A Slight Problem With Ad Exchanges… (warning NSFW)

The idea of Ad Exchanges (Right Media, DoubleClick Exchange, etc.) makes a lot of sense – especially for smaller players who manage display media in-house or independently from an agency. Lately, it seems that several agencies (and Yahoo) have been experimenting with Right Media to get ahead in the CPA view-through game. For example, if client “A” is judging the success of a campaign on conversions, low-cost, remnant inventory on Right Media will give the program significant reach. With a view-through window of 30 days, latency conversions become a numbers game and the cheaper the inventory, the better (note: this is much more likely when the pricing model is CPA based).

Most legitimate online ad networks offer marketers a quality guarantee when it comes to publisher content and ad placement. However, one apparent problem with Ad Exchanges is that there aren’t as many checks in place to ensure brand-safe venues. In an open market, anything is game and with thousands of options, most agencies and marketers do not have the time to sift through all of the options. Similarly, Marketing.fm raised this question last year when we discovered embarassing brand placements within various User Generated Content publishers. Below is a perfect example of how a blind buy across Yahoo’s Right Media can lead to highly controversial ad placement on

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  • http://thefuturebuzz.com Adam

    Eric, please add a NSFW warning to posts like this..

    Thanks

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    Hi Adam,

    Sorry about that – I will fix this immediately. I hope you did not get into
    any trouble!

    ~Eric

  • http://thefuturebuzz.com Adam

    Eric, please add a NSFW warning to posts like this..

    Thanks

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    Hi Adam,

    Sorry about that – I will fix this immediately. I hope you did not get into
    any trouble!

    ~Eric

  • gregverdino

    NSFW – where does Adam work? The Vatican?

    Eric – When I was at Digitas we used to have this kind of problem all the time, also with Right Media specifically. I'm sure it happens with other networks but thanks for sharing this cautionary tale with your readers. Don't buy blind!

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    Hi Greg,

    I am not sure if you saw these yesterday – but they were visible in all her,
    uhh, glory. Since then we screened out the other parts. It is funny how
    many responses I got to this posting via email instead of in public…

    Buying blind seems like the last ditch effort for a media planner who has to
    get the impressions out the door. I still cannot settle on whether I think
    RM is here for good or if they will be phased out.

    On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Disqus <

  • gregverdino

    NSFW – where does Adam work? The Vatican?

    Eric – When I was at Digitas we used to have this kind of problem all the time, also with Right Media specifically. I'm sure it happens with other networks but thanks for sharing this cautionary tale with your readers. Don't buy blind!

  • http://www.marketing.fm EricFriedman

    Hi Greg,

    I am not sure if you saw these yesterday – but they were visible in all her,
    uhh, glory. Since then we screened out the other parts. It is funny how
    many responses I got to this posting via email instead of in public…

    Buying blind seems like the last ditch effort for a media planner who has to
    get the impressions out the door. I still cannot settle on whether I think
    RM is here for good or if they will be phased out.

    On Tue, Mar 25, 2008 at 11:54 AM, Disqus <

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