AppNexus first appeared on the online advertising scene in 2007 as an ad exchange for programmatic media buying.
Since then, it has morphed into one of the biggest Ad Tech companies in the world. But there are two things that make AppNexus stand out from its competitors:
1. They are developer friendly and technology focused
One of the great things about AppNexus is that they not only provide reliable, scaled platforms, but they also encourage Ad Tech companies, publishers, and ad agencies to build innovative solutions on top of their platforms.
Their detailed technical documentation, abundance of services (including cloud hosting), and reliable infrastructure are just some of the reasons why AppNexus are truly developer friendly.
2. They provide an open, transparent platform
Unlike other exchanges (e.g. Facebook and Google), AppNexus doesn’t live inside a walled garden and doesn’t own nor operate media properties. This means companies can integrate with and build upon their open platforms without worrying about whether their needs and interests are really being put first.
But who and what solutions can you build on top of AppNexus? Let’s explore.
Who Can Build On Top Of AppNexus?
One of the great things about AppNexus is that it benefits both the demand (buy) side and supply (sell) side, meaning most companies and intermediaries in the online display advertising ecosystem can take advantage of AppNexus’ open platform.
Here are a few of the main players that can benefit most from building custom solutions on top of AppNexus:
Ad Tech companies for integrating their platforms with AppNexus to expanding their client offering.
Ad agencies for extending the capabilities of their own platforms and accessing more inventory & data.
Advertisers & brands for purchasing inventory for their campaigns using their own platforms.
What Solutions Can You Build?
For those on the demand side
Here are just a few of the solutions Ad Tech companies, advertisers, brands, and ad agencies can build on top of AppNexus –
A Programmable DSP
The auctions that take place in real-time bidding may be lightening fast but building a custom bidder from scratch requires a significant time commitment.
But AppNexus have made it easier for all parties on the buy side to purchase media programmatically with their Programmable Platform.
So instead of building your own DSP, you can now just the AppNexus Programmable Platform (APP) to suit your business requirements. This not only provides better targeting but also optimized media purchases.
An Advanced Reporting And Analytics Platform
The key to a successful online media campaign lies in knowing the most about the person on the other end (i.e. the visitor).
By pulling log-level data from AppNexus and displaying it on a custom reporting and analytics dashboard, you can present data in a visual way and combine it with data from your web analytics tools, transactional systems, etc. This enables you to discover more about your target audience and get a better view of the performance of your campaigns, which in turn will allow you to make decisions that will have a positive impact.
Custom Dashboard Or Meta-DSP
For companies that run a number of in-house campaigns and campaigns for their clients, creating specialized and custom dashboards allows them to run, manage, and report on numerous campaigns across different demand-side platforms (DSPs). This type of custom dashboard/platform is often referred to as a meta-DSP.
Apart from building the solutions mentioned above, you can also monetize your data and optimize your campaigns by pushing your audience segments and data assets to the AppNexus DSP or exchange.
For Those On The Supply Side
Here are just a few of the solutions publishers and supply-side platform (SSP) vendors can build on top of AppNexus.
A Header Bidding Solution
Header bidding has changed the way publishers sell their inventory and has allowed them to get more yield for their inventory.
By utilizing AppNexus’ header bidding solution, you can create a custom header bidding platform that allows you to open up your available inventory to a range of different buyers at the same time – allowing you to sell your inventory at the highest possible price.
Custom Dashboard
Large publishers run a number of different campaigns, often across different SSPs.
By adding AppNexus data & functionality to your existing custom dashboard (or by building one), you can run, manage, and analyze multiple media deals across various exchanges all from one place with just a few clicks.
Similarly to platforms on the buy side, platforms on the sell side can also monetize their data and maximize yield from their inventory by creating audience segments and pushing them to the AppNexus SSP and exchange.
What Are The Advantages Of Building On Top Of AppNexus?
Faster Time To Market
Building custom Ad Tech platforms from scratch is a very lengthy and expensive venture that requires a lot of specific resources. Moreover, it takes many years (sometimes longer) to achieve a reasonable ROI, which is why this type of venture is left to companies that want to build very specific and often less complex solutions or are focused on the long-term benefits of having an in-house platform.
By building on top of AppNexus, you can just develop the components you need and then connect them to AppNexus’ established and highly stable platforms.
Stand Out From The Crowd
You’ve seen the famous LUMAscapes from LUMAParnters, right? So you know just how many companies there are competing for clients. But a lot of these companies have 1 thing in common – they all offer very similar features. That’s because if you want to build a DSP, you have to build the foundations before you can start developing the game-changing features, and this takes a long time.
However, by utilizing AppNexus’ open platform, you can just develop your game-changing features and integrate them with AppNexus’ core product – leaving you with a fully unique, operational solution that provides you with an advantage over your competition.
No more black boxes
If there’s one element constantly lacking from the online display advertising, it’s transparency.
For years we’ve heard stories of companies providing opaque numbers when it comes to the real cost of media, leading to the rise of “black boxes” – essentially, programmatic platforms that provide little or no insights into media costs and how their platforms actually work.
It’s probably no surprise then that advertisers, brands, and agencies alike are reluctant to utilize their highly valuable first-party data, because basically, they don’t trust the vendors with their most sensitive asset.
Luckily, AppNexus provides an open and neutral system whereby parties from both the demand and supply side can utilize their technology to create unique solutions, without worrying about whether their most valuable data sets will be shared with others.
