A few years ago, header bidding exploded as a display tactic in online advertising, but like many ad tech trends, video adoption has been slower. This delay was to the advantage of the video industry when it came to first-price auctions. SpotX learned to consider the buy-side impact and now implements first-price auctions the right way for all header bidding integrations.
“SpotX has had the opportunity to learn from the display industry. We’ve been transparent from the very beginning and built our solution with buyers in mind,” according to Jenny Elphick, Senior Director of Programmatic Operations at SpotX.
The display industry was quick to identify that bids were being outcompeted in multi-auction header bidding scenarios, which led to the introduction of first-price auctions. However, this was often implemented without notifying the buy-side of the industry and DSPs were not ready to decision accordingly. This time around, some DSPs have the technology in place to ingest these auction types and decision appropriately. If their technology isn’t quite there yet, SpotX also gives DSPs the opportunity to opt-out of first-price opportunities. Even with DSPs more prepared, it’s important they have the information necessary to make these decisions.
SpotX is committed to transparency and empowering buyers to make the best bidding decision possible. Here’s why buyers should be excited:
- Ultimate transparency: First-price auctions are inherently more transparent: what the advertiser bids is what the DSP submits and what the auction closes at. SpotX passes the auction type in all bid requests to DSPs. Additionally, we provide price floor transparency in the open market. SpotX has also built in the capability to toggle between auction types depending on DSP preference.
- Higher win rates: By running a first-price auction, SpotX ensures buyers have the best chance of winning in the final ad server selection, increasing win rate.
- Premium inventory, at scale: By opting into first-price auctions, buyers unlock access to all of SpotX’s header bidding customers. Through our extensive network of deep publisher relationships, we provide previously fragmented inventory via a single source, at scale. Additionally, our seamless, single-click integration option for publishers using JW player means that we’re constantly on-boarding fresh inventory.
First-price auctions introduce a much-needed level of transparency to the industry and allow buyers and sellers to arrive at a clearer value exchange. While we’re limiting first-price auctions to header bidding integrations for the time-being, we’re excited for what this shift in auction dynamics means for the industry in the future.
Interested in learning more about available first-price inventory, DSP support or just looking for more details? Reach out!
This article was written by Lexie Pike, product marketing manager at SpotX.