Just as a publisher is beginning to get comfortable with their knowledge of current ad tech, a new innovation is developed that completely changes the way an ad campaign – and its resulting monetization success – functions altogether. Header bidding, for instance, just recently came on the scene but has already taken publishing sites by storm. This method allows partners to simultaneously bid on your impressions, maximizing your total revenue over time.
Header bidding has proven to be quite successful, with some companies such as The Telegraph seeing a 70% lift in programmatic revenue after implementing this cutting-edge technique. There are two major types of header bidding that can benefit publishers in different ways: client-side header bidding and server-side header bidding. Today, we dive deeper into the details of both advertising methods and compare them with each other to help you determine if client-side vs. server-side header bidding will work best for your publishing site.
About Header Bidding
Header bidding is a technique introduced in 2016 that allows publishers to offer their ads to many different bidders at once. This simultaneous networking through multiple ad exchanges increases the ad’s value and maximizes the revenue that ultimately leads back to the publisher’s own profits.
This programmatic auctioning method lets you send ad requests to several of your demand partners at once, without skipping a beat. Kevel’s HBIX Report, while it only measured U.S. metrics alone, still proved the power of header bidding by revealing that 84% of the top 10,000 websites in the U.S. implemented header bidding at some point. Publishers, also from the U.S., show that their Costs per Mille (CPMs) skyrocketed after using header bidding, according to the same report.
Why Should Publishers Use Header Bidding?
Header bidding has been a big hit for publishers for the last few years, and there are several reasons why. If you are ready to jump on the bandwagon but aren’t yet sure what advantages you can earn on your own site through header bidding, check out these popular benefits:
1. Earn More Bids
There may be more advertisers interested in buying impressions from you than you think. Header bidding allows you to gain access to a wider audience of demand partners, letting a diverse array of bidders vie for your ads.
2. Improve the Quality of Your Ads
Depending on the type of audience your publishing site attracts, you might get a few eager bidders who are willing to offer a higher price for first dibs on your impressions. As the competition heats up, so do your ads, giving you the potential for constant value improvement.
3. Get More Control Over the Bidding Process
Another distinct advantage of header bidding is that publishers can more directly control who can place bids on their impressions. You can choose sources, prioritize different advertisers, and offer incentives to the marketers who are looking to continue working with you well into the future.
How to Implement Header Bidding
Tech-savvy advertisers utilize header bidding by inserting JavaScript code into their websites. This allows publishers to access browser requests and other locations for bids, simultaneously gathering bids and showing the highest bid as an end result to the user. But publishers don’t need to have elemental knowledge of ad technology to take advantage of header bidding. With OKO publisher solutions, you can create an independent ad package that will give you the results you need while we work on the back end to ensure your ad operations are as profitable and efficient as possible.
Smaller publishers without the resources of premier publishing houses often feel that there is an impassable barrier keeping them from unlocking their full advertising potential. The truth is that your website can be the space you want it to be, and there are tools you can use right now to help you earn more revenue through advertising without sacrificing the unique user experience your website provides.
Client-Side Header Bidding
Also called browser-side bidding, client-side header bidding focuses on bids collected through the user’s web browser. Since header bidding refers to the JavaScript code implemented in the header section of the website, it makes sense that the entire auction process would happen through the user’s web browser. Google Chrome and Firefox are two of the more popular web browsers through which header bidding is typically implemented.
In the majority of cases, Google is a participant in the header bidding auction process. This is because Google executes its code with its own ad management server, and as a user using Chrome, you are connected to the Google client.
Server-Side Header Bidding
By contrast to client-side header bidding, server-side header bidding does not send and receive requests through a user’s web browser. It instead will send requests to a main server, which will in turn send individual requests to different ad exchanges. The responses from multiple bidders come almost instantaneously. While this is a less common method of header bidding used by publishers, it still comes with some advantages that may be beneficial for your particular needs.
The biggest benefit of server-side header bids is that you only send one single request through the browser, and the server does the rest outside of your client. That can help increase your speeds and declutter bandwidth to make auctions all the faster.
Client-Side VS. Server-Side Header Bidding: Which Method is Best for My Publishing Website?
It can often be difficult to determine which type of header bidding, client-side vs. server-side header bidding, would work best for your ad exchanges. So, why settle? You can get the best of both worlds with hybrid header bidding setups, which allow you more flexibility in obtaining a greater number of bids. Hybrid bidding is often used in conjunction with interactive ad types, such as custom video solutions.
Many publishers are choosing to implement a hybrid solution to connect to as many demand partners as possible while minimizing the amount of processing that has to be done by your computer. Since this is a tech-heavy strategy, it’s important to measure how well your current technology can stack up against the increasing demands of header auctions.
Try Unique Header Bidding Options Today
Advertisers and publishers alike have a critical opportunity to maximize their site’s revenue via client-side vs. server-side header bidding options. This type of auction offers more transparency for advertisers and more control for publishers, who can now shop from a much more flexible pool of bids. With almost endless potential, it might be a challenge to figure out where to even start.
You don’t have to try out this new solution alone. OKO offers managed header bidding solutions that will help you increase profits on your site and earn the highest bids on your ad impressions without you having to lift a finger. If you are ready to have a big advertising impact just like the publishing giants, you can take advantage of this new technology today. Contact us now to set up a customized advertising solution that will effectively manage and complete your header auctions.
