Key Points

  • Prebid offers significant revenue potential by enabling real-time competitive bidding from multiple demand partners, potentially driving up ad prices and maximizing the value of each ad impression.
  • While prebid provides enhanced control and transparency over ad inventory, it comes with technical challenges in setup and ongoing optimization that require expertise to navigate effectively.
  • Publishers can choose between client-side (prebid.js) and server-side (prebid server) implementations, each with its own set of advantages and drawbacks. Prebid.js offers better targeting and simpler structure, while prebid server provides enhanced ad functionality across platforms and increased demand partner capacity.
  • While Prebid.js offers better cookie matching and easier implementation, it can increase page latency and limit the number of demand partners, whereas Prebid Server reduces browser load but faces challenges with user identification and requires more complex setup and maintenance. 

For publishers, prebid sounds like a layup. 

Open source, accessible, and transparent code that can help you maximize ad revenue on your site?

Slam dunk.

While prebid offers publishers many benefits—like the ones listed above—it also comes with certain challenges you must be aware of, like technical set-up, ongoing maintenance, and key integrations. 

That’s where Playwire comes in. Think of us as your prebid all-star, ready and warmed up to run the technical components of the header bidding process so you can focus on what you do best: creating compelling content your audience loves.

Today, we’ll review the benefits and challenges of prebid so you can make the most of this strategic approach. 

Suit up; it’s game time. 

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Read Now: The Complete Guide to Prebid

An Overview of The Prebid Process 

Okay, so you know that prebid is a header bidding solution to help publishers maximize ad revenue. 

It does this by enabling multiple demand partners to bid simultaneously on the available ad inventory on your website, providing you with the most competitive ad bids no matter how people view your content—desktop, mobile, tablet, etc. 

The main reason you can earn more with prebid is basic capitalism:

  • Publishers (aka you) own the website 
  • Advertisers want access to the consumers of that website via ad slots
  • The price of those ads is determined by the supply and demand of the market

So, the more curated and in-demand your content is by relevant audiences, the more advertisers will want to pay for access to that group.

But prebid itself doesn’t help you produce that game-winning content—that’s where you shine. 

Prebidding helps you connect with those potential advertisers faster, enabling them to bid on your ad slots in real-time. 

Ultimately, prebid facilitates the header bidding auction process, which looks a little something like this:

  • Step 1: Prebid initializes the auction ecosystem by loading relevant adapters and modules. 
  • Step 2: It sends bid requests to all configured demand partners (potential advertisers) via the adapters. 
  • Step 3: It collects the bids—value, creative, etc.—from each demand partner. 
  • Step 4: It evaluates each bid and selects the highest option for each available ad placement. 
  • Step 5: It sends the final bids to your ad server. Keep in mind that your ad server is the final arbiter for which ads get displayed, which can cause some issues if not configured properly (more on that later). 

Remember, there are two broad ways you can use prebid: the client side (prebid.js) and the server side (prebid server). Each comes with benefits and drawbacks, which we’ll explore later in this piece. 

As you can start to see, there’s a lot that can go right (and wrong) during this process. Let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of prebid for publishers. 

Overall Benefits of Using Prebid for Publishers 

Prebid isn't just another player in the ad tech game; it's your A-player that can transform your monetization strategy. Let's break down why publishers are cheering for this open-source solution.

Increased Revenue Potential

Prebid turns your ad inventory into a hot commodity. Here's how:

  • More competition, bigger bucks: By inviting multiple demand partners to the bidding party, prebid creates a competitive environment that can drive up ad prices.
  • Real-time pricing: Prebid ensures each ad impression is sold at its true market value in real-time. No more settling for predetermined rates; every impression gets its moment in the spotlight.

These features make it simpler for publishers of any size—from niche sites to industry leaders—to maximize the profit of their ad slots. 

More Control Over Ad Inventory

With prebid, you're not just a spectator; you're the coach calling the plays. 

One of the hallmarks of prebid, specifically prebid.js, is the transparency of the bids you receive on your ad slots. With it, you can see who’s bidding and at what price, giving you excellent intel to create a more thoughtful, intentional ad placement and pricing strategy. 

There are also many add-on modules to help with ad quality control, such as:

  • Confiant ad quality module, which scans bids for security and quality issues, enables you to exclude specific bidders, and provides analytics tags. 
  • Geoedge real-time module, which helps prevent malware redirects, trojans, and exploit kits, improving the overall ad quality and experience. 

Partnering with an experienced ad partner like Playwire can help ensure your prebid lines, adapters, and modules, are configured in a way that supports optimal quality and user experience. 

Improved User Experience

Speaking of user experience, prebid is a much more user-friendly header bidding solution than others. 

Happy users mean more page views and more page views mean more ad opportunities. 

Prebid's asynchronous ad calls mean ads load quickly, keeping your site responsive.

The solution also enables you to develop relationships with specific demand partners, ensuring high-quality bids and ad creative. With the right configuration, you can also block bids from certain industries, creative formats, and more. 

Enhanced Transparency

Traditionally, programmatic advertising has been a highly gated space—prebid flips that idea on its head with its open-source code. 

All that means is that the code is free and open for all to see and improve upon. This approach is community-centric and ultimately democratizes the programmatic ad space, one line of code at a time. 

The flexibility of this solution also encourages publishers to customize the code to their needs, making it highly adaptable and scalable as your advertising needs change. 

Heightened Ad Efficiency

Prebid makes your ad ecosystem significantly more efficient, namely in reducing latency issues. 

Latency is the delay between when the bid requests are sent and the demand partners’ responses. 

Prebid alleviates this concern by adhering to strict time-out parameters, which provides a window of opportunity for each party to bid on the slot. Finding the perfect “goldilocks” timeout guardrails for your site ensures partners get a fair chance to bid on the slot without sacrificing page load times for your end-users. 

Better Access To Ad Formats 

Prebid plays well with all ad formats, including display, native, video, mobile, and in-app ads. 

It’s important to remember that to run effectively, mobile ads, accelerated mobile pages (AMP), and long-form videos must be funneled through a prebid server, not prebid.js. 

Enhanced Customization

With prebid, you're in control of your ad destiny. 

You can choose from over 250 demand partners, set price floors, adjust timeout settings, and implement custom price buckets. It's like having a control panel for your ad operations.

Does your site have varying traffic patterns? No problem. With prebid, you can customize settings based on your unique traffic patterns, like whether your audience is more mobile or desktop-heavy.

Built-In Troubleshooting

When the going gets tough, prebid's got your back with a community of problem solvers. 

The prebid framework comes with tools, solutions, and a community ready to help you debug and optimize.

Keep in mind that even though there is access to support, the technical implementation would fall on your shoulders unless you work with a prebid partner. 

Strong Data-privacy and Compliance Measures 

In today's privacy-conscious world, prebid helps you stay on the right side of the law:

  • GDPR and CCPA compliant: Prebid allows you to manage user consent signals and comply with major data privacy regulations.
  • Navigate the regulatory maze: With Playwire's expertise, you can ensure your prebid setup adheres to the specific laws and regulations governing your industry.

Implementing prebid is like adding a turbo boost to your ad strategy. But like any powerful tool, it requires proper setup and ongoing optimization. That's where a managed partner like Playwire comes in—we're here to help you harness the full potential of prebid without getting bogged down in the technical details.

While Prebid offers numerous benefits, it also comes with its fair share of challenges. Let's dive into the hurdles publishers often face when implementing and optimizing Prebid.

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  • Overall Challenges of Prebid for Publishers

    Implementing Prebid is like assembling a high-performance race car. You might have all the parts, but putting them together correctly and fine-tuning to win on race day requires expertise, time, and ongoing attention.

    Technical Requirements of Set Up and Ongoing Optimization

    Yes, Prebid is technically "free," but there's no such thing as a free lunch in ad tech. The technical requirements for setup and ongoing optimization can be substantial.

    Prebid requires careful configuration and constant fine-tuning to achieve optimal results.

    For example, here's a snippet of what a basic Prebid configuration might look like:

javascript

pbjs.que.push(function() {

    pbjs.addAdUnits(adUnits);

    pbjs.setConfig({

        debug: true,

        enableSendAllBids: true,

        priceGranularity: customConfigObject,

        userSync: {

            iframeEnabled: true

        }

    });

    pbjs.requestBids({

        bidsBackHandler: initAdserver,

        timeout: 1000

    });

});

Did your eyes glaze over? 

Buckle up, because this is just the tip of the iceberg. After initial setup, you need to consider:

  • Adapters for different demand partners
  • Various ad sizes and formats
  • Bid collection and evaluation
  • Price floor settings
  • Integration with your ad server
  • And much more

It's not just about technical setup; it's an ongoing process of maintenance and optimization. You need to regularly review performance, adjust parameters, and stay updated with the latest Prebid versions and best practices.

Controlling Page Load Speed

Page speed is critical for user experience; it's a core web vital that Google (and other search engines) cares about. 

According to Google, 53% of mobile site visits are abandoned if pages take longer than 3 seconds to load.

And depending on your bidding ecosystem and timeout parameters, prebid can slow down your site. 

To mitigate these potential issues:

  • Implement lazy-loading for below-the-fold ads
  • Use asynchronous loading for Prebid.js
  • Set stricter timeout parameters
  • Limit the number of bidders per ad unit

Handling Time-Out Situations

Time-outs are a delicate balancing act in Prebid. Set them too short, and you might miss out on high-value bids. Set them too long, and you risk poor user experience and lost impressions.

A common mistake is setting the Failsafe timeout equal to or lower than the Prebid timeout. This can lead to a "timeout trap" where no bids make it to the ad server, even when some are available.

To avoid this, always set your Failsafe timeout higher than your Prebid timeout. A good rule of thumb is:

text

Failsafe_timeout = Prebid_timeout + 300ms

Choosing The Right Demand Partners

With over 250 demand partners available in Prebid, choosing the right ones can be overwhelming. Each partner adds complexity and potential latency, so it's crucial to select those that provide the best balance of bid quality, fill rate, and response time for your specific inventory.

If you need to make changes down the road, don’t fret—prebid is super flexible, allowing you to swap out demand partners as needed. 

 

Setting Appropriate Price Floors

Price floors can help protect the value of your inventory, but set them too high, and you risk losing out on revenue. Prebid allows for granular control over price floors, but determining the right values requires careful analysis of your bid landscape and regular adjustments based on market conditions.

Overall Revenue Optimization

Perhaps the biggest challenge is tying all these elements together to maximize your revenue. This requires a deep understanding of programmatic advertising, constant monitoring of performance metrics, and the ability to make data-driven decisions to fine-tune your Prebid setup.

Remember, while these challenges are significant, they're not insurmountable. With the right expertise, tools, and partnerships, you can navigate these hurdles and unlock the full potential of Prebid for your ad inventory.

Now that you understand the general benefits and challenges of prebidding, let’s take it a step further and examine the pros and cons of the two most prevalent types of prebidding set-ups: prebid.js and prebid server. 

Breaking Down The Benefits of Prebid.Js

When you think of prebid, you’re probably thinking about prebid.js, or client-side prebid. 

Prebid.js is the standard format for this type of header bidding solution. It runs via JavaScript code that functions directly in the user's browser. 

This client-side approach offers several key advantages for publishers looking to maximize their ad revenue.

Reduced Latency

We’ve said it once and we’ll say it again: latency is a major concern for publishers in the header bidding process. But Prebid.js tackles this head-on. 

It calls on pre-selected bidders within a set timeout window, ensuring that slow-responding bidders don't hold up the entire process. This clever approach minimizes delays and keeps your pages loading quickly.

Better Targeting

Prebid.js is a browser-based operation giving it access to user cookies. This direct line to user data can result in better cookie matching, potentially leading to higher cost-per-mile CPMs for publishers. It's like having a backstage pass to the user's browsing habits, allowing for more precise ad targeting.

Simpler Structure

Prebid.js is like a well-organized toolbox, offering both simplicity and flexibility. 

First, it’s lightweight and modular. Publishers can customize their Prebid.js build to include only the modules and adapters they need. This à la carte approach minimizes the impact on page load times, ensuring your site stays snappy.

It also offers simplified modules and configurations. For publishers just dipping their toes into the header bidding waters, Prebid.js offers a more straightforward integration process compared to server-side solutions. It's like having training wheels for your header bidding bicycle.

Flexible Timeout Settings

With Prebid.js, you're the timekeeper of your own auction. The solution allows for granular control over timeout settings on a per-adapter basis. This flexibility lets you strike the perfect balance between maximizing bid competition and maintaining optimal page performance. 

Understanding The Challenges of Prebid.Js

While Prebid.js offers numerous benefits, it's not without its challenges. 

Establishing Price Parameters

One of the trickiest aspects of Prebid.js is setting up the right price granularity.

The problem arises when your price granularity doesn't align with your line item setup. For example, if your site's price granularity is set at $0.10 increments, but your line items are expecting $0.50 increments, bids like $0.71 or $0.99 won't match any line items.

To solve this, you need to ensure your price granularity settings in Prebid.js match your line item setup in your ad server. You can use custom price buckets to fine-tune this alignment.

Identifying and Fixing Bugs with Ad Server

Sometimes, there's a miscommunication between Prebid.js and your ad server, leading to issues like not showing the right ads.

This can happen for various reasons, such as incorrect key-value targeting or mismatched price buckets. To troubleshoot, double-check your ad server configuration and ensure it aligns with your Prebid.js setup.

Combining Prebid with Other Ad Slots 

Imagine you're running a race, but some runners got a head start. That's what happens when you have non-Prebid line items like sponsorships competing with Prebid bids. Even if Prebid brings in higher bids, these pre-existing deals might still win out.

To address this, you need to carefully manage your ad server's prioritization. Consider creating a separate order for Prebid line items and adjusting priorities to ensure fair competition.

Navigating Google's API

Google's ad exchange API is like a labyrinth—complex and code-heavy. Navigating it effectively requires advanced internal resources and expertise.

This challenge often requires either investing in training for your team or partnering with experts who can handle the complexities for you.

Securing Real-Time Analytics

Prebid.js doesn't come with built-in real-time prebid analytics. 

To solve this, you need to set up additional analytics adapters. This requires extra configuration but provides valuable insights into your Prebid performance.

General Tips for Troubleshooting Prebid.js

If you’re looking to troubleshoot issues in your prebid.js set up, here’s where you can start:

  • Stay current: Ensure you're using the latest version of Prebid. The open-source community is constantly improving it, so staying updated can solve many issues.
  • Check your ad server: Many problems stem from ad server misconfigurations. Review your settings for latency, page load, targeting, and more.
  • Use debugging tools: Prebid.js offers various debugging options. Enable them to get more detailed information about what's happening under the hood.
  • Monitor performance: Regularly check your Prebid.js performance. Look for sudden changes in metrics like bid rate or win rate, which could indicate issues.

Remember, while these challenges can seem daunting, they're not insurmountable. With patience, expertise, and the right prebid partner, you can overcome these hurdles and make Prebid.js work for you.

Breaking Down The Benefits of Prebid Server

While Prebid.js runs directly in the user's browser, Prebid Server, or server-side header bidding, operates on a separate server, offering a different set of advantages for publishers. 

This server-side solution becomes particularly crucial in digital spaces where JavaScript code doesn't function, such as AMP pages, apps, long-form video, and digital out-of-home advertising.

Let's dive into the key benefits that make Prebid Server a game-changer for many publishers. 

Enhanced Ad Functionality

Prebid Server isn't a one-trick pony—it's the Swiss Army knife of header bidding solutions, offering up:

  • Mobile and video support: Whether your audience is swiping through mobile content or binge-watching videos, Prebid Server has you covered.
  • Versatility across platforms: From apps to digital billboards, Prebid Server ensures you're monetizing where your audience is engaging.

With consumers engaging with digital content across devices, being able to serve multi-device ads across various platforms isn't just nice to have—it's essential for maximizing your revenue potential.

Increased Demand Partner Capacity

Unlike browser-based solutions, Prebid Server can handle a larger number of demand partners without impacting site speed.

And more bidders can increase the competition for each ad slot, potentially driving up prices and boosting your bottom line.

By opening the floodgates to more demand partners, you're creating a more competitive environment for your ad inventory, which can lead to higher CPMs and increased revenue.

Augmentation with Prebid.js

Prebid Server gets along very well with its browser-based sibling. 

You can run Prebid Server alongside Prebid.js, creating a robust, dual-pronged approach to header bidding. This combination allows you to leverage the strengths of both client-side and server-side solutions simultaneously.

Think of it as having both a sprinter and a marathon runner on your team—each excels in different scenarios, making your overall strategy more versatile and effective.

Highly Scalable

For publishers with big ambitions or already riding the wave of success, Prebid Server is your ticket to the big leagues.

As your traffic increases, Prebid Server can easily scale to meet demand without sacrificing performance. Server-side processing means less strain on users' devices, ensuring a smooth experience even as you expand your operations. 

Challenges of Prebid Server 

While Prebid Server offers numerous advantages, it's not without its challenges. Let's dive into some hurdles publishers might face when implementing this server-side solution.

Lower Cookie Match

One of the most significant drawbacks of Prebid Server is the reduced synchronization with user cookies. This can have a substantial impact on targeting capabilities.

When auctions occur server-side, the direct access to user data that client-side solutions enjoy is diminished. This means that demand partners may have less accurate information about users, potentially leading to lower bid prices and less relevant ads.

Lower Transparency

Prebid Server can feel like a black box compared to its client-side counterpart. The lack of visibility into winning bids can make it challenging to monitor and optimize your ad quality effectively.

With client-side header bidding solutions, you can easily peek under the hood to see which bids are winning and why. But when everything happens server-side, that transparency is reduced. This can make it harder to troubleshoot issues, identify high-performing demand partners, or catch potential quality concerns before they become problems.

Higher Costs

Implementing and maintaining Prebid Server can be more costly than client-side solutions in two main ways:

  • Technical costs: Setting up Prebid Server requires more infrastructure. You'll need to consider the costs of the server itself, its setup, and ongoing configurations. 
  • Operational costs: Running and optimizing a Prebid Server setup demands significant coding expertise. This can be particularly challenging for smaller publishers who may not have the necessary resources in-house. The complexity of managing a server-side solution can quickly become overwhelming without the right team in place.

However, there's a silver lining. Publishers can outsource the management of their Prebid implementation—whether it's client-side, server-side, or a hybrid approach—to a header bidding partner like Playwire. This can help mitigate the operational challenges while still reaping the benefits of Prebid Server.

Earn More Revenue With A Prebid Partner

Prebid offers incredible potential, but implementing and optimizing it requires technical expertise, constant monitoring, and strategic thinking.

We get it—you want to maximize your ad revenue without getting bogged down in complex technical details. That's exactly why Playwire exists. We're not just another ad tech company; we're your strategic partner in turning Prebid's potential into real revenue.

Don't let the technical challenges of Prebid hold you back. Let Playwire transform your ad monetization from a headache to a high-performance revenue stream.

Take the first step: apply to work with Playwire today and unlock your website's full revenue potential.

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