Key Takeaways

  • Mid-Market Publishers Need Help: The ad tech ecosystem is growing more complex by the day, making it more difficult than ever, if not impossible, for mid-market publishers to thrive on their own.
  • Sales Houses Are the Solution: Sales houses, like Playwire, offer the expertise, tech, resources, and longstanding ad tech industry connections to simplify ad monetization and boost publisher revenue.
  • Direct Sales + Programmatic = Success: Combining direct sales with programmatic advertising creates a powerful one-two-punch monetization strategy equating to more ad revenue.

According to recent Jounce Media reports, sales houses have grown by 31% in the number of publishers they represent over the past several years.

While there are many reasons for this explosion, one prime driver is the sheer complexity of the digital advertising industry and these sales houses' ability to simplify that journey for publishers — especially those in the mid-market.

To help publishers better understand what sales houses are and why accessing their data and audience solutions, in particular, is so valuable, Playwire EVP of Global Sales, Paul Chenier, VP of East Coast Sales, Marisa Moolsiri, and CRO, Anthony Berrena, recently sat down for a discussion that covered a wide range of important topics that every publisher should understand to gain a competitive edge in digital ad monetization.

The topics ranged from the role of sales houses in the greater ad ecosystem to the value of direct sales deals. Check out the recording of our latest Playwire Live discussion below, or keep scrolling to learn more.

 

The Rise of Sales Houses

To start the conversation, Paul asks: “What is a sales house?”

Sales houses are companies within the ad space that help publishers monetize their ad inventory. They essentially act as intermediaries between publishers and advertisers, leveraging everything from industry expertise to advertising technology to secure better direct and programmatic deals and optimize revenue. 

Anthony explains that there are many different models, each catering to different publisher needs and growth levels.

Some sales houses are tech-focused, primarily delivering advertising technology and solutions for ad optimization. Others offer a combination of tech, yield operations, and direct sales support. There are even smaller operations that aim to deliver value on razor-thin margins.

So, what do sales houses' typically handle?

  • Ad inventory management
  • Yield optimization
  • Ad network, ad exchange, and demand relationships
  • Direct sales to brands and ad agencies

Sales House Growth in the Mid-Market

Sales houses have grown to take a significant share of bid requests, representing 21% of all bids on the open web, according to programmatic supply chain authority, Jounce Media.

And their services are only growing in demand, driven in part by mid-market publishers.

Anthony describes mid-market or mid-tier publishers as those with an annual budget of $200,0000 to $20 million. As you can imagine, this is a diverse group with a wide range of potential ad spend. It contains small teams of content creators, larger organizations with dedicated sales and marketing teams, and everything in between.

These publishers have unique needs and challenges.

As Anthony explains, “There are many different things [publishers] need to consider, like prebid, open bidding, Amazon TAM, UAM; all those pieces,” continuing, “To actually [implement an ad strategy] properly takes a lot of time, a lot of effort, and it's costly.”

There’s also the increasing demand for data-driven targeted ads and the need to comply with a growing list of privacy regulations (i.e., GDPR, CCPA). 

To meet the challenges that exist in our current ad tech industry, publishers need to optimize ad performance and revenue constantly.

Sales houses? They serve an essential purpose for publishers attempting to navigate these challenges. This is especially true for publishers who require better data, audience, and ad tech solutions to grow but lack the internal resources, from human power to capital, to make them a reality.

Simplifying Monetization

"Sales houses are good at content monetization; let them do what they do best. They have teams with the infrastructure needed to build out and monetize in a better way than you are by yourself," explains Anthony. 

When a publisher outsources ad ops to a sales house, they can focus their time and energy on what they do best: creating amazing content.

Not only do sales houses connect your content, leveraging established relationships with advertisers and ad networks, but they can give publishers like you access to premium demand and higher CPMs. 

There’s also the data and analytics side of the equation. 

Sales houses that offer a robust ad tech stack can help you further refine your monetization strategies with invaluable, data-driven insights.

As Marisa says, “It's interesting to see how the ecosystem has changed over the years.” But, that the right monetization partner will, “Be there for the publisher,” no matter what they need. She continues by articulating that “It’s not just direct sales or yield operations, but the full ad stack of solutions available at your fingertips.” 

“The biggest thing,” she explains, speaking as a sales house, “Is being able to provide those solutions.”

Playwire’s Approach to Monetization

For Marisa and the rest of the Playwire team, a publisher-first philosophy is what drives success.

“We're a publisher-first company. And we're a company that is truly committed to helping publishers thrive and grow," she explains. But it’s more than just offering the tools that publishers need to thrive; it’s about staying ahead of the curve.

Anthony further expands on this idea, saying, “There's been this shift in the market. There's so much noise. Everyone needs to make things as efficient as possible for the buyers.”

He highlights a new go-to metric, QPS, or queries per second.

This measures how many ad requests a system can handle, a dramatic shift away from the more ads, the better mentality that prevailed in the past. These days, quality and efficiency are the name of the game.

When publishers prioritize ad quality over the sheer quantity of ad requests, it actually leads to higher CPMs, better user engagement, improved SEO performance, and increased long-term revenue.

"We're hoping that when we're able to remove that [too many requests] from the page. And then we're paid off in higher CPMs because we're creating the scarcity of ads, better ad quality, more viewable, relevant ads, and better ROI for the advertiser."

As the team explains, this strategy might seem like a risk at first glance, but balancing revenue with the user experience can present new opportunities. 

As a prime example, Anthony touches on a past client that Playwire helped reduce ad requests by 40-60%.

"Within two to four weeks, you’ll see there's a dip in the beginning. And then you start to see a take off with that quality initiative that we took over, and you see advertisers paying that premium for it."

This isn’t just Playwire’s values on full display but a glimpse into the future of the online advertising industry, driven by quality, performance, and total transparency.

Direct Sales and Programmatic Advertising Synergy

Paul shifts the conversation towards direct sales and programmatic ads, two different approaches to digital advertising. When combined, they create a powerhouse monetization strategy.

“The entire online advertising ecosystem has really changed in the last three to four years,” he explains. “Every ad agency leader will tell you that if they can buy it programmatically, they want to buy it programmatically.”

Unfortunately, programmatic advertising doesn’t always meet the needs of advertisers who want to run a custom, high-impact ad campaign with premium ad placement. 

Speaking from experience developing direct sales deals with publishers, Marisa jumps in, saying, ”We are like the boots on the ground for all the different publishers and all the different verticals that we have.”

Understanding specific vertical needs within the advertising space is essential for direct sales success. Take the kids’ vertical, which is an area Playwire specializes in.

Marisa explains that Playwire is “able to really connect the kids' audience with these different brands.” This is because brand safety is absolutely critical when it comes to the kids’ online environment.

As a KidSafe+ COPPA-certified partner, Playwire delivers brand-safe solutions, offering premium brand access, custom integrations, and high-impact ad formats.

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Choosing the Right Sales House

Paul asks our panel a simple question: “What if I were a publisher right now? What are the questions I would ask to help find the right sales house partner?”

It all starts with size. Anthony emphasizes the importance of understanding your needs first and then examining the offerings of each sales house. 

Here are some questions to help you begin the vetting process:

  • How large is the sales house?
  • What types of publishers do they typically work with?
  • What is their reach in the market?

Anthony adds, ”Even simple things, like looking on LinkedIn, you know, people can tout direct sales teams, but then you go on, and it's three people, it's a much different story.” The right research matters.

Once you have an idea of size and capabilities, it’s time to spotlight unique advantages. Here are some questions to ask during this stage of the vetting process:

  • What sets this sales house apart from others?
  • What unique technologies, services, or expertise do they offer?
  • Do they specialize in any particular ad formats or verticals?
  • Can they provide case studies or testimonials from other publishers?

As Marisa explains, “What are they doing that is truly unique? What are they able to do, and when it comes to direct, when it comes to this quality initiative that the industry is doing, how are they viewing it? What have they done?”

Data and analytics are also powerful elements of working with the right sales house. What kind of data and analytics do they provide? More importantly, how do they use data to optimize ad performance and revenue?

In the end, the right sales house will align with your specific needs as a publisher. They’ll come ready with a proven track record of performance, offer flexibility and scalability, and fit well into the culture of your content.

As Paul suggests, “Ultimately, I think every publisher needs to find the right match for them. Just understanding what you're looking for in your journey as a publisher, are you looking for flexibility? Are you looking for access to the big brand advertisers and potentially to help tell your story?" 

Starting with these questions is a great way to match your brand with the right sales house partner.

Getting Ahead with Playwire

When it comes to effective content monetization, you don’t and shouldn’t have to go it alone. In fact, publishers can catapult their brand when they work with the right partner to safely and effectively fill their ad inventory. 

But let’s be clear, the partner you choose really does matter.

Here at Playwire, our mission for nearly two decades has been to empower publishers with the tools and expertise they need to optimize their revenue while keeping everyone from users to advertisers happy and coming back time and time again.

But don’t just take our word for it. We would be happy to answer all the questions we mentioned above to help you decide for yourself if Playwire is the right fit for your business.

Ready to begin the vetting process? Get in touch today.

Are you interested in catching a future Playwire Live episode? Please join us every other Tuesday on LinkedIn and YouTube where we’re joined by a variety of guest speakers across digital media, ad tech, and content creation to have important discussions centered around helping you drive more revenue for your business.

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