An ad server refers to the service and technology, through which advertisements are placed on websites. Websites use ad server software that counts the advertisements, serves them, picks the right advertisements relevant to the website, ensuring that it is worth the money. Besides, they also monitor the progress and success of each advertisement campaign.
Broadly an ad server can be of two types:
- Third-party ad servers
- Publisher ad servers
With the right ad server, both the publisher and advertisers can benefit significantly.
Importance of ad servers to publishers and advertisers
The ad servers are responsible for displaying the advertisements, manage the ads and track the internal promotions or ads in the digital properties. This is extensively used in online advertising, on platforms like mobiles, laptops, desktops and even emails and games. Ad servers are useful to both publishers and advertisers.
The publisher needs to manage the advertisements that appear on their digital properties. These are generally used by ad operators, end-users and sales professionals. In the process, it helps to monetize the digital properties, enabling the publishers to store the ads that appear on the app or site, and manage the same.
The advertisers can also benefit from an ad server, as they can easily track the advertisements and manage them when they appear on the site or app of the publisher. These are generally used by marketers and it enhances the marketing performance, providing creative optimizations in real-time and independent metrics for tracking.
Choosing the right ad server for your organization
It is important to prioritize the business goals when you go out looking for a good ad server. It is necessary to have a basic knowledge of the features that the ad server should offer. In general, a good ad server supports running of tags like VPAID or VAST.
It should also track a total collection of specific metrics. You need to choose the right ad server, after considering the cost factor and features. Choosing the right ad server is an important decision and it should be done carefully after considering key criteria.
At the outset, select three ad servers, that come with the features catering to the advertisement goals of your organization. Now, you may arrange for a demo call with the respective teams. You can have a look inside the ad server during this demo call. Make sure that you go for a video demo call. The reason is, once you make the purchase, you need to work with it on a daily basis. Therefore, you should be careful about the features you choose.
With some ad servers, you can get a free trial. In these cases, you can practically use the solutions for short period and check out the comfort level with them. However, not all the ad servers offer free trials. No doubt the free trial will make is easy for you to do a comprehensive review of the ad server. It will also help in making sure the features match your needs. Ad servers offering free trial is also a good sign of confidence on part of the provider that their product will be chosen after free trial.
In case you get a free trial for 14 days, you will get an idea about the functionalities. Some of the popular ad servers include Adspeed(free trial available), Epom, AdZerk (a bit expensive) and Ad Glare (pricing is request-based).
What are ad exchanges?
Ad exchanges are digital marketplaces, enabling the publishers and advertisers to transact space for advertisement. At times, these exchanges take place through auctions in real-time. In the process, mobile advertisement inventory, video and display space are sold. It is possible for anyone to buy from these exchanges. However, most agencies and advertisers participate in these ad exchanges. After buying the ad space, they use an ad server to monitor the advertisements.