OpenRTB 2.0: A Big Step Forward
Well, mobile advertising has just taken another important leap forward with the release of the OpenRTB 2.0 specification. Before we talk about what it means (and why you should care), let's talk about what it is. OpenRTB 2.0:
- Includes support for VAST video ad units – to simplify and accelerate the adoption of video ads that significantly enhance ad quality and consumer engagement.
- Harmonizes the API standard across mobile and online in a common lingua franca – to simplify cross-channel campaigns.
- Provides finer definition of geo data – to improve the performance of local and hyper-local campaigns.
- Provides more flexibility to support 3rd party data segments – to extend how real-time buyers can characterize and target audience.
- Supports richer attribution (e.g., fine grained content categories, mobile app parameters, device IDs) – to further improve targeting.
As you can see OpenRTB 2.0 makes important gains in key value drivers for mobile advertising: video ad units, location targeting, data and associated audience targeting, and mobile/online harmonization.
We (Nexage) have stated (and restated) our belief that mobile advertising is rapidly maturing and closing the gap between the extraordinary opportunity and real capability...OpenRTB 2.0 is a strong proof point. Nexage is proud to have been part of this effort and we congratulate and thank everyone who participated. So game-changing is this standard and so broad was the groundswell of enthusiasm that the IAB has adopted OpenRTB 2.0 as its own.
The development of standards is so important for this industry – and the cooperation across the industry to develop and deploy standard-based solutions is both exciting and critical to moving this industry forward. For those that remember, Nexage Chaired the OpenRTB 1.0 mobile effort, where our goal was simplifying and accelerating the adoption of real-time buyers in mobile and real-time bidding (RTB) overall. We were a pioneer in mobile RTB, building our exchange in late 2010/early 2011, and we strongly believed that creating a standard at the very heart of RTB (namely, the bid request/response protocol between exchanges and bidders) was crucial. We made a decision to make our IP available to the market and to our competitors as we believed that moving the market forward was more important than gaining first mover advantage. It was the right decision then – it still is today.
In some corners of the universe, standards are not exciting. For mobile advertising, standards are downright exhilarating.
So let's take a moment, a deep breath, and celebrate. OK, let's get back to work and drive the industry forward.