Yield optimization and yield management for publishers

What is yield optimization

Yield optimization is carrying out operations aimed at increasing the publisher’s earnings from content ad monetization through ad inventory optimization. It also consists in analyzing the effects of taken actions in order to better understand which parts work well and which need improvements.

Best practices for yield optimization

By adhering to these few rules listed below, you can ensure that your ad space is appropriately prepared to generate the highest possible ad earnings:

• Make sure your website is properly optimized and user-friendly;
• Also, make sure that the above point applies to various types of devices (in other words, a well-optimized website is responsive);
• Apply programmatic solutions – it not only provides you with simultaneous access to many advertisers, but also matches displayed ads to the interests of your users (making ads more pleasant and interesting to your audience);
• Give header bidding a try – this method allows many advertisers to bid on your ad inventory at the same time and increases your competitiveness among advertisers;
• Put more profitable ad placements in more profitable places – to do so you can, for instance, exploit the Above The Fold concept: on websites, you can often see big ad formats of renowned brands at the very top of the page. The reason for this is simple – it’s because publishers often allocate this space to larger ad campaigns, from which they can achieve higher earnings;
• Pay attention to building an effective ad layout – choose the ad units mindfully and try to adapt them to the right areas of your website, where they will just work best;
• Go for native ads – thanks to their “interweaving” with the real content, they are less conspicuous to users and achieve greater visibility, thus lead to generating more satisfactory profits;
• Don’t be afraid of non-standard ad formats – such ads are often better paid, so it’s a wise thing to prepare your ad inventory for various scenarios. Well-optimized ad inventory should be ready to display both standard ad formats and rich media ads;
• Consider using an ad server, which will make it easier for you to manage your monetization activities, and will give you access to the use of diversified monetization methods;
• Follow the rules imposed by the solutions providers you choose to apply – it can be related to content (e.g. Google Publisher Policies and Restrictions) as well as to the advertising space (e.g. Better Ads Standards);
• Focus only on valid metrics – don’t spend too much time and energy trying to achieve high values of individual metrics. Even the highest CPMs don’t necessarily lead to satisfactory final ad revenue results. Stick to the solutions that work for you (the fact that something works for other publishers is not a guarantee of success for everyone) and look for new ones based on your needs and capacities;
• Last but not least, make decisions and implement solutions based on the phenomenon of seasonality.

What is yield management

Yield management consists in applying a variable pricing strategy based on seasonal tendencies and other crucial factors determining user behavior and the demand for advertising in a given period of time for a specific industry. Well performed yield management leads to getting higher rates for ad impressions and achieving a greater fill rate.

Best practices for yield management

The most important advice regarding yield management is to observe and analyze statistics regarding your industry. Such knowledge will allow you to understand which price range for selling your ad inventory is acceptable, which is too low, and which is ridiculously high. It can help, for example, when setting floor prices, because if you set unrealistically high ones, you can end up with many unfilled placements, resulting in significant drops in revenue. Each content is different, and each industry is ruled by its own rights, that’s for sure. But nonetheless, they are all subject to seasonality, which determines users’ behavior and leads to changes in ad earnings.

When determining the right pricing strategy, it’s helpful to conduct some A/B tests, try out different solutions and later compare the obtained effects. As I already underlined, each website is different, so apart from making use of the general knowledge and familiarity with available options, you should “tangibly” verify what works in your particular case. Some of the substantial factors influencing the final result are the size and origin of the website, what subjects it covers, the time of the year, and the content’s main recipients (whether it’s an attractive group for many advertisers, or a rather narrow target).

To conclude

Yield optimization and yield management are crucial issues for generating impressive monetization effects. However, it’s not an easy task to properly perform these processes, especially when it comes to the publishers at the beginning of their ad monetization journey. If you don’t feel confident or comfortable enough to perform all the operations related to generating great ad revenue, consider entrusting a trustworthy partner with that task. After all, sometimes experience and appropriate technologies are necessary to obtain certain results, and in the end, it’s all about the final profit!