You may have caught our two ‘daisy-chaining’ posts earlier, and the explanations of why it just doesn’t apply anymore when you’re part of RMX. Along with ‘daisy-chaining’, ‘weighting’ is another strategy web publishers have used to monetize their sites: basically, it’s dividing your ratio of impressions amongst different networks in relation to the CPM they each deliver.

Ok, a word on this other strategy:

If ad network #1 is paying a $1.00 CPM, and ad network #2 is paying a .50 CPM, you might send two impressions to network #1, and one impression to network #2. Why? Because you want to get more chances to make more money…and #1 seems pays more on average.

That was the basic premise behind this. It was a way to leverage your bets. And it helped you monetize more efficiently.

Right?

Maybe not.

This approach doesn’t adjust in real time. Maybe ad network #2 will start paying a higher CPM for any number of reasons–and you’ll be losing money for as long as you don’t discover that their average price has changed. It also doesn’t take the value of each impression into account. What if your ad server sends two impressions from China to the network #1, and one impression from the USA to network #2? In this case, that may be the reverse of how those networks should receive the impressions to best monetize it.

In the long run, is this any worse than just watching your numbers and adjusting them every day for each network? For each ad size and placement? At each Ad network’s website?! Wow, it’s a full-blown hassle anyway you slice it.

Again, publishers have been tolerant of rough strategies like ‘daisy-chaining’ and ‘weighting’ because, hey–how else could they do business?

It changes with RMX Direct: everything gets bid on when you’re a member, and this includes 3rd party deals. Your inventory is valued higher since the highest bidder serves your ad.
Weighting and daisy chaining are totally obsolete.

We hope RMX Direct is taking a weight off your shoulders.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 3rd, 2006 at 11:32 am and is filed under Direct Media Exchange. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.