Programmatic Advertising in Dubai, Highly Targeted Digital Marketing in UAE

Automated programmatic technology ensures that advertisers and publishers can easily agree on a price per impression. The automated technology means that media buyers and publishers agree upon the price per impression via an auction. Buyers use demand-side platforms (DSPs) to put in their highest bid, in real-time, competing against other buyers and wait to see if they come out on top. Publishers use supply-side platforms to manage their placements and call for an auction. This auction algorithm is called real-time bidding (RTB), which means that all buyers place their bids simultaneously, with no priority set for each advertiser.

Advertisers can set parameters for their target audience, specifying what settings they require for their ad creative. Once everyone has set the parameters they want, the programmatic technology connects the right supply with the right demand, with no human interaction needed.

The first banner ad appeared on the Internet in 1994, marking the birth of ad tech. However, real-time bidding did not come about until much later. The first ad was unlike today’s ads in that it was not programmatic; it served as a template for future online advertising.

Programmatic advertising, or real-time bidding, emerged in 2007 and became widespread by 2010. During those years, exchanges such as Yahoo’s Right Media and Google AdEX emerged. They used software that incorporated real-time bidding and kick-started a more efficient process of buying media.
A quick timeline of key dates in the history of programmatic advertising:
1994 — First banner ad was displayed
2005 — Early ad exchanges emerged
2007 — First demand-side platform was built
2008 — RTB protocol became an industry standard
2020 — The golden age of ad tech is in full swing

Programmatic advertising is a form of technology that automates media buying.
Real-time bidding is a protocol by which this technology is implemented.
The process of RTB in programmatic advertising follows the following steps:
1.The RTB process begins when a user visits the publisher’s website.
2.This triggers an ad request from the user’s browser which is sent to the SSP.
3.The SSP then analyzes the user information and passes it on to the ad exchange.
4.The ad exchange passes the user information to the DSP.
5.The DSP puts an RTB in on this user impression. The value of the bid is pre-set by the media buyer based on their target audience criteria.
6.The highest bidder wins the impression.
7.The highest bidders ad is presented to the user.
The entire process from start to finish takes place in the blink of an eye. Before a user even sees the webpage, highest bidder has already won the auction, and their ad loads with the webpage.

Let’s quickly run through the basic definitions of the above:
Programmatic advertising: is the automated buying and selling of online advertisements.
DSP: (demand-side platform) a tool for programmatic advertising.
DMP: (data management platform) gathers and consolidates data retrieved from all sources.
Ad exchange: a digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell inventory.
Ad network: acts as a broker between groups of publishers and groups of advertisers.
The Connection Between DSP and DMP
A Demand-side platform (DSP) is used by advertisers to launch their campaigns and buy traffic automatically. A data management platform (DMP) gathers and consolidates data anonymously and with an expiration date (of up to 90 days, which is the lifetime of a cookie). From this data, the DMP creates temporary user profiles without specifying names, but the connections between them remain probabilistic.

An ad exchange is an online platform that facilitates the buying and selling of digital advertising inventory. Ad exchanges are often used by large ad tech firms to connect Demand-side platforms (DSPs) and Supply-side platforms (SSPs) and it is rare for publishers or advertisers to have direct access to an ad exchange.
An ad network is a company that sells advertising space on behalf of publishers and advertisers. They mark up the price of inventory for their management fee and don’t allow publishers or advertisers to fully control their own campaigns or monetization.

The difference between a self-serve demand-side platform (DSP) and an ad network is that with a DSP, advertisers and publishers have more control over their campaigns.

Currently, online advertising is the primary form of marketing for many businesses. The total ad spend in the U.S is over $129 billion per year, with over 86.3% of this total purchased through programmatic technology. Therefore, online advertising is not a future trend but has become an essential part of modern business marketing strategies.
Although programmatic advertising accounts for a large portion of the industry, media buyers still have other options available to them. They can negotiate fixed deals for their online display ads.

A direct media buy, rather than a programmatic one, gives advertisers more control over ad placements and can help ensure ads appear on high-quality sites. As much as $1 in every $3 spent on digital ads is lost to fraud—bots are shown ads instead of humans—in part because programmatic advertising involves multiple steps of software and human interaction that make it difficult to keep track of inventory and assure quality.
Publishers who use direct media buying also have the added advantage of always knowing exactly which ads will appear on their sites.
While programmatic media buying is the most widely adopted method of purchasing digital ads, there is still room for direct buying by advertisers and publishers who desire more control.

When programmatic advertising first emerged, it used waterfall auctions to determine which advertisers received placement on publishers’ pages. The priority was decided in advance by the publisher, not through a bidding process.

Ad placement platforms are responsible for determining which customers (ad networks, direct advertisers) purchase ad space on their clients’ websites.
In direct media buying, the waterfall bidding model would give priority to those inventory items that have been purchased and have not yet run. If an item is not purchased during a given time period, the right to purchase that spot passes on to the next participant in line.

The original approach to auctioning ads was highly inefficient, as it involved a “waterfall” process. Then came one of the most important advancements in ad tech—the header bidding auction. Unlike waterfall, this method involves a simultaneous auction. Publishers display their inventory at several ad exchanges. The exchanges allow multiple demand partners to bid on those “lots” at the same time.
The header bidding model, in which the highest bid wins, is different from the waterfall model, in which the winning bid is determined by order of priority. This allows publishers to make more premium inventory available programmatically, and also creates a more competitive environment that increases revenue for both publishers and advertisers.

While Google Ads can technically be called a programmatic platform, it only offers users access to Google’s own ad inventory. A white-label DSP, on the other hand, allows advertisers to buy traffic from any supply-side platform (or SSP) of their choosing.

Google Ads utilizes programmatic advertising and real-time bidding (RTB) and is close to a self-serve Demand Side Platform (DSP) in its nature. A DSP is an advertising platform that allows marketers to launch and track their campaigns, but it runs into some issues when it comes to deeper analytics.

Ad networks have the potential to increase programmatic advertising profits. Real-time bidding allows advertisers and publishers to match their inventory using demand and supply-side platforms.
White-label platforms can help advertisers save up to 30% on their ad spend, as they avoid bid markups set by most self-serve platforms. Also, white-label platforms allow advertisers to create accounts for their clients and give them access to the limited functionality of the ad platform.

Companies can easily implement programmatic advertising by establishing an account in a self-serve demand-side platform (DSP) and launching a campaign. The process takes between 30 minutes and 1 hour, including the set-up of the account.

Programmatic in-housing has become increasingly popular. According to a study by the Association of National Advertisers, 35% of brands reduced the role of external agencies for programmatic advertising in 2017, more than doubling the 14% rate reported in 2016. Depending on your company’s size and budget, you may have various options available for implementing programmatic advertising for your business.

After bringing your programmatic in-house, you will no longer rely on any ad tech provider and will have more control over your campaigns. A great option for many businesses is to consider purchasing a white-label DSP. This solution is completely customizable and allows you to control each aspect of your programmatic advertising.
Benefits of in-house programmatic with a white-label DSP include:
Media buying in a single account
Zero investment into development
Zero fees to middlemen
Real-time analytics
Bidstream data integration

To implement programmatic for your brand, you will need software. The main tool you will need is a demand-side platform (DSP), which you will use to run, manage, and optimize programmatic campaigns.

DSPs typically come in two forms: self-serve and white label. Self-serve DSPs are ad tech providers’ SaaS solutions, and white label refers to a provider’s custom software which you can use to sell your own ad inventory. Traffic sources are pre-defined by a provider as well.

A white-label demand-side platform is a totally different story. With this, purchase the ownership of a platform and customize it to meet your needs. You cut out the middlemen and save up to 50% on your ad spend by removing bid markups. On top of that, you have full control of all traffic sources because you manage SSP connections.

The minimum amount you must spend to have your ads shown on a given platform varies based on your goals. For example, if you are simply testing a new platform to gauge how well it may work for your business, you can start with a range of around a couple of thousand dollars.

In order to get the most out of your programmatic ads, if you have a high budget and are looking for quality over quantity, it may be best to start with a white-label DSP.

Although you need a substantial budget to get all your programmatic activities off the ground, setting up the first campaign does not require a high degree of technical expertise.
During campaign preparation, you establish your advertising goals. These can be to increase brand awareness, obtain more control over your CPMs, or get more installs on your apps. Then, you choose a type of campaign based on the creative you have available. It can be banners, videos, native or even rich media. After that, you sign up for a DSP and adjust its basic settings.
The launch stage of an advertising campaign begins with the setting of a cost per thousand (CPM) bid and a budget, followed by defining the basic targeting options. The next step is to upload banners and adjust them, as well as set up banner targeting and frequency capping options. Once these steps have been completed, the campaign is ready to launch.
Once you’ve set up your campaign, you’ll want to monitor your analytics and adjust your campaign settings accordingly. In order to maximize ad performance, I also recommend utilizing auto-optimization tools that are present in advanced DSPs and running a retargeting campaign based on gathered data.

Before you begin to launch a campaign, you must ensure that the RTB auction dynamics work properly from start to finish. You must set up your server correctly and make sure you are receiving all bid requests from the SSP with all of the required data.
Once you choose an SSP, you must align targeting options to the traffic available from that platform. Test CPMs to determine which price is enough to win impressions. Look for impressions in your beacon report and how this data correlates with your supply partner’s data.
The basic four-step process for setting up proper bidding on a programmatic ad platform is:
1.Set up SSP Endpoint
2.Align Targeting Options
3.Test Bid Price
4.Check the Impression Beacon.

The quick answer: It is surely the CPM pricing model.
In the RTB (real-time bidding) auction, advertisers bid on impressions, and publishers receive the highest bid amount. CPM remains the predominant payment model for programmatic advertising, so RTB is tailored to CPM exclusively.
The long answer: DSPs use RTB protocol, so their algorithms calculate an estimated CPM If you set up CPC instead of a CPM. This algorithm is different in each DSP, but it roughly relies on the following formula:
CPM = CTR x CPC x 1000
Example:

Set CPC = $0.5
Predicted CTR = 0.01%
CPM = 0.5 x 0.01 x 1000 = $5

Ad tech companies provide tools that can be used to improve the process of setting up programmatic advertising campaigns. These tools include software such as demand- and supply-side platforms and ad servers, data management platforms, and consulting services. Many ad tech companies also sell their software to clients under their own brand names.

In simple terms, the main roles that ad tech companies take on are:
Developing and maintaining programmatic technology
Delivering ad tech tools to boost performance
Offering agency and ad network services
Selling their technology as a white-label solutions
Supporting and consulting on the ad tech issues

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many industries hard, across the globe. A survey conducted by the Association of Publishers, Advertisers and Media Agencies shows that 24% of advertisers have paused their campaigns indefinitely, while 40% have decreased their advertising expenditures since the beginning of the pandemic. The evolution of the industry has ground to a halt as publishers experience a 40% decrease in revenue due to a drop in ad sales.

As many states implement lockdown orders and people are staying at home, advertisers are changing their targeting strategies. The platforms they are using and ad formats have to be adapted to the times. For example, Connected TV (CTV) viewing has grown as a result of lockdown orders; however, linear TV viewing has dropped. Programmatic TV ad spend grew by 40% in April and May of 2020. But this is a trend that looks like it is here to stay, even as many lockdown orders are easing as we enter July and August.

The use of DMPs (data management platforms) to collect and analyze consumer data is declining, as advertisers shift to Customer Data Platforms, which allow them to utilize 1st-party data. But I’m sure that DMPs will evolve and re-architect their algorithms to collect consented, personally identifiable information (PII) and transfer it to programmatic platforms without the need to define anonymous segments.
Google’s proposed solution for collecting PII data is a so-called Federated Learning of Cohorts. Cohort solutions are focused on local data processing and use machine learning algorithms running on the device to group users into audience segments based on behavior such as browser history. The idea is to improve privacy by letting advertisers target groups of users, rather than using pseudonymous identifiers for each individual user.

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted in Europe on April 16th, 2016, has led to challenges for advertisers. They must now rethink how they collect and store data with consent.

In pursuit of PII, consented data advertisers will:
Advertisers will likely have fewer profiles from which to select when obtaining consent, but the profiles they do have will be more detailed and allow for highly targeted campaigns.

Advanced approaches to personalization can be used to target only those visitors who are likely to make a purchase. Ads will become hyper-personalized and bring leads of a much better quality than before.

Use programmatic media buying to leverage audience-driven planning. This allows for campaigns to be defined by the audiences being targeted, rather than by the channels being used, allowing for more effective measurement and delivery.

There are a multitude of resources available to those interested in learning about programmatic advertising. There are hundreds of articles on the subject, which cover every aspect of ad tech and programmatic advertising. The blog posts are detailed and easy to understand, with every aspect of programmatic advertising broken down into its simplest components so that even beginners can grasp the basics.