Key Points

  • To set up Amazon TAM, you're going to need highly developed knowledge of ad server logic.
  • While Amazon's demand is only rivaled by Google and maybe a couple of others, you won't maximize your CPMs unless you actively manage it.
  • The right partner managing your Amazon TAM efforts can make an enormous difference in your yield.

Amazon has come a long way since its birth in Jeff Bezos' garage as a book-selling platform in 1994. Now, it's hard to find an industry the corporate eCommerce giant isn't involved in. Programmatic advertising is a great example - Amazon has created one of the leading header bidding tools available today.

It's called Amazon TAM. While Amazon's Unified Ad Marketplace (UAM) is designed for smaller publishers who are just dipping their toes into header bidding and digital advertising solutions in general, TAM is a common amazon publisher services tool within the tech stack for larger publishers looking to source deep header bidding demand.

The question, then, isn't whether you need TAM or not. You do need it, but do you need to set it up and manage it yourself or find a managed service to do it all for you? That's exactly what we examine in this post. Read on.

You can't skim Amazon TAM if you want maximum revenue, but you can skip the headaches by partnering with the leading ad monetization partner: Playwire. Contact us.

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Header Bidding Pillar

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About the Series

This is the Ad Tech Tools DIY vs. Managed Service Series, the only blog series on the internet that truly helps publishers decide between managed service and the DIY approach to all kinds of important ad tech tools. 

Today, we're hearing wisdom from Playwire's Senior Director of Product about Amazon's Transparent Ad Marketplace(TAM). Here's what you need to know about this important header bidding tool.

 

Setting Up Amazon TAM

Amazon TAM is a server-side header bidding tool, meaning your header bidding auctions will take place on Amazon's server rather than directly in your website's header. That means you're going to need to understand server language and logic fairly well to set this up right. You will have to understand enough to go into Amazon's server configuration to set up the basic building blocks of your header bidding system.

If you're an app publisher, you won't have to deal directly with servers, but you will have to know how to integrate Amazon TAM's software development kit (SDK). The technical lift here is all about making sure Amazon's SDK plays well with your other SDKs.

For both app and web, you will need to make sure that calls for bids and responses are coming through when you have completed the setup.

Managing Amazon TAM

The Amazon TAM setup process may feel like a lot, but you're not done after setup. In fact, you're never done. That's because you have to actively manage Amazon TAM to ensure that your yield remains at maximum at all times.

No matter how simple Amazon tries to make TAM, there are still countless settings you can - and should - manipulate to try to increase your yield. Otherwise, you are leaving money on the table, and no publisher can truly afford that.

Inevitably, something will go wrong within your header bidding ecosystem. You need to not only be engaged enough to notice it but skilled enough to go in and fix it, whether it's demand partners conflicting with one another, a poorly configured ad server, or something else entirely.

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Header Bidding Resource Center

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Managed Amazon TAM Header Bidding Service

DIY Amazon TAM is possible but far from painless. Here's what the managed service version of TAM is like when you work with Playwire:

Hands-Free Amazon TAM Integration

TAM integrations are a part of our basic setup for publishers, so when a new publisher comes to us, we can get them up and running with TAM, Prebid, and others in no time flat - rather than the hours or days they might have spent. 

It's just a few lines of code or our powerful but lightweight SDK, and bam - you have Amazon TAM integrated.

Baked-In Relationships with Big Brands

Can you list any major header bidders who know you by name? We can. It's because we spend a lot of money with them and have worked with them on behalf of countless publishers for years. 

What does that mean for you? When you start out with managed header bidding, you're light-years from publishers who chose the DIY path. You don't have to wait and work for years to get the attention of every big bidder - you just have to partner with someone who already has their attention.

A Dedicated Yield Ops Team

Multiple times every day, the Playwire yield operations team takes a deep dive into your header bidding operations to find opportunities to increase your yield. We apply decades of combined header bidding and TAM experience to maintain absolute control over all the variables that push your CPMs through the roof.

Amazon TAM: DIY or DFY?

We're not here to tell you that it's impossible to take the DIY route to Amazon TAM. We're just telling you that the DFY route (done-for-you) route is a lot simpler. When you let Playwire set up and manage Amazon TAM for you, you get fewer headaches, more ad revenue, and a dedicated yield ops team.

With benefits like that, it's hard to make a real case for the DIY approach. We more than pay for our fees by increasing your revenue from Amazon TAM and your digital advertising setup on the whole. Ready to see it all in action? Contact our team to learn more.

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