It took its time to leap from display to video and TV, but now the ad-trading technique known as header bidding convince more connected TV programmers to make ad inventory available to buy programmatically.
That is according to one agency exec whose company is rolling up its sleeves.
Header bidding is the technology process through which media owners can entertain bids from multiple demand sources simultaneously, rather than in traditional “waterfall”, or sequential, fashion – thereby having sight of best bids all at the same time.
It has come to be influential in display ad sales and, increasingly, in digital video.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Jean Fitzpatrick of IPG-owned Kinesso says it is also lighting the way to more connected TV ad transactions.
Head of steam
“Starting to see header bidding breaking into OTT and CTV in a really meaningful way is exciting,” she says.
“It means that that premium inventory isn’t always going to be locked up in direct IOs (insertion orders) because of technical challenges,” she says.
“There’s now an answer to that, which gives us the flexibility to buy an RTB (real-time bidding) scenario in the future or on a direct IO, depending on what the client’s needs are.”
Kinesso is amongst the early users of one such solution, OpenWrap OTT from PubMatic, which combined direct-sold and programmatic ads.
“I think, as header bidding gets into CTV, it’s going to break that open and enable publishers to do yield management the way they manage display, which is really exciting for our clients,” Fitzpatrick adds.
Programmatic TV growing
Header Bidding Is Unlocking OTT TV Ads: Kinesso’s Fitzpatrick
EMarketer in November estimated programmatic TV ad spending will reach $6.69 billion in the US by 2021, more than doubling from $2.77 billion.
That makes it a still-small but fast-growing part of the overall TV ad spending pie.
Technologies like OTT header bidding could grow that slice by making the yield more appealing for programmers to open up.
Rebooting buying
For Fitzpatrick and Kinesso, OTT TV ads and the current global COVID-19 pandemic are converging to redefine how and why such agencies and their clients buy TV ads.
“The way that we were looking at media partners in the past has shifted,” she says.
“Having more options down the line is going to be better since we’re not necessarily buying in the same traditional ways we were in the past.”
She says many brands are looking to new inventory sources, given the migration of viewers from traditional media to subscription video. Connected TV services powered by ads can give them that alternative, she says.
This is from a Beet.TV series titled “The Accelerated Evolution of Programmatic OTT” presented by PubMatic. For more videos please visit this page.
