Aiming to solve the needs of the supply-side, and cutting the existing yield optimizers out of the game, Google says that it has “re-written DFP” (Susan Wojcicki’s words at this week’s IAB event) and believes it is offering more reasons than ever to park large publisher inventory with… warning acronym change… was: DART For Publishers… now: DoubleClick For Publishers. The complete Google view is available here on the Google blog in a post authored by Neal Mohan, VP of Product Management.
Mohan says that improved reporting and an upgraded user interface headline the new features as well as “a new public API” which will allow publishers to customize their DFP experience.
It will be interesting to hear publisher feedback on the API feature in the weeks to come – do they take advantage of it? Is there an advantage? There’s a tiny bit more info on the API on the new Doubleclick For Publishers API blog here. This post is penned by Alex Vogenthaler, DFP Product Manager, who concludes his short summary with, “We are looking forward to working with you and seeing what you build!” Well, I am, too. What are publishers going to build with this? Sure, it will undoubtedly help a few large publishers plug-in to their own custom reporting interfaces, but it would seem most DFP publishers will just traffic their direct sold campaigns, layer in ad networks and then, perhaps, intersperse with various floors going into the Doubleclick Ad Exchange – and, BOOM, their done.
This may be an opportunity for smart start-ups to see what’s up with the API and build something bigger for publishers? From Google’s perspective, an “open” strategy as in a “public API” looks to make publishers feel good about flexibility with the Google/DoubleClick system.
But wait. There’s more DoubleClick For Publishers news.
Over on the Google Ad Manager blog, Alex Vogenthaler is at it again and talking to smaller publishers about the benefits coming their way with the new DFP’d version of Ad Manager. “Improved trafficking,” an quick-and-easy upgrade path to the for-pay version of DFP, a new website for the product and more instructional videos will serve to create “DFP For Small Business” (DFPSB?).
Demand-siders are looking to see how the yield optimization struggle plays out as the optimizers – and DFP by way of the DoubleClick Ad Exchange – remain key sources of inventory.
AppNexus’ President Michael Rubenstein was unequivocal saying, “Google’s release of the upgraded DFP is an important step forward for the industry. It should ultimately lead to the opening up of increased volumes of high quality publisher ad inventory to the auction model. As advertisers shift dollars into real-time buying, Google is well-positioned to offer a strong yield management solution to publishers.”
DataXu CEO Mike Baker unsurprisingly likes the real-time aspects of DFP given his own company’s focus, “The ‘new DFP’ is another sign of the technology paradigm shift transforming online display advertising: real time ad decisioning based on dynamic data. Whether applied for the benefit of publishers or advertisers this trend is driving a restructuring of the ecosystem and a re-wiring of the value chain.”
At Collective, Andrew Kraft, SVP, Tech Sales & Client Services says, “This has been a long time coming, and Google appears to have done a good job ensuring that the pain points for migration will be minimized – in other words, no retagging necessary. We’re looking forward to seeing how the technology develops as they migrate features from the old DFP and add new ones.”
By John Ebbert
