How Publishers Can Monetise Their Data In The Exchange Marketplace

The non-premium market is growing. Adjug, RightMedia and Wunderloop continue to attract advertising budget. Google is launching their new and improved exchange in Q4. And even the mainstream media is having a go at explaining the new developments in online advertising.

Trading platforms now offer publishers a sales channel for their unsold ad inventory. Most have so far failed to grasp the opportunity: they’ve decided to either dump their inventory on the exchanges, selling it for a low CPM, or continue farming it out to an intermediary like an ad network.

This strategy is having an effect on publisher revenue. Oversupply is ultimately driving ad prices down. With some many ad impressions available on the market, it is no wonder - as Adjug’s Dirk Fiebig, observed recently - that CPM prices are in the gutter.

As agencies and advertisers look to buy audience rather than ad space on leading websites to better target campaigns, publishers will have to get smart about their data.

How will this user data help content owners make more money? The sale of this information – as allowed by regulators - will become an important revenue stream for publishers. The data will also help to turn the oversupply of “dumb” impressions into a valuable media buy, maximising the price paid for ad inventory.

A lot of the platforms are now offering publishers the ability to gain insight into their data. Layering this information on to the unsold inventory (“remnant” by the way is banned as it doesn’t help to progress the debate) publishers will see the value of their supercharged page impressions rise.

What about selling user data directly to an advertiser, agency or ad network? In the US there are a number of platforms where you can do this. The two market leaders, Bluekai and Exelate, allow publishers to sell anonymous user data in key verticals. This has become a growing revenue area for US publishers. But both companies have yet to establish a presence in Europe – and there is no platform available here offering a similar service.

An option would be to approach agencies directly and establish a data partnership. You don’t have to be a large publisher: if you have a small but valuable audience, you can sell your data directly to the agencies. This can be used by agencies to better target online advertising campaigns.

What to do with my data and where to go with it?

- Wunderloop Connect: Segmentation is built by Wunderloop using analytical models and the browsing data provided by the publishers. Wunderloop in other words offers insight into your user data, making the impressions more valuable to agencies and advertisers.

- RightMedia Exchange: Segmentation is wholly encouraged by the exchange. Most of the publishers actively trading on the platform get a higher price for CPMs when data is included in the mix.

- Agencies: Who needs a data exchange platform? Go directly to the agencies and agree a deal. There are a number of ad exchange specialists and progressive digital agencies you could approach. Your audience is valuable, and you could be missing out on new revenue opportunities.