What Is It?
The definition that is given for Real-Time Bidding (RTB): It is a digital process of auctioning that is automated and lets advertisers bid on space for their advertising from publishers that come at a specific price for every 1,000 impressions or CPM basis. With CPM, the amount you would be paid for every 1,000 viewers of your ad. Like a regular auction, whoever has the highest bid of all the relevant ads usually gets the ad placement.
The Process of Real-Time Bidding and What It Is
The process of RTB happens within milliseconds prior to the opening of a website, now that is fast! In the advertising world, RTB plays a part in the process of programmatic advertising.
It consists of 3 different platforms for buying ads:
- Ad exchanges
- Demand-side platforms (DSPs)
- Supply-side platforms (SSPs)
Together, these platforms work hard to get users to view them.
This is where we are going to find out what it is that the different platforms do. However, we will first learn the way in which the different platforms manage to work together.
Demand-Side Platform, What Is It?
Advertisers can purchase ad space with a demand-side platform, which will let them manage their own ads. A place for advertisers that have demanded ad space. Google Ads would be an excellent example of a demand-side platform.
Ad Exchange, What Is It?
Ad Exchange is the area located between the publisher and the advertiser. Think of it as if it were a market having vendors and those that do the purchasing. This is where the ads sit and wait to be bought or sold to the highest bidders. Google Ad Manager (previously known for DoubleClick Ad Exchange) also provides an ad exchange.
A Supply-side platform, What It Is
It is something that website owners and publishers alike use to sell some of their ad space to advertisers. Which is the reason that publishers are using the supply-side platform. Another feature that Google Ad Manager provides the supply-side platform (referred to as the DoubleClick) for publishers.
Real-Time Bidding, the way It Works
The process of real-time bidding begins with you! Whenever someone clicks a link for a website is when real-time bidding starts.
- After getting to a site, prior to any pages loading, you will receive the dimensions of available ad space on the supply-side platform from the publisher of the website.
- Next, your cookies will be viewed by the supply-side platform. This covers data regarding any web activity you have, demographics, including what your interests are, and much more. The data is beneficial in determining which ad would best represent you.
- Then, you will be assigned a value from the demand-side platform, and they place a bid based on this information on ad space.
- Keep in mind that the above-mentioned process will take place in between when you click a search result and the time that the page gets loaded.
- Lastly, the supply-side platform selects the winner after receiving bids, and they base it on whichever bid is the highest, as well as the most relevant.
After the ad has been selected and the site is loaded, the winning ad will be on your devices screen for you to view. Now that was a bunch of complex steps to go through in such a short amount of time
For instance, you own an automotive business and sell sports car parts, now your ready to use some real-time bidding in order to get the name of your business out there to people that are searching for new car parts. You will need to select and set the targeting options available, then determine what your spending budget will be.
Some people who are in the audience you target researches for parts for a sports car regularly, and they click on a blog that happens to be about racing and is popular; furthermore, it has ad space available. Keep in mind that should you get the winning bid, it is going to be viewed on the blog site by people interested in the parts your selling.
With real-time bidding, you will have the ability to target specific audiences, and this will be beneficial to deliver a great ROI for your business.
What Is the Cost of Real-Time Bidding?
RTB costs vary; it depends on what the other bids are as well as who you want your ad to target, such as:
- Demographics
- Location
- Interests
- Keywords
What it comes down to is how much your willing to invest in your ads.
You could end up spending between $2,500 and $15,000 on a campaign. However, it could be even more or less, you do not have a specific limit. Remember, real-time bidding is performed based on CPM, which means you may bid $1 to $2.
You are the one in control of your spending budget when you are using real-time!
Real-Time Bidding Is Beneficial
The top benefits of real-time bidding:
Real-Time Bidding Is A Time Saver
You can save on your valuable time by using real-time bidding for your ad campaigns. After you get your parameters set-up, you can sit back, and it will go to work for you because it is an automated process.
It Is Cost-Efficient
You can set your own spending budget, which makes it cost-efficient.
It Ensures the Relevance of your Ads
When you are using real-time bidding, it is a means of making sure that your ad will be relevant to users. Whereas you can be certain that you are not investing in people who have no interest at all in what you’re selling.
