Header bidding is one of the best and most common money-makers in programmatic advertising. It offers Publishers high yield and transparency, but its implementation and maintenance are the catch.
Building and maintaining a robust and functional header bidding setup could take at least 2 dedicated engineers every day. Engineers are famously known as the busy bees, so how can you stop relying on them and empowering your adops & yield specialists to manage header bidding instead? Take a look!
What is header bidding?
Header bidding is a programmatic advertising method where a publisher's ad inventory is auctioned to multiple advertisers simultaneously before the ad call is sent to the ad server. As the webpage loads, this process maximises competition for ad inventory and helps the publisher achieve a better price.
The complications in header bidding
Header bidding, let’s take Prebid as an example, offers publishers a more competitive way to manage ad inventories, but it comes with significant technological complexities and requirements.
Implementing Prebid, especially Prebid Server, typically demands a high level of coding expertise, as publishers must integrate and maintain multiple JavaScript libraries and manage constant updates and configurations. This process requires continuous collaboration with skilled developers, which can be both time-consuming and costly. Moreover, troubleshooting and optimising bids to prevent latency or conflicts between different ad platforms adds another layer of difficulty. Integration is one thing, but maintenance is even more challenging and consuming.
Direct costs and developer hours can make up a big sum, and this could be a burden to a publisher of any size. A user interface (UI) that simplifies header bidding by removing the need for in-depth coding would be a significant boon, enabling publishers to manage their ad operations more efficiently and cost-effectively. Such a solution would reduce AdOps’ reliance on technical engineers and potentially increase revenue by optimising ad placements more swiftly and effectively.
Solutions to easy header bidding management
Technical complexity can quickly increase as publishers manage multiple SSPs, ad servers, websites, and placements. Not only does this bring frustration into everyday work, but it could also unmotivate testing. When work gets tedious, people are not happy.
This is where the clarity and usability of a UI come into play. A well-designed and powerful interface can offer numerous benefits:
- Operations simplicity: No maze-like workflow, no coding needed. A straightforward UI makes managing header bidding more intuitive and fast. Using this approach instead of changing code lines in the script, you will avoid technical errors and save a great deal of headaches.
- Smart optimisation: No coding, just toggles and switches to optimise header bidding setup. Sounds like a lot of fun! Besides that, it makes testing much more pleasant, even if you are working with multiple varieties of configurations. Imagine, if you could switch between Client- and server-side with the click of a button, how easier your adops would be?
- Clear visibility: An exemplary UI provides a clean view of all ongoing auctions, making monitoring and optimising performance easier. Visual reports and real-time data help make informed business decisions.
- Enhanced troubleshooting: When problems arise, a no-code UI allows specialists to detect and resolve them quickly. This reduces downtime and hence minimises loss.
- Tech empowerment: Adops & yield specialists should be able to control the inventory without relying on developers - who are almost always busy, so solving a ticket could take a few hours to a few days. Why not give them a tool that could let them do their job themselves?
Usecase
Publisher A manages multiple domains and wants to onboard a new SSP to all of them.
Typically, the manual process goes like this:
- Get the SSP’s IDs.
- Go to each domain’s config and add the SSP’s IDs.
Frankly, this process doesn’t usually take Publisher A days of work, but there is a much higher risk of errors that could happen along the way. One wrong syntax and your whole adserving system is dysfunctional. What’s even scarier is that you might not even notice it without some alarms in place. Imagine this goes on for hours or even days - how much of a financial loss would that be?
Now, in an ideal world where Publisher A uses Relevant Yield’s UI, this is how it will be done within just a few clicks:
Managing header bidding can be challenging, but the process becomes significantly smoother and more efficient when coding is removed from the equation.
Investing in a no-code UI quickly pays off in increased ad revenue and decreased operational costs. An added benefit is how effortless it could be to hand over the work to a new team member, making recruitment easier for everyone.
Relevant Yield - Making header bidding easy for you
Relevant Yield offers a simple yet powerful UI that non-technical people can use to manage header bidding and conduct testing. The capabilities include SSP management & optimisation, client—and server-side implementations, Ad refresh, Lazy Loading, etc.
This straightforward approach prevents tech fatigue (when things are too technically complicated to use) and, therefore, can encourage innovation and self-efficiency.
If you are curious to learn more about Relevant Yield's header bidding features, feel free to contact us.
