The landscape of the digital advertising world can be, at best, difficult to navigate. Advancements in new technology become catalyst to a constant stream of changes around how advertising can be purchased online.
However, these changes often bring confusion. With the introduction of new purchasing methods becoming a frequent occurrence, overcomplicated and seemingly difficult methods can become hard to understand.
Real-Time Bidding – or RTB – is just one way of purchasing digital advertising.
As hinted at by its name, RTB can be described as the buying and selling of online advertising impressions through real-time auctions that take place in milliseconds – or the time that it takes for a webpage to load.
This process allows advertisers to bid on a publisher’s inventory on a CPM basis – that is a Cost Per Millennium or Cost Per Thousand basis (1000 being the number advertising impressions).
An advertiser will place a bid on an advertising position, and if successful, their advertisement is immediately shown on the publisher’s advertising slot.
Like any online advertising method, RTB can have its advantages and disadvantages.
Some advantages to RTB include cheap inventory as advertisers choose how much money they wish to bid on a specific ad slot; and audience targeting – RTB allows you to define and reach a target audience at scale.
However, one should also take note of the disadvantages to using RTB as a purchasing method for digital advertising. Oftentimes, the inventory sold through RTB are the remnants of what could not be sold through the guaranteed model.
Moreover, RTB is more prone to ad fraud than other purchasing methods – meaning that you could be purchasing advertising impressions for viewers who are not real or not really seeing your advertisement.
So how does RTB compare to using Viztrade?
Whilst Viztrade is a programmatic advertising platform – in that you can purchase advertising through an automated online process that does not require the use of a media agency or insertion order – we do not use RTB as a selling method.
Viztrade offers a programmatic direct or automated guaranteed model whereby an advertiser will purchase on a fixed price CPM basis, with guaranteed delivery on impressions. Unlike RTB, Viztrade works exclusively with premium publishers to ensure that our marketplace of sites are safe against ad fraud.
Viztrade offers full transparency on price, position and performance.
With this, you are able to set a date and budget and see a full break down on how your campaign is doing, where your ad is positioned and how your advertisement is performing.
There is no right or wrong when it comes to digital advertising, and it can often be tricky to determine where to spend your advertising budget. It is important to understand the benefits and the shortcomings of using different advertising methods in order to tailor your experience and achieve your business goals. Where RTB can offer behavioural targeting, Viztrade currently offers contextual targeting, so it can be useful to consider implementing both into your marketing mix.
