Why prebid makes the header more relevant than ever

In the world of programmatic advertising, simplicity and control seem mutually exclusive. While closed systems offer ease of use but limited control, open systems are difficult to use but endlessly flexible.

Header bidding was initially designed to bring more control to a closed system. While it increased revenue for publishers and inventory access for buyers, it also introduced operational complexity.

This was the context from which the industry’s first open source movement emerged. Prebid brought transparency, flexibility and community-driven innovation to header bidding. The technology has quickly become the independent standard trusted by thousands of global publishers and buyers.

Solving for challenges

Of course, prebid has its limitations. Like all open source technology, to deploy, configure and optimise code requires publishers to make significant investments in technical resources. Then publishers must rely on engineers for such basic tasks as troubleshooting integrations and pulling actionable reports. This may hinder publisher growth.

To address these challenges and allow prebid installations to truly scale, Rubicon Project created Demand Manager; a prebid-as-a-service offering built to put publisher monetisation teams back in control of their header so they can focus on driving more revenue instead of managing technical complexity.

The Future: Building a bridge to prebid server

We are just starting to see prebid’s potential. Prebid Server will transform header bidding into a truly scalable system that offers the same transparency and flexibility as client-side prebid. Both publishers and buyers will experience far greater efficiency.

Prebid Server will also provide unified support for all ad formats and enable an array of advanced capabilities for Programmatic Guaranteed (PG); the new cornerstone of large publisher’s monetisation strategies. With Prebid Server adoption barriers resolved, Demand Manager will help publishers navigate a browserless future and layer greater speed and enhanced performance on top of simplicity and control

The header is just getting started

Thanks to prebid, header bidding is evolving to be more relevant than ever. It’s driven by a community of publishers and buyers who care deeply about shaping their own destinies. They envision a world in which they don’t have to sacrifice control in exchange for simplicity. With Demand Manager, Rubicon Project is doing its part to help move the industry towards that future and we encourage you to do so, too.

To learn more about Demand Manager or supporting Prebid.org, get in touch with [email protected].