Chris Brown is team lead at DoubleClick Performance Products in Australia, South East Asia and NZ. Here he discusses the progress made by the DoubleClick Ad Exchange in the region, timeframes around when mobile and video inventory will be made available and the recent Direct Deals launch.

Can you give some overview on the progress made by the DoubleClick Ad Exchange in the Australian and APAC markets? What similarities and differences did you see in relation to the UK and US markets?

The Australian market was already primed for exchanges due to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange 1.0 having been launched here in 2008, and RightMedia already being active in this market. Uptake was swift on the buy-side due some of the big holding companies strategies, and local independent agencies and Ad Networks always being close to ‘game-changing’ developments in the online world.

The major difference I saw from an agency perspective was how autonomously they were acting in this region. Country by country - each agency has a different take on how they should approach exchange buying.

A major similarity I saw was how some publishers perceived exchanges. They wanted to get involved as they were seeing the focus that agencies were giving, but were unsure on how-to.

With servicing such a large geographical area, does latency pose an issue for DoubleClick (Ad Exchange)?

In regards to real time bidding (RTB), we have strict latency requirements for anyone wanting to utilise this feature. This is something that my team constantly monitors, as well as working with our global Google Engineering teams to make sure that data center capacity for RTB call-outs are at an optimum efficiency for our clients.

DoubleClick recently launched Ad Exchange Direct Deals. Can you explain a little more about the offering and what it means for the key players in the ecosystem?

Ad Exchange Direct Deals allow you to build on existing business partnerships and the efficiency of an exchange via a fixed price, pre-auction relationship. DoubleClick Ad Exchange now unifies the management of both auction-based and non-auction deals to offer an even more complete solution to help you profit from non-guaranteed sales on your terms.

How will the new Ad Exchange Direct Deals impact Australian, Japanese and Chinese publishers? Will it alleviate downward pressure on CPMs?  Are there any limitations on floor pricing?

Direct Deals allow publishers the ability to offer inventory on a ‘first look’ basis completely on their own terms. For some Australian publishers, in-particular, this is a very clean way for them to access Ad Exchange buyers. As well as having complete control, they have the option of passing any unsold impressions back to their own adserver or to offer out to the open exchange, and can leverage their relationships in tandem with the efficiency of the Exchange platform.

The price is negotiated by the two-sides, and will obviously reflect content and targeting on offer - the most important point here for the publisher is that they maintain control whilst profiting from this non-auction deal type.

What will the new Ad Exchange Direct Deals mean for agencies, trading desks and advertisers?

Direct deals is open to all buyers on the Ad Exchange. Buyers could potentially get access to inventory that isn’t available on the open exchange - quite a few premium publishers prefer this option. They will also be able to use existing buying efficiencies that Adx offers.

Apart from providing a solution in local language and currency, how does Doubleclick approach the challenge of recruiting talent in nascent markets. Do you import, upskill or cross-train?

Having local support teams is essential when rolling out new products in APAC, especially with new concepts like Ad Exchanges and RTB buying. A strength of DoubleClick’s is that we have support teams in all major markets in APAC. We have local personnel who already have excellent market knowledge and sound understanding of new online advertisings concepts.

With DoubleClick’s mobile and video currently in beta testing, what are the availability timeframes for Australia and the APAC region?

We are currently testing video and mobile on the DoubleClick AdExchange in the U.S. and UK and we are very happy with the results so far. We are planning to roll this out to more countries in the future.

What other features and products does DoubleClick plan to roll out over the coming 12 months in the Australian and APAC regions?

Next to video and mobile, we will also continue to invest in minimum CPM optimisation, reporting and rolling out new features to support Ad Exchange direct deals. Our overall plan is to make the DoubleClick Ad Exchange easier for buyers and sellers to use - you can expect some significant investment from us in 2012.

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