Bill Brazell of The Makegood sat down with Smart AdServer CMO Corey Kronengold for a discussion about what sets Smart AdServer apart from the competition. Two two also touch on header bidding, S2S, DFP and the evolution of Smart’s Holistic Yield Management solution.
Q: Smart AdServer talks about being a ‘true tech provider,’ rather than a media player. What’s the difference?
CK: That’s an important distinction for Smart. So many companies in the ad-tech space obfuscate their true businesses with marketing spin. Smart AdServer is a pure-play technology provider. We provide publishers and ad networks with the tools they need to manage and monetize their ad inventory. We don’t bring our own inventory to the table, we don’t have any vested interest in the outcome of the transaction or auction, and we only play on one side of the transaction. There are too many companies masquerading as tech providers that make most of their money on arbitraging media within their environments. Worse, they don’t provide any transparency at the impression level, so a publisher has no idea how much money some of these platforms are making off of their inventory. They may pay a publisher $3, and take their 15% fee off of that, but they may have gotten $5 from the buyer — and the publisher has no idea. Publishers deserve transparency, and that’s what Smart AdServer provides.
Q: Smart AdServer sometimes argues that header bidding isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. What do you mean by that?
CK: Our industry, and Smart AdServer specifically, is focused on developing smart technology solutions to publishers’ revenue and inventory management challenges. One of those challenges is overcoming Google’s baked-in advantage within auctions when using DFP and AdX. Without getting overly technical, header bidding was developed as one method for getting around the advantages Google gives itself in a DFP/AdX environment….
Get the full interview at The Makegood.
