Rather than getting up to speed, I can hit the ground running to ensure we deliver on our company OKRs and also provide seamless transition from our wonderful prior GC, Julia Shullman. At the moment, my top priority is to build out a full legal team again by hiring and onboarding a new Chief Privacy Officer, as well as backfilling for my prior role and also hiring a Senior Legal Counsel, while keeping my current team motivated and delivering on our strategy and objectives. 

3. In your new role as General Counsel, you oversee TripleLift’s global privacy strategy. What’s the biggest challenge (or opportunity) for TripleLift as the regulatory landscape continues to shift? 

Ad tech’s biggest challenge is the lack of alignment across the ecosystem largely caused by the gatekeepers’ responses to an ever changing and more complex regulatory landscape. TripleLift’s biggest opportunity is that we have built out a sophisticated team of experts across privacy, policy, product, revenue, and legal to be well informed and nimble enough to make TripleLift a challenger, offering a viable privacy-first alternative for advertisers to use to buy performant inventory on the open internet. 

4. If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Hands down, teleportation to avoid the “travel time” part of travel. As the world opens back up and we continue to hire a more dispersed workforce and become a truly global company both through natural growth and strategic investments, like the acquisition of 1plusX, in person touchpoints become ever more important to ensure we are all rowing in the same direction and delivering on TL’s mission. As someone managing a global team of lawyers and legal professionals, it’s also important to stay connected to the individuals on my team and the teams we support (which includes all teams at the company). However, if I could do all of that and avoid JFK, Heathrow and Zurich airport and instead just teleport to where I was needed, I would be delighted. 

The post How TripleLift’s General Counsel is Solving for Ad Tech’s Biggest Challenge appeared first on TripleLift.

In our latest spotlight, we spoke with Michelle Smith, The Arena Group’s VP Product Management, Ad Technology and Monetization about how her team is preparing for the inevitable deprecation of third-party cookies, the role of ad tech in maintaining a free and open internet and what advertisers need to know about The Arena Group’s portfolio. 

Tell us a bit about The Arena Group and your role there.
The Arena Group is a tech-powered media company that owns and operates 40 properties and over 200 brands, including Sports Illustrated and TheStreet. In my position, I focus on our advertising suite and growing revenue opportunities, but also on the incredibly talented teams integrating our entire technology platform to provide better experiences for the consumer. I love the opportunity to be a publisher and still work to build the technology for our business to flourish.

You recently went through a rebrand from Maven to The Arena Group. What were the primary motivators behind that change?
Our former name was a product of our former business model. As The Arena Group, we provide value in the market with ‘arenas,’ creating verticals and robust ecosystems that achieve significant scale with like-minded partners. In the two years since the rebrand and shifting our strategy to a vertical model, The Arena Group jumped into the Comscore 250 and drove to number 48, with the sports vertical (Sports Illustrated Media Group) reaching number 5 in sports. 

Is The Arena Group taking any steps to prepare for deprecation of third-party cookies? If so, what steps?
We host a cross-functional working group called the Post-Cookiepocalyptic Commission to prepare for the transition. It’s a forum for other publishers, our identity partners, and cross-functional internal stakeholders to meet and share sources regularly. We work with as many partners as possible to build a healthy repository of contextual data and provide as much “signal” as possible to ensure advertisers can find their buyers. Cookiepocalypse gets a bad rep, but we know where users are and what mindset they’re in when viewing material is essential. For us, the goal is to balance maintaining privacy for viewers while still ensuring the advertiser experience is relevant and timely. 

What are your thoughts on the role that ad tech plays in maintaining a free and open internet? 
Advertising platforms are critical. Without advertising subsidizing content creation, we wouldn’t have an environment for entrepreneurs to try new products or reach new audiences. Imagine if you had to pay for every place you went on the internet – it would cripple the flow of information only to reach the wealthy. In the industry, we complain about the dominance of a handful of giants – the ‘walled garden.’ But if there is no free and open internet, there would only be walled gardens.

What types of video ads are you running? Do you see any changes to your video strategy over the next 12 months?
The Arena Group runs video prerolls, ads before original content, and out-stream ads as high-impact, engaging units on our sites. I already see changes to our strategy in the next 12 months because we constantly stay focused on what engaging video content and mediums audiences are looking for. We’re grateful for our partnership with TripleLift and other independent ad tech companies as we do so!

What should brands know about your lifestyle portfolio now that Parade Lifestyle Brands – led by Parade, Relish, and Spry Living – is a part of it?
Today, the Parade Lifestyle Brand portfolio has an established and engaged audience that consumes a lot of content when they come to visit. Parade brands have been building communities for years and bringing people back for the latest in entertainment now across digital, video, and print. I see an opportunity for The Arena Group to strengthen those communities and connect advertisers with customers to create fully integrated, engaging experiences. With our strong editorial teams working together to drive distinct content on our highly efficient media platform, plus strong momentum from Parade.com (reaching its highest 16.4 million unique visitors in January), the audience and brands will continue to flourish. 

What do you think is the most important thing advertisers could know about The Arena Group and your sites?
The Arena Group has built multiple arenas that attract a large, loyal fanbase. Savvy financial investors, passionate sports fans, travel, fitness, or beer fanatics – you name it, they return to our partners’ sites day in and day out (even in the offseason). We have a skilled network of people, modern tooling, and a model that brings transformative scale, efficiency, and yield to digital brands. Our award-winning journalism expanded to include breaking news and the ability to engage users when they’re interacting with content. All this drives quality audiences and environments for advertisers to influence consumers up and down the sales funnel.

Ok last question. What might we find you reading on your poolside lounge chair this summer?
As the mom of a rising sophomore in high school, I often read young adult novels or revisit the classics, so we can discuss some of what he is reading. I recently finished one book series Akata Witch, Akata Warrior and Akata Woman. It’s a young adult series featuring rich cultures and an amazing lead, and it reminds me of why I fell in love with reading in the first place.

For more information around The Arena Group, check out our publisher feature here.

The post The Arena Just Got Bigger: Advertisers, Here’s Where the Action Is appeared first on TripleLift.

Advertisers often wonder, “How do we capture the attention of holiday shoppers?” To us, that answer is simple: gifts! Everyone loves a present, right? Especially those perfect gifts. You know, the things you didn’t know you needed but can’t live without?

Well, we found them. And they’re just for you.

What’s more, there’s no need to wait until December. They’re meant to be opened right now! Courtesy of TripleLift Research.

Warning: These gifts could unlock enormous results!

Check out our Holiday Hub for more of your essential resources to run the easiest and most effective holiday campaigns.

The post TripleLift Gifts for Holiday Advertisers appeared first on TripleLift.

Dailymotion increases ad performance through enhanced offerings and custom native formats 
TripleLift expands inventory through full video publisher and streaming platform globally

Dailymotion, the leading independent, worldwide video streaming platform, and TripleLift, the advertising technology company reinventing ad placement, today announced an expanded strategic partnership that enriches each company’s offering. TripleLift adds high-performing programmatic direct display and native advertising in addition to the branded video and in-stream ad units running on Dailymotion. Dailymotion’s full publisher partnership inventory including Billboard and Marie-Claire gives TripleLift increased global scale and reach.

The partnership includes a tailor-made Open Real Time Bidding (oRTB) integration for Dailymotion to monetize in-stream inventory and the advancement of innovative, custom native ad units by TripleLift for the historically video-focused Dailymotion. The custom native formats provide brand lift 3x higher than the industry average according to Nielsen and in the first two months of the partnership, Dailymotion saw ad requests exceed 41 billion.

“Delivering a diverse, omnichannel ad experience to Dailymotion while scaling our global reach through their publisher base is the type of strategic partner we value,” said Michael Lehman, SVP, Global Supply & Marketplace, TripleLift. “We’re motivated by the notable results of the custom ad units and integrations, and are looking forward to continued innovation with the team at Dailymotion.”

As a partner, TripleLift connects to Dailymotion’s proprietary video exchange on a global scale to buy billions of available impressions and have a growing global audience, allowing it to scale its inventory.

“Working with TripleLift on growing their database globally represents one of our largest partnerships to date,,” said Bichoï Bastha, Chief Revenue and Business Officer at Dailymotion. “For us, TripleLift’s custom units and appetite for innovation to outperform industry metrics in all formats are exciting as we expand our offering for advertisers.” 

Custom Native Templates

TripleLift’s dedicated Interaction Design & Engineering (IxE) team continuously evaluates and designs custom templates to match the look and feel of the publisher pages. Whether this is testing colors, adjusting fonts, trying different positioning or spacing, TripleLift’s internal teams work to make sure each and every placement flows seamlessly in order to maximize performance for both publishers and brands. Since its founding, TripleLift created over 120,000 custom native templates and over 190,000 custom native placements. This number continues to grow as new publisher partners are onboarded. 

The post Dailymotion, TripleLift Partnership Advances Ad Performance and Delivers New Audience Dynamics For Advertisers appeared first on TripleLift.

This article was originally published on Exchangewire on July 5, 2022

At ExchangeWire’s ATS London 2022, John Stoneman, Global Head of Demand at TripleLift addressed why the programmatic ecosystem must alter the narrative around change as it prepares for third-party cookie deprecation. Drawing on insights from TripleLift’s International Programmatic Buyer’s Journey survey, John discussed current quandaries with first-party data, buyer confidence in accurate targeting, and how the media buying journey must adapt for post-cookie environments. 

Why are we seeing such a strong discrepancy between the perceived and actual accuracy of first-party data? What more can be done to encourage advertisers to embrace first-party data, particularly within programmatic?

In the  UK, half of our survey respondents believed third-party data would be more accurate than its first-party counterpart. However, a study by Deloitte has revealed that targeting methods enabled by third-party cookies are only 30-40% accurate. At TripleLift, we’ve found first-party alternatives deliver at least double these accuracy rates at 70% or higher. 

There is a need to wean marketers off the legacy system and demonstrate how first-party data can support their goals, even if it means the media buyer journey looks different. Our survey uncovered that the three most important criteria for media buying are brand metrics, engagement KPIs, and ad format. Surprisingly, targeting accuracy doesn’t top that list. Even though advertisers say they are looking to build detailed personas and reach specific audiences, their buying patterns show something different. 

Online campaigns typically focus on maximising reach and include a few limited targeting parameters such as age, gender, location, and device type. Third-party data is sometimes used to refine these parameters, but it still doesn’t give ad buyers precision targeting. In short, advertisers aren’t reaching who they think they’re reaching. By proving how first-party data can overcome this challenge, the programmatic ecosystem can encourage advertisers to embrace this data and change how they view its accuracy in comparison to third-party data.

What were the most pertinent market-specific findings from the research? What are the potential reasons as to why UK advertisers are less confident in targeting segments in post-cookie environments?

Advertisers in the UK market rank effective targeting as the most influential element for achieving their KPIs (44%), even though it isn’t considered the most important filter for media buying. Additionally, it’s notable that one in two UK buyers believe accurate targeting is their number one programmatic challenge, but UK advertisers are also 35% less likely to be confident in targeting segments in the post-cookie ecosystem. This is significant, because it either speaks to a ‘better the devil you know’ mentality, or it further emphasises the disconnect between the trust placed in third-party cookies and their actual capabilities.

What’s more, our findings suggest buyers are taking longer to accept the need for change, with almost eight in 10  UK advertisers claiming they haven’t yet implemented solutions for post-cookie environments. Even with the rapidly approaching deprecation of third-party cookies, two-thirds of programmatic buyers consider ad tech, industry associations, and publishers to be responsible for finding these solutions. It seems the mantra ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ is still strong in the ad industry, with media buyers not confident enough to try something new, such as relying on first-party data. 
One reason behind this could be the misconception that first-party data is simply log-in data. However, first-party data encompasses much more – from contextual information about online content, user interactions with that content, to behavioural analytics, page views per session(s), and site navigation patterns. It can also tell advertisers which ad placements perform the best, who created the content, and who owns the websites where it’s been published. First-party data can not only support more accurate targeting capabilities, but also build greater transparency and therefore confidence in the media buying journey.

How should advertisers adjust their media buying journeys following the deprecation of the third-party cookie? How can they manage this without instigating major (and costly) changes in terms of their buyer platform, billing relationship, and internal resource?

There’s a belief that changing the media buying journey means advertisers will lose all the investment they have put in so far. Instead, the industry needs to frame this change as an opportunity to progress the programmatic ecosystem. This progress is something advertisers must actively shape for themselves, because identifying and implementing solutions will require them to take action.

The first step is to work with supply sources that pair first-party data and media together. Advertisers will then need to define audience targeting with their SSP, using a one-to-many — that is, one advertiser to many publishers — deal ID to complement their existing identification strategies. Advertisers will still be able to use their existing buying platform and their billing relationship won’t change. With first-party data, they can scale their digital campaigns across all formats, browsers, and publishers, while also gaining more precise targeting than third-party cookies have previously given them.

What are the likely implications of these findings for the sell-side? How can technology partners and industry associations act to benefit both media sellers and buyers following the deprecation of the cookie?

The upcoming change is unsettling for the whole ecosystem, particularly when it feels as though industry players have no control. As the gatekeepers to online audiences, publishers have a strong opportunity to retain control due to their access to first-party data. No one else understands how users engage with content and what their intent is better than publishers. This deeper view of audiences is valuable to the buy side, as it allows advertisers and their DSPs to reach target segments more accurately. 

Technology partners and industry associations must support the supply initiative, so that publishers can develop offerings which meet buy-side expectations. By ensuring these offerings deliver against brand metrics and generate genuine impact, publishers can further strengthen their position in the ecosystem. 
Understanding the media buyer’s journey is critical for pinpointing the barriers to adopting first-party data and the misconceptions that need to be addressed. With greater collaboration and education, the ad industry can replace the panic of third-party cookie deprecation with a progressive and optimistic outlook.

The post Exchangewire: Turning Cookie Panic into Positivity: Interview with John Stoneman – TripleLift appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Evon Hung, Product Researcher at TripleLift
This article was updated on February 3, 2023

Have you given thought to your product mix?

As people continue to cut the cord and spend more time with streaming services, you’d expect advertising agencies to put their money where audiences are. Keyword: expect. 

Technology and media are advancing faster than most people hit the “skip intro” button at the beginning of an episode of The Office. Brands grasp at the tail ends of consumer trends hoping for a taste of the next big wave without understanding what that entails. Agencies industry-wide are planning to grow digital advertising spend on banner ads at the same rate as video spend, with notable increases in CTV technology.

Push for Innovation in Your Product Mix

TripleLift’s brand partners are aligned with plans to purchase an average of three ad formats in the next year. Did someone say omnichannel? But a deeper dive into industry-wide attitudes toward innovative platforms like CTV reveals spend in this area is less than those for traditional ad formats, suggesting that companies are giving new, emerging ad formats only a skeptical glance for the next 5-10 years. But if brands want to keep up with current trends, why are they passing up this golden opportunity? 

In reality, brands are hesitant to employ strategies they see as “risky.” According to TripleLift’s research, only 50% of marketers plan to increase the number of ad products they activate. Primarily due to the fear of unknown performance. But this conservative approach unnecessarily limits a brand’s performance and growth potential. Imagine if Michael Scott was too afraid to leave Dunder Mifflin. Sure, he’d still be regional manager with a nice condo in Scranton, Pennsylvania, but would he have reached his full potential? Probably not. 

Four Ad Formats to Consider

Let’s take a look at a breakdown: 

1. A brand chooses to run a campaign with a single ad format, say banner ads. By running a brand lift study, we conclude that the banner ads effectively generate a strong lift in lower-funnel metrics.
   
   
2. The same brand runs a campaign that splits its budget across four formats: in-feed native, banner ads, and in-stream video/CTV spots. The campaign still delivers lifts on the lower funnel and statistically significant brand awareness and favorability increases. By implementing an omnichannel approach (including relatively new formats), the campaign efficiently and effectively targeted the full funnel mix efficiently and effectively.

This is just one example of single vs. multi-format performance. Diversifying budgets across multiple ad formats leads to more impactful results across the purchase funnel. Conservative, single-ad format strategies may lead to strong lifts, but the downside? Brand stagnancy. 

Activate the Right Product Mix

Consumers spend more time with new media like digital videos and branded content. So, their trust in advertisements running in these spaces steadily grows. As the industry focuses on emerging products like CTV, what was previously seen as risky will soon become the norm. They say the early bird gets the worm, which is especially true in tech adoption. As the great Michael Scott once said, “I’m an early bird and a night owl. So I’m wise, and I have worms.”

At TripleLift Research, we understand entering new, untouched territory feels risky. Despite perceived challenges with new ad formats, like poor ad inventory scale or lack of audience targeting, activating a mix of products into your long-term strategy will minimize potential brand stagnancy while optimizing performance. We’re confident that this “risk” is an opportunity worth every penny. Advertisers who are wise enough to activate the right product mix can look forward to many, many worms.

The post Avoid Funnel Vision, Find the Right Fix for Your Product Mix appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Sara Nirenberg, Senior Research Analyst, Research at TripleLift

Holiday advertising success is rooted in an image that says “I understand holiday shoppers, consumer spending patterns, and my marketing funnel objectives are clear.” Advertising spend is an investment: an expenditure on a screen that, with a bit of magic, sends a message. A perfect response to the question: “How do we capture the attention of the holiday shopper?”  

Advertisers have spun the dreidel, trying everything from sponsoring Santa’s sleigh and tracking it, to fueling reindeer. From contours to facelifts, advertisers know imagery provides the magic to truly stand out. So it is only fitting, TripleLift research has made this art a science. 

It turns out, it’s true: a picture is worth a thousand words. 

In advertising, imagery is the medium for telling your story. You, the advertiser, are in charge of giving that story purpose. Whether that is powering Santa’s sleigh, bringing everyone together this holiday season, or empowering others to believe in miracles, it is without question that your holiday creative tells your story.

Our holiday story: TripleLift is giving advertisers the perfect gift. A perfect gift, though hard to come by, requires research, luck, listening, and input from everyone that knows you. After many conversations, months of research, and some holiday magic, we’ve created it. A symposium of research to help you design creatives tailored to your target audience, fit for your funnel objectives and aligned with your brand strategy.

Click below to explore the whitepaper.

The whitepaper enables you to target your consumer during key buying times, with holidays and shopping events top of mind. 

When making a list, and checking it twice, TripleLift’s Holiday Whitepaper should suffice. 

The post TripleLift Advertiser’s Guide to Unwrapping Holiday Spend appeared first on TripleLift.

The following post was excerpted from an article originally published in AdAge on June 6, 2022.

Authored by: Michael Shields, General Manager, Advanced Advertising at TripleLift

For those of you who dipped into the IAB NewFronts this season, you know that non-traditional ad formats took center stage. NBCU Peacock unveiled both its new Frame Ad, where sponsored ads appear in a frame surrounding show content, as well as its In-Scene Ad, which integrates a brand’s imagery into a shot with post-production visual effects. Amazon similarly trotted out its Virtual Product Placement or “VPP.”

It’s never been more clear: traditional in-break ads alone no longer cut it. Integrated ad experiences – like the ones announced on countless stages the first week of May – are propelling us into the next phase of television advertising.

We know that consumers want a better television viewing experience. But giving consumers a better experience doesn’t have to cost publishers. The mid-market – free ad-supported television (FAST) and ad-supported video on-demand (AVOD) channels and platforms, such as Tastemade, Vevo, WhistleTV, and Kidoodle, were among the first to see the full potential of integrated ad experiences. With consumers demanding shorter commercial breaks from their content providers, it comes as no surprise that these services have turned to new ways to reach consumers and meet their business objectives.

Now with the likes of Peacock and Amazon putting significant skin in the game, don’t be surprised if it unleashes pent-up supply to service the pent-up demand from the brand marketer side. We’re also likely to see a revision of the traditional production studio and distributor relationship, making it possible for all parties to see the consumer advertising-driven upside in a hit show.

For brands, early returns reveal that combining standard CTV :30 spots with In-Show ad formats have a multiplier effect on a brand’s KPIs.  TripleLift research shows that a :30 In-Break ad combined with a :10 In-Show ad has increased brand awareness by 67%, significantly higher than running two :30 CTV spots (+51%). 

And for any CTV publishers who might be underinvesting in CTV – SVOD or AVOD, regardless of size – now is the time to focus on a two-pronged growth strategy: traditional spots in-break and emerging in-show formats.

Today, traditional product placement captures over $23 billion dollars in advertising spend, with almost no technology or automation. Emerging in-show advertising technology – what the mid-market has already embraced and what the likes of Peacock and Amazon announced at the NewFronts – has the potential to radically expand the marketplace for product placement, lifting the fortunes of studios, networks, brands and consumers alike.

This scenario heralds the arrival of true programmatic product placement, where seamless integration can happen across hundreds of streaming TV channels in near real-time.  If more tech platforms repurpose their programmatic pipes to create in-show brand integration at scale, $23 billion could soon turn into $43 billion at the benefit of both the studios creating the content and publishers airing it.

Companies like Zype and Amagi, global leaders in cloud-based SaaS technology for CTV, are helping to scale these placements by shifting ad decisioning and insertion upstream of typical digital ad infrastructure. Seamless brand integrations result in more immersive storytelling experiences, which can increase network monetization exponentially. Brands win with nearly limitless opportunities facilitated by the agility of real-time in-show insertion. And studios and creators benefit from low-lift, incremental revenue opportunities.

We have seen how integrated ad experiences, like dynamic in-show product and brand integrations, can spark incremental value for a CTV publisher’s traditional in-break business.  What’s more is that by employing in-show technology to power these integrated ad experiences, publishers can glean higher quality contextual data to inform and enhance targeting in the commercial break.  This interplay creates a never-before-seen contextual targeting capability providing marketers with a new way to intimately reach consumers at moments of their highest engagement.

The growing industry investment in first-party data offers brands and platforms the chance to solidify engagement created by these new formats. As CTV ad loads continue to shrink, integrated ads are the ingredient that will sweeten the viewer experience and propel us into the next chapter of brand-supported television. 

In order to propel the industry forward into the next phase of television advertising – one that drives value across the entire television value chain – there are crucial steps that must be taken: securing the rights to content for downstream uses, investing in the right creative assets to deliver the highest quality experience for consumers and building purchase paths that allow us to assess the reach, frequency, relative value and effectiveness of new formats within the overall media mix.

Innovation in television always requires concerted, coordinated action of industry participants across the value chain. In-show formats are a solution that appears to be here to stay. 

The post In-Show Ads: The Next Innovation That’s Driving CTV Growth appeared first on TripleLift.

It’s happened to all of us. You’ve stood in front of your food pantry, bored and uninspired, maybe even intimidated by the prospect of making dinner. You’re about to throw in the towel and order delivery — when you see it. That thing. The pantry staple that makes you think, “Wait a second now. I think I’ve got my essential ingredient.” Now, that pantry staple can look different for everyone: for some it’s a box of bucatini, a can of kidney beans, or even a jar of harissa. But you know it when you see it. 

It’s the ingredient that you can rely on for a meal even when you’re unsure if that lettuce in your fridge has gone bad…

When it comes to your media strategy, ContentDial, TripleLift’s branded content product, is your reliable pasta — meaning regardless of how the contents of your fridge spoil over time this tactic will remain largely unchanged and equally delicious. And we don’t use the pantry staple metaphor lightly here; we know that 2023 is bringing big changes to the industry as third-party cookies (3PC) are deprecated entirely, which means you’re going to need some new shelf-stable items to help you cook up the perfect media plan. 

Shelf-Stable Branded Content
ContentDial partners with brands to create high-quality lightweight content with multiple premium publishers, promoted across social platforms. Powered by proprietary technology, our end-to-end solution streamlines the process, elevates your content, and maximizes your ROI, enabling seamless activation and performance transparency for the first time ever. 

Advertisers want to ensure all of their paid media efforts reach the most qualified consumer, and to-date, this has been made possible largely by third-party cookies. However, because ContentDial branded content is promoted on social platforms like Facebook and Instagram, which don’t rely on third-party cookies, we can rely on the unique data available to those platforms to reach your target audience, as well as publishers who use their own 1P data to bring relevant audiences to ContentDial branded content. 

Diversifying Your Pantry
With the deprecation of third-party cookies set to take place in less than a year, it’s time to start diversifying your pantry. Advertisers should begin replacing third-party cookies with first-party (1P) data. By taking a portfolio approach, advertisers can tap into a range of solutions all powered by powerful 1P data available on a publisher. After all, the future looks a lot like your ad tech partners and publishers teaming up to segment the best available 1P data and then packaging it easily for you to target. We’ve done a deep dive into what that looks like over at our Privacy Hub. But this portfolio approach should not be limited to just what’s available programmatically — ContentDial is the ideal pantry staple to add to the mix for your direct media buys. 

Don’t Go Hungry
There’s no need to go hungry in a world without third-party cookies. Despite the impending industry-wide changes impacting the rest of your media tactics, branded content measurement and promotion is future-proof thanks to publisher-owned first-party data and will enjoy a long shelf life. It’ll help give you peace of mind — no one’s going hungry. Bon appetit!

The post Feed Your First-Party Strategy with ContentDial appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Michael Shields, General Manager, Connected TV at TripleLift

The IAB NewFronts – a virtual and physical industry playground – brought streaming platforms, networks, ad tech companies, and publishers large and small together to boast the latest innovations and offerings for advertisers for yet another year. Presentations throughout the week-long event varied across topics and specialties, but there was one shared message throughout that captured our attention: the importance of choice across content, audiences, and formats. 

FAST & AVOD lead NewFronts with new content announcements
The NewFronts always highlight industry shifts on the big stage. As the options and mediums for television expand, it’s not just the industry’s biggest players that are delivering new catalogs and original shows for more content choices. The industry’s fastest-growing segment, which makes up the majority of the market unbeknownst to some, is catering to audiences with more premium content options. That segment: the mid-market, is largely made up of FAST and AVOD publishers. 

Tastemade, one of the leading AVOD publishers, made a splash during their NewFront presentation with their announcement of Tastemade Home, a channel designed for the new generation of homeowners, along with 27 new original series in 2022 across Tastemade properties including Tastemade Travel and Tastemade Espanol.  

Another mid-market player, Canela Media, delivered a presentation focused on efforts to continue to iterate off of what their fans love. Isabel Rafferty, CEO and Founder of Canela Media said, “the insights we have about our passionate fans fuel all of our choices, which is what makes Canela the only real strategic AVOD player for Hispanic audiences”. The media company shared news that these insights directly impacted their decision to launch Canela Kids, a new Spanish-language AVOD destination for families. 

Thanks to a focus on curating content catalogs for passionate, loyal fan bases, the CTV mid-market of FAST and AVOD players have maintained deeply invested audiences, yielding lower churn rates and higher engagement. While each of these provides great ways to target niche audiences, it’s the entire mid-market collective that allows buyers to reach their desired scale and KPIs outside of the walled gardens. And the only way to reach them all at once is through programmatic channels which offer the precision of digital with the best of television.

First-party data takes center stage as brands look to reach diverse audiences
Leaders like Samsung Ads and LG Ads, highlighted precision targeting and measurement tools to meet audiences where they are. We also heard from long-time, audience-based measurement solutions like Neilsen and Comscore, to help bridge the gap while the market still deals with fragmentation to reach those desired audiences. 

These insights are not only essential to reach the larger population, but also to understand what appeals to diverse audiences. On a panel titled “Diversity in the Creator Community”, Paula Castro, Google’s Multicultural Creative Business Partner said, “what works for a general market audience might not necessarily work for a multicultural audience”. Platforms and brands shared major DE&I investments and partnerships in an effort to drive the industry towards a more inclusive space. Black-owned media companies like Revolt, and Blavity Inc., shared the power of Black-owned media and how brands can take part in solving for Black inequities. Players like A&E announced their new ad-supported FAST channel called “4UV” which takes a thoughtful approach to diversity, equity, and inclusion and will showcase a variety of original content, focused on giving voices to underrepresented communities. Tubi also announced a plan to introduce new original programming next year, with an emphasis on personalized content, where they will use new analysis tools, “Campaign Insights” and “Content Clusters” to gain deeper audience insights to help brands reach diverse audiences.

It is more important than ever to deliver personalized and connected messages through content and storytelling, and CTV offers an opportunity for the most meaningful and dynamic living room experience.

More formats, more choices for brands
It is essential to engage audiences in a way that is additive to their viewing experience, and this rang true after a plethora of non-traditional ad formats were shown in various presentations last week – giving brands the ultimate choice of how they deliver their message. We saw this with NBCU Peacock’s announcement of the Peacock “Frame Ad”, where sponsored ads appear in a “frame” surrounding the content of a show, along with the Peacock “In-Scene Ad”, which integrates a brand or product message into a show using post-production visual effects. Amazon similarly unveiled Virtual Product Placement or “VPP”, which is designed to insert brands directly into Amazon original content. As we continue to see more subtle advertising being integrated into show content, it is clear that the consumer experience is the name of the game, and the future of brand-supported television is upon us. 

While:30s spots still reign supreme, new format options have been making headway for a few years. The difference between now and then is the level of sophistication that allows for these branding experiences to feel completely seamless within the content. Alternate format options like Homescreen Native Ads, Pause Ads, and Shoppable Overlays, played off gaps in audience decisions and aim to be complementary to the viewing experience. 

In order to push the industry forward toward this new wave of advertising, there are crucial steps that must be taken – securing the rights to content for downstream uses, investing in the right creative assets to deliver the highest quality experience for consumers, and building purchase paths that allow us to assess the reach, frequency, relative value and effectiveness of new formats within the overall media mix. Steps we are already taking at TripleLift.  

We’re entering the next chapter of brand-supported television
The 2022 NewFronts showed us that there continue to be more options than ever to reach and appeal to audiences today, but that doesn’t mean inevitable success for streaming platforms and brands. It is imperative to understand your audience and deliver personalized and impactful viewing experiences, and the industry investment in first-party data offers brands and platforms the chance to do so. Large-scale industry giants validated that integrated ad formats will continue to take over the advertising ecosystem, offering brands and audiences alike a better way to experience ad-supported TV.  As CTV ad loads continue to shrink, integrated ads are the ingredient that will sweeten the viewer experience and propel us into the next chapter of brand-supported television.

The post NewFronts 2022: Top 3 Trends appeared first on TripleLift.

Why the coming privacy and identity changes will benefit the entire industry—and what 9 out of 10 publishers need to know.

The following post was excerpted from an article originally published in AdAge on April 8, 2022.

Authored by: Airey Baringer, Senior Director, Product Management, Privacy at TripleLift

The cookie apocalypse is essentially our industry’s Y2K problem. But just like on the first day of the new millennium, when the world worried if clocks might stop, credit card readers would fail and planes could fall out of the sky, we’re all going to be OK.

Like back then, the best minds are developing solutions to make sure everything still functions. Digital advertising will work a little differently, but it will work.

While the challenge is great, the solution is straightforward. Publishers and advertisers will replace third-party cookies with first-party data. This concept is the driving force behind TripleLift’s recent acquisition of 1plusX, a data management platform (DMP) that specializes in first-party data solutions.

How first-party data will replace third-party cookies
There are essentially two kinds of publishers on the web: those who have rich first-party data about their audiences and those who don’t. Only about 10% of publishers fall into the first category. They gather that data through registrations, newsletter sign-ups and other on-site activities, and can use it to address their audiences.

But the vast majority of publishers—the other 90%—fall into the second category. They have been using third-party data and cookies as a patchwork to target audiences, but now that those cookies are becoming obsolete the future has been looking pretty bleak.

Moving forward, digital advertising will rely on first-party data solutions, a combination of context signals, engagement data, placement analytics and login information. First-party data is directly observable on publisher websites, works on every browser, is completely scaled and doesn’t require third-party syncs (which fail about 40% of the time anyway). It’s both more effective and privacy-compliant, a combination we can all get behind.

Best of all, these solutions will be available to every publisher who wishes to participate—not just the “the 10%”—and every advertiser as well.

Both publishers and advertisers will benefit
There is no future for digital advertising without publisher participation in first-party data solutions. DMPs like 1plusX were among the first companies to realize this. They put control for how first-party data is used back into the hands of publishers.

Armed with this data, publishers have a deeper view of their audience and how that audience is engaging with their content. These insights simply weren’t available in an advertising economy powered by third-party data solutions. Most importantly, leveraging first-party data allows publishers to better control and drive their own monetization.

This deeper view of publisher actions will make it easier for advertisers and their DSPs to target and reach their audiences more accurately. Brands will no longer need to guess where third-party data comes from, hope it has the correct permissions or wonder about its efficacy.

Yes, advertisers will need to do some groundwork to set themselves up for success. For example, they will need to define audience targeting with their supply-side platform (SSP), using a one-to-many (one advertiser to many publishers) ID to complement their existing identification strategies. But that investment in time will be well worth the reward. By replacing third-party cookies with first-party data, digital campaigns will continue to deliver at scale, and with good performance.

The bottom line is that digital advertising is about to be rebuilt from the ground up. That new world will be one where publishers benefit from the actions taken on their websites, and where advertisers reach their audiences in new and effective ways. Like on January 1, 2000, it will all look better in the rearview mirror.

For all of the latest news and analysis covering the changing P&I landscape, visit TripleLift’s Privacy Hub.

The post The Third-Party Cookie Solution: First-Party Data appeared first on TripleLift.

There’s only one Earth, and quite frankly, we could all be doing a better job of saving it. 

In 2021, the sustainable product market was valued at an estimated $150 billion, thanks in large part to an uptick in consumer demand. But consumers aren’t the only group looking for ways to help save the planet. We understand that sustainability is now a critical component of advertisers’ marketing strategies and business goals. Advertisers like Intel, Clorox, and Nike, are consistently looking for new ways for their marketing to play a role in lowering the impact on the environment and creating a more sustainable future. 

TripleLift’s GREEN Exchange Traded Deal was built to do just that – give advertisers another way to use their green to keep our planet green. 

Featuring websites that are leading the way in sustainable best practices through their products, content, and charitable giving, GREEN helps advertisers to reach their target market and achieve their sustainable business goals. 

From green products, renewable energy, recycling & upcycling, farming, conservation, organic & vegan lifestyles, there are dozens of opportunities for advertisers to direct their dollars to the platforms behind a more sustainable future.   

Update as of Tuesday, April 25, TripleLift announced its donation of $15,000 to Cool Effect, a Bay Area-based nonprofit dedicated to supporting projects around the globe that reduce carbon emissions. The donation will offset over 1,000 tons of carbon emissions, or the equivalent of consuming 115,000 gallons of gasoline. This is just a small step towards helping our planet by investing in efforts to reduce carbon emissions globally.

For more information, visit our GREEN ETD page.

The post Introducing TripleLift’s GREEN ETD appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Rachel LaMura, Director, Product Marketing, CTV at TripleLift

So much of the buzz around the Connected TV space has been generated by The Big 5 streaming services – Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, Amazon Video, Disney+. Today, those five are just a few of an ever-expanding cohort that have brands shifting dollars from TV and digital budgets and placing high-priced bets. But it can be hard to see the forest for the trees when it’s dominated by these redwoods. Underneath the large shadows cast by the behemoths, there are free ad-supported television (FAST) and ad-supported video on-demand (AVOD) channels and platforms with premium content and something these behemoth’s don’t have – unique, hard to reach audiences.

If buyers are intent on maximizing their video investments, they need to look to the vast mid-tail of CTV publishers alongside the top players in this new era’s version of portfolio diversification.  Similar to the digital boom of the early 2000s, we are seeing a drove of new publishers and platforms emerging with tailored focuses – and audiences are noticing. Consider for starters, over 50% of all digital video viewers in the U.S. are watching Ad-supported Video On-Demand (AVOD). And six in ten households watched content with a FAST app in 2021 – a number that is set to grow at a faster rate than any other platform.  With a healthy mix of AVOD and FAST publishers, brands can minimize the woes of an evolving landscape. 

Harvesting the Lower-Hanging Fruit
The big name apps are an obvious choice for brands looking for scale. But for those brands looking to increase their targeted reach and buy with efficiency, there’s one category that may have the answer: the CTV Mid-Tail. Here are three compelling reasons for investing in the CTV Mid-Tail:

The CTV Mid-Tail, composed of a broad range of AVOD platforms and FAST channels, delivers sizable and consistent audiences and has yet to be fully exploited by marketers. Thanks to a focus on curating content catalogs for passionate, loyal fan bases, the CTV Mid-Tail has maintained deeply invested audiences yielding lower churn rates. Think of properties such as Pluto, Whistle TV (Sports & Entertainment), and Design Network (Home & Garden). 

CTV Mid-Tails are inherently nimble and technologically advanced, making them the natural home to innovative ad formats that deliver better experiences to viewers and in turn higher engagement and results for brands. All around, the CTV Mid-Tail can deliver a better viewer experience that drives results. 

As header bidding continues to democratize the CTV space thanks to ad serving platforms like Publica, brands of all shapes and sizes can reach target audiences across the CTV Mid-Tail on their own terms and budgets with unified auctions. No longer do advertisers need to commit to upfront buying or huge guarantees.  All bids are taken into consideration, unlike the legacy waterfall dynamics which were stacked unfairly in favor of the most scaled players. Header Bidding evens the playing field for advertisers and makes it easy to compete for impressions in high-quality television content. 

You need to get moving – FAST 
For all of the digital-like targeting and efficient workflow that CTV provides; engaged audiences, quality programming and brand-building still matter. For advertisers, the CTV Mid-Tail offers you both a chance to lean in and reap the benefits of a TV experience that’s better for viewers and your bottom line.  CTV Mid-Tail provide brands with the kind of wide open canvas we as marketers dream about, plus the opportunity to reach targeted audiences with no upfront buy required. If you’re not buying in the CTV Mid-Tail, you’re not maximizing your video investment. You need to get moving – FAST.

To learn more about how you can reach CTV Mid-Tail’s coveted audiences, check out our FAST ETD for CTV spots.

The post Brands Ignore The CTV Mid-Tail At Their Peril appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored By: Keith Kazerman, SVP CTV Revenue at TripleLift

Connected TV is front and center. In 2021, folks got busy building, testing and solving.  Brainpower and resources were put against establishing key strategic and operational pillars needed for a flourishing CTV ecosystem—Programmatic trading; backend interoperability; brand safety; identity resolution; and of course measurement. Commercially, however, we’re falling short. 

How do we convince brands to commit more ad dollars to CTV to keep pace with the viewership growth and increasing investments in operational pillars? While infrastructure is critical, explaining the strategic and commercial imperative of CTV to brand marketers in a pithy and powerful way is Job One.

CTV players should deliver an anthemic message. At the end of the day, publishers will optimize yield and brands will max their ROAS and business outcomes if, and only if, consumer engagement is high.  New bleeding edge transactional mechanics are sexy, but the name of the game remains—“how do I give people the right experience and keep them engaged with my content?” The good news is that all of the technological innovation happening in our business can raise the bar even higher for in-content/show engagement. 

We are on the cusp of taking the next big step in creating a viewer experience way more engaging than the traditional interruptive, often annoying, model anchored by the :30 spot. 

The throughline of this evolution winds its way back to the beginning.  Back in the 50’s, the likes of Procter & Gamble built our industry by underwriting radio shows and early soap operas, integrating their SKUs into these shows.  Early product placement was the foundation to a powerful engagement tool that evolved over the decades.  Fast forward to the early aughts, when Mark Burnett reimagined product placement, capitalizing on ad-skipping fears stoked by TiVo and other first generation DVRs. “Product Placement” became “Product Integration” and properties like “Survivor” and “The Apprentice” became laboratories for more seamlessly weaving brands into non-scripted narratives. Those shows paved the way for the next generation of product integrations like Peloton in “Billions” and Omaha Steaks in Gordon Ramsay’s “Hell’s Kitchen”.    

Fast forward to today. AI and Computer Vision technology, which have both contributed to the advancement of native advertising across the web, are now being used to refine product integration in CTV. While the delivery of product integrations has been refined, how they’re bought and sold has up until this point in time remained unchanged. But with programmatic buying technology, what was once a high-touch, manual integration function can be automated, efficient and scalable. A product integration marketplace powered by programmatic technology means the true value of integrations can be realized. 

Programmatic buying capabilities have been widely adopted by the buying community. In the last year alone, programmatic CTV spend grew by 82.4% compared to the previous year according to eMarketer. By applying that same technology to integrations, we can take the next big step in the digital transformation of TV advertising.

The post Connected TV: What is Old is New Again appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Peter McCue, International Research Manager at TripleLift

This article was updated on February 3, 2023

Recently, I was reminded of a particular blue monster’s diet journey. It was a Sunday morning, and I watched Sesame Street with my niece as she was trying to get her hourly Elmo fix. I almost spilled my coffee as Cookie Monster ran across our TV screen and started rapping about deprecating cookies. “…Taking only cookies all wrong! ‘Cause, you also gotta eat fruits or veggies or meat if you want to be healthy and strong!”

I couldn’t believe it. Like our industry, Cookie Monster’s calorically dense food of choice shaped him into the well-known monster he is today. However, Cookie Monster had to diversify his diet to benefit his constituents. Now, our industry is being asked to do the same. We need to fundamentally change how we operate to preserve the privacy of our audiences, better yet, retain the success that digital advertising provides brands and publishers around the globe. Let’s see how the advertising industry is going about these changes in the U.S. and the U.K.

Industry Perceptions on Privacy and Identity Readiness

The geographical differences in survey responses may be attributable to the driving force behind the third-party cookie’s demise in each region. In the U.K., regulations such as the GDPR, enforced by the U.K.’s ICO, are the primary motivator. Most companies in the U.S. respond to platform changes from major industry players, and the market responses reflect different motivations. One commonality, however, is that both markets show a lag between the triggering motivator and the adoption of solutions. Since both markets are uncertain, understanding the portfolio of solutions available (for advertisers and publishers) and how they address specific needs is the key to thriving. 

Third-party cookies are going away. It’s time to face that reality and adopt an attitude of pragmatism. Like Cookie Monster, SSPs need to diversify their plates and take a fresh, collaborative approach to addressing the vast majority of impressions on the open web, impressions that will soon no longer be tracked. If Cookie Monster can deal with cookie deprecation, we can too.

*AdAge, TripleLift U.S. Privacy & Identity Study, n=269, August 2021
*ExchangeWire, TripleLift U.K. Privacy & Identity Study, n=963, August 2021

The post “C” is for Cookies appeared first on TripleLift.

In the wake of the war and the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, stopping the spread of misinformation and preventing monetization of the websites behind it is critical. In response to those who would seek to spread misinformation or participate in information warfare, we have enhanced our safety measures.

• Added new filtering to our native language processing audit tool that leverages keyword detection to block creatives that are in violation of our policies. TripleLift does not permit creative that contains references to, or images of: war, weapons, or crisis and controversy marketing.
• Trained our human audit team to flag and block creative that contains images that would seek to capitalize on the conflict or spread misinformation related to the war.
• We are conducting outreach to all of our partners to reaffirm their commitment to our Exchange Supply Policies and Creative Ad Policies to ensure their cooperation in diligently monitoring content during this difficult time.
• Partnered with Adlightning to enhance the ‘Crisis and Controversy’ category to include ads that are seeking to profit from the war in the Ukraine.
• Updated our platform-wide blocklist to include a series of domains that Newsguard identified as either contributing to the spread of misinformation about the crisis in Ukraine or associated with propaganda organizations. 
  • NewsGuard has an extensive operation tracking state-sponsored disinformation by the Russian government. In fact, the NewsGuard ratings coupled with its Misinformation Fingerprints catalog is used by the US State Department’s Global Engagement Center and US Cyber Command of the Pentagon to track disinformation narratives and sources. 
• In addition to the above, TripleLift will work with all of our partners to block any specific supply or creatives requested.If you have any questions or concerns our Marketplace Quality Team can be reached at marketplace-quality@triplelift.com.

TripleLift is committed to stopping the spread of misinformation, propaganda, and hate speech. In order to stop the spread, it’s also critical that our entire industry rallies behind responsible journalism. 

Responsible journalism is most critical in times of turbulence. A properly functioning society relies on reporters being able to separate fact from fiction and getting critical news out to citizens. That’s why TripleLift launched a curated package of programmatic ad impressions called Help Journalism. The initiative directs ad dollars straight to the news publishers bringing us the news and information that our society needs. 

Join us in our endeavor to stop the spread of misinformation and support responsible journalism.

Learn more about our #HelpJournalism package here.

The post Stop the Spread of Misinformation and Support Quality Journalism appeared first on TripleLift.

Reflecting and Reframing
for 2022 with TripleLift

November 18, 2021

We’re proud to announce that we’ve almost made it through 2021. We should all take some time to look back and acknowledge all of the events that inspired us, professionally and personally, in the past year to prepare us for the new year. We asked some of our influential TripleLifters to reflect on 2021 and to share what they are focusing on for 2022. Take a look!

What trend(s) surprised you in 2021?

Gaming Content Consumption on CTV – 20% of Apple TV apps, and 18% of Amazon Fire apps are specifically for gaming.

Rahil Berani Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

The continuation of remote-working/pandemic effects. How naive we were in 2020!

Samantha Powers Head of Research

Disappointed in the push to maintain the status quo. Those replacing existing cookies and mobile ad identifiers with even more invasive solutions and re-skinned notice, transparency, choice and contractual solutions are hiding behind privacy theater and the antitrust narrative instead of looking for better solutions.

Julia Shullman General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Surging global market competition for talent. Preponderance of reselling despite sellers.json.

Jaison Zachariah SVP, Technology

The Great Consolidation: scaled demand-side platforms (DSPs) finally putting their foot down on traffic bloat with support for initiatives like SupplyChain and Global Placement ID.

Sonja Kristiansen VP, Global Platform Partnerships

Growth of deals (particularly guaranteed) to dominate spending with ‘commoditized’ formats such as display and standard video. Buyers are increasingly invested in knowing exactly where their banners appear rather than the uncertainty of the open exchange.

James Oyedele Senior Product Manager, Deals

Brands doubling down on a sustained commitment to supporting diverse audiences by investing in minority-owned media partners.

Charlotte Schaefer Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

Rahil Berani

Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

Samantha Powers

Head of Research

Julia Shullman

General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Jaison Zachariah

SVP, Technology

Sonja Kristiansen

VP, Global Platform Partnerships

James Oyedele

Senior Product Manager, Deals

Charlotte Schaefer

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

What trend do you predict will be at the forefront of 2022?

Much of industry’s innovation, such as publisher-driven audience solutions to replace third-party-cookies, will be productized via deals. It’s up to adtech players to ensure that deals improve campaign execution efficiency, rather than hinder it.

James Oyedele Senior Product Manager, Deals

Redefining campaign success with metrics/methodologies that will survive post third-party-cookies.

Samantha Powers Head of Research

With the deprecation of third-party-cookies on the horizon, content marketing that leverages social media distribution and contextual targeting will become more important than ever.

Charlotte Schaefer Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

I predict (hope?) folks wake up to the reality that adtech is changing. Things don’t have to remain the same. We shouldn’t just be dusting off and re-skinning old solutions.

Julia Shullman General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

A stronger push for better consumer experiences – more in-show branding opportunities with a boom in post-production product placement.

Rahil Berani Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

SPO, CTV, M&A, P&I (e.g. FPD). New acronyms. Maybe a questionable return of blockchain to ad tech (#cryptoadpunks).

Jaison Zachariah SVP, Technology

Consolidation, consolidation, consolidation: of companies (M&A), of supply partners (SPO), of identifiers (P&I).

Sonja Kristiansen VP, Global Platform Partnerships

James Oyedele

Senior Product Manager, Deals

Samantha Powers

Head of Research

Charlotte Schaefer

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

Julia Shullman

General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Rahil Berani

Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

Jaison Zachariah

SVP, Technology

Sonja Kristiansen

VP, Global Platform Partnerships

If you had to choose an AdTech acronym to retire in 2022, what would it be?

FTM (First-to-market) and NBDB (Never been done before).

Charlotte Schaefer Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

It’s time to stop using OTT and CTV interchangeably.

Rahil Berani Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

CTR- Let’s look towards deeper variables of effectiveness.

Samantha Powers Head of Research

VPAID. The whole bird acronym thing, but keep the content behind several of the bird acronyms.

Jaison Zachariah SVP, Technology

DMP (Data Management Platform).

Sonja Kristiansen VP, Global Platform Partnerships

-aaS, SaaS, IaaS etc. Most products require some sort of service, maybe we don’t need to add -aaS to all of them.

James Oyedele Senior Product Manager, Deals

“Cookieless future” – first-party-cookies aren’t going anywhere and many of the identity solutions out there rely on them.

Julia Shullman General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Charlotte Schaefer

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

Rahil Berani

Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

Samantha Powers

Head of Research

Jaison Zachariah

SVP, Technology

Sonja Kristiansen

VP, Global Platform Partnerships

James Oyedele

Senior Product Manager, Deals

Julia Shullman

General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

What quote encompasses your goals for 2022?

“Long term thinking is so rare anywhere. This is a huge advantage if you do it.” -Sam Altman

Jaison Zachariah SVP, Technology

I like the philosophy of Occam’s Razor: “Entities are not to be multiplied beyond necessity.” Simplicity is elegant and efficient.

Sonja Kristiansen VP, Global Platform Partnerships

“Any damn fool can make something complex, it takes a genius to make something simple.” – Pete Seeger, Product Director at Docusign

James Oyedele Senior Product Manager, Deals

“You can focus on things that are barriers or you can focus on scaling the wall or redefining the problem.” – Tim Cook, CEO of Apple

Samantha Powers Head of Research

“The most powerful person in the world is the storyteller” – Steve Jobs

Charlotte Schaefer Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

“Give the people what they want!” – Multiple Sources

Rahil Berani Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.”

Julia Shullman General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Jaison Zachariah

SVP, Technology

Sonja Kristiansen

VP, Global Platform Partnerships

James Oyedele

Senior Product Manager, Deals

Samantha Powers

Head of Research

Charlotte Schaefer

Senior Product Marketing Manager, Branded Content

Rahil Berani

Head of Brand Partnerships, Advanced Advertising

Julia Shullman

General Council and Chief Privacy Officer

Interested in how we plan to incorporate these predictions into 2022? Reach out to your TripleLift partner or contact us here.

The post Reflecting and Reframing for 2022 with TripleLift appeared first on TripleLift.

You might not know it, but branded content has been a staple of marketing plans well before the rise of digital media. For decades, publishers have offered advertorials — editorially-led articles paid for by advertisers — as a unique platform for advertisers to tell their stories and connect deeply with consumers. A key benefit: the advertiser enjoys the halo effect of the content and publisher brand that surround it.

Fast forward to today’s digital content ecosystem, in which those same (and new) publishers sell and create branded content in an almost endless array of formats such as articles, videos and social stories. While the formats have evolved, the goal is the same — offer brands a broader canvas that breaks through the confines of a traditional ad. But creating compelling content that drives impact for a brand, suits a publisher’s voice, and resonates with readers is not so easy. Too often, the abstract dream of branded content gives way to the blood, sweat and tears of frustrated advertisers and publishers, who spend an inordinate amount of time and energy creating and publishing content, so much so that the entire experience strains long-standing relationships and a campaign with promise proves ROI-negative.

ContentDial, TripleLift’s branded content solution, reinvents the process, allowing a single brand to run unique, high-quality content with multiple premium publishers. With lightweight formats and a proprietary technology platform, ContentDial offers efficiency for brands, allowing them to reach and amplify messages to new customers for everything from product launches, tentpole events and always-on campaigns.

 “ContentDial was the first product I saw that allowed us to create something bespoke to multiple publishers but do it through one partner, which allows us to be more efficient.” 
– SVP of Content, Advertising, The Total Economic Impact^TM of TripleLift ContentDial

TripleLift commissioned Forrester Consulting to quantify the benefits of this product. A commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of TripleLift found that ContentDial can deliver positive ROI and save brands and their agencies hundreds of hours of work for a single campaign, while delivering high performance.

To understand the breadth of benefits ContentDial delivers, and how it’s changing the game for branded content, download our full report below.

The post Triplelift Commissions Forrester Consulting to Measure How ContentDial Impacts the Branded Content Experience appeared first on TripleLift.

TripleLift now supports Display & Video 360’s Seller API, which allows for seamless deal activation. Prior to enabling the Seller API, buyer deal creation left room for human error and put the responsibility to upload and create deals on the buyer. 

With the help of automation, the process is much more simple. To activate TripleLift deals, all that needs to be done is select “accept” within the Negotiations section of the Display & Video 360 interface, and the deal instantly will become available within the buyer’s My Inventory page.

The Seller API integration also allows TripleLift to make inventory packages more readily available within Display & Video 360’s Marketplace. Buyers can search for curated TripleLift deals and access our Exchange Traded Deals (ETDs) from our performance, audience and culture categories, providing another easy way for Display & Video 360 buyers to access TripleLift inventory to successfully bring campaigns to life. 

Contact DV360@triplelift.com for easy deal activation or simply start buying our DV360 Exchange Traded Deals (ETDs) via Display & Video 360’s Marketplace today! 

The post Buying TripleLift inventory in Google Display & Video 360 just got easier! appeared first on TripleLift.

2023 seems like a long way away. That’s when Google has promised to sunset its support of third-party cookies (3PC) and join the ranks of other browsers like Safari and Firefox who have already deprecated 3PC support.

That’s why we’re about to take you through step-by-step campaign planning and activation to get you ready for 2023.

The post Privacy & Identity : Prepper Playbook for Advertisers appeared first on TripleLift.

TripleLift is here to help you plan this holiday season, adapting your campaigns for maximum effectiveness at a global scale and informing you of seasonal trends across the world. We’ve prepared a variety of global consumer insights, essential for every holiday campaign. Enjoy!

The post The World of Holiday Trends appeared first on TripleLift.

In our latest spotlight, we spoke with Anthony Iaffaldano, Fandom’s VP, Sales Marketing & Insights about their exciting and expansive platform, including their recent rebrand, diverse and passionate audience, holiday trends, and how ‘fan mode’ can lead to higher engagement. If you’ve ever wondered what folks watch in the Vatican City or if Die Hard is in fact a Christmas movie, this blog is for you!

Can you start by telling us about Fandom and your role there?

Fandom is the world’s largest fan platform – our tools, content and experiences help 315 million fans around the world immerse themselves in their favorite entertainment and games.

At the core of what we do are our 250,000 fan-edited wikis – more than 30 million pages of content documenting virtually every movie, tv series or video game you can think of – from Star Wars to Spongebob and everything in between.

We’re also the home of Honest Trailers, an Emmy and Webby nominated series that explores what movie trailers would look like if they were more honest.  We operate D&D Beyond, the leading digital toolset for Dungeons & Dragons players that has more than 8 million registered users. And we also recently acquired Fanatical, a leading video game ecommerce platform, which has more than 83 million game keys sold to-date. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg!

As for me, I’m responsible for bringing our unique platform, audience and data to life for our advertising partners through messaging, sponsorship and thought leadership.

As a life-long pop culture fan, I’ve been a Fandom user for years. It’s fun to come to work every day and find innovative, new ways to help brands connect with real fans around their passions.

You recently went through a rebrand, including a new logo, tagline, aesthetic, and website. What brought that on? Did you have specific goals in mind?

Our new brand positioning is centered around a very simple idea: At Fandom, everything we do, we do for the love of fans.

That’s more than a tagline, it’s a mission statement – we want to be fans’ first choice for community and experience. A constant companion that helps them discover new entertainment favorites, and to explore and play in their favorite fictional worlds. Our brand launch is intended to bring focus to the value that Fandom provides to fans every day.

Our wikis already individually bring fans a ton of value: millions of users turn to us every day for the incredibly deep UGC library of information that fans have built out across more than 250,000 fictional worlds. It’s incredibly wide and impossibly deep – literally anything and everything that fans want to know.

And our new homepage builds on that value by helping with discovery. It’s a portal to the most popular, trending entertainment and games of the day, constantly updating and evolving as fan interests change.

What does Fandom’s audience look like at a glance?

To me, the beauty of Fandom is that we’re a destination for everyone and anyone to come and celebrate the entertainment and games they love. Whether they love Roblox (younger audience), Marvel (transcends generations) or Grey’s Anatomy (millennial women), we’ve got communities for all of them. 

Teens and Gen Z have fueled the growth of entertainment and gaming, making them a core demographic for Fandom, but we tend to lead with interest over demo. We find connecting with people through their passions to be more effective than targeting by audience, gender, race, or ethnicity.

Second, our audience is global – we have sizeable reach in every major market in the world. (Even in the Vatican City… Lots of people watching The Young Pope on repeat.)

We notice there’s high engagement on Fandom’s placements across our platform – what do you think that can be attributed to?

I think it all comes down to state of mind.

Fandom generally reaches audiences in what we like to call ‘fan mode’ – when they’re diving deep into their personal interests and passions. In that mindset, our audience is open to go where their interests take them. Well targeted, highly visual placements (like TripleLift’s) do especially well at grabbing their attention and moving them through the funnel.

What’s something that Fandom can offer to advertisers that other publishers can’t?

The beauty of wiki content is that our pages tend to be very focused – about a specific character, item, piece of lore or episode. For instance, with each new episode of What If on Disney+, we see spikes in interest, not only for the show, but for the pages on the specific characters and storylines mentioned as fans dig in.

Now translate that to the other 249,000 communities within Fandom. Because of our broad reach and the structure and depth of our content, we’re not just able to reach fans, we’re able to understand them – we can go deep into what’s popular and why. We can even interpret the data in ways that help us get ahead of trends, and tell you what’s about to become popular.

Late last year we launched a research service for our advertising clients called FanDNA that’s been really popular – we help our clients understand how fans are engaging with an individual franchise, genre or competitive set, and what drives interest and excitement for them. It’s essentially a fan insights engine that encompasses multiple products that fuel film, streaming and gaming development, creative/messaging development, audience targeting and media planning for Fandom’s advertising clients, turning campaign media deals into large, consultative partnerships.

With the holidays approaching, are there any consumer trends you’ve noticed that advertisers should be aware of?

Well, for one, we can confirm (with cold hard facts) that Die Hard is, in fact, a Christmas movie. So glad to end THAT debate.

That said, I’m guessing you’re more interested in talking about what people will be buying and doing this holiday season. 

This year, more than ever, people will turn to entertainment to connect with the people they love during the holidays. 82% of our audience chooses to watch shows and movies or play games with their family specifically as a way to spend quality time together. As a result, Fandom’s communities typically see a network-wide 15% increase in traffic during the holidays.

And, where possible & safe, we think people are ready to have those experiences outside the home. 69% of fans in a recent study said they are ready to get back to in-person experiences around their entertainment and gaming fandoms, because they’re missing the excitement and hype of being around other fans, a key part of the experience.

Of course it wouldn’t be the holiday season without talking about gifting – and fandom-related items are on just about everybody’s list! 83% of fans ask for gifts that relate to their entertainment fandoms. Knowing that many shoppers don’t share the same interests as their loved ones, 85% of gift buyers search for gift guides for specific fan bases (i.e. gifts for Marvel super fans).

Happy shopping, and happy holidays, everybody! 

Source: Google Analytics; Fandom Holiday Study

The post For the Love of Fans: How Fandom Cultivates Passionate Audiences appeared first on TripleLift.

This article was updated on February 3, 2023

The Problem with Surveying Consumers About Advertising

Let’s be direct — we didn’t get the desired results. We wrote and rewrote the survey, replaced assets countless times, and consulted the experts, yet the data didn’t work in our favor. 

Asking consumers about how they feel about ads is infinitely challenging. Results are unanimous almost every time: ads are annoying. They’re seen as intrusive, irrelevant, and unavoidable internet nuisances. Which begs the question — why do brands keep using them? Because time and time again, digital advertisements prove their value. 

At TripleLift, we wanted to quantify how consumers felt about different ad experiences. We surveyed 1,013 individuals in the U.S. and asked them a series of questions about various ad formats, including pop-ups, in-stream videos, and banners. The goal was to prove Native ad formats were the least intrusive but most interesting.

Turns out, we were half right:

Identifying the “Reality” with Behavioral Research

Respondents think In-Feed Native ads are pretty interesting, but they said all ads are annoying. While this isn’t ideal for the study’s purpose, it makes sense in everyday life. Think back to the last ad you saw — do you remember it because it was interesting or annoying? Maybe a little bit of both? Chances are, the ad you remember wasn’t a traditional banner ad. 

Yet, in our study, consumers ranked banner ads as their most preferred ad format. Why? Because banners often aren’t an accolade of engagement — they’re the result of users subconsciously ignoring an ad placement because consumers know exactly where and when they will appear on a page. We know this because 86% of consumers couldn’t recall the last banner they saw, per a third-party study. 

At TripleLift, we see that, too — through our 312 eye-tracking studies comparing Native Units vs. Banners, users are 25% more likely to view a Native ad over a banner ad, with 179% more time spent on that Native ad. In this eye-tracking heat map, the red represents the most time a viewer spent looking at something. Consumers often block out the right-hand rail because they’re conditioned to keep their eyes away from banner hotspots. In-feed Native forces eyeballs on the content and therefore focuses on the ad itself.

Yet, in our initial study, consumers ranked banner ads as their most preferred ad format.  So why wasn’t in-feed Native ranked as the most preferred ad among our respondents? There’s a good chance respondents were either unaware of or unfamiliar with the difference between a Native ad and other formats. In addition, consumers’ perceived behavior often varies from their actual behavior. Over half of the respondents said ads were annoying in our survey, but only 27% of American internet users block ads. There’s a disconnect between their sentiment and actions.

Create 360 Outlook Through Multiple Methodologies

It can be difficult for even the most seasoned marketer to measure and understand consumer perception and behavior. The next time you receive less than optimal results, don’t label it as “dead data” and throw them out. Try pairing those findings with another methodology to add a qualitative and quantitative understanding of why the results turned out the way they did.
  

An independent study, like our survey, is great for gauging how an audience feels about a familiar topic, such as food consumption, credit card use, or media consumption. But don’t rely solely on those results. Additional third-party measurement studies provide the behavioral context needed to get the big picture. Eye-tracking studies are a quick, efficient, and cost-effective way to understand how users interact with media. Without our arsenal of eye-tracking studies, our survey could have falsely crushed our in-feed native dreams.

Sources: TripleLift Eye Tracking Studies (n=312), InfoLinks http://www.adotas.com/2013/03/study-86-of-consumers-suffer-from-banner-blindness/, BlackLin, 2021 https://backlinko.com/ad-blockers-users

The post Consumer Studies are More than Meets the Eye appeared first on TripleLift.

Wherever you are in your holiday campaign planning journey, TripleLift is here to help you serve up the ultimate campaign.

We know that finding the right recipe for your holiday campaign can be tough, especially when you’re not quite in the holiday spirit (we get it – you’re likely still in the middle of your back-to-school campaign!). To help, we’ve prepared a buffet of snackable holiday trends and insights to get you ready for the festivities ahead:

The post Serving Up The Best Holiday Campaign – Infographic appeared first on TripleLift.

High Clickthrough Rate (CTR) as a KPI has evolved since the early days of search and programmatic. As DSPs presented more and more sophisticated tooling and algorithms, buyers had more freedom to explore different KPIs.  That freedom has sparked imagination and unlocked innovation to help buyers fulfill their campaign goals. 

But even with the evolution of high CTR, we know that the click still matters.

We know from a brand awareness standpoint that high CTR tells us when creatives are engaging and that if people aren’t clicking, something isn’t right. And for performance campaigns, clicks are an important intent-to-purchase factor for both manual optimization and training DSP algorithms to ramp up more quickly.

That’s why TripleLift launched our new Exchange Traded Deal: HiCLICK for Direct Display. 

HiCLICK is a High CTR deal curated at the placement level. We first launched HiCLICK for Native inventory, but quickly saw how buyers responded well to the KPI and have since expanded the offering to include Direct Display. Although some in the industry may consider the KPI irrelevant,  high CTR as a KPI is alive and well. 

According to James Oyedele, TripleLift’s Sr. Product Manager for Deals, HiCLICK’s value matches the evolution of the click as a KPI:

While programmatic KPIs have matured to increasing complexity, clicks remain a vital indicator of audience engagement, and one of the strongest dimensions for optimization. These deals complement DSP optimization, decrease algorithm learning times and curate performant inventory in an efficient and re-usable way. This is why we feel HiCLICK deals can drive incremental performance for almost any campaign.

In fact, when TripleLift ran tests we found that when pairing HiCLICK for Direct Display with the DSP’s CTR goal we saw over 2x better CTR — with little impact to the CPM. 

HiCLICK can be used to best suit a number of different campaign objectives. 

There’s no hard and fast rule about when to use high CTR. However, we do have some recommendations on how to best let High CTR complement your campaign’s set-up.

Learn more about our HiCLICK ETD for Direct Display

The post HiCLICK: More than just CTR appeared first on TripleLift.

There has been no greater shift in video than what has transpired over the course of the past year. The lines between television and digital video have blurred and consumption has exploded. In fact, time spent with digital video in 2020 increased by 15%. That translates to over 30-days spent with digital video. In other words, consumers are spending one out of twelve calendar months consuming video (eMarketer, 2020).  

So, what does this rapid acceleration in video consumption mean for marketers? And, how can they take advantage of these changes to achieve their business goals?

We have put together 4 ways to help you navigate today’s evolving digital video trends to keep reaching consumers everywhere they are watching.

The post Digital Video: A Marketer’s Guide to Success appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Jordan Bitterman, CMO, TripleLift

It’s no secret that the pandemic has catapulted the video habits of consumers years into the future. Brands are now at a crossroads: recognize and meet this shift in consumer behavior or risk getting left behind.

Think about your own viewing habits over the past year. You watched hundreds of shows, on dozens of apps, across every connected device. Whether you were binge watching Tiger King from your couch, rewatching another “How To” video for banana bread on your tablet or perhaps catching up on the latest political blunder out of Washington on your phone, your consumption habits – without you even realizing it – were evolving. Your viewing habits couldn’t be more modern and more digital. Yet the ads you are served are not.

The truth is that we’ve been buying video the same way for decades

Advertisers are caught in the middle of this shift. Consider that since the 1980s, roughly 95% of all video ads have run in traditional ad breaks (or in layman’s terms; a commercial running in the middle of a show).

Since the Reagan administration video ad infrastructure has been fixated on reaching consumers by interrupting the content they’re watching. That made sense when our choices were limited to ‘should I watch Friends or watch The Simpsons?’

There is a lingering bias that video ads running as commercial breaks within long-form content are far more valuable than any other kind of video ad. Yes, it works. And yes, it’s easy. If you have a 15-second spot produced for television, you can easily run it online. But if we’re honest about it, as an industry, we just copy and pasted our way into digital channels.

Spots – including instream – are the only kind of video advertising that has universally been considered “premium.” But, that’s a little odd when you think about it.

A new definition of premium video

I certainly won’t argue against the immersive power of a brand running an ad in a network-produced show, but if consumers are taking a great deal of their viewing elsewhere (and we know they are – every show I mentioned earlier was trending, and not on network TV), brands need to change their mix as well.

If our industry has any chance at keeping pace with the modern consumer, brands need to rethink their definition of premium video. And that can’t just mean buying TV ads elsewhere…

It should be defined with three criteria in mind.

• Quality. A TikTok is comparable in quality to a streaming tv show if the audience loves it. Therefore, quality can no longer be defined strictly by the medium, the format,the device or even the amount of time it runs.  Brands or agency buying departments might make these distinctions, but consumers don’t. Quality is anywhere viewers bond with video.
• Relevance. As long as an ad is relevant and engaging to the consumer, it doesn’t matter if it’s delivered within a commercial break on a connected television or within an article on a news site. Modern consumers don’t discriminate against a video ad based on the medium. Relevance is judged by its context to the content.
• Effectiveness. According to survey data from the IAB, if a video ad is contextually relevant, the effectiveness of the ad – regardless of the medium – increases by 21%. Engagement, awareness, and purchase intent can all be increased by video ads that run outside the break. Effectiveness is all about the return.
  

A new balance in video advertising

The good news is that things are already changing on the buy side.

Today, only half of digital video ads are considered ‘in-break.’ That’s down from the cumulative 95% figure from over the last 40 years. The other half is made up of ‘in-feed’ – video ads appearing when people scroll through Facebook, Twitter and the open web – and, ‘in-show’ – brands appearing inside actual programming. 

This buying shift is happening for good reason. Digital video usage is up with viewers expected to spend over 76 minutes per day watching online video this year, according to eMarketer’s latest projections.

We all know the moments in our industry where consumers race ahead and leave brands, publishers and ad tech behind. Apple unveiled the iPhone, ushering in the app era. Netflix rolled out streaming, forever-altering content discovery. We’re in the midst of another tectonic shift, this time in digital video advertising.

It’s crucial for buyers to rethink and reset their video approach as soon as possible. In the scroll and stop era, Marketers have a chance to elevate their digital video ads and give viewers the premium experience they’re looking for. If not, digital video advertising may miss its chance altogether, and stay stuck in the past.

The post The Great Digital Video Reset: It’s time we rethink ‘premium’ appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to Pride Month at TripleLift! Since the Stonewall riot in 1969 and the first pride march a year later, the month of June has been a time for LGBTQIA+ people and our allies to celebrate the progress we have made, reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of those who came before us, demand a future free from discrimination, and simply — proudly — express our true identities.

To kick off our Pride programming, PETL – TripleLift’s ERG, Pride and Equality at TripleLift – is hosting a series of events, workshops and dialogues for employees and partners, where we’ll unpack the unique obstacles and opportunities present across generations of LGBTQIA+. Allies and members that attend these events will be provided with tools to combat discrimination and a deeper appreciation for the diverse LGBTQIA+ experience. 

We also want to recognize that many of us within the PETL community have disproportionate privilege and we want our programming this Pride season to highlight the experiences of those often overlooked and marginalized within the LGBTQIA+ community. Pride started as a riot against discrimination led by trans women – particularly trans women of color – and yet today trans women are still among the most marginalized within our community, and the hope is to build a space for their voices and stories to be heard. 

Finally, I’m proud to share that TripleLift is once again bringing back our Every Meeting Makes a Difference initiative to support four incredible organizations dedicated to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community year round. Meaning, for every virtual meeting TripleLift holds in the month of June will help fund a donation to these organizations:

True Colors United
True Colors United implements innovative solutions to youth homelessness that focus on the unique experiences of LGBTQ young people.

Ali Forney Center
The Ali Forney Center’s mission is to protect LGBTQ youths from the harms of homelessness and empower them with the tools needed to live independently

The Point Foundation
Point Foundation empowers promising lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students to achieve their full academic and leadership potential – despite the obstacles often put before them – to make a significant impact on society. Point is the nation’s largest scholarship provider to LGBTQ students of merit; granting more than 400 scholarships since 2002. 

Brooklyn Community Pride Center
Brooklyn Community Pride Center provides services and support to the borough’s LGBTQ+ community through original programming and partnerships with other organizations. Across the spectrum from young people to elders, Brooklyn Community Pride Center enables our community to actively participate in positive, life-affirming activities.

The post Pride Month Kicks Off at TripleLift appeared first on TripleLift.

Advancing equality one impression at a time

In 2020, the social justice crisis peaked in the United States with the death of George Floyd. TripleLift, like many companies at the time, knew that this moment in history was an awakening. We, as an ad tech organization, and as a community of diverse employees, had to do better. 

Since 2020, TripleLift has implemented a diversity, equity and inclusion strategy. DE&I is now a critical component of the way we work, and how we do business. Our accountability starts at the top, and we focus on supporting each and every one of our employees. We make efforts to reach out to underrepresented communities to recruit diverse talent, and we celebrate awareness months by raising money for charity, educating allies, and having in-depth discussions on how we can do better for our society as a whole, and to lift voices in TripleLift. 

One of the key elements of our DE&I strategy also includes generating economic wealth and investing in underrepresented communities by creating business opportunities. Our Underrepresented Voices ETD (UNREP) was created to advance equality by packaging impressions on Black, LGBTQ, Latinx, AAPI, and Women Owned Publishers. We launched UNREP because it aligns with our DE&I strategy to do more and do better for those who need to be heard. However, we’ve also seen great appetite from buyers to continue this initiative as advertisers are increasingly searching for ways to be supportive for BIPOC and underrepresented communities.

That’s why for the remainder of Q2 all UNREP deals are available at cost— meaning aside from pure exchange hosting costs, TripleLift will waive fees so that as many media dollars as possible make it to our publishers. 

This is just one step TripleLift is taking, and is just the beginning of our efforts. Representation matters! Together we can make the internet a better place while supporting one another. We hope you will join us.

The post Supporting Underrepresented Voices in Digital Advertising appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Jocelyn Lo, Associate Marketing Director & Asian Employee Resource Group, TADA Lead 

May is Asian Heritage Month. While it should be a time for remembering and celebrating Asian culture, this year has felt very far from a celebration.

The past year and half has been a challenging time for all. Most poignantly, for the Asian community who have been impacted by the unfair blame of “starting Covid” and have had to deal with the disease even being coined as the “The China Virus.” The repercussions of this narrative have been felt across every part of our community.

Over the course of 2020, Asian-owned businesses not only saw a decrease in business from lack of people wanting to eat out during the lockdown, but they saw even less support compared to other businesses. Chinatowns all around the world that were once flooded with excited patrons soon became ghost towns with no visitor in sight. Watching some of our favorite businesses and restaurants shut down due to lack of support has been heartbreaking to see, and unfortunately, this was just the beginning of what our community would soon face.

Fast forward to the start of 2021, reported hate crimes against Asians in the U.S. saw an increase of 164% since the same time time last year*. It has been the hardest on our elderly; not only have they faced the threat of Covid, but now the threat of hate crimes. We saw parents, grandparents, friends, and even children discriminated against and attacked – both verbally and physically – for simply existing. Even something as routine as leaving your home to go to the grocery store came with the fear that you or someone you would know could be the next name on a list of those attacked. Now is the time for us to come together to support the Asian community more than ever. Our community is not only experiencing struggles here in the U.S., but also now across the world in India with the fight against Covid. At TripleLift we’ve made a conscious effort to invest in DE&I to better support one another during these challenging times. Our employee resource groups have launched initiatives to help raise awareness and take action.

This is why I am and proud to share that TripleLift has decided for every client meeting that has taken place in May, we’ll be donating to the Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund, and the American India Foundation to provide Covid relief for India as they continue to experience a Covid crisis that has resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. Learn more about the organizations identified by TADA, TripleLift’s Asian Resource Group that we’ll be donating to below. 

Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund 
AALDEF focuses on critical issues affecting Asian Americans, including immigrant rights, voting rights and democracy, economic justice for workers, educational equity, housing and environmental justice, and the elimination of anti-Asian violence, police misconduct, and human trafficking.

 American India Foundation– Covid Relief for India
India’s second wave of Covid is rapidly sliding into a devastating crisis each day. About 1 in every 3 cases of COVID-19 recorded each day in the world is now in India. The capital, New Delhi, recorded the equivalent of one death from COVID-19 every five minutes.*

*Source Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at Cal State University San Bernardino.
*Source Zenerations 

The post Every Meeting Makes A Difference: The Fight Against Hate-Crimes & Covid appeared first on TripleLift.

This article was updated on February 3, 2023.

The incredible evolution of digital video has been written and worried about for over a decade now. Advertisers want to know where viewers get their content, if Connected TV ads are really working, and what to do to keep reaching consumers despite their changing video habits. There’s plenty of talk but no real practical guide.

So, we’ve set out to fill the void. Digital video is progressing at a dizzying speed. You — advertisers — deserve simple, concrete solutions to keep up with these changes and reach your target audience. And, if you apply them right, you’ll come out looking like the rock star marketer you are.

But first, there are two essential things you need to know about this “evolution”:

Digital video consumption is reaching new heights across every medium.

The average person in the U.S. spent three hours and 29 minutes a day on their PC, laptop, and tablet. Meaning most of the time spent on their newsfeed, streaming platforms, and apps are in the form of digital video.

The dominant ad experience remains In-Break.

 Even though digital media consumption is growing across all mediums, marketers are sticking to what they know — nearly 50% of all digital video ads bought last year were In-Break, meaning in the breaks of video content across Online Video properties and Connected TVs. According to eMarketer, CTV advertising is forecasted to reach over 35 billion dollars in spend in the U.S. by 2023.

Data shows In-Break video ads are effective — consumers have a more positive perception of the brand and are more likely to consider purchasing after exposure. But how can we harness that performance and accelerate it so your ad dollars go even further?

The real, concrete solution you’ve been waiting for…

“Effective Alone. Better Together”. A Digital Video Solution

Think back on this last year and your own digital media habits. You probably streamed at least one video in the past month, most likely within the last day. And either before or after you watched that video online, you were browsing sites to research a product you were thinking about purchasing, catching up on the latest news, or investigating some entertainment gossip. The point is you spent a decent amount of time-consuming content where those In-Break ads can’t reach you, but In-Feed ad experiences can. 

Like In-Break video ads, In-Feed video ads are effective alone. They can increase purchase intent among consumers by nine times compared to industry norms and are two times more engaging than the typical banner ad. But they’re even better when an In-Feed video ad is paired with an In-Break video ad. Together In-Feed and In-Break ads see two and a half times higher favorability than In-Feed alone.

Maybe your video viewing method of choice is Connected TV. That isn’t surprising, given 79% of households are spending the same or more time streaming than six months ago. Keep in mind that by next year, it’s believed that half of all internet users will use free streaming services. By 2025, free streamers will outnumber paid television subscribers. Sure, In-Break video ads can effectively reach consumers on CTV, but is that enough to make them sit up and take notice of your brand?

Going Beyond In-Break Advertising

TripleLift is pioneering CTV Integrated Ad Experiences, which include Brand Integrations, Split Screens, and Dynamic Overlay. These formats integrate seamlessly into a show in a non-interruptive way while still attracting attention. When paired with In-Break video ads, these units drive two times higher brand awareness than In-Break alone by either priming the audience for the In-Break ad experience or serving as a reminder of the messaging. Again, both units are effective alone but even better together.

If the past two years have taught us anything, the need for simple, real solutions allow marketers to keep up with changing consumer habits. It also makes programmatic video buying more effective. With streaming on the rise and the next big app in the works, fluidity in buying and options will be key to driving brand success.

Now you know and can explore your options here. Just remember: effective alone, better together.

The post Digital Video by TripleLift: Effective Alone, Better Together appeared first on TripleLift.

In this month’s Partner Spotlight, we sat down with Jeremy Strauss, Tastemade’s Head of Business Development, to learn more about how the global modern media company is thinking about the next era of Connected TV, from the advertising experience for their 300 million monthly active viewers to relationships between digital studios and linear networks when it comes to premium programming across the food, home and travel verticals.

Please tell us about yourself and your role at Tastemade.

I have been at Tastemade for over three years, and have had a long career in the entertainment sector launching and scaling new businesses. As the current Head of Global Business Development, my main responsibilities are to find new ways to expand the distribution of our streaming network and to drive increased engagement, which leads to increased revenue. I am also focused on finding new ways to monetize Tastemade’s content library and brand through various partnerships around the world.

Have we actually reached a tipping point of CTV consumption or do we still have a few years?

Will CTV services continue to grow in the U.S.? Absolutely. As linear TV continues to decline and shifts its viewers from traditional TV environments to CTV viewing, CTV usage will continue to grow. But I think that this consumption will come at the expense of other forms of consumption; I do believe that we are nearing saturation in terms of overall content consumption. 

What should we make of the “streaming wars”?

First, we need to understand that this war is not a single war, but rather a series of battles across many dimensions and involving an increasing number of parties. Yes, Netflix, Disney, and HBOMax/Warner Media continue to spend a lot of money on content, but the battlefield is still evolving, and we’re likely to see both new casualties and new players in the mix.  Secondly, the outcome is still to be determined: will it be a winner take all or will several players win? Can ad-supported models and SVOD both generate massive scale, and which partners will end up successfully unlocking part of the scale for themselves? 

In your opinion, why is lifestyle programming best positioned to succeed in CTV?  Why do you believe that lifestyle programming is best for CTV success?

I believe that there are several factors: 1) the programming is brand safe, and 2) the nature of the programming unlocks so much opportunity for additional ad products like in-show placement, take-overs, etc., which may be more challenging with comedy and dramas that are more talent-centric and that invites a slew of issues and complexities. 

I also do believe that for offerings like FAST (Free Ad-Supported Television), lifestyle has the unique brand positioning that is better suited for linear consumption than for VOD. Linear consumption invites itself for longer sessions and higher tolerance for ads.  

How have scale and targeting capabilities evolved since you first began?

At Tastemade, we have seen massive growth in our streaming network across new channels, new markets (now in over 40 countries), more viewers, and viewers watching more each month. This scale makes our network attractive to advertisers — both brands and agencies buying direct as well as programmatically. With this growth, we continue to refine how we can enhance the value of our inventory by unlocking enhanced targeting based on our content and our audience. 

What is the future of relationships between digital studios and linear networks?

This relationship will evolve along two fronts. For most digital studios, the opportunity for linear networks will evolve such that these digital studios are a source of content for those networks that are successful, and thus have an ability to commission new shows – similar to the model that TV has supported for decades – just at different economics. 

I do think that for a handful of brands, including Tastemade, there will be an opportunity to significantly scale a linear network business around the globe as users increasingly adopt these services, and new ad products drive increases in revenue.  

As an early adopter of TripleLift’s CTV Advanced Advertising Formats, how do you foresee users interacting with these types of ad experiences? And, what will the future of CTV monetization look like?

We’re still learning what enhances the viewing experience for our audience and what is the most compelling brand/product placement that yields strong revenue performance. 

We are optimistic about the opportunity, but I do not think it’s the absolute future of ad monetization. There is no one single future; ad monetization in a CTV environment will yield scale across a variety of formats and offerings, and we have to figure a way to leverage them all.

What is the best recipe you have made while stay-at-home orders were in place?

Fillets cooked black and blue style with a side of roasted brussel sprouts or asparagus. Three keys to this are: 1) a great skillet, 2) quality olive oil, and 3) a great butcher.

The post Tastemade’s Head of Business Development On The Future of Connected TV appeared first on TripleLift.

Video portfolio includes In-Feed, In-Break and In-Show formats 

Audiences now consume video in an almost infinite number of ways. Whether that is scrolling on a website or in a mobile app, watching online video or viewing a show on connected TV, video is everywhere and so are the advertising opportunities. To help brands and advertisers reach audiences wherever they are watching, TripleLift is launching a full funnel suite of video solutions for online video and connected TV. The suite of solutions includes ad formats and experiences for the three ways audiences consume video content: In-Feed, In-Break and In-Show.

Jacqueline Quantrell, TripleLift’s Chief Revenue Officer, reflects on the next era of digital advertising: “As video consumption habits evolve and time spent across all devices remains on the rise, it is increasingly important for video solutions to reflect these changes. As a top three programmatic video supply partner¹ with over 25,000 publisher partners across online video and connected TV, and the only Supply Side Partner to offer a full funnel portfolio of video solutions, TripleLift is uniquely positioned to help advertisers achieve their performance goals.” 

With TripleLift In-Feed video formats, advertisers can reach audiences directly within a feed of content. These ad units match the unique look and feel of each publisher site and offer customized branding that can drive up to 9X the purchase intent compared to a standard digital video ad.²

For advertisers looking to drive both awareness and consideration among target audiences, TripleLift’s video portfolio includes In-Break formats for online video and connected TV including In-Stream Video and Connected TV Spots. 

And, currently in a private beta, TripleLift is pioneering new programmatic In-Show ad formats that are organic, integrated and less interruptive than traditional television advertising.  TripleLift In-Show ad formats include CTV Integrated Ad Experiences: Dynamic Overlays, Split Screen Units, and Brand Integrations, all informed by machine learning technology and a creative team of integrated marketers, and all delivered dynamically via automation. TripleLift’s integrated ad experiences effectively deliver upper funnel metrics including increased engagement³ and brand awareness.⁴ 

Learn more here about how TripeLift’s video portfolio can help you achieve your KPIs.

¹ DV360, Feb 2021 Inventory Availability Report

² TripleLift, Kantar MWB Norms: Consumables, Video Format: n=457 campaigns

³ TripleLift, MediaScience In-Show Integrations Study 2021

⁴TripleLift, Millward Brown Brand Lift, Video Format Study 2021

The post TripleLift Ushers in Next Era of Digital Video Advertising with Full-Funnel, Suite of Video Solutions appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series. Every month we share an interview with one of our publisher partners, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This month, we are featuring a two-part spotlight with Freestar’s CEO, Kurt Donnell. In Part 1, Donnell offered readers an inside look at Freestar’s impressive growth, what attracted him to the company and how his team remains devoted to client satisfaction. Now, Donnell shares how the Freestar team is navigating industry challenges, what publishers should be considering when it comes to video and gives us a sneak peek at what’s ahead for the company.

From all appearances, Freestar’s publishers are thrilled to be working with you – what do you think they would say is the best part of your partnership?

A lot of companies can offer similar technology to ours, but the service and the custom solutions that we offer are truly unmatched in the industry. As much as we will continue to iterate and innovate on our tech and products, I feel that our publishers would overwhelmingly say our best feature is our team, which is very intentional. I firmly believe that if you take care of your employees and take care of your customers, a lot of other things will take care of themselves. Accordingly, we start with our employees and constantly push ourselves to give them what they need to be successful which in turn lets them better serve our clients.  

As a company, we understand that we will always be a client-facing organization first and foremost, and it shows in our day-to-day internal interactions. One of our most active Slack channels (which happens to be my personal favorite) is our NPS channel where the whole company gets real-time, unfiltered feedback from our publishers when responses to our monthly NPS survey are submitted. It is always so great to see people across every team in the organization come together to celebrate and/or learn whenever we have new responses come in from publishers.

The industry faces immense change with the imminent death of the third-party cookie, Apple’s iOS 14 update, and a myriad of new state-led privacy regulations. How can publishers best prepare for these changes? 

For anyone that has been in this industry over the years, we all understand the only real constant is change and that every three months or so there will be something new to address. GDPR, CCPA, and the other U.S. states to follow – and potentially federal mandates – are just one element of the change in consumer protections. Add in the third-party cookies and IDFA changes and publishers rightly have a lot to be thinking about, however we as an industry have always found ways to address changes and challenges, and this will be no different. While I don’t know that anyone can definitively say what the solution will be to address the lack of third-party cookies, there are already so many different solutions being tested that I have no doubt there will be viable options that meet the needs of publishers and advertisers alike.

For a single publisher, who is handling all of their ad tech in-house, I’d recommend trying to test as many targeting solutions as possible in 2021 and staying up-to-date on the future of privacy and the demise of the third-party cookie through the various industry resources (such as AdExchanger, Digiday, eMarketer, AdWeek to name a few). There is also no shortage of online webinars that cover the various changes in the industry. Finally, I encourage publishers to join the conversation when possible through groups like IAB or Prebid.org. 

With regard to privacy compliance, it is important for publishers to vet their Consent Management Platform (CMP) provider thoroughly and remember that you often get what you pay for. A free tool simply cannot offer you the same service as a solution you pay for. As a self-proclaimed “recovering attorney”, I would also be remiss if I didn’t suggest you seek the advice of counsel on anything you do or implement on your site that is compliance-related. 

For publishers, e-commerce companies, or app developers that don’t want to go it alone, ad management companies like Freestar can often help mitigate the headaches of addressing the ever changing world of ad tech (in addition to increasing revenue!). As ad tech is all we do, targeting, compliance and all of the other nuances of our crazy industry are challenges we work to solve all day every day on behalf of our clients so they don’t have to. But I am admittedly a bit biased on this point.   

In the last year, we’ve witnessed an acceleration in the demand for premium video inventory across all formats. In-app and in-feed are no exception. Are there any trends or insights that Freestar has uncovered that publishers should consider when looking to increase yield as it relates to video? 

What I like to encourage publishers to do is to add video and video advertising opportunities to their site without monetization being the sole purpose behind the initiative. We always take a balanced approach with our publishers around user experience and revenue, and that is especially important with video products. Video products in the right place at the right time will not only drive better revenue, but will also keep your users coming back and consuming more content – which ultimately is what we all want for the health of the open web.

Do you have any sneak peaks of advancements that either publishers or advertisers should be looking out for in the coming months?

We are working toward offering a number of unique ad unit experiences that will be available exclusively for direct-sold and PMP deals. As we continue to grow that piece of our business, we want to ensure we offer both publishers and advertisers unique solutions that meet their needs. We also will continue to add new features and support for additional ad units and integration types to our app monetization platform that is very unique in the ad management space. Lastly, we will continue to build on our Ideal Ad Stack technology to ensure we optimize the value of every ad impression we manage for our publishers. Ultimately, we remain committed to building products that further cement Freestar as the one-stop shop for publishers, e-commerce sites, app developers and advertisers who want to optimize revenue and performance.

The post Part 2 : A Nickel’s Worth of Freestar Advice, Insights from CEO Kurt Donnell appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series. Every month we share an interview with one of our publisher partners, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This month, we’re featuring Kurt Donnell, President & CEO of Freestar in a two-part spotlight. Read on for Kurt’s insight on Freestar’s impressive growth, what attracted him to the company, and what it takes to remain devoted to client satisfaction.

Thank you for speaking with us! Can you tell us about your role at Freestar? 

Thank you for having me. It has been a pleasure working with TripleLift over the years. 

My role as President and CEO has continued to evolve since I joined the company in January 2019. When I started with the company, we were still under 30 people and needed to build or formalize a lot of areas of the business from both a systems and employee standpoint. In the first year or so, I spent a lot of time working to ensure we had a scalable foundation in place for some more basic things like accounting and HR and automated a number of time-intensive processes. I also was hyper-focused on building a very customer service-oriented business, both from a culture standpoint and hiring the right teams, which has paid dividends as evidenced by our NPS scores that are consistently above 70 on a monthly basis. Of course helping to chart the long term vision and direction of the business has been a huge priority since day one.  

As we have continued to grow, now over 75 employees, my focus has shifted a bit more to hiring, team structure and leadership development. I always want to ensure we have the right people in the right roles, and that they have the bandwidth and tools to execute at a high level. Accordingly, I spend a lot of time with employees at all levels of our organization to understand and alleviate their pain points and do a lot of work with our management group to encourage accountability and ownership.

What attracted you to the company? 

With regard to what brought me to Freestar, I met the founders of Freestar early in their journey and almost joined them 2 years before I eventually did. Perhaps foolishly, I decided to go another direction and joined YogaWorks as EVP of Partnerships and General Counsel where I had the chance to help the company through its IPO and significant growth through acquisitions. Throughout my time at YogaWorks, I stayed in touch with the Freestar founders and was continually impressed with what they were doing and the way they were doing it. I also realized I missed the constant change and need to adapt in the world of ad tech, so it was an incredibly easy decision when the founders asked if I would be interested in coming on board to help lead the next stage of growth. 

Being able to join the company when I did was truly a blessing. There were already so many good bones in place, we just needed some operational and administrative improvements that we have thankfully been able to implement. The last two years have undoubtedly been the most fulfilling of my career and it truly feels like we are just getting started. 

Freestar has seen unbelievable growth over the past few years. How has the company changed since you first started?

We have certainly changed a lot from a headcount standpoint in the last couple years, tripling in size and hiring 39 new employees in 2020 alone. During that time we went from having offices in Phoenix (our headquarters), New York and Los Angeles to a majority remote team in 2019 when we shifted our focus to hiring the very best people, no matter where they were located. Our early adoption of remote culture unknowingly set us up incredibly well to become a fully-remote company in 2020, which we plan to continue indefinitely.

With our decision to hire employees outside of cities with offices, we had to evolve our culture to ensure that we were still growing incredible employees despite not seeing them daily. We instituted a number of things in 2019, like full company offsites, which we have since switched to very successful virtual retreats in 2020, an ongoing monthly speaker series, new women’s and diversity committees, and more.

Another major change was weaving our obsession with client satisfaction into everything we do. Much of our success – such as being the number 1 fastest growing company on the 2019 Inc. 5000 list which we followed up with a number 36 ranking in 2020 – has been driven by retention and growth of existing customers, not just new customers. We spend a ton of time and energy to improve our processes and we never allow ourselves to rest on our laurels. Be it increasing headcount on our client success team, improving our external dashboard, building new ad products or making upgrades to internal systems, we always strive to get 1% better each week and make our customer’s experiences with us remarkable. 

We’ve all learned over the past year that prioritizing mental health is important. What are some of the things you’ve been doing lately when you need to take a break?

There is no denying that the pandemic has taken a toll on all of us in a myriad of ways. While working from home certainly has its perks, it is very easy to instantly be at your desk when you wake up in the morning and find yourself there until well after dinner time. As a result, my team and I have taken a deeper look at our home office lives and have been trying to set the example that getting outside and taking mental health breaks is important. I personally make it a point to try to walk or hike most days of the week, squeeze in golf whenever I can, and take road trips to get a change of scenery while flying has been out of the picture. Like most companies, we have also been extra flexible for our employees with children, allowing them to work schedules that match up with the needs of their family which is ultimately the most important thing in their life.

Click here for part 2 of our conversation with Freestar’s CEO, Kurt Donnell.

The post A Nickel’s Worth of Freestar Advice: Insights from CEO Kurt Donnell appeared first on TripleLift.

In 2020, we saw hundreds of brands and small businesses pull ads from social platforms after it became clear that their content moderation practices allowed for the spread of misinformation and hate speech. 

While these platforms have taken small steps to stamp out fake news and hate propaganda, reports of assaults against fact and truth continue to crop up. These steps are simply not enough to give buyers confidence that the reputation of their brand remains safe.

If you’re a Marketer looking to allocate dollars with confidence, TripleLift can help…

The grass is greener, and cleaner with a trusted SSP partner.

TripleLift offers tools to help Marketers make decisions that align with their brand’s ethos, messaging, and as always: performance goals. Our 100% direct relationships with our massive publisher network mean you don’t need to compromise scale and reach for quality.  

Brand Safe

• White glove supply and demand auditing
  TripleLift has strict policies in place that ensure humans and technology audit all supply sources we work with, as well as your creative assets for flawless delivery.
• Pre-bid fraud scan
  TripleLift works with WhiteOps to scan every impression pre-bid. If there is a chance the impression is fraudulent, we don’t even send the request to the DSP, killing off fraud before you have a chance to bid on it. 
• All misinformation sites removed 

Effective

• A portfolio of formats with no resold impressions.
  Buy TripleLift’s Native, Display, Branded video, In-stream, and OTT across inventory that is directly sourced from the same SSP you already work with – just with no resellers. Increase efficiency, reliability, and quality by reducing the number of SSPs and intermediaries you work with. 
• Filter UGC (user generated content)
  Sites and platforms that allow user generated content can be difficult to monitor. A deal that excludes sites that host UGC.

Easy

Getting started is easy. We can convert your social ads into beautiful, scalable Branded Video and Native placements, so you can be up and running on your DSP of choice in less than 24 hours.

See more on how TripleLift goes beyond to deliver scale, quality and service to ensure your campaign’s success.

The post TripleLift is the Go-To Alternative for Social Platforms appeared first on TripleLift.

The Ad Tech industry is as dynamic as ever. Market shifts occur every day through audience behaviors, acquisitions, new partners, regulatory changes and more. Simultaneously, the promise of incremental revenue and audience attraction has many publishers finding themselves racking up complex tech stacks. 

As new macro trends emerge and revenue opportunities abound, publishers need strategies that can withstand the test of time. But, assessing each partner’s value in relation to publishers’ overall strategy comes at the expense of time and money. What if an established approach is still the best way for publishers to set themselves up for success, no matter the market volatility or business complexities they face? 

Yield management has been in practice since the advent of programmatic; it is the study of a publisher’s programmatic stack to see which partner is able to provide the most, and best, demand relative to the supply publishers have available or that goes unsold. In practice, yield management requires a delicate balance of assessing workflows at a granular level to identify which partners give you the most bang for your buck. Publishers who have committed to yield management have a recipe for success that approaches market changes with data and analytics.

Most publishers stand to learn from these early yield adopters, especially as more changes to the industry are expected to roll out this year including SPO, identity & privacy, and inventory quality. However, few publishers today are equipped to support the type of ongoing analysis needed to withstand these changes.

SPO

Publishers are no longer the only ones within the ecosystem looking to streamline their buying paths. Buyers are becoming more aware of the effect of supply paths, especially reselling, and are looking to maximize their buying power with only a few key partners, cutting out middlemen. It will be imperative that publishers work with SSPs that are in good standing with top DSPs and have the technical expertise to keep up with SPO optimizations from clients and DSPs, alike. 

Through yield management, publishers can collect data on where demand is coming from to understand the value of each SSP in correlation with each DSP, and therefore buyer. SSPs who can assist with this analysis will be better suited to provide insights and potential adjustments to combat client shifts, leading to higher revenue and fill rates for the publishers and better delivery and win rates for clients – a win, win for all. 

Privacy & Identity

Third-party cookie deprecation has been in discussions for years, but it won’t actually go into effect until the end of 2022.  While competing solutions and initiatives are being introduced, debated and reimagined, publishers can begin to take action by taking a look at their own tech stack and proprietary data. 

First-party data will be crucial to success when third-party cookies disappear across platforms. Leaning on yield management practices now can help publishers leverage their first-party data to identify which audiences a publisher currently has and will potentially have in the future — and mitigate risk. Until third-party cookie adjustments come into play, publishers can utilize their own data and overlay it with performance and brand data to lay the foundation for more strategic selling. These patterns can then be leveraged for matchmaking opportunities with buyers to access inventory via PMPs, audience packaging, and more.

Inventory Quality

Inventory quality has always been touted as an important metric for publishers to make their inventory more distinct and valuable for buyers. However, metrics like viewability and CTR have conflicting impacts from one side of the exchange to the other, with demand believing higher quality must equate to higher yield, when in reality improving placements do not always equate to more revenue for the publisher and a better audience response.

Reducing “low-quality” placements based on viewability and CTR, alone, can come at a cost to publishers. Without disciplined experimentation, a core principle of Yield Management, publishers could see themselves out of meaningful revenue from remnant demand. Likewise, for high quality placements publishers could underestimate the potential return on investment of making minor adjustments. 

Check Your Tech

With these imminent changes on the horizon, and others that are yet to be seen, publishers should focus on owning and understanding their partnerships and information. Going back to basics, and creating a framework built off of a methodical approach to data, will provide clarity to any challenges and changes that arise. 

For more information on how to leverage Yield Management for a successful tomorrow, watch our panel discussion Check Your Tech with CafeMedia and California Times 

The post The Unsteady State: A Renewed Look Into The Longevity of Yield Management appeared first on TripleLift.

As the industry grapples with issues of brand safety, performance, and how both can scale, we sat down with Pete Erickson, Vice President of Publisher Development, to discuss TripleLift’s approach.

Let’s start with what you do at TripleLift.

I’m responsible for bringing new publishers onto the TripleLift platform. I help make sure we bring on supply, but the right kinds of supply, for our buy-side clients to run on. 

The terms “quality” and “scale” can mean different things. How do you think about them?

For agencies and brands that need to run campaigns, the first piece is that we need to make sure we have scale to meet their performance metrics. A platform that doesn’t have scale would mean buyers need to run their campaign longer than they want to, or just not meet their metrics. The fact that we have scale is important. The second piece is quality. We need to offer buyers the type of content and audience that they want to run their ads on.

Just to really dig into this for a moment, there is this idea out there that buyers have to make a tradeoff between scale and quality. Is this still the case? 

Not so much anymore. Prior to 2014, there actually was a lot of lower quality supply on real-time bidding exchanges. At that time, buyers who wanted premium publishers had to reach out in the more traditional, direct way. The joke back then was that real time bidding was a race to the bottom.

Quite a contrast from where things are now.

Yes. TripleLift is a large global company and we’re working with publishers from the largest media companies in the world, definitely the comScore 100, all the way to mid- and long-tail publishers. And it’s vital to us that everything in our supply is brand safe, that everything is going to perform well and convert well for our buyers, across everything. 

How do you decide what’s a quality publisher? 

We do have automated systems, with all sorts of high-tech stuff running across the platforms, but you need humans to fine tune it. With any computer learning algorithm you have to run it, analyze it, tweak it, optimize, and so on. That’s part of the value we’re bringing to clients and publishers. In a lot of cases there are just common sense checks that folks on our team do, like going through a site, clicking through articles, and reading them.

What are you looking for when you decide to kick a publisher off the platform? 

Brand safety and performance issues. From a brand safety perspective, misinformation is something we have always been careful about not allowing onto our platforms.We need to be on top of whether a site is misleading people about, say, a vaccine. Our partnership with NewsGuard, a company that vets thousands of sites, has been super-valuable in helping us keep those sites off our platform.

And what kind of performance red flags are you looking for?

Viewability is a major one. We look at viewability up front to make sure every single publisher is meeting our standards. There are many others. Bounce rate, for example. If users land on a site, then leave immediately, that tells us something. Maybe a publisher is trying to pump new traffic from various sources that are themselves low quality. And we don’t want our advertisers wasting money on stuff like that.

You’ve made the point that this process can actually benefit publishers.

The benefit to publishers is that each of them is plugged into our platform with thousands of other publishers who meet our standards. That ends up attracting good brands, good agencies, and big campaigns. Our publishers know they’re going to be on the receiving end of those campaigns, and that when they perform really well, that means bigger budgets from buyers down the line. 

Let’s touch on a related point, which is that you connect directly with all of your publishers, in the technical sense, which brings efficiencies and trust to buyers.

The analogy I like to make about directness is that if you’re buying a car, and you buy it from a private party, you’re going to get a better deal than if you go to a dealer, or someone who’s aggregating a bunch of listings from dealers.

The buyer doesn’t pay the intermediary in that example.

Right. That’s how it works in programmatic as well. TripleLift is 100% direct in our integrations with publishers. So you avoid what we call the “tech tax,” where if you’re involving more companies in the re-selling of inventory, everybody is going to take their fee or slice of the pie.

And of course with a less direct path, a brand can’t be sure of the ultimate environment where their ad appears.

When a brand ends up where they don’t want to be, more often than not it’s because they bought through a non-direct supply path. That happens when a publisher works with an SSP that doesn’t have enough demand. So they sell to another SSP. As soon as you do that, you lose control. At TripleLift, we won’t allow another SSP to plug into us. We don’t think it’s good for publishers or buyers.

It would seem daunting to forge direct relationships with so many publisher partners, but the roots of those actually go back to your native business.

At our core, we are a native platform. In our early days, there was a technical reason for our direct relationships, we needed to work directly with publishers to design the look and feel and size and location of ads. So we built our entire platform on those direct relationships. 

Today, we have direct relationships with 780 parent publishers encompassing 24,000+ sites and 2,200+ apps. Relationships we’ve built one-by-one. 

Thanks so much, Pete!

Thank you.

See more on how TripleLift goes beyond to deliver scale, quality and service to ensure your campaign’s success.

The post The Advantage of Quality Scale appeared first on TripleLift.

After much anticipation across the industry, Apple is now giving users the choice to block the IDFA (identifier for advertisers) at the app level as part of its iPhone and iPad operating system update. What this means is that all apps are required to obtain user permission to collect and share a user’s data upon download. The move from an opt-out to an opt-in standard marks a sea change for addressable advertising on Apple devices. 

We have been working to prepare for this since Apple first announced plans for the privacy-change over a year ago. And while there are still many unknowns, we are committed to helping our partners navigate these changes and limit the impact on their business. 

Here’s a look at what we know now, and what publishers can do to prepare for the changes ahead. 

• What do we know about Apple’s privacy policy changes?  

In addition to giving users more control over their data by limiting the IDFA data available for attribution across mobile apps, Apple will provide a new attribution solution through its SKAdNetwork and App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework. 

• At the 2020 Apple Worldwide Developers conference in June, Apple announced changes to its App Store privacy guidelines. 
• In addition to this policy change, Apple also required publishers to adopt a new framework, App Tracking Transparency, introduced with iOS 14. 
• The most notable change announced is a new user permission requirement for IDFA collection, meaning users must opt-in to share their device’s advertising identifier for tracking purposes.
  • As a refresher, IDFA provides a unique ID tag for devices to enable tracking, and therefore measurement. 

• What is SKAdNetwork? And, what do you need to know about how to support it? 

SKAdNetwork is a privacy-first method developed by Apple to help marketers measure the success of their campaign by attributing mobile app installs on Apple devices while giving app users the ability to set preferences for the use of a device identifier called IDFA. In the absence of IDFAs, Apple has provided the SKAdNetwork API as an attribution framework. 

For publishers to ensure that they are able to support SKAdNetwork, make sure you are on the latest version of your advertising SDKs and confirm that they support the SKADNetwork OpenRTB signals. TripleLift will then indicate the relevant signals to demand partners.

For Publishers on Amazon Transparent Ads Marketplace (TAM), please log into your APS Pub Portal and toggle SKAdNetwork demand to ON for TripleLift. 

Update your app’s info.plist file: Publishers should include the SKAdNetworkIDs of all DSPs to whom they want to sell to in their info.plist file. Please see all required TripleLift SKAdNetwork IDs here

SKAdNetwork ID Format: Apple’s requirement is that the SKADNetwork IDs in the PList should be in lowercase form i.e. 7ug5zh24hu.skadnetwork. Having a SKAdNetwork ID in uppercase can break tracking. 

• What else can publishers do to prepare for these changes? 

Publishers should determine how they are going to set up, test and manage their ATT prompts. Since a publisher only has one opportunity to prompt users to opt-in to sharing IDFA, it’s business critical for publishers’ to put their best foot forward.

Does your Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) have A/B testing data you can leverage to increase your opt-in rates? Key examples that we recommend testing against include: 

• Length of prompt (no one wants to read “a terms of service” prompt)
• Keywords and phrases such as “track” vs. “personalized”

The post Publishers: What you need to know about Apple’s iOS 14 Update appeared first on TripleLift.

In today’s ad ecosystem even the biggest brands and most premium publishers can fall victim to fraud and low quality inventory. TripleLift’s Max Dowaliby, Senior Director of Product, joined us to offer a deeper look at how TripleLift is helping buyers and publishers to protect their brand, budget and business.  

There’s been a good deal of discussion about programmatic ad fraud lately, but you’ve said that fraud is part of a larger set of problems that TripleLift is solving.

That’s right. We think about ad quality from a number of angles, and fraud is obviously a very important part of that. But so is understanding where ad dollars are going, knowing that the publishers that you’re working with are legitimate, and making sure the ad is viewable.

Let’s touch on all those issues, but starting with fraud specifically.

When people say “ad fraud,” they generally mean invalid traffic from bots. It’s really important to an advertiser that their ads are in front of human eyes. With human eyes, you get actions, like clicks for purchases, or signing up for an account. If those ads are being shown to fake people, there’s zero chance that those fake people can take the action the advertiser wants. 

What steps has TripleLift taken to combat invalid traffic?

Our goal is to ensure that our buyers and our partners never have the opportunity to buy a single impression that can be identified as fraud.

We’ve built a deep relationship with WhiteOps. We were one of their first supply side partners. Every ad is pre-scanned by WhiteOps for fraud before brands have an opportunity to bid on it. If WhiteOps tells us that they believe that an ad opportunity stems from a bad actor, we don’t hold an auction. 

How do you deal with publishers that might feature hate speech? That’s a huge concern for advertisers.

We’ve taken a hard stance that we won’t monetize content that is identified as misinformation or malicious content. Last year we began partnering with NewsGuard, an organization that uses trained journalists to rate the quality of news and information sites, all by hand. Their trust ratings help us to monitor publishers for misinformation, hate speech and calls to violence. Anytime a publisher appears on their list, if we work with that publisher, we drop them.

Can you give a sense of how many sites you had to drop?

After we measured our impression volumes, it turned out that we never had a significant problem to begin with. We started to think, why was that the case? It boils down to the fact that we have direct relationships with all of our publishers. We can pick up the phone and call every single one of them. 

So those direct relationships are very helpful from a buyer perspective.

Our direct relationships with publishers are important to advertisers in two ways. The first is an efficiency gain — you’re not paying a margin twice or even three times in some cases. The second is that you avoid uncertainty of the ad experience. Without directness, you don’t know where some piece of inventory originates, which can introduce brand safety and some of the other issues we’re discussing. 

Since we’re talking about buyer concerns, let’s touch on how TripleLift deals with viewability. 

We work with all of the industry leading partners here. MOAT is a huge partner of ours. We are compatible with every viewability vendor and ensure that none of the inventory on our platform falls below a certain threshold. We don’t want to hold auctions for inventory that have a very low likelihood of ever being viewed.  

We’ve touched on social responsibility and the ad ecosystem. Is there anything you want to add about that?

The programmatic ecosystem in general has a responsibility to understand that it directs a lot of money, and where these ad dollars go has a dramatic impact on a lot of things. It’s unfortunate that sometimes only the brand gets blowback for where their ads end up, but not those who are monetizing the malicious content – there are multiple parties here (ourselves included) who should be held responsible. 

At TripleLift, we want to make sure we are not funding entities that promote misinformation, hate speech, or calls to violence. We also want to protect our brand partners; no brand wants to see their ad next to hate speech. 

But with the policies we’ve discussed at TripleLift, just choosing the right SSP can solve so many issues for brands.

Brands should know what inventory they’re buying, and some inventory just shouldn’t be available for purchase. If you think about it, spending on malicious sites takes dollars away from genuinely good content on the internet. That’s part of why TripleLift has created initiatives to direct advertising dollars to good causes. For example, through our Exchange Traded Deals, curated inventory packages, buyers can help to advance equality by directing spend to minority-owned publishers. There is social capital in this, but there is also real money flowing between the advertisers and these publishers. And that good outcome happens because of programmatic advertising.

Thanks so much, Max!

Thank you.

See more on how TripleLift goes beyond to deliver scale, quality and service to ensure your campaign’s success.

The post The Real Cost of Fraud and Low Quality Environments appeared first on TripleLift.

True to form for 2020, the end of the year brought about one last piece of bad news: in December, the US saw a net loss of 140,000 jobs.  And if that wasn’t upsetting enough, the research further revealed that women actually lost 156,000 jobs while men gained 16,000 – meaning 100% of the net job losses belonged to women.

A Stalled Workforce 
Before the pandemic, women were making huge strides in entering the workforce; once COVID hit, many women’s careers took a backseat, to take care of their families, or by job losses. Crain’s Detroit further dives into these losses:  

The share of women between the ages of 25 and 54, so-called prime-age workers and those most likely to have young children at home, who were either employed or looking for a job, dropped to 73.5 percent in April from 76.9 percent before the pandemic (Source).

Many women have made the decision to leave the workforce, in order to balance their family lives with the demands of parenting through a global pandemic, when many children are being schooled online at home. The fact that this workforce exodus is happening with less frequency for men indicates we still have a long way to go in closing the wage gap and in ensuring the brunt of caregiving does not fall solely on women.

Employment Gaps at the Intersection of Race and Gender 
It gets worse:: Black and Latinx women were hit the hardest by these job losses. The effect this will have on BIPOC families could be devastating.  The Center for American Progress reports that “67.5 percent of Black mothers and 41.4 percent of Latina mothers were the primary or sole breadwinners for their families, compared with 37 percent of white mothers.”  Not to mention, the intersection of race and gender creates cumulative barriers that women of color must face when job-seeking, from wage gaps to outright discrimination when interviewing. 

The Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) is Angry— Rightfully
As Melinda Gates writes in Time, “COVID-19 has helped us see the failures of our social contract with new clarity, and all around the world, people are refusing to look away.” In fact, she goes on to write, in one survey nine out of ten people were hoping for a more “sustainable and equitable” world after we come out the other side of this pandemic. 

Here at TripleLift the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN) is an employee resource group whose mission is to uplift and advocate for all women at TripleLift and in the broader community. We, too, want to see a more sustainable and equitable world, and we don’t want to wait to do it. As women who are privileged to have jobs during a time when people are facing terrible losses— and when women, especially women of color, are facing disproportionate losses— we wanted to turn our anger into action. 

Every Meeting Will Make a Difference For These Women
This is why TripleLift is bringing back our Every Meeting Makes a Difference initiative. 

TripleLift started Every Meeting Makes a Difference at the beginning of the pandemic to provide meals to frontline and clinic workers through World Central Kitchen. We saw enormous success with our partners who participated in meetings in an effort to drive meals for those who needed it most. This time, we are looking to support nonprofits focused on women’s employment in an effort to ensure the US does not repeat another December 2020 job report.  

Now, for every meeting that clients take with TripleLifters we will donate to three charities to support women in and out of the workplace: 

• Dress for Success Worldwide: a global nonprofit that empowers women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life. 
• Global Fund for Women: uses powerful networks to find, fund, and amplify the courageous work of women who are building social movements and challenging the status quo. Since 1987, Global Fund for Women has invested in nearly 5,000 grassroots organizations in 175 countries, helping to win rights for millions of women and girls. 
• AnitaB.org: envisions a future where the people who imagine and build technology mirror the people and societies for whom they build it. Their social enterprise supports women in technical fields, as well as the organizations that employ them and the academic institutions training the next generation. 

Empathy without action can feel hopeless, so that’s why we’re taking action. This is just the beginning of a much larger conversation to have about protecting women’s career development while also removing barriers created by systemic inequity. WIN and TripleLift vow to continue to fight the good fight and listen for ways to create progressive, inclusive, and sustainable change. It starts with just one meeting.  

The post Every Meeting Makes a Difference: Helping Women Back Into the Workplace appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series. Every month we’ll share an interview with one of our premium publishers, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This month, we’re speaking with Samuel Youn, Director of Programmatic Revenue Strategy at Chegg. Read on to learn about Chegg’s yield optimization efforts and the changes they’ve seen in remote learning over the past 10 months.

Thank you for speaking with us Samuel! Can you start by telling us a bit about yourself and your role at Chegg?  

As Director of Programmatic Strategy, my goal is to grow programmatic revenue on all of Chegg’s surfaces to subsidize or even completely offset the cost of our services for students. I started my programmatic advertising career in 2013 at a company that was later acquired by Chegg in 2016. 

Chegg owns and operates several websites that reach over 30 million students per year, and is the leading direct-to-student learning platform today. We strive to improve educational outcomes by putting the student first in all our decisions. In short, we support students on their journey from high school to college and into their career with tools designed to help them pass their tests, pass their classes and save money on required materials.  

What drew you to programmatic strategy? How have you seen that strategy evolve since you began working in programmatic?  

Like most people in Programmatic Advertising, I didn’t intend to build my career in this space, but I fell into it fortuitously. What drew me into strategy was the quick moving nature of the industry, data-driven results and the open-ended opportunities for improvement. It’s an amazing career that marries creativity, data and technology — best of all, it is measured by revenue! Being able to tie revenue to our student mission has made my career even more rewarding. 

As programmatic technology has evolved, it has opened the door to better processes built around technology and data. The watershed moment in my career thus far was the emergence of header bidding. This fundamentally changed how we operated; for the first time, data was democratized for publishers, allowing us insight and most of all, control over how auctions were mediated. As a result, our processes and organization changed to emphasize engineering, AB testing and data analysis.  

Speaking of evolutions, obviously much has changed recently in the way that students are learning. How has your business changed since the start of the pandemic? 

Chegg has always believed that the modern student would need greater support through online services that were accessible and affordable. Even before the pandemic, Chegg was focused on the inevitable transition of education going digital; the pandemic certainly accelerated this transition.  

Fortunately, our business didn’t need to change, but we had to ramp up our systems to support the massive growth as students transitioned to remote learning. We experienced 82% YoY growth in content views and our paying subscribers grew by 69% YoY in Q3 (per our Q3 earnings report). 

From a programmatic lens, we took the down-market effects of the pandemic and used it as an opportunity to reset our yield strategy. Maximizing yield is our constant goal; we pivoted our strategy to focus on tech-driven yield optimizations as we know that these changes could improve yield even in a down market. Even though CPMs may have decreased at a macro level from economic trends, our ability to maximize auctions through mediation and viewability optimizations has shown lift in our AB tests. 

We also emphasized strategies that were most sustainable and forward thinking. To do that, we examined our setup closely, and created a strategy around the quality of our ad placements and demand path. Our focus became creating the most attractive inventory for buyers and providing the most efficient paths to advertising budgets. We recognized that these two approaches could make an immediate impact, but also would set us up for success once the market recovered. 

Would love to learn more about your yield optimization efforts. What metrics do you look at as measurements of success? What are some tools that you use to increase viewability?

Our goal is to make our inventory valuable and efficient for buyers. Viewability is our best indicator for value, as we’ve been able to measure that each decile increase in viewability correlates to an increase in CPM. To improve viewability, we’ve made shared goals between Product and Ads to ensure that we are moving towards product design that keeps viewability a priority. 

Efficiency is important for Supply Path Optimization as well as Demand Path Optimization. To measure efficiency, we first assess how much revenue an SSP is contributing to our stack. If the percentage of revenue is low from a specific SSP, we may consider removing them to eliminate low performing paths to our supply, and for our own operational efficiency internally. 

However, an even more telling metric is valueAdd. ValueAdd is a metric that we created to describe the difference between the winning bid for any specific partner and the second highest bid. To do this, we capture log level data which includes every bid response from each of our header partners, regardless if they win or lose the auction. This metric tells us the margin at which each SSP wins an auction by (incremental lift).  If we find that a partner has a very low percentage of total revenue contribution to our stack, but that has very high valueAdd, we may consider keeping them in our stack. Why? Though they win auctions infrequently, they win auctions at very large margins which equates to significant incremental revenue. 

What trends in the digital learning space have surprised you the most over the past ten months?

We already anticipated that our users would depend on us more during the pandemic, but we were really excited and surprised at how fast new students engaged with us internationally. The pandemic is truly a global challenge and it is impacting schools around the world. We’re really happy that so many students are finding us for support during these challenging times. 

Do you have any predictions for what the next year will look like for digital learning? 

If I’ve learned anything this year, it is to be wary of predictions. That said, a silver lining from this pandemic has been that many students and teachers have been forced to test the limits of what is possible with remote learning, and have learned that a lot can be accomplished online.  

Our recent studies have shown that two out of three US undergraduates would welcome more online learning after the pandemic ends. Professors have also warmed to the idea of online teaching, as now roughly one of two professors feel that online education is an effective teaching method. Our surveys also showed that teachers and professors feel better prepared to teach online, improving by 38% since May. 

What are some of the advantages of working with Chegg right now that advertisers should know about? 

We believe Chegg has more direct-to-student relationships than any other institution. Advertisers have a brand-safe opportunity to be an integrated and visible partner in our student mission in helping increasing access to modernized learning experiences at a low cost.  

We have several branded opportunities that integrate directly into the student experience, all of which can be transacted programmatically. The best example of this is our custom Hero unit, which functions as a rewarded video ad unit that unlocks paid features for students free of charge. This unit requires engagement from the user and is a full-page experience that supports both display and click-to-play unmuted video.  

Given that we provide unique & compelling services, our students are willing to engage with our advertisements. We have multiple surfaces under the Chegg brand which facilitate different student needs, and we’d love to build partnerships with brands to build unique integrations through all aspects of the student journey.  

Last question! Now that we’ve finally made it to 2021, do you have any resolutions for the new year? 

I am eager to take the positive momentum from the end of this year and build upon it for a great 2021 — both professionally and personally! 

The post Educational Tools in the World of Digital Learning appeared first on TripleLift.

The following post contains excerpts from a recent email sent to all TripleLift employees by Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer Ari Lewine.

—

2020 was bizarre.

We came into the year with huge expectations for growth, found ourselves tossed around by the pandemic, quickly righted the ship and ended with our biggest and most profitable year ever. We certainly didn’t draw it up that way but, collectively, we really made it work.

As a company that sits at the middle of a vibrant ecosystem, we know that we only win when everyone wins — our customers, our partners and our employees. If one is out of kilter, our business can become off balance. When Covid hit, we knew immediately that our success was going to be determined by the support we gave, as well as the support we got in return.

In early April, we planted the green shoots of our recovery by focusing on this very notion – supportiveness – in three different ways:

1. Supporting our customers and partners
2. Supporting society
3. Supporting our employees

This Lift Letter is about how we made the idea of supportiveness a reality.

Supporting our Customers

We have the opportunity – actually a responsibility – to support those both upstream and downstream in our business waterfall.

• Paying customers 3 days early: Publishers were hit really hard by Covid. They pay their staff bi-monthly, but may get paid by advertisers/DSPs/SSPs, months after an ad is served. They are quite unfortunately at the bottom of the payment totem pole: it takes time for brands to pay agencies, for agencies to pay DSPs, and so on. We were in a position to pay publishers earlier than their contracts required us to, so we did. Three days may seem small, but it signaled that we had their backs. Industry media learned what we were doing, and I have heard that it inspired other companies to follow suit.
• #HelpJournalism: A major industry issue during the pandemic has been that news publishers are delivering critical information (so their work is incredibly important), but because of keyword blocking around negative and/or political topics, they have seen ad revenue dry up. Just imagine: it was (and still is) standard for brands to not serve any ads on a page with words like: coronavirus, Trump, election, cases, riots, and the like. These keyword blocks starve news publishers of desperately needed ad dollars. We developed a specific deal to drive spend on news pubs and dropped our PMP fee to 0% to ensure they get every dollar. Customers like GroupM and others got on board, helping drive more spend to support journalism at a critical time.
• Underrepresented Voices ETDs: When racial tensions increased over the summer, we asked ourselves: ‘How we can support more sites owned by underrepresented communities?’ We created an ETD, called UNREP, comprised of sites majority-owned by women, minorities and LGBTQ.  We were able to partner with Google and others on the initiative and these packages are continuing to grow.

Supporting Society

No company operates separate from the world. And, increasingly, we have found importance in contributing to the greater good.

• Every Meeting Makes a Difference: Back in April, many customers didn’t feel up to taking meetings — there were obviously bigger things going on in the world. So we partnered with World Central Kitchen to donate 3 meals to frontline healthcare workers for every meeting customers’ scheduled with us. In June, the program pivoted to focus on supporting crucial DE&I causes, specifically the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. In June alone, we had 1,182 meetings with customers, each unlocking a $5 donation to this worthy cause.
• Combating misinformation: Most sites that regularly publish misinformation are ad-supported. That means we have a responsibility to think about the types of companies and institutions that we want to be in business with. We took the step this year to fire 19 customers based on repeatedly publishing misinformation about coronavirus and the election. Stuff like, “Coronavirus is just the flu”, “Its caused by 5G”, and other misleading information that serves to confuse people when accurate health information is essential. Because we aren’t experts in determining misinformation, we became the first SSP to partner with NewsGuard to help ensure our publishers aren’t bad actors.
• $1 billion ad spend milestone: We hit an amazing milestone this year – $1 billion in lifetime ad spend. To celebrate this, we donated the amount of ad spend in our first year – $69,718 – to charities selected by TripleLifters. Hearing how much the donation means to an organization like Crisis Aid International is heartwarming. 

Supporting Our Employees

Around the world, people have needed to adjust to a new normal. We tried to make it easier to handle these challenges.

• Mental Health Days: It became clear in May 2020 that people needed a break — physically and mentally. The pandemic, the fight for racial justice, and a new way of working and living were taking their toll. So we instituted “Mental Health Days”, where everyone was encouraged to take 2 days off per month, in addition to any vacation or personal days. It started as a two-month thing, but given the feedback and results, we’ve kept it going since. 

• Work From Home Stipend: We try to make our offices nice. We’ve had all the fancy chairs and monitors and snacks and such. But we know that most of us have never worked from home before and haven’t put in the same effort into making sure it’s a comfortable, productive place to work. We started by giving everyone $500 to outfit their at home work environment. That helped, but we heard that people could use more to get everything they needed to be the most productive, so we added another $500 stipend to outfit a proper working environment. 
• Headspace subscription: Many people find meditation to be a powerful way to be less stressed, happier, and think more clearly. It’s not for everyone. For those at the company looking for a resource to help explain meditation and guide their own practice, we made the Headspace app available for free to everyone. About half the company has signed up.
• Q2 Pay Back Plan: As the company started to perform better, and ad spend rebounded, it became clear that the right thing to do was to retroactively restore all wages that were previously reduced in Q2 when the pandemic was at the apex of impacting our business.
• $1,000 Extra Bonus: TripleLift’s success is based on its people. Period. One way to acknowledge that is to demonstrate our appreciation by sharing in the company’s success. So this year, for the first time, everyone in the company received a $1,000 bonus, on top of any other eligible bonuses. It feels like the least we can do for the hard work our whole team has put in.

Each one of these things, on its own, is small. Taken together, they make a huge difference. 

When I look at what we did last year, laid out like this, it makes me so damn proud to work at this company. I hope you feel the same way.

— Ari

The post Reflections on 2020 appeared first on TripleLift.

Exploring Never-Before-Seen Research in OTT Environments

Introduction

A lot has changed since March. The Coronavirus pandemic has made us rethink our government, work and family institutions. In part to connect with others and sometimes just to check out, we’re leaning into a living room experience around video content. 

Streaming television has become the new international pastime and it just so happens that the eruption of the streaming wars — with new services from Disney, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia and Quibi — coincided with the necessary isolation of COVID.

Experts across industries are talking about how trends that were unfolding over a matter of decades, are accelerating into a matter of months. Nowhere is this more evident than in the streaming wars, where the consumer behaviors of the next two years are likely to define the winners and losers of the next two decades.

There are several new models emerging for brand-supported television including:

• Increased collaboration between programmers and brands
• Lowered ad loads
• Opt-in ads
• New ad formats

All of these trends are accelerating as the transition continues from traditional linear TV to streaming. Consumers in OTT environments will no longer accept the old fashion. They want brands to facilitate access to the programming they love, not get in the way.

To preserve a consumer experience that allows brand-supported TV to compete with brand-free and commercial-free content, AVOD streamers are moving away from interruptive ad formats and towards more integrated ad experiences. 

The new viewer-first ad experience will ask fans what they want, not just what they’re willing to tolerate. This begs the question, what will happen to the $100B global market for television advertising? Now, in ad-free environments — integrations and product placement have always been the de facto “ad product” if you will. And the market is ripe for both investment and technological innovation. According to PQ Media Research & Insights, last year marked the 10th consecutive year of double digit growth for product placement revenue in the U.S., representing a more than $11B opportunity. 

TripleLift has pioneered a programmatic OTT solution for integrating brands into premium programming in post-production. 

The best part is, this requires no additional resources of show producers. And because no physical product is needed on set, it opens up the windows for marketers to get involved.

The Test

The emerging “new normal” that everyone’s talking about is going to require new measurement. One of the first things we have to do is figure out if this new model is even going to work. So we’re starting with just that: publishing first-of-its-kind research to determine how audiences are engaging with our new ad products. 

So far the industry has yet to develop scientific methods to assess the return on investment in integrations. Production costs can be prohibitive. And there’s no “unit” or “unit cost”, therefore an academic approach to ROI analysis falls short.

We’re designing measurement solutions from the ground up that directly correlates with business outcomes — and invite new conversations and new questions from stakeholders throughout the entire value chain, about the efficacy of integrations in television. 

Questions such as:

• What is an impression?
• What impact do brand integrations have on the perception of a show?
• How often are brands seen when integrated in TV programming
• Are brand integrations considered intrusive?
• Do brand integrations increase the effectiveness of standard working media?

In partnership with MediaScience, TripleLift integrated 8 brands across 3 different categories (Alcohol, CPG and Food & Beverage) into three different versions of the same episode: 1.) one that only had ad breaks without any integrations, 2.) one with just integrations and 3.) one version with integrations and their accompanying ads. This allowed us to have a control and exposed group, inching us closer to uncovering new insights about brand integrations in OTT.

The post Demystifying the Value of Brand Integrations appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series! Every month we’ll share an interview with one of our premium publishers, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This week we’re speaking with Phil Bohn, SVP of Sales and Revenue at Mediavine. Read on to learn how Mediavine uses SPO requirements as a differentiator and the surprising trait they have in common with Alexander Hamilton!

Thanks for taking the time to answer our questions Phil! For starters, can you tell us about your role at Mediavine?

Sure, and thanks for having me! My official title at Mediavine is SVP of Sales and Revenue. Most of my time is spent managing the Sales team, forging relationships with potential new partners/marketers, improving relationships with existing partners, or improving products, all in the name of revenue.

As part of my role, I am also required to use no less than 700 adtech acronyms per day. It is a very well kept secret in the industry that acronyms are negotiated upon hiring. (I kid, but actually just preparing you for the avalanche of acronyms below.) 

How are you dealing with the SPO opportunities of sellers.json, ads.txt, and more coming from DSPs?

From the beginning, our goal at Mediavine has been to establish a safe, performance-driven environment for advertisers, therefore any efforts to improve transparency on the buy-side are aligned with our core philosophy. We’ve had to build out some functionality, but so far we have been able to accommodate these changes. 

Supply Path Optimization is a little different. There are no set rules and a brand, an agency, or the DSP could be directing the optimizations. This means that SPO is one of our key discussion topics with partners and we’ve built internal reporting to monitor for any significant drop-offs from specific advertisers or DSPs, either through a single exchange or all exchanges. 

As of today, we haven’t had any major issues and the few times there were concerns we were able to explain our strategy: Mediavine is providing the technology to allow thousands of independent publishers to add their billions of high performing ad impressions into the ecosystem, so keep the bidding and buying flowing!

Do those changes make it difficult to prove your directness as a network?

Mediavine strives to find solutions well in advance of any deadlines required for such initiatives, so we’re never struggling to adapt at the last minute. However, these initiatives did require an extra layer of communication to understand how DSPs were auctioning off ads.txt and sellers.json, and to ensure Mediavine passed all necessary requirements.

We view these requirements as a way to set ourselves apart from other ad management providers and as an impetus to create a seamless solution for publishers and buyers. Once we explain the value proposition of the Mediavine Script Wrapper and our other products, plus our exclusivity clause with publishers, it is relatively easy to prove our directness. 

Are you seeing better performance or a specific share of voice from certain DSPs vs others?

Our robust internal reporting focuses on dozens of metrics, and alongside an additional reporting set from our revenue partners, we have a unique snapshot into Mediavine’s performance levels. While we aim for diversity in our programmatic revenue streams, there are obviously a few publicly traded companies who tend to have a higher share of voice than others, but it isn’t by design.

According to our reporting, we generally perform better than our cohorts in key revenue-driving categories. While this could be what they tell all the publishers to boost their adtech self-esteem, we are extremely confident in our reporting and performance.

Mediavine is the only Comscore Top 5 Lifestyle publisher with an audience that skews more than 70% female. Was that by design, or a natural development that you leaned into?

It was absolutely by design in that Medavine prioritizes a clean and safe environment for marketers. We knew if we could scale our business with these priorities at the forefront, we would achieve higher CPMs and RPMs for our publishers. It turns out Food, Parenting, DIY, and Travel is very brand-safe content and tends to skew very female.

In other words, much like Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, Mediavine is “reliable with the ladies!” (If you haven’t seen Hamilton: An American Musical, you have my sympathies. Please finish reading this blog post and go immediately to get a Disney+ subscription and watch. You’re welcome!)

From a publisher perspective, what are the challenges that programmatic is facing right now that keep you up at night?

The current decline in bids from iOS/Safari traffic and the impending Chrome Cookie Massacre of 2021. For many, if not most of our 7,500+ publishers, Mediavine is their primary source of income. Continuing to optimize earnings for these small businesses in a rapidly changing ecosystem is both a challenge and our top priority. 

What are some of the advantages of working with Mediavine versus other publishers in your competitive set? 

Mediavine’s technology has been the linchpin of our company from day one. We built our own Script Wrapper and all of the optimizations within it, as well as our own instream video player, outstream video player, Open RTB server-to-server connections and, starting this year, our audience engagement framework and first-party data collection product, Grow.me. 

We have dedicated engineering teams to maintain, improve and grow all of these products. Mediavine’s technology and the people behind it set us apart in every respect.

What has been your greatest learning moment this year? Why and what did you take away from it?

Last year, we built our own Open RTB server-to-server solution. The plan was to use this to connect to smaller exchanges, minimizing latency. After extensive testing and optimizations, we’ve improved performance from all of our revenue partners over traditional on-page integrations. We expect to remove all on-page integrations in early 2021, dramatically improving pagespeed, SEO, viewability, and other key metrics.

Most of our exchange partners have told us that match rates are a major pain point in S2S connections, but we have solved for this issue and look forward to fully implementing our in-house S2S-only Script Wrapper in 2021.

So, here’s to 2021, the year of the Ox and the first 100% publisher-built server-to-server Script Wrapper! (Aka, the S2S-SW. Whew, just hit 700 acronyms for the day on the dot with that one. Clocking out to watch Hamilton now.)

For more information about TripleLift, our publishers, or how to be featured in a publisher spotlight, please contact us here.

The post Navigating Evolving DSP Dynamics with Mediavine appeared first on TripleLift.

Authored by: Sonja Kristiansen, VP Platform Partnerships, TripleLift

The very definition of Native – fully integrated, non-standard ad experiences – is the reason that placements are so varied today. When something is defined as “non-standard,” there is sure to be a wide array of approaches and interpretations of the meaning.

The IAB’s Native 1.2 Spec was introduced in 2017 to provide guardrails and clarity around the identification of Native ad types including In-Feed, In-Article, Peripheral and Recommendation Widget placements. These ad types vary dramatically by aesthetic, user experience, and performance. Few DSPs give advertisers the ability to select between these ad types and as a result, many marketers still aren’t clear on what kind of Native placements they are buying programmatically. Instead, they are beholden to algorithms that determine which Native placement type they end up with.

In comparison, video, another form of advertising with an array of creative experiences, has wide adoption in targeting, transparency and reporting around the different formats available. The idea of having no controls across in-stream, out-stream, CTV or in-banner video buying would be absurd. As a result every leading DSP with video buying capabilities has targeting controls for different placement types, enabling marketers to pick and choose the video inventory that best suits their goals. Although standard for video, most DSPs are still grappling with how to integrate this level of sophistication into their Native inventory targeting.

Early Adopters 

TripleLift placements are classified by placement type in the bid request, making it possible for DSPs to decision on behalf of advertiser needs. DSPs like DV360 and Zemanta are paving the way by providing their buyers with Native Placement Type targeting capabilities, giving marketers more opportunities to be selective in their Native needs. 

With this targeting capability, it is important for advertisers to understand the key differences between Native placement types such as user experience and performance, to make an informed decision.

User Experience

One major difference in Native ad types is the design of the placement itself, and ultimately the user experience. In-Feed ads are integrated into the stream of content, and often match the look and feel of the publisher environment, while Recommendation Widgets group multiple ads, typically below articles and feeds within fixed placements.

From an advertiser perspective, these are dramatically different ad experiences, yet, they are all defined as “Native”. Advertisers may be surprised to learn that their Native ad is running alongside a group of other ads within a widget, when they intended their ad to live within the stream of content with 100% SOV, like 90% of TripleLift placements. 

Performance Polarization

Aside from user experience, different Native ad types have very different performance benchmarks. In a blind placement type test conducted by TripleLift and a major DSP, In-Article performance was 64% higher than Recommendation widgets, while TripleLift’s In-Article performance was an additional 22% higher than other exchange’s In-Article placements. When considering the visuals above, this may come as no surprise — performance follows user attention, and user attention lives within the stream of content they intend to consume. Considering that most programmatic advertisers optimize towards user attention and performance, the Native placement type marketers choose can make a meaningful difference on campaign success. 

Continued Change

As the advent of Native Placement Type Targeting nears, transparency across the entire buying ecosystem will be imperative. We expect to see a wave of adjustments come over the industry as more information around placement type location and performance becomes readily available to help marketers make informed decisions. For DSPs, we anticipate more controls will be added to bring parity to targeting across all formats, including Native. 

Reach out to us to learn how you can start targeting quality Native Placement Types today. 

The post Not All Native is Created Equal appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series. Every month we’ll share an interview with one of our premium publishers, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This week we’re speaking with Alex Mason, Senior Director, Yield & Programmatic Operations at Complex. Read on to learn about Complex’s recent partnerships, their efforts to shine the light on important issues (like voting) to Gen Z and millennial audiences, and some “hidden gems” from Alex to shake up your usual content consumption.

Excited to hear more about Complex, thanks for chatting with us Alex. For starters, can you tell us a bit about what you do?

Thanks for having me! I head up programmatic and yield for Complex Networks, which includes Catalyst, our B2B initiative providing yield and revenue ops solutions for other publishers. It’s a lot of ad tech management and data analysis, my two favorite things, but I just tell my parents I make sure the ads show up on our sites.

How has Complex evolved from a portfolio perspective since you’ve been at the company?

The portfolio itself hasn’t changed too much, but our monetization strategy across Catalyst has. Beyond our O&O properties (Complex, First We Feast, Sole Collector, Pigeons & Planes), we represent 40+ publishers in categories endemic to Complex like music, pop-culture, sneakers/fashion, and sports. A majority of these publishers have actually been with us for many years, but it wasn’t until recently that we formalized Catalyst as a product offering and became set on expanding. We’ve spent the last year rebuilding our ad stack from the ground up, optimizing deal workflows, expanding our analytical capabilities, and turning things off and back on again, all of which have proven to be beneficial projects for our Catalyst publishers.

Do you have plans to add more sites any time soon?

Absolutely. Since it was announced earlier this year, we’ve added a few new publishers, Blastbeat Network being the latest, which consists of sites such as Metalinjection.net and Metalsucks.net. In addition to the websites we work with, we also provide in-app solutions and represent a wide range of YouTube creators, so partnerships of all shapes and sizes are welcome. At the end of the day, we’re a publisher looking to extend our monetization expertise and resources to other publishers, so I’m excited to see Catalyst grow. For those interested, we accept inquiries at https://complexcatalyst.com/.

It looks like a lot of those sites center around rock and heavy metal music – is there a strategic reason behind those partnerships?

More of a coincidence than a strategy to corner the heavy music market, though that sounds fun. Music is a category that we already cover pretty extensively, so being able to add 8 sites that specialize in a genre with a dedicated audience just makes sense. While our partners have historically fit into one or more of the categories I mentioned above, I’d like to see us branch out into new areas or expand on already existing ones like gaming and current affairs/news. We have a large audience with a wide array of interests, and I believe it’ll be beneficial to build up our contextual categories as we get closer to the cookie-ocalypse.

Have you noticed any interesting trends in any of Complex’s areas of focus due to Covid-19?

For sure. Specifically on the content side of things, having to quarantine pushed us to experiment with new franchises we probably otherwise wouldn’t have tried. In some cases they were completely original, drawing from our expertise in areas like food or sneakers, while others were extensions of existing IP like Hot Ones… 10+ series in all and featuring big-name talent like Tracy Morgan, Issa Rae, G-Eazy, and more. Some were even shared with brand partners, like HP, who we worked with on new series Sneaker Battles and DIY Closets. What we found when surveying the industry is that 90% of respondents said remote production wouldn’t deter them from watching our content so long as it was still interesting and entertaining — two qualities we consistently deliver on.

Most recently though, we announced our first free, open-world, virtual experience called ComplexLand. It’ll feature 5 days of shopping, merch drops, discussions, music, and food, and will be coming to mobile and desktop browsers December 7 – 11 at ComplexLand.com. We’re taking our annual convention ComplexCon to our audience and I for one am excited to give my avatar a fresh fit.

As someone who primarily works on a laptop in Excel crunching numbers, it’s been cool to see the innovation. I want to give a big shoutout to everyone involved in the production, execution, delivery, success, and everything else that goes into the creation of these ideas.

What are some of your “hidden gems” of Complex – the types of content that people may not expect when they think about you, but they should definitely check out?

Everyone should check out Complex World, our youth culture current affairs docuseries which has put out new episodes biweekly since April. The Complex World team has done incredible work covering some of today’s most important issues, such as voter suppression, immigration reform, and environmental racism, in a voice that resonates with our largely Gen Z and millennial audience. To me, it’s been a standout, fresh take from the other news providers taking up my feed, and seeing a new episode becomes a highlight of my week.

We also just launched Pull Up & Vote, a new company-wide initiative to educate and motivate our large, young, and diverse audience to check their registration, double-check if they’re unsure, and to make a plan for how they’ll vote in this 2020 presidential election. We’re providing vital information and resources to our audience like how to vote by mail, how to find your polling place, and where both candidates stand on the most salient issues for young voters. It’s great working for a company that uses its resources and reach to support important causes, especially right now.

Last question – it’s time to tackle that major project and you need the perfect tunes to get in the zone. What are you turning on?

I’m turning on my streaming service of choice’s “Rap Bangers” playlist or some older pop-punk like Alkaline Trio. I need some energy while I’m working and either of those will do it for me. Some new albums I’ve been listening to a lot lately are SuperGood by Duckwrth and In Sickness & In Flames by The Front Bottoms.

For more information about TripleLift, our publishers, or how to be featured in a publisher spotlight, please contact us here.

The post From Magazine to Global Entertainment Network: How Complex Networks is Diversifying Their Business appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series. Every month we’ll share an interview with one of our premium publishers, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This week, we’re speaking with Nick Hermansader, Senior Vice President of Advertising at The Meet Group. Read on to learn about how The Meet Group is rewarding both users and advertisers alike (literally).

Thanks for sitting down with us Nick. We’d love to learn a bit about you – can you tell us about your role at The Meet Group?

Absolutely, thanks for having me. I lead advertising at The Meet Group for our US based dating and livestreaming apps MeetMe, Skout, Tagged and GROWLr. Each app caters to a slightly different audience, but the end goal is the same – bring people together to meet, socialize, and have fun in a safe, online environment. That’s more important now than ever before. We’re meeting the universal need for human connection.

What do you love most about working from home? How have you kept your team engaged and motivated while remote?

It’s certainly been an adjustment and was a struggle to balance work, life, and family at the beginning but we’ve since hit our stride. My favorite part is when I’m working in my basement office and my two year-old sneaks down to show me an art project he made or (most recently) brings me a pizza bagel that he and mom made for lunch. I definitely don’t get those moments at the office.

The team has adjusted incredibly well. We were already partially remote with team members spread out across the country and the globe, so it was rather seamless. We still hold our regular meetings virtually and we have weekly coffee breaks where we talk about the latest TV and movies or play a quick online game for some fun competition.

While we’re on the topic of love, what are some of the activities that you’ve enjoyed while at home?

Surprisingly, I think we’ve watched less TV than before quarantine. Staying at home has forced us to spend more time outdoors since we’re inside working all day. In fact, we took the opportunity back in May to rent a house in South Carolina and isolate there for a month. My parents joined us to help take care of our son so we could focus on work during the day. It turned out to be a wonderful experience that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. He got to spend more time with his grandparents than he ever would have and we got a lot of time together on long walks and spending time together outdoors while the weather was still a

bit chilly up here in the Northeast. Other than making sure I was caught up on the Chicago Bulls documentary, The Last Dance, we didn’t have the television on much at all down there.

Have you seen more app downloads/user engagement during the pandemic, or less? 

We have seen unprecedented engagement during the pandemic, especially within our livestreaming product. All of us have been searching for ways to break up the monotony and boredom of quarantine, much of which is caused by our inability to socialize in person. Our products enable our users to do just that. Not only can they discover others to chat with, but in Live, they can actually see and talk to those people virtually.

The Meet Group is one of the largest providers of livestreaming dating games in the world. We have been experiencing over 195,000 dating games played each day across our apps, an increase of 104% since the declaration of a global pandemic in March. At the start of the pandemic, video was a replacement for real-life interaction. Now that things have opened up a bit more, it is a filter to screen potential dates for connection and compatibility before meeting in person. Daters are increasingly demanding a video chat first, to prequalify potential dates.

What are some of the advantages for advertisers of working with The Meet Group versus other publishers in your competitive set? 

First and foremost is scale and diversity. We’re managing over 10 billion impressions per month across the US portfolio of apps. Our users are coming back every day and this provides a great opportunity for advertisers to consistently get their message across. We also offer many different audiences with the various apps whether it’s US-centric (MeetMe), internationally-focused (Skout), African American (Tagged), or the gay community (GROWLr). Additionally, we have a great first-party data set because 100% of our active users are logged in. This is the way the industry is trending so publisher-owned data is only going to get more valuable as cookies and mobile ad IDs are being deprecated.

Does The Meet Group have any new and exciting offerings that advertisers should know about?

We have traditionally offered standard mobile ad products due to our size and reliance on open exchange demand. However, our livestreaming platform has allowed us to expand into other products – the largest of which is rewarded video. The influx of in-app purchases in Live has enabled us to introduce this opt-in ad experience in which a user voluntarily watches a video ad and receives in-app currency for doing so. It is great for the users because it gives them an opportunity to participate in the economy of Live without having to make a cash purchase. They feel included and it may even encourage them to make a purchase in the future. Advertisers benefit because the user is actively choosing to engage with their brand instead of it being forced in front of it. They may even form a positive subconscious association between the brand and the reward they received.

We’re also exploring unique ways for brands to incorporate into Live. The in-app currency is used to purchase virtual gifts so I believe there is an opportunity for brands to sponsor these items. It would not only elevate the perceived value of the gift to have a brand name on it, but the sponsorship itself could subsidize the cost for users so they don’t have to pay out of pocket for it – creating more good faith for the advertiser and possibly encouraging future purchases from users.

For more information about TripleLift, our publishers, or how to be featured in a publisher spotlight, please contact us here.

The post Human Connection in a Time of Social Distancing: A Conversation with The Meet Group appeared first on TripleLift.

2020 has been a year of disruption. We have seen almost every aspect of society be altered in some way. This has forced consumers to re-evaluate their day-to-day routines and brands to reassess who they are and how they operate. Here at TripleLift, we have gathered our knowledge and insights to bring you our top 5 trends that will shape the rest of the year and, potentially, beyond.

COVID-19 Escalated Online Shopping Normalcy

From bulk buying to online shopping, COVID-19 has transformed our buying habits seemingly overnight. Online shopping gave consumers access to safe, contactless purchases when in-store shopping couldn’t. Consumers spent 7% more online during the first two months of the pandemic than during the entire 2019 holiday season¹. With online retailers working to meet this demand, we expect to see an exponential increase in online spending for the remainder of the year.

Digital Video Has the Upper Hand on Consumers and Advertisers

As over half of the consumers’ TV viewing time in 2020 was spent on an OTT subscription-based service, advertising inventory has surged 54% YoY. These ad placements have both high viewability and memorability. 65% of people who use a second screen while streaming has looked up a product advertised in a TV show.

Mobile Consumption Continues to Increase Dramatically

It isn’t surprising that mobile use continues to climb, especially with more consumers staying indoors for the first half of 2020. Time spent on mobile phones increased 11% to 7 hours and 31 minutes daily and is expected to remain consistent in 2021. This opens up further inventory while also heightening the competition for consumers’ attention. This rise in activity and heightened focus on privacy will stir things up for advertisers this year.

“Buy Online, Pick Up in Store,” has Won Over Shoppers

Convenience is everything to shoppers — 9 out of 10 choose a retailer based on accessibility. The call for faster delivery times drove demand for “Buy Online, Pick Up in Store,” or BOPIS, over the past few years. In a recent survey, 54% of respondents researched a BOPIS option on most purchases to eliminate shipping time. Once consumers are in-store for pick-up, BOPIS also provides an opportunity to upsell.

Ecommerce Will Incite Holiday 2020 Retail Sales

Holiday sales are expected to increase 3-4% YoY, with eCommerce spend rising by at least 13%, especially with a more significant focus on social distancing. The spend attributed to mobile devices is quickly growing, up 21% from 2018 to 2019, as 81% of consumers said they have purchased gifts on their mobile device. Simple click-through URLs and a streamlined website make eCommerce even more convenient for shoppers.

While the first half of 2020 has seen unprecedented change, learning from consumers’ behavior will help maximize performance during the remainder of the year. Our mindsets should evolve to an online-first approach with marketing and selling while incorporating tried and true advertising methods. Strategizing around these trends will help bolster your 2020 Holiday plan and help discover key learnings for years to come.

The post Learning from 2020: 5 Trends to Help Maximize Your 2H Strategy appeared first on TripleLift.

Buying Direct Inventory Increases Win Rates, Impressions & Clicks Per Dollar Spent

Introduction
The programmatic ecosystem is rife with duplication and redundancy, resulting in operational and financial inefficiencies for both the buy and sell-sides. In fact, many articles have been written searching for “the lost 15%” of programmatic spend that often seems unaccounted for. We went searching for that delta and revealed compelling insights.

At TripleLift, we believe that following the most direct path to an impression yields the greatest benefit to both marketers and publishers. In order to test this theory, we conducted an A/B test to measure performance across different buying channels – one direct, and one through an intermediary exchange – to demonstrate the quantitative impact of removing intermediaries from the supply chain.

The Test
This analysis evaluated the same campaigns, launched by the same brands, bidding on the same publisher inventory, with the same bidding strategies, on the same DSP. The only difference between path A vs. B was the inclusion of an intermediary exchange, adding a hop to the transaction, and taking a nominal fee (5-10%). In this case, the intermediary exchange was reselling the same publisher inventory available in the original exchange. Our test looked at over $680,000 in live media spend, representing 385M impressions that ran over a 30-day time period. 

Executive Summary

Buying inventory directly – with no intermediary exchanges or resellers – improves your campaign performance, auction performance, and bottom line.

The Results
The test yielded significant differences in performance across path A vs. B, and a variety of key programmatic metrics:

• Win rates are 3.8x higher when buying directly (vs. through an intermediary exchange). In a competitive ecosystem dominated by header bidding, downstream win rate is directly linked to improving a marketer’s access to premium inventory and ability to deliver a campaign.  
• CPMs: Clearing CPMs are 28% lower when buying directly. Removing a financial intermediary from the transaction allows lower bids to win more often in auction. 
• CPC: Cost-per-click (CPC) is 220% lower when buying directly. This metric is a direct function of media cost, which was lower on average via the direct path. 
• Auction performance: Bids beat competitor’s bids 40% more often when buying directly. Outbidding competitive bids from other DSPs improves a marketer’s access to the most highly coveted inventory and users.

What It Means for Buyers

At the end of the day, being an effective buyer of media means two things: having transparency into the inventory and maximizing performance. Checking sellers.json and ads.txt files helps with the former and this test shows that performance is optimized through the most direct paths to inventory. Taking a sample $100k media budget, buying programmatic media directly – without the presence of resellers – directly delivers 14m more impressions on 2.2b fewer bids, leading to more clicks and other performance KPIs.

For more information on directness and this study in particular, reach out to us….directly.

Download the case study results.

The post Directness Test Reveals the Perils of Resold Impressions appeared first on TripleLift.

As the old expression goes: ‘ad tech giveth and ad tech taketh away.’ Ok…that might not be an actual expression, but we all know it’s true. Programmatic media has given us scaled impressions, data targeting, publisher monetization and so much more. But, along with each of these innovations has come some unintended – and undesired – consequences.

At TripleLift, we see three main challenges to a clean, programmatic media:

• Resold impressions
• Ad fraud
• Misinformation sites

Taken together, these three problems create waste, reduce the performance of your buys and make for brand safety challenges that are a stain on the ecosystem.

The burden should not fall on advertisers to police the industry, so at TripleLift, we have taken it upon ourselves to be the solution. It’s all part of something we call our Triple Lock Promise. 

We promise 3 things:

• Zero resold impressions
• Lowest ad fraud rates in the industry
• No misinformation sites on your buys

Let us tell you how we do it and what it means for you.

The post Rooting Out the 3 Biggest Problems in Programmatic Advertising appeared first on TripleLift.

Welcome to TripleLift’s Publisher Spotlight Series! Every month we’ll share an interview with one of our premium publishers, highlighting unique stories and uncovering valuable insights. This week we’re speaking with Shobha Doshi, VP, Programmatic Strategy & Operations at CafeMedia. Read on to learn about how Shobha became an important piece of the CafeMedia puzzle and her advice on maximizing your potential.

Thanks for joining us Shobha! To kick things off, can you tell us about your early career? What do you think was key to getting your foot in the door?

My very first job out of college, where I studied marketing and psychology, was on the Marketing team at Novartis Pharmaceuticals. Right after that came my first foray into the digital advertising world as a Media Planner at The New York Times. At that point, I took a break from working to get my MBA. Having some real-world business experience really helped me to apply a lot of what I was learning in the graduate program and set the path for my next step. Once I graduated, I joined up with CafeMedia (then CafeMom!). I’ve been at CafeMedia for almost nine years, which is a lifetime in our industry. 

When did you know that Programmatic advertising was an area you wanted to focus on? 

I’ve always been interested in marketing in some form or another, but originally fell into digital by chance at NYT. When I continued to pursue it at CafeMedia, there were a small handful of us who kicked off programmatic advertising as a kind of second job. And it took off like wildfire. I find it such an interesting space because it’s always evolving. You can count on coming across something new frequently and that has continued to challenge and educate me.   

What intrigued you the most about CafeMedia and what keeps you engaged? 

After working at two large companies, I wanted to get the experience of a smaller company. Everyone I met there was smart and savvy, and it felt like a scrappy company where I could learn so much and grow as they grew. And that’s exactly what’s happened — I went from being a Sales Development Manager to helping build the Programmatic team from the ground up. Our goal is to help our publishers do what they love best and excel at, which is creating amazing content for their users and not having to worry about managing their ad revenue. CafeMedia is a leader in the programmatic ecosystem, and I want to make sure we continue to push forward and innovate with our partners alongside us. 

What advice would you give to women who are interested in a career in ad tech? 

As with many industries, women are underrepresented in ad tech, and that’s even more true for women of color. I would encourage women to fight for themselves — speak up, ask for what you deserve, and keep on pushing until you get it. It has been and will be a long road, but we are our own best advocates and can continue to set a good example for the next generation of women coming into the workforce. I would also add that for those who have already found some success, we should take up the responsibility to pay it forward and help up-and-coming women to succeed. 

What tips do you have for achieving the ever elusive work/life balance?

First of all, acknowledge that it’s hard. You don’t have to “have it all” — you have to do what works for you and your situation. There may be weeks that are more work, but make sure that there are weeks that are more life and family too. Get help, in whatever form that takes, and don’t be afraid to ask for it. Find a company that cares about YOU and will help with creating that balance.

How have you been handling the Covid-19 pandemic from a work perspective? 

Our HQ is in New York City so, similar to many other businesses there, the office has been closed since March. The majority of us were actually remote before the pandemic, so we were in a good spot to make the virtual transition relatively smoothly. We had already heavily embraced Zoom, but now we’ve added in virtual happy hours and more frequent check-ins. I’ve been encouraging my team to remember to take time off, even if it’s to do nothing, since it’s been easier than ever to forget that everyone still needs recharge and reset time.  

From a publisher perspective, what are the challenges that programmatic is facing right now that keep you up at night?

Similar to a lot of others in the industry, I’m constantly thinking about identity, privacy, and third-party cookies going away. We’ve been planning for this for a long time and are always testing solutions and partnerships that will help to mitigate a lot of these issues. We’ve also leaned into context and our advertiser partnerships in a big way. CafeMedia has been very vocal in the industry to make sure that independent publishers have a strong advocate and are encouraging other partners and publishers to do the same. It will be a landmark time for our industry, and I think we’ll come out of it with some really innovative and groundbreaking ideas.

What is one lesson you wish you had learned earlier in your career?

Imposter syndrome is real, most commonly for women — I wish I had realized earlier what I was feeling and how to address it. I believe it held me back from pushing forward in certain situations and points in my career, though I was fully capable. It has been a process to fight it, and it still rears its head sometimes, but I continue to remind myself and encourage other women to be aware, be confident, and know yourself.

When you’re not making things happen at CafeMedia, what do you like to do for fun?

Spend time with my two boys and husband — we’ve had to be more creative these days to find activities to keep us busy and get out of the house safely, so we end up in our backyard a lot running around. I also love to read, so whenever I can, I’ll have my nose in a book. Pre-COVID, I really enjoyed traveling and hope we can get back to a new normal where that’s possible again. In the meantime, I’ve been exploring local hiking spots to get outdoors for a change of scenery.

For more information about TripleLift, our publishers, or how to be featured in a publisher spotlight, please contact us here.

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Securing Your Media…and Your Brand

You’ve set your strategy, planned your media and designed the perfect creative. The last thing you should have to worry about is the quality and safety of your media placements. But depending on who you’re buying from, that’s likely your biggest concern.  At TripleLift, we hold our media to higher standards, so we created the Triple Lock Promise.

Zero Resold Impressions

Media dollars should go to media, not resellers. Bidding on directly sourced inventory increases your win rate by 4x while decreasing your CPM by at least 25%.  That is why our 36 Billion daily impressions are sourced directly from publishers.

Lowest Industry Fraud Rate

Because we scan for fraud before the bid, our inventory is 99.6% pure. While we know that there are super savvy criminals that stay one step ahead of the industry, we humbly brag that we have the lowest fraud rate in the industry (0.4% according to White Ops).

No Misinformation Sites

We believe in the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so we’ve partnered with NewsGuard to ensure your media dollars only go to credible sources. By removing sites from our platform that have been flagged for misinformation, hate speech and other malicious content we don’t fund bad actors…and neither will you.Since we built our inventory from the ground up, we don’t need any of the gimmicks that help other exchanges get their scale. Our inventory is clean and our aim is true.

To learn more about TripleLift and our Triple Lock Promise, ping us at partners@triplelift.com

The post TripleLift Triple Lock Promise appeared first on TripleLift.