It has been almost 15 years since Smart AdServer was launched. Since 2001 we have been developing great features around ad delivery, analytics, rich media, optimization, etc., specifically for brand Publishers.
Then in 2009 there was a breakthrough: we started working on our advertising SDK for mobile applications. It changed both the company business and the technology structure. From a technology standpoint, it was indeed a revolution: a significant part of the ad serving platform is implemented client-side, within the application source code and on the device of the end-user! This is the SDK. From a business standpoint the launch of our SDKs has been a huge success since mobile now represents over 25% of Smart AdServer revenue.
After 5 years of R&D and great use cases and successes, we can say our SDKs are awesome and here’s why:
1 – Our SDKs are Mature
Again we have invested dozens of man years into R&D. We also went through thousands of different implementation cases and iterated them accordingly, taking into account publishers’ feedback. This led to the most stable SDKs available. Stability is VERY important because this code is hosted directly on the end user device, with no easy way to patch it. This also means that your use case is probably already documented in our implementation samples and that you can benefit from the knowledge transfer of our expert team.
2 – Our SDKs are App-accommodating (Appcommodating!)
It may sound obvious, but let me explain. The great benefit for the end-user when browsing an app is the in depth content experience: the user sits closer than ever to the content and can enjoy it. This also presents a great opportunity for brands as they can offer a similar depth-of-experience with their advertising content.
However, the publisher risks disturbing the end user with an unsuitable ad experience. This was one of the main challenges when developing our SDKs, and we provide some very interesting solutions to avoid this hazard. Among them:
Transparent cover ad units, allow a fullpage ad delivery without preventing the user from interacting with the app content.
The in-app click through, allows a user to open a web page or the app store download page directly from the app, thus keeping the end-user within the content of the app when he clicks an ad or a download link.
3- Our SDKs are Iso-functional
Another great challenge was to address the fragmentation of platform and devices. Moving forward there will be hundreds of different relevant devices to contend with but at least two leading environments have emerged (iOS and Android).
And since our SDKs are aligned in terms of capability, you can deliver one single ad on both platforms simultaneously. You can still benefit from the huge variety of targeting (device, GPS, OS version, connection type, etc.), but you can aggregate the audience of the two platforms when pitching for a media plan.
4 – Our SDKs are Rich
Ad format innovation was a chief focus of Smart AdServer back in 2001 and it continues to be an essential consideration. This includes application environments: as a publisher, you want brands to take full advantage of the end user’s embedded experience within the app. To do this you must offer more than a 320×50.
We have been innovating around in app ad formats since 2010, taking the full advantage of the device sensors, geolocation, touch screen, 3D effect and other nice HTML5 capabilities of mobile devices. We were one of the first fully MRAID compliant ad servers back in 2012 and with the MRAID message extension, we’re now offering unique ad integration for app publishers.
See how Le Monde, N°1 newspaper in France, has built its mobile ad offer based on our SDKs.
5 – Our SDKs are Video
The next logical move after rich media was video. Last year with the launch of our instream solution (2013), we made our SDKs VAST3.0 and VPAID compliant.
This was not easy since we were up against the video content delivery limitations of the app environment (especially on iPhone and the Quicktime monopoly…), but we are now seeing a massive increase of pre roll and others delivered by app publishers.
The fit is actually perfect between application inventory and video advertising: TV was never this intimate! Rest assured we will keep exploring new capabilities around this and there is more to come.
6 – Our SDK are Friendly
One of our last project was to allow a smooth integration or 3rd party SDKs within the Smart environment. It’s a huge topic since the multiplication of technology platform for in app inventory monetization has led to a congestion in the installation of 3rd party SDK. It’s painful for publisher and you need “one master SDK to rule them all”. We decided that our SDKs deserve this role and we are now able to embed 3rd party code and mediate among different possible partners.
7 – Our SDK are Privacy-compliant
As an European company we are very sensitive to user privacy issues. We have been among the first ones to back up the Apple IDFA initiative back in 2012. We are using hashed version of the Apple and Android identifier in our environment, thus offering the best guarantee to the end user for data protection.
8- Our SDK are Programmatic
Last but not least, our SDKs are now connected to RTB+, our programmatic platform. This means that your in app traffic can be monetized through the different demand sources integrated with RTB+, for both standard and fulll page ad units!
