BDG Taps Rubicon Project As Preferred Partner for Private Marketplace Deals

Bustle Digital Group (BDG), the fastest growing media publisher reaching a young audience, announced this week that it has chosen Rubicon Project as its preferred partner in executing private marketplace deals (PMPs) with programmatic media buyers.

Evan Pfeffer, Vice President, Programmatic Solutions, BDG, points to Rubicon Project’s expertise in the programmatic marketplace, explaining, “Being a leader in the PMP space, Rubicon Project was our obvious preferred partner to develop and execute our private marketplace strategy.”

Private marketplaces are key to BDG’s programmatic strategy as these deals yield benefits for both the buy and sell-sides of the deal. “PMPs are a great alternative to open markets because we are able to generate higher CPMs,” said Pfeffer. “In turn, we are able to guarantee specific inventory and audience segments to our advertisers.”

The media company, whose brands include Bustle, Elite Daily, NYLON, The Zoe Report, Mic, Input, Inverse, Romper, and The Outline shifted a majority of its PMPs to Rubicon Project after reaping the benefits of Rubicon Project’s exceptional customer service, as well as their revenue and performance yield strategy. Publishers can also prioritise PMPs through Rubicon Project, allowing them to compete with direct-sold demand. Pfeffer explains, “When searching for a vendor to partner with for PMPs, publishers must ensure the partner has an accessible UI for setting up and troubleshooting deals. It is also important to have solid business terms. With Rubicon Project, we are able to have both.”

Garrett McGrath, Vice President, Product, Rubicon Project further explains Rubicon Project’s dedication to client success saying, “There are many potential issues that can arise when running PMPs. The faster we solve those issues, the more these deals can scale for our valued partners, like BDG.”

BDG and Rubicon Project began their partnership in 2014. BDG is also transitioning all of its sites to Prebid—an open source suite of software products designed to enable publishers to implement header bidding on their websites and from within their apps—and plans to work directly with Rubicon Project to implement Prebid’s technology for its PMP yield optimisation strategy.