.png)
Unlike the early days of digital advertising’s sustainability offerings, publishers no longer need to feel excluded from industry sustainability efforts. In today’s landscape, publishers have a variety of tools and strategies in place to both become more efficient, and harbor a positive impact on the industry’s carbon footprint. One common concern is the impact of these tools and strategies on revenue. Here are 7 ways that publishers can become more efficient and sustainable without reducing revenue, several of which we have seen already championed by publishers including Unwind Media’s Emry Downinghall in this AdExchanger article, and discussed at the annual Green Media Summit.
1. Reduce Unnecessary Ad Requests with Lazy Loading
Lazy loading is a technique where ad units are only loaded when they are about to come into the user's view. This method reduces the number of unnecessary ad requests, improves page load times, and enhances user experience. Moreover, by only serving ads when they are likely to be seen, you can improve viewability and Click-Through-Rate (CTR), contributing to both revenue and sustainability goals.
2. Streamline Multi-Size Ad Requests for Better Yield
When dealing with multi-size ad units—such as 300×250, 300×600, and 160×600—send a single ad request for all the sizes at once. This practice reduces the total number of ad requests and boosts yield by enabling additional ad sizes to be filled. It also aligns with Demand-Side Platform (DSP) policies, ensuring a more seamless operation while maintaining or increasing revenue.
3. Enhance Engagement by Only Serving Ads to Active Users
If a user has been idle on a page, has the page out of focus, or is on an off-tab for a specified number of seconds, stop serving ads to them. This simple adjustment reduces unnecessary ad requests and significantly improves key metrics like viewability, attention). By focusing your ad-serving on active, engaged users, you not only enhance performance but also contribute to a more sustainable digital advertising habits.
4. Boost Efficiency by Eliminating Ineffective Reseller Paths
Identify and eliminate ineffective reseller paths from your ad supply chain. Doing so reduces the number of ad requests, focusing more on direct connections that deliver better results. This streamlining effort not only enhances ad performance but also contributes to a more sustainable advertising ecosystem by cutting down on unnecessary resource use.
5. Don’t Settle for Low Revenue Share of Voice
Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) with a low revenue share of voice (SOV) could be periodically audited and in some cases removed from your ecosystem as a result. By reducing the number of ad requests and concentrating your efforts on the most effective partners, you increase the likelihood of revenue going to those who deliver the most value. This approach not only boosts your revenue but also improves overall performance with your remaining, high-value SSPs.
6. Refine Ad Request Strategies for Sustainable Monetization
Ad requests are the starting point for the ad-serving process, and their efficiency can have a profound impact on your overall performance. By optimizing these requests—ensuring they are only sent when necessary, and reducing the number of requests sent per user—you can significantly reduce the strain on your ad-serving infrastructure. This not only lowers financial and environmental costs but also maintains, if not amplifies, your monetization potential. In 2023, Unwind Media performed a series of tests revealing that reducing ad requests via smarter request management leads to a significant decrease in unnecessary activity without harming revenue streams.
7. Refine Your SSP Standards
If an SSP consistently fails to clear your price floors over a set number of consecutive auctions – stop calling them. By doing this, you reduce the number of ad requests, which in turn streamlines your ad operations. This approach not only improves SSP and publisher performance metrics like fill rate and win rate but also helps to minimize wasted resources, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable ad ecosystem.
Creating A Measurement Plan
While refining standards, implementing strategies, and making adjustments across the user experience are all great options for publishers to kickstart their sustainability journey, it is important to create a measurement plan to track progress of emissions reductions and how such efforts impact revenue. Companies such as Scope3 offer tools for publishers to measure media and advertising emissions. Prebid is currently working on the Supply Chain & Sustainability Portal, which will organize best practices, documentation, and tools to help the Prebid ecosystem align with broader sustainability goals. This initiative reflects Prebid's commitment to promoting sustainability, while ensuring that the digital advertising supply chain remains transparent and efficient.
Unlike the early days of digital advertising’s sustainability offerings, publishers no longer need to feel excluded from industry sustainability efforts. In today’s landscape, publishers have a variety of tools and strategies in place to both become more efficient, and harbor a positive impact on the industry’s carbon footprint. One common concern is the impact of these tools and strategies on revenue. Here are 7 ways that publishers can become more efficient and sustainable without reducing revenue, several of which we have seen already championed by publishers including Unwind Media’s Emry Downinghall in this AdExchanger article, and discussed at the annual Green Media Summit.
1. Reduce Unnecessary Ad Requests with Lazy Loading
Lazy loading is a technique where ad units are only loaded when they are about to come into the user's view. This method reduces the number of unnecessary ad requests, improves page load times, and enhances user experience. Moreover, by only serving ads when they are likely to be seen, you can improve viewability and Click-Through-Rate (CTR), contributing to both revenue and sustainability goals.
2. Streamline Multi-Size Ad Requests for Better Yield
When dealing with multi-size ad units—such as 300×250, 300×600, and 160×600—send a single ad request for all the sizes at once. This practice reduces the total number of ad requests and boosts yield by enabling additional ad sizes to be filled. It also aligns with Demand-Side Platform (DSP) policies, ensuring a more seamless operation while maintaining or increasing revenue.
3. Enhance Engagement by Only Serving Ads to Active Users
If a user has been idle on a page, has the page out of focus, or is on an off-tab for a specified number of seconds, stop serving ads to them. This simple adjustment reduces unnecessary ad requests and significantly improves key metrics like viewability, attention). By focusing your ad-serving on active, engaged users, you not only enhance performance but also contribute to a more sustainable digital advertising habits.
4. Boost Efficiency by Eliminating Ineffective Reseller Paths
Identify and eliminate ineffective reseller paths from your ad supply chain. Doing so reduces the number of ad requests, focusing more on direct connections that deliver better results. This streamlining effort not only enhances ad performance but also contributes to a more sustainable advertising ecosystem by cutting down on unnecessary resource use.
5. Don’t Settle for Low Revenue Share of Voice
Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) with a low revenue share of voice (SOV) could be periodically audited and in some cases removed from your ecosystem as a result. By reducing the number of ad requests and concentrating your efforts on the most effective partners, you increase the likelihood of revenue going to those who deliver the most value. This approach not only boosts your revenue but also improves overall performance with your remaining, high-value SSPs.
6. Refine Ad Request Strategies for Sustainable Monetization
Ad requests are the starting point for the ad-serving process, and their efficiency can have a profound impact on your overall performance. By optimizing these requests—ensuring they are only sent when necessary, and reducing the number of requests sent per user—you can significantly reduce the strain on your ad-serving infrastructure. This not only lowers financial and environmental costs but also maintains, if not amplifies, your monetization potential. In 2023, Unwind Media performed a series of tests revealing that reducing ad requests via smarter request management leads to a significant decrease in unnecessary activity without harming revenue streams.
7. Refine Your SSP Standards
If an SSP consistently fails to clear your price floors over a set number of consecutive auctions – stop calling them. By doing this, you reduce the number of ad requests, which in turn streamlines your ad operations. This approach not only improves SSP and publisher performance metrics like fill rate and win rate but also helps to minimize wasted resources, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable ad ecosystem.
Creating A Measurement Plan
While refining standards, implementing strategies, and making adjustments across the user experience are all great options for publishers to kickstart their sustainability journey, it is important to create a measurement plan to track progress of emissions reductions and how such efforts impact revenue. Companies such as Scope3 offer tools for publishers to measure media and advertising emissions. Prebid is currently working on the Supply Chain & Sustainability Portal, which will organize best practices, documentation, and tools to help the Prebid ecosystem align with broader sustainability goals. This initiative reflects Prebid's commitment to promoting sustainability, while ensuring that the digital advertising supply chain remains transparent and efficient.
Behind Headlines: 180 Seconds in Ad Tech is a short 3-minute podcast exploring the news in the digital advertising industry. Ad tech is a fast-growing industry with many updates happening daily. As it can be hard for most to keep up with the latest news, the Sharethrough team wanted to create an audio series compiling notable mentions each week.
Unlike the early days of digital advertising’s sustainability offerings, publishers no longer need to feel excluded from industry sustainability efforts. In today’s landscape, publishers have a variety of tools and strategies in place to both become more efficient, and harbor a positive impact on the industry’s carbon footprint. One common concern is the impact of these tools and strategies on revenue. Here are 7 ways that publishers can become more efficient and sustainable without reducing revenue, several of which we have seen already championed by publishers including Unwind Media’s Emry Downinghall in this AdExchanger article, and discussed at the annual Green Media Summit.
1. Reduce Unnecessary Ad Requests with Lazy Loading
Lazy loading is a technique where ad units are only loaded when they are about to come into the user's view. This method reduces the number of unnecessary ad requests, improves page load times, and enhances user experience. Moreover, by only serving ads when they are likely to be seen, you can improve viewability and Click-Through-Rate (CTR), contributing to both revenue and sustainability goals.
2. Streamline Multi-Size Ad Requests for Better Yield
When dealing with multi-size ad units—such as 300×250, 300×600, and 160×600—send a single ad request for all the sizes at once. This practice reduces the total number of ad requests and boosts yield by enabling additional ad sizes to be filled. It also aligns with Demand-Side Platform (DSP) policies, ensuring a more seamless operation while maintaining or increasing revenue.
3. Enhance Engagement by Only Serving Ads to Active Users
If a user has been idle on a page, has the page out of focus, or is on an off-tab for a specified number of seconds, stop serving ads to them. This simple adjustment reduces unnecessary ad requests and significantly improves key metrics like viewability, attention). By focusing your ad-serving on active, engaged users, you not only enhance performance but also contribute to a more sustainable digital advertising habits.
4. Boost Efficiency by Eliminating Ineffective Reseller Paths
Identify and eliminate ineffective reseller paths from your ad supply chain. Doing so reduces the number of ad requests, focusing more on direct connections that deliver better results. This streamlining effort not only enhances ad performance but also contributes to a more sustainable advertising ecosystem by cutting down on unnecessary resource use.
5. Don’t Settle for Low Revenue Share of Voice
Supply Side Platforms (SSPs) with a low revenue share of voice (SOV) could be periodically audited and in some cases removed from your ecosystem as a result. By reducing the number of ad requests and concentrating your efforts on the most effective partners, you increase the likelihood of revenue going to those who deliver the most value. This approach not only boosts your revenue but also improves overall performance with your remaining, high-value SSPs.
6. Refine Ad Request Strategies for Sustainable Monetization
Ad requests are the starting point for the ad-serving process, and their efficiency can have a profound impact on your overall performance. By optimizing these requests—ensuring they are only sent when necessary, and reducing the number of requests sent per user—you can significantly reduce the strain on your ad-serving infrastructure. This not only lowers financial and environmental costs but also maintains, if not amplifies, your monetization potential. In 2023, Unwind Media performed a series of tests revealing that reducing ad requests via smarter request management leads to a significant decrease in unnecessary activity without harming revenue streams.
7. Refine Your SSP Standards
If an SSP consistently fails to clear your price floors over a set number of consecutive auctions – stop calling them. By doing this, you reduce the number of ad requests, which in turn streamlines your ad operations. This approach not only improves SSP and publisher performance metrics like fill rate and win rate but also helps to minimize wasted resources, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable ad ecosystem.
Creating A Measurement Plan
While refining standards, implementing strategies, and making adjustments across the user experience are all great options for publishers to kickstart their sustainability journey, it is important to create a measurement plan to track progress of emissions reductions and how such efforts impact revenue. Companies such as Scope3 offer tools for publishers to measure media and advertising emissions. Prebid is currently working on the Supply Chain & Sustainability Portal, which will organize best practices, documentation, and tools to help the Prebid ecosystem align with broader sustainability goals. This initiative reflects Prebid's commitment to promoting sustainability, while ensuring that the digital advertising supply chain remains transparent and efficient.
Founded in 2015, Calibrate is a yearly conference for new engineering managers hosted by seasoned engineering managers. The experience level of the speakers ranges from newcomers all the way through senior engineering leaders with over twenty years of experience in the field. Each speaker is greatly concerned about the craft of engineering management. Organized and hosted by Sharethrough, it was conducted yearly in September, from 2015-2019 in San Francisco, California.
Stay Up-to-Date—
Subscribe to our newsletter and receive cutting-edge digital advertising insights, including our weekly Behind Headlines episodes, delivered right to your inbox.
.png)
