PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
PUBLISHER EDITION
Contents
3Introduction
10 On fessing up
4
On diversity
11 On selecting partners
6
On inclusion
13 On timeliness
7
On taste
14 On staying sane
8
On promises
2
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
OH, WHAT
A BRAVE
NEW
WORLD
WE LIVE IN!
PUBLISHER EDITION
OK, so maybe a world that lets you go
days without interacting with another
human being isn’t so brave, and I guess
the Web is already 27 years old, so…
What a world we live in! Especially
in media: Programmatic has changed
the game, accelerated the scale and
hopefully increased your revenue -- all
through a series of tubes.
This situation has some programmatic
pros behaving pretty poorly toward
their buy-side counterparts.
But you’re in luck! We’ve put together
some pointers that will have you acting
like a proper publisher in no time. Trust
us: Your programmatic partners will
thank you for it.
But somewhere along the way, we
forgot that there are people on the other
side of those tubes. No, not human
vegetables serving as Matrix-style
batteries, but actual people like me
and you!
3
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
ADVERTISER EDITION
A proper publisher
never puts all their
eggs in one basket
MONOCHROME IS SO OUT. (OR IS IT IN? I’VE LOST TRACK.)
When Pantone releases its “Color of the
Year,” high society doesn’t throw its old
wardrobe out the window and commission
a new one all in that color. Monochrome
is so out. (Or is it in? I’ve lost track.)
But whenever a shiny, new format hits
the market, it’s tempting to double down.
We’ve all seen our share of the countless
publishers who raise their finger in
moments of inspired genius and boldly
exclaim, “This year, we’ll only sell [insert
format here]!” Famous last words.
A proper publisher knows that smart
advertisers look for a variety of formats
to meet their specific goals. Henry Ford
once said, “Any customer can have a
car painted any color that he wants so
long as it is black.”
A proper publisher does not follow
Henry Ford’s lead.
4
A PROPER
PUBLISHER
GIVES EVERY
BUYER, BIG
OR SMALL, A
STAB AT THEIR
VALUABLE
INVENTORY.
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
PUBLISHER EDITION
A proper advertiser never
excludes anyone from the
conversation
A PROPER PUBLISHER GIVES EVERY BUYER, BIG OR SMALL,
A STAB AT THEIR VALUABLE INVENTORY.
I’m a fairly patient person, but even I can
get a bit red in the face when trying to
squeeze into a conversation that the
participants are intent on keeping closed.
Well the same thing happens with ad
buying all the time: Big buyers with
enough clout and connections close
ranks and land the best inventory,
leaving the smaller players out
altogether. Thanks, waterfall!
A proper publisher gives every buyer,
big or small, a stab at their valuable
inventory. Header bidding is one way
to give buyers the chance to go head to
head for each valuable impression, and
it ends up netting publishers more in
revenue through competitive demand.
6
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
PUBLISHER EDITION
A proper publisher
never questions an
advertiser’s poor taste
I MEAN, WHO WEARS A DERBY HAT TO A COCKTAIL PARTY?
(OR AT ALL?)
When I spotted that hat from across the
room, I immediately tried to make eye
contact with everyone in the vicinity. “Do
you see that hat?” my gaze must have
sneered. I mean, who wears a derby hat
to a cocktail party? (Or at all?)
So when your advertiser comes to you
with display ads that look more like jump
scares than direct response vehicles, a
proper publisher slots them in, smiles,
and says, “Great work!”
But when she waltzed over, glowing with
pride and showing off the cloth pinata
she’d adorned her head with, I bit my
tongue, gritted my teeth and just said two
words: “How nice.” Crisis averted.
7
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
ADVERTISER EDITION
A proper publisher
never makes promises
they can’t keep
A PROMISE IS A PROMISE, AND YOUR INTEGRITY DEPENDS ON IT.
It doesn’t matter if you crossed your
fingers while you made it: A promise is
a promise, and your integrity depends
on it. So never put yourself in a position
that’s bound to disappoint the other party.
All it takes is a little extra forecasting.
In the old days (about a year ago),
publishers didn’t have to worry about
programmatic when forecasting their
direct sold inventory. They figured that
whatever was left over could be sold on
the open exchange or in private
marketplaces with no conflict.
Because programmatic was just a place
to sell the unwanted, amirite?
Well, those times have come and gone.
With header bidding and automated
guaranteed inventory, direct sold inventory
forecasting has to factor in what’s going
to be offered in these more premium
channels (sometimes even for a higher
eCPM).
So make sure you’re a publisher of your
word by striking the right balance.
8
IN BUSINESS,
TELLING
THE TRUTH
IS ALWAYS
THE RIGHT
DECISION.
STOP
LAUGHING,
I’M SERIOUS.
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
PUBLISHER EDITION
A proper publisher knows that
honesty is the best policy
IN BUSINESS, TELLING THE TRUTH IS ALWAYS THE RIGHT DECISION.
STOP LAUGHING, I’M SERIOUS.
Remember that ethical dilemma about
diverting a trolley car from hitting one
person versus killing everyone on board?
Yeah, this decision is nothing like that.
In business, telling the truth is always the
right decision. Stop laughing, I’m serious.
A proper publisher ‘fesses up to the
suspicious numbers and gets their
advertiser a makegood. Makes things
less awkward for the questions that are
sure to follow.
Let’s say you start to overdeliver on a
certain campaign. Like… way overdeliver.
Your client is probably thrilled, right?
You love it when your client is thrilled.
But you do a little digging and it turns up
low CTRs, low time on page and high
bounce rates. Looks suspicious.
10
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
ADVERTISER EDITION
A proper publisher
is careful about what
company they keep
MIX WITH THE WRONG TYPE OF ADVERTISERS, AND YOUR SITE’S
BOUND TO GET A BUM RAP.
I’d just signed a lease for the perfect
apartment, and I decided to invite all of
those people I wanted to talk to in high
school, to start fresh. I also invited my
childhood friend, Karl.
Publishers aren’t immune to poor brand
safety. Mix with the wrong type of
advertisers, and your site’s bound to get
a bum rap. Remember: The only way to
make buyers think of your placements as
premium is to treat them like they are.
Karl is a fan of pornographic metaphors,
makes aggressive eye contact, and asks Don’t just sell to the first unsavory brand
everyone he meets to invest in his new
that raises its hand.
“company,” including my new friends.
Needless to say, he upstaged the apartment,
and my new friends aren’t returning my calls.
11
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
PUBLISHER EDITION
A proper publisher is
always on-time,
never late
LATENCY IS THE SUREST WAY TO LEAVE AN AUDIENCE UNDERWHELMED,
BUT IT’S EASY TO AVOID—EVEN WITH HEADER BIDDING.
Making your audience wait can build
anticipation. It works for presentations,
magic shows, hell, even eulogies. But
some publishers are really doubling
down on the delayed gratification.
Let’s say your site just broke a story and
you’re waiting for those views to roll in.
But first, your users’ browsers have to
load a slew of rich media banners that
make Willy Wonka’s psychedelic tunnel
of terror seem tame. (Note: forever the
Gene Wilder version.)
Guess how many are bouncing before
they hit the page?
Latency is the surest way to leave an
audience underwhelmed, but it’s easy
to avoid -- even with header bidding.
Something as simple as specifying timeout rate will keep latency at acceptable
levels and keep UX bearable.
13
PROPER CONDUCT FOR A PROGRAMMATIC AGE
ADVERTISER EDITION
A proper publisher
never spreads itself
too thin
IS IT POSSIBLE TO BE OVER-CONNECTED? (LEADING QUESTION:
OBVIOUSLY YES.)
In our post-Zuckerberg world, connection
is everything. But is it possible to be
over-connected? (Leading question:
Obviously yes.)
If you’re invited to a handful of events,
you’re much more likely to go to all of
them if each taps into a new group of
friends, colleagues, or prospects. Because,
as we all learned in elementary school,
our personalities have multiple facets that
each need to be nurtured and exercised
periodically.
Choosing partners that bring unique
demand is important, but don’t be afraid
to get selective. We learned something
else in elementary school: the importance
of playing nicely with others. Pay attention
to how well your new friends integrate
with the old ones, and don’t hesitate to
show the door to those that make things
complicated.
14
MAKE ADS MATTER.
Programmatic advertising should be flexible, smart, and effective. That means
platforms to help automate the process of buying and selling ads, technology to
increase accuracy and rich data insights along the way. PulsePoint’s technology
platforms are built to do just that.
We are a global programmatic technology company redefining digital advertising
for publishers, advertisers and tech partners.