Rubicon vs Pubmatic vs YieldBuild

I just joined the DMX network so I could try to optimize my CPM but I am reading a lot of underwhelming things about it.

I understand Rubicon, Pubmatic, and YieldBuild all supposedly optimize CPM by displaying the ad worth the most money to you from across multiple networks.

Does anyone have any experience with any of them? Which one would you try to get into, if any?

I need to make my impressions count and would like to do it as easily as possible.

Thanks

i know a few people who tried ppubmatic but dropped them shortly there after for poor cpm figures.

They're supposed to choose the best of all available CPM in various popular networks... wouldn't you think it would at least pay as well as those networks alone?

yeah, so they say... but when you're getting 8 cents epcm, its obviously not the case

Ugh, what's the answer, then, if not that? Just the AdsDaq -> AdSense I'm already doing until I qualify for Tribal Fusion?

I've now got accounts with a bunch of networks through DMX (which I guess I'm not going to try) and accounts with the same networks I had to create for Pubmatic (DMX doesn't give you the login credentials for your account with those networks that it creates automatically). This is getting confusing...

ad money sucks right now... that's really all there is too it.

I'm slowly working on moving to direct advertisers as my new goal for 2009. eventually i want to get rid of everything except direct ads.

I hear you. Good luck with that. I'm not sure how I would even begin.

I am going to try using ADSDAQ tags on my sites so I can get a certain % filled at a definite rate and then use Pubmatic backup tags so the rest of the networks can "compete" for the... 92% ADSDAQ can't fill.

Do you think that makes sense?

yeah, thats' really the only advantage to adsdaq right now.... it allows the good default program functions.

I work for YieldBuild, one of the companies Johnny5 mentions in his initial post. I can explain a little about what we do, and how we're different from Pubmatic and Rubicon.

All 3 of us do ad network optimization: if you're running more than 1 network on your site, and you're not sure which network's ads you should run in each spot, all 3 will figure out which will perform best.

What makes YieldBuild different is that we add an ad layout/format optimization layer on top of that. So, if it was determined that AdSense, for example, worked best in one spot, YieldBuild would also be able to figure out the ideal color, size, format, style and position of that ad that will maximize revenue. This is an often-overlooked part of the optimization puzzle, and it does have a significant impact. We have several clients only running AdSense and they're seeing impressive gains to their CTR and eCPM.

Since we just opened up to public beta a few weeks ago and are now accepting publishers of all sizes, we want to protect the confidentiality of our clients during our private-beta stage. A few have come forward on their own and shared their results, which we've captured here:
Customer Success

At any rate, briansol is right - ads are taking a bit of a hit right now, so it's a good idea to squeeze as much as you can out of what's out there.

Hi Jason,

YieldBuild sounds very interesting. How, though, can it experiment with different ad sizes at different locations without wreaking havoc on a site's layout?

Hey Johnny5,

You always specify the maximum size of the ad you'd like to test in each location. So, if in one spot you're not willing to try anything longer or taller than a 300x250, for example, you can specify that when setting up that zone. If no ads show up for that zone, then it collapses out of view.

Interesting, thanks. Would we have to come with our own accounts at each network, would we create accounts of our own with each network through YieldBuild, or would we not need our own accounts with networks because YieldBuild would act as a proxy and pay us?

Also, how are ads optimized? How does YieldBuild determine for any given impression how much each network is willing to pay for it? Does it see network A (nA) offering 1.00 cpm, nB = 1.50, and nB = 2.00 and literally know to choose nB and the publisher is filled at that rate for that impression?

Johnny5: You could bring your own accounts, or set up new ones from among those that we support (currently 7, but that number's growing as we ramp up network support). If you don't have an account but want one with one that we support (YPN and Microsoft PubCenter are 2 examples), we can help you get an account. You retain your account relationship, so you continue to get paid through those networks you have an account with.

I'm not a technical guy but I do know that each ad spot you designate is optimized separately, but within the context of the overall pages' revenue. The process is recursive, as far as I understand - thousands of permutations are tested and those that perform make each successive "cut" until a set of optimized layouts are identified. Note that a set of good layouts outperforms one great layout (probably because a bit of change prevents ad blindness), so YieldBuild's goal is to find a specific set of layouts (with their network-specific designations for each spot) that optimizes revenue.

Optimization does continue after the initial training period is over, though, so the process is ongoing.

Hi - I am the community leader for OpenX - an open source ad server used by hundreds of thousands of websites. If you use OpenX Ad Server, you can rotate any network, including Rubicon, Pubmatic, and Yield Build (as well as rotate direct ads, etc.)

In addition, if you use our free hosted version of OpenX, you can set the CPM that you are getting for each network, and OpenX will auction the impression to other advertisers. If the auction price is higher than the CPM for your ad, OpenX will serve the higher priced ad instead.

This helps lift your CPMs even farther. For more information, please contact me, or go to www.openx.org.

Hi Johnny5,

Great thread. I represent one of the companies you’re considering using, PubMatic. Jason @ YieldBuild makes a good point that all three companies are working towards increasing revenue and I’m sure each of us can point to our success stories.

I think it really comes down to what solution would work best for you. I’m actually a fan the Yieldbuild solution, and there are publishers, especially ones that work with a limited number of networks or almost entirely with AdSense, that will find a very significant benefit in adjusting layouts and color for text ads. I should add that PubMatic also does do color scheme optimization like YieldBuild, but as far as I know, we are the only two companies that provide that service dynamically. To Jason’s point, the color set you choose that works for you in the beginning, will eventually lead to ad blindness.

The bigger difference between us is that at PubMatic we see great value in working with a large number and variety of ad networks. We work with you to automatically find the highest paying ads across hundreds of ad networks, and optimize how ads are displayed -- all in real-time.

We also have Dynamic Default Optimization, which is an exclusive technology developed by PubMatic. As you know, when an ad network defaults a traditional daisy chain of ad works well to ensure that ad space will be filled, but it doesn’t ensure that the ad will be a well paying one. Dynamic Default Optimization (DDO) is different than the standard daisy-chaining of ad networks because it holds another auction to make sure that the ad being served to you is the highest paying ad possible (and one that also meets your creative criteria). The more ad networks you work with, the more you increase the chances of receiving the highest paying ad – and PubMatic also brings you those relationships with the ad networks.

To be sure, there are number of other differences that all companies have and the best way to find out is to talk to each of us, we’re happy to talk to you.