Header bidding has had a significant effect on the internet advertising market, as anybody working in the field will confirm. By using this sophisticated programmatic method, publishers were able to decrease lag time, boost ad revenue, broaden their customer base, and decrease passback.
However, the original 2009 implementation of the header bidding technique was far from ideal. In its infancy, it suffered from several problems, including a lack of consensus on industry standards, poor communication between service providers, and half-baked approaches. As of 2015, with the advent of Prebid.js, this was no longer the case.
As a result of Prebid.js’s efforts to bring order to the previously disorganized sector by establishing a dependable and simple-to-implement standard, prebidding technology has seen rapid global acceptance. Prebidding is used by many publishers today to guarantee the highest eCPM with the least amount of delay.
But what is prebid exactly, how hard is it to put into practice, and how is it better than other programmatic advertising approaches?
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What Is Prebid.js?
A prebid wrapper, or Prebid.js, is a free and open-source software that simplifies the integration of header bidding into publishers’ websites and mobile applications. You can imagine how much easier header bidding became after that. Prebid.js allowed publishers to build up header bidding solutions fast and cheaply when in the past they would have needed to hire a full technical team.
To facilitate the bidding process for publishers’ accessible ad inventory, Prebid.js provides a comprehensive library of efficient adapters. Combining this feature set with the adaptability of its open-source software, publishers have the ideal header bidding option at their disposal. Prebid.js is the best header bidding wrapper because of this.
How Does Prebidding Function?
Prebidding works by facilitating simultaneous bidding from several demand partners for a publisher’s ad inventory. Therefore, publishers may get the maximum possible price for their unsold stock.
But just how does it all go down? The answer is with a prebid wrapper.
Without a prebid wrapper, an ad tag’s request to an ad server is triggered whenever a person visits a website. However, if your page header uses a JavaScript wrapper, the ad request will be held up until the competing DSPs engage in real-time bidding. It just takes a few easy steps to complete the whole pre-bid auction:
- When an impression becomes available on a website, the Prebid.js library begins retrieving bids and creatives from ad exchanges and SSPs.
- Prebid.js sends these advertisements and bids to the ad server.
- Within the time limit established by the publisher, the ad server analyzes these bids based on criteria such as ad type, floor price, and ad format.
- The winning bid’s information (if any) is sent from the ad server to the Prebid.js module for display.
- Prebid wrappers allow publishers to easily manage their demand partners and expand the number of participants in their auctions.
Prebid’s Advantages
Prebidding has several advantages beyond just helping publishers increase revenue.
With a prebid wrapper, header bidding runs more smoothly, which improves response times, decreases latency, and enhances the overall user experience. Also, all devices are compatible with prebid’s wide range of ad formats, including display, native, and video.
Additionally, Prebid.js allows publishers to connect with thousands of diverse bidders from all over the globe and has comprehensive data that publishers may use to see how effective their ads are.
Prebidding’s apparent income rise and all of the above make it the future of digital advertising. However, prebidding has certain issues.
The Most Common Issues When Using Prebid.js
Since creating line items by hand is a time-consuming process, it is no surprise that this is the most typical problem for smaller publications. In other words, you’re out of luck if your team is too small. Also, mistakes in setup may lead to some revenue-diminishing inconsistencies.
Setting up line items needs Google API knowledge and basic code. For smaller publishers without a dedicated programming staff, this need makes prebidding difficult.
The best way for publishers to optimize their earnings is to have access to comprehensive data about their creatives, which may be achieved by establishing real-time analytics. Unfortunately, developing a system that is compatible with all demand partners to gather and evaluate these facts may be difficult and time-consuming.
Without the appropriate personnel in-house, publishers must invest in header bidding analytics software. These, however, may take a sizable percentage of your earnings, which is a major barrier for some publishers.
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Final Thoughts
Despite the aforementioned challenges, prebidding is the most dependable method to increase ad income and guarantee high fill rates. So, if you want to achieve long-term success and are willing to spend some money, switching from programmatic to prebidding is the way to go.
