The numbers are always a problem with these state of the industry reports - always too focused on the US market. But the Rubicon Report is still a good read if only to get the company’s perspective of the market. Aside from the headline 25% rise in CPMs of the Rubicon 20 Index, the report tackles two big areas of contention in the industry, namely the rise of RTB and the growing dominance of Google in display.

Let’s start with the Google issue shall we. Rubicon is not impressed with the latest release of DFP. In the week when the company called time on the ad server, Google decided to release an improved version of its creaking DFP. The new release had a better UI, improved yield management functionality and closer integration with the Doubleclick ad exchange. Despite the upgrade, Rubicon still thinks publishers are getting a raw deal. The report hightlights the restrictions on DFP publishers (who use the Doubleclick ad exchange) accessing other third party demand sources as a potential issue for publishers:

Another notable Q1 industry development was DoubleClick’s release of their first significant upgrade to DART for Publishers (DFP), the granddaddy of ad servers, in years. Google, of course, bought DoubleClick two years ago.

This release was positioned as a major upgrade, featuring strengths of Google’s, including interface design, predictive algorithms and processing power, as well as DoubleClick’s experience delivering and measuring ads for publishers and advertisers. Improvements to the platform highlighted in the marketing materials include fewer delivery discrepancies, reduced process complexity, and richer data for yield management analysis by publishers.

Another important feature is DFP’s closer tie-in to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange, which includes resale channels to Google’s AdSense and other third-party networks. Publishers must use DFP if they want access to the DoubleClick Ad Exchange. And if they use DFP, DoubleClick makes it difficult for publishers to access any other third-party demand sources (other than their own) directly. This forced integration of AdExchange & DFP will not only choke access to additional demand sources for publishers, but it will significantly restrict
innovation across the ecosystem.

Real time bidding could change the online advertising industry. Or it could be the biggest fad of all the time. It matters little that the cost of decisioning at the impression level is astronomical or that there continues to be liquidity problems (based on anecdotal evidence from European publishers) with some of the vendors offering RTB inventory - everyone on the buy and sell side loves "the RTB". Rubicon is a recent convert real time trading, but adopts a more reserved approach. The report highlights some of the key concerns from the publisher's perspective around RTB, such as data loss, price erosion and channel conflict. It concludes that publishers will have to partner a SSP to ensure they can trade safely through RTB without jeopardising premium sales channels.

RTB is poised to be the technological innovation that finally fulfills the promises of online marketing, utilising real-time data to reach precise audience targets. But RTB does not effectively protect or benefit the publisher side of the display advertising equation. The link that’s been missing in creating an efficient marketplace through RTB technology is a publisher-side platform (SSP) that addresses all the current risks of RTB as it stands today.

The Rubicon Q1 marketing report can downloaded in full here.