Increasing header bidding revenue is all about matching audiences to higher-paying ads. Having access to the best paying campaigns is part of the larger picture, as is reducing the number of steps between advertiser and buyer. But no matter how valuable the campaigns you have access to are, they won’t generate a cent if those ads cannot be matched to the users of your website or app. 

Smarter SSPs are using first-party data to fill the information gap created by the decline of third-party cookies, but what does that mean? This article looks at how our own Insticator SSP uses data in smarter ways to increase bid prices.

Why data matters

Advertisers will pay more to reach more tightly targeted audiences. Retargeting campaigns are an easy example of that, with advertisers increasing their bids by several hundred percent to get a timely message in front of a customer they know is more likely to convert. 

That matching has long been dependent on cookies, which, as every publisher knows, are under threat. As a result, other sources of data have grown in importance (and value). This is a trend that is likely to continue in the face of a shifting internet landscape. 

What type of data has value?

In loose terms, data can be thought of as one of three types: 

– Identity data: Data that allows the user to be matched to an existing profile, for instance, with the user’s DSP. 

– Behavioral data: Data that is linked to a particular user action, such as visiting a product page.

– Interest data: Data that demonstrates user interest in a particular topic.

How does the Insticator SSP enrich bid data?

OKO is part of Insticator, whose products go beyond monetization and offer user engagement and interaction, too. When you allow the Insticator SSP to bid on your inventory, we add what we have learned about that user on your website, on other sites that are part of our network, and from the trusted third parties that we work with. This enrichment is done seamlessly with a focus on privacy. 

Identifying logged-in users: When users are logged in to use products like our moderated commenting solution, we know when the same user comes back, even if third-party cookies are not available. We can also share private, encrypted hashes that allow trusted third parties to match their data to the same user, giving advertisers more confidence to bid high.

Understanding user interests: By extracting information about the types of content users interact with, and even the topics that they discuss in comments, we get a better understanding of the topics that appeal to that user. Where other SSPs may just know the domain where the user is active (for example, a news website), we can break out audiences that engage with specific topics such as travel, finance, or cars. 

Campaign specific data: For direct campaigns targeting high-traffic sites, we can even tie targeting to specific quiz questions through our Content Engagement Units. 

What impact does this have on revenue?

As with most things in programmatic advertising, results vary based on your content and your audience. However, when we enable these features, we typically see higher bids on anywhere from 10% to 30% of impressions. 

We also expect to see this number continue to increase. Data solutions bring the biggest gain when cookies are not available, which is becoming more and more common. There is also a network effect from such solutions; this means that the results will continue to improve as more websites enable solutions like this. 

How do I enable the Insticator SSP?

If your header bidding is run through OKO, you don’t need to do a thing. We already have you covered! You will already see some of the benefits, but adding additional products like Commenting, Video, or our Content Engagement Unit will improve results further. Just reach out to your account manager to see how we can further boost your revenue. 

If you manage your own header bidding, you just need to add Insticator to your prebid wrapper. We’re certified on prebid, so the process is the same as any other bidder. Contact us through the Insticator website to get set up and whitelisted. For maximum benefit, consider adding our other products so that we can capture additional audience data.

Finally, if a third party is managing your header bidding set-up, ask them if they’re running Insticator in your stack. You can also look for oko.uk and insticator.com lines in your ads.txt file. If you aren’t benefiting from this set-up, ask them why not!

In summary

Insticator isn’t the only SSP to add additional data to the bid stream, but the unique product lineup of SSP, monetization, Content Engagement, and Commenting gives us unique data that other SSPs just don’t have. We offer prebid integration for every type of set-up, and already see great results from publishers who use the Insticator SSP. It’s easy to get started, so why not contact us and find out how much additional revenue we could produce for you?