1. DoubleClick Bid
Manger gets FBx
access
Luke Ellis &
Adam Ray
25 October 2013
Background
Google’s Demand Side Platform (DSP)
DoubleClick Bid Manger (DBM) is joining
Facebook’s Real-time bidding exchange,
FBx. From Q1, advertisers using the Google
service will be able to benefit from the huge
pool of inventory that Facebook provides,
using both marketplace ads (found on the
right hand side of the page) and newsfeed
ads (linking offsite). FBx is an exchange
where inventory is bought though a DSP
using cookie data but not Facebook data,
and is an increasingly big player in the advertising ecosystem.
Details
Facebook first released FBx in September 2012, however Google’s DSP was conspicuous by its
absence and so it was assumed that Facebook did not want to help Google further dominate
the advertising landscape and give access to its data. This however was an issue for advertisers
and agencies that used Google’s platform as their only DSP, who then had to use an additional
platform to access Facebook’s exchange.
Speculation is rife that the sudden partnership has stemmed from Facebook’s purchase of the
adserving platform Atlas, which would benefit from cooperation with the industry’s biggest
player, Google. In addition, the recent purchase of the social technology platform Wildfire by
Google (article) and integration into its DoubleClick stack provides another reason for
partnership, as advertisers and agencies look to measure the effectiveness of social.
Implications
It will be the current users of DBM who will be able to reap the benefits of the new partnership
the most, as they will now be able to buy Facebook inventory without using multiple DSP
partners. It should also boost Google’s business in the ecosystem, but has the potential to
have the opposite effect on DSPs heavily focused on FBx who will now have to expand their
offering to compete.
Cost per thousand (CPM) has declined recently on FBx (20% drop January to March), but they
are expected to increase when another major player enters the market creating more
competition. However, CPMs across Facebook’s exchange are typically lower than on rival
exchanges, so it is unlikely this will put buyers off.
Summary
Having a more open ecosystem can only be a good thing for advertisers and so it is refreshing
to see partnership between two major rivals. The deal should also generate revenue for both
players (although Facebook will take a bigger cut as the publisher) and so it is win-win for
both.
Read the DoubleClick Blog announcement here: http://doubleclickadvertisers.blogspot.co.uk/.