Let’s be trustworthy: the world didn’t want one other SSP.
The market has been crowded for a number of years, and whereas consumers already had a plethora of choices, Media.internet selected to launch its SSP 5 years in the past. This was not a delay as a lot because it was a strategic choice to higher deal with entrepreneurs’ ongoing challenges, together with cluttered provide paths, plateauing efficiency and a scarcity of transparency.
“Our roundtable session on the Digiday Programmatic Advertising and marketing Summit reaffirmed the identical perception that guided us once we launched our SSP: the market didn’t want extra of the identical — it wanted one thing totally different,” mentioned Ken Lagana, international Chief Income Officer at Media.internet. “We weren’t chasing market share; we have been constructing towards a niche we knew we might uniquely fill.
“What we’ve realized is that consumers don’t want extra noise,” he mentioned. “They want extra worth, extra readability, extra management. Typically, launching late is one of the best ways to construct one thing that lasts.”
On this Q&A with Lagana, the dialog focuses on the teachings realized that proceed to form Media.internet’s SSP and why so many entrepreneurs nonetheless really feel like platforms lack the basics.
In a crowded market, what sort of differentiation are entrepreneurs searching for from SSPs?
Ken Lagana: Differentiation issues greater than ever. Most SSPs say the identical issues: scale, effectivity, transparency. Consumers tune it out.
We realized the one method to stand out was to supply one thing others couldn’t. For us, that meant leveraging our distinctive contextual and search intent alerts — knowledge we’ve been refining for almost 20 years. When layered collectively, these alerts gasoline higher concentrating on and stronger efficiency, even in a post-cookie world.
Increasing on that, we faucet into stay search knowledge and intent alerts from throughout our search engine and writer companions, permitting entrepreneurs to achieve audiences based mostly on what they’re actively researching, not simply previous behaviors.
Finally, entrepreneurs don’t want one other entry level. They want an edge. That begins with knowledge they will’t get elsewhere.
Transparency is a phrase everybody makes use of, however what does it actually imply to entrepreneurs, and the way ought to platforms ship on it?
Ken Lagana: Transparency is non-negotiable, and it wants proof. At the moment, each SSP claims to be clear. However entrepreneurs need transparency that they will confirm.
Which means no made-for-advertising websites. It means curated provide. It means visibility into how impressions are priced and why they have been delivered within the first place. In case you can’t present that, you’re simply one other black field with higher branding.
We constructed our SSP with transparency as a default, not an add-on. Consumers can hint outcomes, assess stock high quality and optimize with confidence. That’s not a characteristic. It’s a baseline expectation.
Curation has turn into a scorching subject. What are consumers asking for once they speak about curated provide?
Ken Lagana: Curation isn’t a buzzword — it’s survival. The open internet has a notion drawback, however it’s not inherently damaged — it’s simply been poorly managed.
Entrepreneurs inform us they need scale, however in addition they need management. They don’t wish to spray and pray throughout 20,000 websites. They need curated pathways that align with model security, relevance and efficiency objectives.
We embraced that pressure. Our strategy to curation isn’t one-size-fits-all. It flexes based mostly on vertical, viewers and marketing campaign technique as a result of probably the most invaluable stock differs for each model.
How do SSPs match into an omnichannel technique?
Ken Lagana: Omnichannel isn’t actually non-obligatory anymore. A contemporary SSP has to transcend show, interval.
Consumers count on to achieve audiences wherever they’re — throughout CTV, digital OOH, cell, desktop and audio — with unified concentrating on and reporting. They don’t wish to Frankenstein collectively 5 separate platforms and pray it really works.
That’s why we constructed ours to be omnichannel from the beginning. If you launch late, you don’t have legacy baggage — you may construct for the place the market is headed, not the place it’s been.
Our Offers Desk resolution is an efficient instance of that. It permits consumers to rapidly activate omnichannel campaigns with the flexibility to request customized Deal IDs, combine first- and third-party knowledge, and plug in our contextual search intelligence throughout channels. That has confirmed to be actually highly effective for our prospects and companions.
There’s been renewed curiosity in contextual concentrating on, however how does it ship efficiency at scale?
Ken Lagana: Contextual plus efficiency is the longer term. There was a time when contextual seemed like code for decrease efficiency. That’s not true anymore. For instance, a current DoubleVerify survey of customers discovered that 44% have tried a brand new model on account of seeing a related advert alongside a bit of content material they have been consuming.
Equally, we’ve discovered that when contextual alerts are enhanced with actual search intent, they ship. Entrepreneurs see stronger engagement, increased ROI and fewer reliance on identity-based concentrating on. That’s an enormous deal as cookies go away and privateness takes heart stage.
It’s not both/or. It’s each, and the mixture is highly effective.
How do you see expectations for AI altering, and what function does AI play in your platform?
Ken Lagana: AI isn’t magic — it must be explainable. AI is all over the place now, and everybody’s claiming it. However most consumers don’t desire a mysterious algorithm making choices behind the scenes. They wish to perceive why one thing occurred and the way they will regulate it.
We made explainability a core precept. From optimization logic to stock scoring, our platform is designed to floor the why behind the end result. As a result of belief isn’t earned with buzzwords, it’s earned with readability.
Sponsored by Media.internet
