The Potential & Reality of the Mobile RTB Exchange
As a leader in mobile advertising, it’s clear to us (at Nexage) that the growth in the space is going to be driven in large part by mobile real-time bidding (RTB) exchanges. Although we could point to the tremendous growth in our own mobile RTB exchange to support this reality (nearly 200% month-over month and growing), it is more convincing (and marginally less self-serving) to highlight the unique nature of mobile RTB exchanges to paint the picture of the inevitable growth of RTB in mobile.
It is equally as important to contrast an RTB exchange in mobile from an RTB exchange in online. Mobile is different. Those of us in mobile advertising find ourselves pointing this out regularly. It brings both unique challenges as well as tremendous opportunities. One of those opportunities just now coming into focus is the role of the RTB exchange in driving considerable growth and liquidity in mobile advertising.
Things you want to know about mobile RTB:
It’s about the data. Publishers put inventory with data in - and get premium CPMs back. Publishers have valuable first-party data (data collected by the publisher as part of the service/application/content experience that they provide). 
Mobile RTB exchanges enable the publisher to pass that information (zip, lat/long, age, gender, etc.) on an impression-by-impression basis, in real-time and for one time use (read: no profiling).
In mobile, where third-party cookies are neither available nor reliable, first-party data is the current gold standard for audience buying, and the RTB exchange is the enabler. Contrast this with online exchanges, where the role of the exchange is to expose remnant inventory to buyers who buy low, and augment with third-party data on the buy-side to drive the value of an impression.
It’s about the data. Buyers also reap significant value from RTB-delivered first-party data, as it give buyers the ability to target audience in real-time, to support both brand and direct response (DR) buys. The list of attributes—location, gender, IAB category, age, demographic—is growing, giving buyers more and more opportunity to target the specific audience needed to drive campaign success. The whole “right time, right place, and right price” position exists in mobile thanks in large part to the role of the RTB exchange.
The RTB exchange is bringing new $$$ to mobile. Advertisers and online demand side platforms (DSPs) are shifting considerable spend into mobile. Mobile DSPs, each with a unique value proposition, are growing in numbers. Vertical DSPs (e.g. travel) are growing to serve specific market niches. An RTB exchange allows these DSPs to decision in real-time, optimizing and applying proprietary intelligence in order to deliver against the demands of their advertisers on each impression.
The RTB exchange combined with mediation/yield optimization drives liquidity. When integrated with a yield optimization platform, RTB exchanges in mobile provide maximum liquidity to the market. In essence, it becomes the foundational and strategic technology for a mobile advertising market.
Buyers on the exchange are not typically the same buyers on mediation/yield optimization platforms. DSPs concentrate on exchange buying, while most mobile ad networks buy via static connections to mediation players. As a publisher, if you don’t partner with a company that has both, you are artificially—and maybe severely—limiting your market.
The beauty of an integrated market for publishers is that you maximize your available market, enable a cohesive set of controls and gain the unique advantage of fully integrated yield optimization. You simply set a reserve dynamically on the exchange based on the intelligence derived from yield optimization; if it doesn’t sell on the exchange, the impression gets passed to mediation. The result is increased fill and higher CPMs.
RTB in mobile is rapidly evolving. Our mobile RTB is rapidly expanding and evolving. Key additional capabilities such as privacy-safe audience targeting (first-party data enabled), private mobile exchanges for publishers with complex channel and control requirements, and buy-side solutions that dramatically improve efficiency and targeting will be released in the near future.
After all, the “tech” in mobile ad tech must create persistent strategic advantage to you. To achieve more, you should demand more.
Watch this space as we put a spotlight on current RTB capabilities as well as new offerings and partnerships that will continue to highlight the tremendous potential (and reality) of the mobile RTB exchange.