The Spectre of Inefficiency in AdTech: What's Really Holding Us Back?

Five Questions To Ask Before Handing The Keys To Your Programmatic Partner

Mon, 30 Mar 2026 09:23:39 GMT

Five Questions To Ask Before Handing The Keys To Your Programmatic Partner

If you’re evaluating a programmatic partner right now, the demo probably looks great. The pipes connect, the UI is tidy, and the road map sounds like it was written for your exact pain points. That’s the easy part.

The harder part is admitting what your checklist can’t tell you. Plugging in cleanly doesn’t reveal whether you’re paying for a business advantage or slowly outsourcing control. The difference shows up later, when you need to explain your decisions.

If you have a niggling feeling that you’re about to give something away, you need to look past the features and into the operating model.

If you want to protect your margins, your data and your long-term strategy, here are five questions worth asking before you sign anything.

1. Who wins when you win?

Before you compare dashboards, ask: How does this company actually make money? If their margins improve when the supply path gets longer, when fees get harder to untangle or when you can’t easily audit decisions, that’s an incentive issue.

Incentive issues don’t show up in demos. They show up later, usually when a buyer is asking uncomfortable questions and you’re under pressure to explain performance.

The strongest partnerships are structured for the platform to win when the publisher or network wins. Especially in tighter markets, that alignment creates room for honest conversations about trade-offs, pricing and quality. Without it, you’re always swimming upstream.

2. Are you paying a competitor in disguise?

A conflict of interest in ad tech rarely looks dramatic. It’s subtle. It’s a business unit that trades media on the side. It’s a demand arm that quietly competes for the same inventory. It’s about sitting on both sides of the transaction “for efficiency.”

If your partner trades media, represents demand or participates meaningfully in the same auctions, assume there’s tension baked into the relationship until proven otherwise.

That doesn’t mean the relationship can’t work. It means you need clarity in writing and in practice: clear data-access rules; explicit fee disclosure; real separation between teams. When lines blur, they almost always blur in favor of the party with more power. You shouldn’t have to rely on goodwill to protect your own inventory.

3. Can you see under the platform’s hood?

“Transparency” gets thrown around like a brand value. It’s not; it’s an operational capability.

If a buyer challenges a result, can you trace the impression? Can you explain where it originated, how it was packaged, how it was priced and how money moved through the chain without filing a support ticket?

You should be able to inspect logs, interrogate reporting and validate delivery at a granular level. If visibility only appears in curated dashboards or after a back-and-forth with account support, that’s not transparency.

In today’s environment, where scrutiny from brands and agencies keeps rising, being able to explain your supply path in plain English is table stakes.

4. Does cross-channel functionality feel cohesive?

CTV, audio and DOOH aren’t experimental budget lines anymore; they’re central to how campaigns are planned and judged. Industry forecasts project that programmatic DOOH spend will reach around $2.2 billion globally in 2025, and programmatic audio about $2.3 billion. These numbers show that programmatic execution is spreading across environments with very different signals, creative constraints and definitions of success.

If your partner treats each channel like its own isolated governance model, your team ends up reconciling spreadsheets instead of improving the product you sell.

What you want is shared guardrails; consistent KPIs where they make sense; unified reporting that doesn’t fall apart the moment a plan spans web, video, CTV and audio. Cross-channel shouldn’t feel like separate planets held together by duct tape. It should feel like one operating model with nuance built in.

5. Is the automation explainable?

Platform automation isn’t optional anymore. Optimization only works if you can articulate what it’s optimizing for and what it’s willing to sacrifice. If you can’t answer those questions, you can’t defend outcomes to buyers, and you can’t protect the quality of the inventory you’re curating.

The most resilient setups blend repeatable, rules-based logic with human judgment. Rules can be tested, adjusted, rolled back and scaled across format, geography, device and time. They create consistency without removing accountability.

The real decision: advantage or dependency?

When you stress-test incentives, conflicts of interest, transparency, cross-channel governance and optimization logic, the feature list in the demo finally starts to mean something. You’re no longer buying promises; you’re choosing an operating model that gives you a competitive advantage.

Publishers and networks are increasingly expected to act as curators. That brings with it the need for accountability: proving quality, explaining performance and showing a clean path from supply to buyer outcomes.

Before you hand over the keys, ask yourself: Will this partner make those conversations easier or harder? Because the integration was never the real risk; the incentives are.

Also shared in AdExchanger

Limelight’s Adaptive Rules Center delivers 4x improvement in auction success rate for performance-based SSP

Wed, 25 Mar 2026 09:19:13 GMT

Limelight’s Adaptive Rules Center delivers 4x improvement in auction success rate for performance-based SSP

Automated creative quality controls helped protect performance-based SSP’s publisher performance

Limelight Inc. has released the results of a deployment of its Adaptive Rules Center (ARC) with a performance-based SSP (Supply-side Platform). The SSP successfully utilised ARC to resolve creative quality issues, significantly improving auction performance across its video stack.

Adaptive Rules Center is Limelight’s rule-based optimisation toolkit that enables partners to build custom logic that reflects their own goals and trading strategy. Enabling partners to set performance and quality controls, ARC helps maintain a safer and more stable trading environment. It enables partners to integrate their own operational and quality standards into automated workflows, driving stronger performance, while retaining full control and transparency.

Prior to deploying ARC, the SSP consistently faced issues with empty VAST creatives – outdated tags that bid on every auction but fail to deliver impressions. This led to publisher frustration, loss of revenues, and decreased delivery reliability.

The SSP used ARC to deploy a “Add Creative ID to List” rule. Using just this rule, the SSP was able to automate the detection and blocking of all under-performing creatives. After seven days, if valid activity was detected, blocked creatives were able to re-enter the auction.

The SSP saw immediate results after implementing the rule, with a 4x improvement in success rate (auction wins vs impressions served) alongside a healthier auction environment, with improved revenue and traffic stability. These results were achieved without adding any additional workload, and with no manual effort required to maintain the creative quality controls.

The case study showcases how Limelight’s ARC can be used not only for traffic and QPS (Queries per Second) optimisation, but also to maintain and enhance auction quality and creative compliance – leading to more sustainable monetisation, while protecting publisher relationships.

There’s more info on ARC here .

Limelight Inc Hires Programmatic Heavyweight Oshri Raz as VP USA Strategic Alliances

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 09:16:40 GMT

Limelight Inc Hires Programmatic Heavyweight Oshri Raz as VP USA Strategic Alliances

Programmatic platform Limelight Inc ., the fastest-growing independent white-label platform, has appointed Oshri Raz as VP USA Strategic Alliances to continue to grow the company's fast-emerging footprint in the USA. His primary focus will be on managing the continued fast roll-out and take-up of Limelight Inc programmatic white label tools, and further establishing Limelight Inc as a primary independent programmatic infrastructure partner across the USA.

Raz has extensive experience in the global ad tech and programmatic landscape, having previously held senior business development and commercial leadership roles at EX.CO (formerly Playbuzz), where he was instrumental in building and scaling the company’s global publisher monetisation footprint.

Oshri Raz said: "I’m excited to join Limelight at such a pivotal moment in the evolution of programmatic infrastructure. The market is demanding greater transparency, operational control, and scalable independence - and Limelight has built a strong foundation to deliver exactly that."

"What truly differentiates us is our service-first mindset. We believe in long-term collaboration - we only win when our clients win. We are independent and provide market-leading technology which unlocks performance, efficiency, and opportunity for our partners. I look forward to leading further growth in the Americas and working closely with publishers and networks who are ready to modernise their monetisation infrastructure, while partnering with a team that is both technologically strong and commercially accountable."

James Macdonald, Limelight co-founder and chief revenue officer, said: "The USA is still the largest global trading market in programmatic advertising, and as a result, we have developed a strong presence in terms of partners, people, and successful implementation in the region. Oshri represents a senior, key and exciting hire for us, reinforcing our commitment to excellence and to sharing our values in the USA. Our technology and model is designed to support transparent and cutting-edge,360-degree programmatic activity. Our partners use Limelight to drive their own destinies and build their own wholly-owned value. Oshri is superbly placed to share these values in the US market."

IAB UK digital adspend report: Industry reactions

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 09:13:59 GMT

IAB UK digital adspend report: Industry reactions

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz' 'IAB UK digital adspend report: Industry reactions’:

Digital adspend in the UK has surpassed the £40 billion mark for the first time according to industry body IAB UK.

Video and retail media were among the most prominent gainers, and we’ve been garnering reactions from leaders in the adtech and advertising world…

David Nelson, co-Founder, Limelight:

“Clearly there was turbulence generally in 2025, and that continues – both in economic and geopolitical terms and in the challenges faced by the ad market, which include signal loss, ID volatility, supply-path bloat and the uncertain impact of AI.

“But the fact that the UK digital ad market still grew by almost 10%, with programmatic accounting for 80%, tells you a lot about the market’s resilience and its appetite for new approaches.

“Obviously we are all seeing a lot of movement of budget from older static channels into newer ones such as CTV and VOD, but at an infrastructure level the appetite for bespoke, white-label solutions has only grown, and the imperative remain the same: to focus on clean, authenticated supply paths and curated demand.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

How to choose a programmatic partner (without giving away the keys)

Tue, 24 Feb 2026 09:10:59 GMT

How to choose a programmatic partner (without giving away the keys)

The co-founder of Limelight sets out a practical way to choose a programmatic partner – one that helps you curate quality supply, prove value to buyers, and adapt as identity, channels, and measurement keep shifting.

Choosing a programmatic partner used to feel like a purely technical decision. Does it plug in cleanly, scale, and handle the basics without drama? That checklist still matters, but it no longer tells you whether you’re buying leverage – or dependency.

Privacy changes, platform policy shifts and supply-path inefficiency have raised the bar on what buyers and publishers expect. Volume alone doesn’t win trust when the path is opaque, identity signals are volatile, and quality is hard to prove. Networks are being pushed towards a curatorial role, and that makes the partner behind the curtain far more consequential.

A partner brings technology, but also incentives, controls, and an operating model. If those foundations are misaligned, every feature becomes harder to trust when the market gets noisy. The safest way to choose is to test for independence, auditability, cross-channel coherence and pragmatic automation. This is how we suggest you go about it:

Start with incentives, not integrations

Most evaluations begin with integrations because they’re easy to tick off on a checklist. The harder truth is that incentives decide outcomes, especially when budgets tighten and pointed questions about quality are raised. Before you compare dashboards and endpoints, it’s worth clarifying how your partner makes money – and what they’re rewarded for.

If their margins improve when the supply path adds hops, or when you lose visibility, that can signal a structural problem. On the other hand, if their success is linked to yours, and they’re purely a platform provider (not a trading competitor that hides fees or maintains control), then you’ve found a stronger alignment.

Partner selection gets clearer when you treat it as an incentivisation question, rather than simply a software procurement exercise.

Take the conflict-of-interest test

Ask whether your partner trades media or sits on both sides of the table in any form. If it does, it may be buying or selling the same inventory, and that means it is effectively competing with you.

In this case, you’d need explicit safeguards in the contract, including transparency on fees, clear data-access terms, and a documented separation between trading and client teams.

Then look at how governance works in practice. Ask what you can actually audit, such as whether you can access supply-path logs, fee transparency and third-party verification, so you can prove quality to buyers. If the answers are unclear, there’s a risk of revenue leakage, buyer frustration, or publisher distrust.

Insist on transparency you can audit

Transparency is not simply a brand value, but an operational capability. You should be able to explain where impressions come from, how they’re packaged, and how money moves through the chain. That requires access to the right data and a partner who doesn’t treat access as a concession.

In practical terms, you’re looking for clear fee disclosure, consistent reporting, and the ability to investigate delivery at a granular level when needed. You also want flexibility around verification and measurement partners, because trust is easier to maintain when third parties can confirm what you’re claiming.

If a partner can’t support routine auditing, you’re choosing opacity, and that will eventually surface as commercial friction.

Overcome the channel challenge

CTV, audio, and DOOH aren’t side quests anymore; they’re part of how buyers actually plan. That shift creates a new expectation: that packaged supply should be cleaner, more comparable, and easier to measure across formats.

Forecasts in industry reporting have put programmatic DOOH spend at $2.2bn and programmatic audio at $2.3bn in 2025. Those numbers matter less than what they imply: that programmatic execution is spreading across environments with very different signals, creative rules, and definitions of success.

If your partner treats each channel as a reporting silo, you’ll spend your time reconciling reports instead of improving the packages you sell.

A better model is one where channels share controls and governance, even when the formats differ. You want standardised KPIs that make sense and unified reporting that doesn’t break when a plan spans web, video, CTV, and audio. That’s how you turn channel expansion into a package buyers actually trust.

Make sure the optimisation model is optimal

Yes, automation will always be necessary, but black-box automation is where it becomes a liability. The best optimisation decisions still depend on context, including what counts as quality for your buyers, which inventory to protect, and which trade-offs you’re willing to accept.

A strong partner helps you automate repeatable work while keeping strategic judgment in human hands.

One pragmatic approach is rules-based optimisation, which allows teams to set multi-dimensional logic across variables such as format, geography, device type, audience segments, and time of day. That kind of design is valuable because it’s explainable, testable and adjustable, even when the market changes. It also encourages healthier conversations with buyers, since you can describe how decisions are made, rather than asking them to trust decisions they can’t see.

Scale should work the same way. You want the ability to test efficiently, learn quickly, and then ramp with confidence, rather than flooding the market with volume and hoping performance catches up. When optimisation is transparent and scaling is controlled, a network can act like a curator with standards, rather than a middleman chasing throughput.

In the end, choosing the right partner comes down to a few non-negotiables. Incentives should reward transparency and long-term trust, rather than hidden take rates and forced dependence. The platform should support cross-channel packaging as a single operating model, and automation should be powerful while remaining accountable.

If those pieces are in place, the rest of the feature list becomes far easier to believe and, crucially, will let you stay in control.

Also shared on The Media Leader

How Leading Ad Networks Turn Dynamic Optimisation into a Competitive Advantage

Tue, 17 Feb 2026 14:18:30 GMT

How Leading Ad Networks Turn Dynamic Optimisation into a Competitive Advantage

Ad networks have sophisticated technology, wider demand access and connections with several platforms. However, the ability to monetise demand effectively does not hinge simply on access but on how optimisation is executed.

The leading ad networks are doing more than just plugging into demand. They are fine-tuning their performance by consistently shaping, filtering and scaling using dynamic optimisation - giving them the competitive advantage they need to succeed.

The transition in strategy - from manual adjustments to rules-driven optimisation - is exactly what Limelight Inc.’s Adaptive Rules Center (ARC) was built to support.

Read on to learn more about the shift from manual to dynamic optimisation with ARC.

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The ARC Playbook For CTV Networks: How CTV Networks Scale Faster with Dynamic Optimisation

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:41:51 GMT

The ARC Playbook For CTV Networks: How CTV Networks Scale Faster with Dynamic Optimisation

The growth of CTV - with a projected 13.3% YoY spend increase in 2025 - has made it an increasingly valuable channel in programmatic advertising. However, despite the growth, CTV remains an operationally complex environment. Quality inventory, changing demand levels, tight QPS limits and issues with creative delivery means that outcomes and yield can fluctuate rapidly. Regardless, most CTV networks are growing using batch optimisations with regular reporting cycles leading to manual decision making and reactive changes. An approach that will not be able to keep up with CTV’s growth.

The CTV networks that will be able to match the channel’s rise will be the ones with the ability to make quick and reliable optimisation decisions. It’s in this scenario that Limelight’s latest product, Adaptive Rules Center (ARC) - a rule-based toolkit that lets partners automate performance optimisations across their RTB stack - proves most valuable.

Read on for practical insights on how CTV networks can scale effectively using ARC.

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From Vendor to Ally: A Practical Framework for Choosing the Right Programmatic Partner

Mon, 09 Feb 2026 12:32:12 GMT

From Vendor to Ally: A Practical Framework for Choosing the Right Programmatic Partner

The programmatic ecosystem continues to evolve; development in technology means that auctions take place even faster with increasingly sophisticated tools and platforms. However, despite the progress, there is a recurring problem that continues to creep up: too many publishers and ad networks are working with platforms that may not necessarily have their best, long-term interests at heart.

Many companies look at choosing a programmatic partner as simply a technology decision. In reality, this is a crucial business decision - one that can either amplify the company’s success or slowly erode their margins, data advantage and control. Alignment with the partner that you choose, right from the beginning, is fundamental.

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The pursuit of ad transparency: five minutes with… David Nelson

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 07:27:29 GMT

The pursuit of ad transparency: five minutes with… David Nelson

David Nelson, co-founder and CEO of Limelight Inc., has spent over two decades in digital media. Here, he shares his perspective on how automation, data, and collaboration are reshaping the relationship between publishers, advertisers, and technology.

Q: You’ve been part of the digital media landscape for more than two decades. What are the standout changes you’ve seen in our industry, and how have they impacted publishers?

A: Twenty years ago, digital was the experimental corner of the media plan – now it’s the foundation. And while programmatic brought efficiency, it also added layers of complexity that obscured how value moves through the supply chain.

For publishers, that shift has been both empowering and disruptive. Yes, they now have global buyer access and more monetisation routes than ever, but they’ve also had to manage an ecosystem burdened by opaque mechanics, duplicated auctions, and intermediaries taking disproportionate value.

However, we know publishers are becoming far more assertive . They’re prioritising transparency, investing in first-party data, and pushing back against inefficiency as a tax on yield and trust. The pendulum is swinging back toward quality, control, and sustainability.

Q: How do you see the current state of programmatic affecting publishers, particularly those balancing audience growth with sustainable revenues?

A: Programmatic forced publishers to become operationally sophisticated businesses. It’s no longer just about audience and content; today it’s about how efficiently you manage the systems and economics around monetisation. The market is also dealing with significant noise – for instance signal loss, ID volatility, supply-path bloat – and that’s made efficiency and supply-side curation absolutely central.

So the publishers who succeed will be those who maintain scale but focus their energy on clean, authenticated supply paths and curated demand. They reclaim value by ensuring their inventory isn’t diluted by hidden fees or poor-quality buyers. Programmatic can serve premium content brilliantly, but only when the supply chain respects that value.

Q: Automation and AI are reshaping the industry. What practical impact do you think that will have on publishers and their operations?

A: Publishers have been automating yield decisions, workflow and reporting for years, but what’s changing is the level of intelligence built into those systems. AI can optimise delivery, identify patterns, and even predict audience behaviour at a scale that humans simply can’t replicate. But AI is only as good as the data you feed it. Our recent findings make it clear that clean supply paths and high-quality signals significantly improve AI-driven decisioning. If you put noisy, duplicated or low-integrity data into an optimisation model, it will misfire.

And crucially, AI still can’t understand editorial values, audience nuance, or the strategic objectives behind a publisher’s brand. Human oversight remains essential – not just to steer the system, but to contextualise its output and uphold standards. The future is hybrid: AI for scale and speed, and humans for judgement and integrity.

Q: Transparency and trust continue to be major talking points in adtech. How can publishers realistically achieve greater clarity over their data and revenues?

A: For publishers, transparency starts with visibility. You can’t optimise what you can’t see, so the first step is understanding exactly where your inventory is being traded, who’s involved in each transaction, what each intermediary contributes – or takes away.

Also, buyers want authenticated supply paths, verifiable quality, and fewer unknown deltas. So the more publishers can surface clean, traceable routes – and eliminate circular trading or black-box fees – the more confidence they instil in advertisers.

And then of course there’s the environmental aspect of transparency: inefficient supply chains generate unnecessary server load and avoidable carbon emissions, whereas cleaner paths improve both yield and sustainability.

Q: With third-party cookies disappearing, what do you think will define successful publisher strategies in the next few years?

A: What’s emerging is an identity-agnostic approach to targeting – one that values audience intent and contextual relevance over individual identifiers. There will always be new identifiers and solutions, but the fundamentals remain: understand your audience, protect your data, and articulate the value of your environment. And importantly, curated demand becomes more valuable in an ID-volatile world because knowing who your buyers are protects revenue and trust.

Q: The industry talks a lot about collaboration between publishers, advertisers, and tech partners. What does real collaboration look like to you?

A: True collaboration is when all sides have aligned incentives and a shared understanding of value. Too often, partnerships in adtech are transactional – driven by short-term metrics or opaque revenue shares. What we’re beginning to see now is more maturity. Publishers are asking harder questions, advertisers are demanding clarity, and technology partners are being held accountable for outcomes.

It goes back to transparency (on costs, outcomes, and sustainability), honesty about trade-offs, and shared visibility into performance. When everyone in the chain can see what the others are trying to achieve, that’s when innovation wins through.

Q: What advice would you give to someone just starting out in programmatic or digital media today?

A: If something sounds complicated, whoever’s explaining it probably hasn’t understood it themselves. This industry often makes simple things sound technical, but the fundamentals are straightforward: you’re connecting audiences, content and advertisers in a way that creates value for all three.

So ask questions, challenge jargon, and never stop learning. The technology will change constantly, but curiosity and authenticity never go out of style. And remember, it’s still a people business. The relationships you build now will matter more than any algorithm you work with.

Q: What’s on the horizon for Limelight Inc?

A: One of our headline innovations this year is the Adaptive Rules Center (ARC) , which was born from watching our CS team repeating the same optimisations for clients. It was a huge time drain, and I thought surely there’s a better way. ARC lets clients build their own optimisation logic – without engineering resources – and apply it directly to their trading workflow.

A year or two ago, a demand partner might have accepted a two-week optimisation period for 15,000 QPS. Today, they need to see performance immediately. So you can start small, with minimal QPS – and the platform automatically scales performance up or down in real time.

As for the future, we see three directions for ARC:

Expanding from the demand side into the supply side, using adaptive rules to validate supply paths, check transparency, and optimise bid floors.
Improving visibility and explainability – eliminating the “black box” frustration around AI by surfacing decisions and logic in human-readable ways – particularly useful for agencies reporting to clients.
Supporting real-time transparency and auditability, making it easier for our partners to understand not just what works, but why.

Also shared on InPublishing:

AA/WARC Q3 2025: Industry reactions

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 07:49:23 GMT

AA/WARC Q3 2025: Industry reactions

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz' 'AA/WARC Q3 2025: Industry reactions’:

Despite numerous economic and geopolitical headwinds, UK ad spend continued to rise resilient in the third quarter of last year and is forecast to surpass £50bn for the first time in 2026, according to the latest AA/WARC Expenditure Report reading.

Encouraging signs of a robust corner of the UK economy, but we asked industry leaders from across the advertising and marketing world for reaction to the latest report …

James Macdonald, co-Founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Limelight:

“The Q3 results highlight how both AI and programmatic are increasingly shaping the industry’s growth, particularly across search, VOD and online display, but neither works in isolation.

“AI is proving most valuable as a driver of efficiency that enhances human-led strategy, while programmatic continues to sit at the centre of media planning through flexible, white-label solutions that lower barriers to entry and enable scale.

“Together, they allow teams to focus less on the tools themselves and more on delivering performance and outcomes, which is ultimately where the industry’s attention is heading.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

IPA Bellwether: ‘Much of today’s AI investment is being wasted’

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 07:18:26 GMT

IPA Bellwether: ‘Much of today’s AI investment is being wasted’

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's 'IPA Bellwether: ‘Much of today’s AI investment is being wasted’’:

In the face of ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty and budget tension, marketers are relatively aligned on AI’s potential to solve modern marketing problems, the real challenge is implementing the technology effectively.

The latest IPA Bellwether report painted a pessimistic picture for the future of adland, with the usual boost from the Golden Quarter marred by 0.0% growth in UK adspend. Cost pressures, muted economic activity, budget constraints and another Autumn

Budget all contributed to the spending slowdown. However, despite the troubling figures, the future is not without opportunity –

headlined by technological innovation, specifically AI.

‘AI is not a stand alone solution’

James Macdonald, co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer, Limelight:

“AI expectedly continues to dominate industry developments and news headlines as companies continue to examine its ongoing iterations and impact. Its most important application should not be overlooked – AI is not a standalone solution, but a driver of efficiency that supports and enhances human-directed goals and agendas. When used correctly, it enables scale, performance and better outcomes

– but it remains most effective when guided by human strategy, judgment and intent, rather than operating in isolation.”

Read the full article on Performance Marketing World:

Limelight Inc. launches new programmatic tool, helping boost ad revenues by up to 300%

Mon, 26 Jan 2026 18:08:41 GMT

Limelight Inc. launches new programmatic tool, helping boost ad revenues by up to 300%

End-to-end optimisation toolkit enables platform users to curate inventory supply dynamically to better serve demand-side clients.

London, UK - 15th January 2026 - Advanced programmatic platform Limelight Inc. has launched the Adaptive Rules Centre (ARC) - a rules-based toolkit that enables users of Limelight’s white-label platform to customise and optimise ad performance through automation. In early tests, users have reported revenue increases of over 300% and fill rate increases of over 900% when ARC is deployed.

ARC enables users to tweak a variety of parameters on the Limelight platform, including the number of queries per second (QPS), geotargeting, fill rates and bid rates. This allows them to scale demand for supply sources that are performing well, while throttling demand for those that aren’t. It also makes it easy to optimise across multiple dimensions, such as size, geo, device type, user segment and time of day, with unprecedented levels of granularity.

Limelight Inc. describes ARC’s inventory management capabilities as “dynamic curation”, enabling ad networks and publishers to differentiate themselves by building custom logic that reflects their own goals, values and trading strategy - effectively adding their own secret sauce to the Limelight platform.

“They can effectively build their own custom algorithm, unique to them, and set the automation rules to meet the expectations of each of their demand partners, improving trading efficiency and profitability without sacrificing flexibility or transparency,” says Limelight co-founder and CEO David Nelson.

The ability to identify the best-performing supply sources and match them to demand in real time is increasingly important at a time when programmatic buyers are demanding better-performing inventory and rejecting poorer-performing sources.

“Our automation allows users to keep QPS low while we identify the best-performing inventory, then ramp it up quickly to meet demand,” says Nelson. “And that’s available round the clock, whether the ad ops team are at their desks or not. So if something catches fire and starts performing well in the middle of the night, the rules are in place to take advantage of that.”

Initial campaigns show the power of the ARC toolkit to supercharge ad performance:

An APAC-based ad exchange seeking to automatically optimise QPS for in-app ad inventory saw a 289% increase in ad revenues and a 10x increase in fill rate

A CTV network doubled revenue from high-performing demand sources by implementing a single optimisation rule, achieving a significant increase in eCPM while keeping below threshold QPS limits

A performance-based SSP used ARC to automatically detect and block non-performing creatives, generating a 4x improvement in success rate

“With ARC deployed, the ad ops team don’t need to spend all their time looking at spreadsheets and developing whitelists and blocklists,” Nelson continues. “The platform automation is doing the heavy lifting for them, so they can focus on analysing the rules they have in place, looking at where they could push things a bit further to make the platform do even more for them. It’s less about managing and reacting, more about strategising.”

ARC is available now globally to all users of the Limelight platform.

Also shared on The Drum:

IPA Bellwether Q4 2025 – Industry reactions

Thu, 15 Jan 2026 12:49:57 GMT

IPA Bellweather Q4 2025 - Industry reactions

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz's 'IPA Bellwether Q4 2025 – Industry reactions’:

According to the IPA Bellwether Q4 2025 reading, total UK marketing budgets remained unchanged in the final quarter of last year.

With the UK’s economic outlook dimming and political and economic uncertainty throwing shade on growth, we’ve been garnering reaction from some of the UK’s top adtech, creative and marketing leaders…

James Macdonald, co-Founder and Chief Revenue Officer, Limelight:

“The Bellwether report findings suggest a continued mood of “cautious optimism” across the UK market, with prioritisation centring around strategies that provide measurable outcomes and direct customer engagement.

“Against this backdrop, the integration and development of AI technologies remains at the forefront – not particularly as a standalone solution, but one whose integration enables efficiency, performance and scale, supporting human-directed strategy and goals.

“At the same time, programmatic advertising continues its growth trajectory, with more businesses adopting bespoke, white-label solutions.

“These solutions can deliver results without the operational burden of heavy development, cost or maintenance.

“With the focus on performance-led approaches, the emphasis is increasingly on results rather than tools alone.

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

‘Are my selfish desires more worthy than Google's selfish desires?’: Experts on Google vs DOJ antitrust trial

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 14:23:00 GMT

‘Are my selfish desires more worthy than Google's selfish desires?’: Experts on Google vs DOJ antitrust trial

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's 'Are my selfish desires more worthy than Google's selfish desires?’: Experts on Google vs DOJ antitrust trial':

Google and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) have officially concluded a two-week remedies trial over the tech giant’s illegal online advertising monopoly. The court will now deliberate if Google must open-source parts of its adtech systems or face other structural remedies. Closing arguments are scheduled for November 2025 and a ruling is expected in early 2026.

The DOJ is seeking structural remedies and pushing for a divestiture of Google Ad Manager while Google argues that breaking up integrated tools could have wider consequences and instead proposed to build on Ad Manager’s interoperability and allow publishers to use third-party tools to access Google’s advertiser bids in real-time.

A breakup of Google could potentially reshape the entire digital advertising landscape and have major implications on future big tech regulations. Industry experts spoke to PMW about exactly what should be done.

‘I really wouldn't be surprised if Google already has five or six products ready to replace any they may lose’

David Nelson, Co-founder and CEO, Limelight Inc., said:

"It’s really quite incredible that Google, the company that wrestled search dominance from Yahoo by not including ads, is now in this position. Really, it is a hero-to-zero transition. But I think that part of our human condition is sometimes to drag down greatness.

“I personally believe that Google has had huge success in the ad business by being good at developing products fast. Yes, it’s become clear that because of the success of those products and their strict controls around how they integrate with the wider infrastructure, they have developed a very large market dominance. It’s also clear that they made decisions which benefited Google while disenfranchising other companies. But at that same time, it makes for a great "how to grow your business" roadmap.

“I do find it a little odd that we critique a company for building great products, taking them to market well and growing a really successful business. After all, the complaints from industry by and large are coming from large businesses that have their very own similar policies. Is it not fair then, because they are not as big as Google? On the other hand, I'm as keen now as everyone else to jump on the bash Google bus!

“Yes, it would be much better for the rest of us if the world of ADX and GAM were more accessible. But are my selfish desires more worthy than Google's selfish desires? I think probably not.

“I guess we will all naturally land on one side of that argument or the other. Google has, without question, been found to hold a monopoly and so some change is required. But it’s amusing that Google gets to negotiate that change itself. I don't think we should ignore their ability to squeeze out of this relatively unscathed.

“What is perhaps more interesting is the time this all takes. The antitrust world moves at a snail’s pace compared to product development. I really wouldn't be surprised if Google already has five or six products ready to replace any they may lose. Perhaps this tech superiority is where Google holds the most power."

Read the full article on Performance Marketing World:

Experts Share: How The Rise Of Ads Impacts The Quality Of Online Platforms

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 13:58:51 GMT

Experts Share: How The Rise Of Ads Impacts The Quality Of Online Platforms

Excerpt shared from Tech Round's 'Experts Share: How The Rise Of Ads Impacts The Quality Of Online Platforms':

Advertising certainly has moved from being just television, radio and newspapers. McKinsey reports that new systems called commerce media networks are driving growth across platforms where people already spend time, such as travel apps, streaming sites and payment services. These networks place adverts directly within digital experiences, turning shopping, booking flights, even using a ride-hailing app, into a marketing opportunity.

The US market for CMNs is expected to reach more than $100 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate above 21%. McKinsey’s survey of 150 advertisers showed that 55% plan to raise their CMN spending in the next year. Advertisers are moving around budgets to be less social media and search so they display more ads with CMNs, which use first-party data to target people more precisely. This means more advertising is appearing in everyday activities that previously seemed free from commercial messages.

Large names such as Uber, United Airlines, DoorDash and PayPal now run their own media networks. This gives brands the chance to reach consumers through travel, delivery and financial platforms, where purchase intent is already high. Nearly 70% of travel advertisers and 60% of consumer goods companies said they plan to increase their spending in this space.

How Are Users Responding To Constant Advertising?

Not long ago, Meta announced that people in the UK will soon have to pay to remove adverts from Facebook and Instagram. The subscription will apply across all linked accounts through Meta’s Account Centre.

The company said that in 2024, its advertising tools helped create £65 billion in economic activity and over 357,000 jobs in the UK . Every pound spent on ads through Meta generated an average of £3.82 in revenue for UK companies. Meta argued that the UK’s more flexible rules compared with the EU make it easier to offer users choice without harming business growth.

With adverts appearing on more platforms, users are starting to question whether free services are truly free. Are all these targeted ads and strategies to make users pay for no ads impacting the overall user experience?

As Jason Patterson at Jewel Content Marketing Agency, said: “Advertising makes social media less social, by revealing its fundamental purpose as being commercial. People don’t mind advertising when it’s more attractive or interesting than what’s around it, but that’s rarely the case on social media, where fraudulent ad data makes advertisers believe their s**t don’t stink.”

Experts share their thoughts on this…

James Macdonald, Co-Founder and CRO, Limelight:

“Ads or no ads, that is the question , both from a commercial perspective as well as the user’. This is not a new thing. The Times and Sunday Times made a decision to go behind a paywall some years back. Spotify, and other platforms, offer the option to remove ads for an upgraded subscription. I personally think ads actually can and do add value if curated and managed in the right way by the publisher/platform but that’s another article in itself.

“In Meta’s case, it’s definitely a very real issue, as it’s clear the intrusive and indiscriminate nature of some of the targeting and creative, not to mention the content itself, really can dilute and affect the quality of the experience. On the other hand, for Meta to deliver many of the services it does , it kind of needs to be paid, so as ever, it’s a trade-off, and one that applies to many other publishers. In a nutshell, advertising economically powers the service and enables the platform to provide free access for the user, and Meta wouldn’t even exist today if Facebook hadn’t used ad revenues to build its business.

“In Meta’s case. I’d also hazard a guess that external pressure to better manage what has become a bit of a “Wild West” scenario has pushed them to make what is ultimately a headline-making play by offering a “subscription equals no ads” option. One thing you can be sure of is that Mark Zuckerberg and his team will keep a close eye on the bottom line and that’s ultimately what will decide how this will play out.”

Read the full article on Tech Round:

Limelight names Jez Fawcett as Global Head of Product

Tue, 07 Oct 2025 14:25:54 GMT

Limelight names Jez Fawcett as Global Head of Product

Experienced marketing services, adtech and data professional will spearhead a customer-focused product strategy

London, UK - 7th October 2025 - Programmatic platform Limelight Inc. has appointed Jez Fawcett to the role of Global Head of Product, with responsibility for leading the company’s product strategy and roadmap.

Jez will work across all Limelight teams to determine priorities for customer success, sales and marketing, aligned to the company’s Go-To-Market plan for market and sector growth. He will develop and implement new products that will enable Limelight to successfully navigate the next phase of its growth - informed at every stage by the needs of customers.

Throughout a career that has involved spells at Experian, Oracle (acquired Bluekai) and Rocket Fuel, Jez has been driven by a desire to understand customer challenges and find creative ways to help clients transform opportunities into tangible results.

“If our clients are successful, then we will be,” he says. “Keeping that close means we are always thinking of the customer first, understanding their needs and their problems and searching for solutions to them. I’ve worked to this mantra for 20 years in marketing services, data and ad tech and it’s something I see as a key part of the Limelight ethos, which is one of the things that attracted me to the company.”

Jez joins Limelight after eight years at Experian, where he initially spent four years as a Product Director within Experian’s Marketing Services business, before taking up the role of Domain Lead in Experian’s Credit Bureau division. In his time at Experian, Jez launched the first addressable advertising solution linking deterministic data to cookies that could be targeted programmatically.

Before that, Jez was Head of International Product at leading DSP Rocket Fuel, where he reported to David Nelson, who went on to co-found Limelight.

“It’s great to join forces with Jez once more,” said David Nelson. “He has a great eye for the nuances of adtech, and for extracting every last ounce of value out of programmatic platforms. These are attributes that will be extremely valuable for our clients, and for their customers.”

Also shared on The Drum:

How a Low-Fee Adtech Vendor Can Quietly Empty Your Pockets

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 09:02:27 GMT

How a Low-Fee Adtech Vendor Can Quietly Empty Your Pockets

David Nelson, co-founder and CEO, Limelight Inc., discussed tech stack expenses.

Every few months in the life of a publisher, a new supply-side platform or white-label exchange appears with an attractive proposition: “ license our technology for just 2-3% of spend, and we’ll even inject demand into your pipes on day one” .

On paper that looks like free margin. In practice, it’s the start of a silent wealth-transfer from publisher to platform. Here’s how these tech vendors perform their sleight of hand, and how it siphons off your revenue.

The silent expense in your tech stack

A tech vendor that both licenses technology and trades media earns revenue twice: once from the tech fee and then again from the bid-spread it pockets when reselling inventory. Crucially, it does not pay its own tech fee on those internal trades. When margins on inventory can reach 50+%, the arithmetic is irresistible: poach a partner’s best-performing placements, resell them directly, and bank the difference.

Since that second income stream scales beautifully, the vendor’s commercial mindset soon turns away from improving the platform and towards harvesting client opportunities. The technology becomes a data-gathering instrument, quietly mapping where demand is richest, so the vendor knows exactly which floor-price to shave, or which relationship to mirror.

Why the usual “conflict-of-interest” question is not enough

Even if publishers or agencies ask point blank, “Do you trade media?”, vendors now arrive armed with a standard answer: “Yes, but our trading and client teams are strictly siloed,” mentioning safeguards like audit trails and NDAs.

That reassurance misses the point. Even if the data were hermetically sealed, the pricing discrepancy would still exist. A player exempt from its own fee can outbid you while showing buyers the same end price, or even a lower one. In other words, the conflict is structural, not behavioural. No policy document can fix a business model that rewards the diversion of value from the client to the ad platform.

Calculating the hidden premium

Assume two vendors offer identical tooling. Vendor A charges 5% and never trades. Vendor B charges 3% and runs its own desk. At first glance, Vendor B looks cheaper by two percentage points. Yet whenever its trading arm flips an impression out of your stack, it pockets the full media margin plus the 3% fee you still pay on the rest of your volume. Over a year, that leakage can dwarf the nominal saving, especially if the vendor cherry-picks your highest-CPM segments.

Seen through this lens, the “expensive” single-revenue vendor is actually the cheaper option. Its only path to growth is helping you grow.

A forensic due-diligence playbook

To gain clarity on what your tech partner is doing, run the numbers and follow the contracts. Five checks expose where incentives really lie:

Revenue-stream map - request a breakdown of every line of income, including affiliated entities and demand-side mark-ups.
Fee exemption clause - confirm whether the vendor, its subsidiaries or “strategic partners” pay the same platform rate you do. Any carve-out is a red flag.
Contract cross-reference - verify the legal counter-party on your licence. If the name matches a media exchange, you are effectively financing a competitor.
Bid-log access - insist on log-level data for all bids, not just those routed through your seat. Patterns of identical DSPs appearing under two account IDs often reveal house trading.
Conflict statement with teeth - ask for a warranty that the vendor will neither trade nor fund trading of inventory it services. If the clause triggers a price rise, you have just proven the hidden premium.

None of these steps requires public mud-slinging or naming names. They simply shine a light on the commercial mechanics that most NDAs politely gloss over.

The long-term upside of single-stream partners

Publishers sometimes baulk at a slightly higher flat fee, worrying it will hit quarterly margins. Yet clients working with non-trading tech vendors report the opposite: better strategic collaboration, faster road-map influence, and deeper troubleshooting support.

Freed from hiding their tactics, they can share revenue data, bid strategies and road-map ambitions without fear of cannibalisation. The vendor, meanwhile, has every incentive to reinvest fee income into features that lift client revenue because that is its only revenue.

Time to retire the false economy

Dual-trading is not a new phenomenon; it’s the underbelly of programmatic that’s been quietly shaping the market for years. What has changed is the maturity of buyers. Agencies and brands increasingly demand log-level transparency, and regulators are circling opaque auctions.

The next time a platform promises efficiency at a bargain price, ask yourself one question: ‘ who is paying for that discount?’ If the answer is: ‘ you, on every impression they siphon off’ , the platform isn’t a partner, it’s a margin machine. As a publisher, you have lots of competitors. Your tech partner shouldn’t be one of them.

Also shared on ANA:

In the face of fragmentation, Dmexco is now a smaller stage for ad tech’s big conversations

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 08:57:38 GMT

In the face of fragmentation, DMEXCO is now a smaller stage for ad tech’s big conversations

Excerpt shared from Digiday's 'In the face of fragmentation, Dmexco is now a smaller stage for ad tech’s big conversations' :

Not too long ago, Dmexco was considered the gut of ad tech — crowded, chaotic and central to the industry’s forward momentum. It was where deals were sparked, rivalries played out and the future of programmatic was loudly debated.

These days, it’s still where business gets done, but increasingly for a narrower slice of the ecosystem. The rest – like Kochava, YieldMo, Dept and LiveRamp – are sitting out this year.

“When we analyzed event performance from the previous two years in preparation for 2025, Dmexco didn’t make the cut,” said Kimberly Manning, vp of marketing at ad measurement firm Kochava.

That’s not say Dmexco, this year taking place on Wednesday and Thursday, is off the map for good – Manning left the door open for a return. And it’s not as simple as Cannes or Possible taking its place – Kochava was at both. What’s happening isn’t substitution, It’s fragmentation. The industry isn’t rallying around one tentpole event anymore. It’s dispersing, with companies making selective bets based on performance, not ritual.

That era, like much of the programmatic exuberance that fueled it, has given way to something more subdued. Dmexco may no longer be the center of gravity, but for a certain part of the industry, it’s still a necessary waypoint — just with fewer parties and more purpose.

“Dmexco remains one of the most important events in Limelight’s calendar, and as a result, we are sending 11 members of the team this year, an increase of 50% over 2024,” said James MacDonald, CRO and co-founder Limelight.

Read the full article on Digiday:

'AI was everywhere, and yet, nowhere’: Industry thoughts on DMEXCO 2025

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 08:42:29 GMT

'AI was everywhere, and yet, nowhere’:

Industry thoughts on DMEXCO 2025

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's 'AI was everywhere, and yet, nowhere’: Industry thoughts on DMEXCO 2025':

DMEXCO 2025 has come and gone, having taken over Cologne for two days of industry experts from around the world discussing the latest trends,

insights, and innovations in the marketing industry. Having occurred during an interesting inflection point for the martech and adtech worlds, with AI going mainstream and giants like Google and The Trade Desk under pressure, attendees tried to answer some of marketing’s toughest questions about strategy, innovation, and the future direction of the industry.

In the wake of the event, PMW spoke to a myriad of marketing leaders who were on the ground in Germany to discover if this year’s motto of ‘Be Bold. Move Forward’ rang true.

‘A fantastic space to connect with both existing and prospective partners’ - James Macdonald, CRO and Co-founder, Limelight Inc.:

“As always, DMEXCO had its big talking points. AI was a hot topic, alongside conversations about Google and the potential implications of a break-up. While this year’s event felt a little more compact and less extravagant, with smaller stands and slightly fewer exhibitors, it was still a fantastic space to connect with both existing and prospective partners, and we definitely had no shortage of those."

Read the full article on Performance Marketing World:

Who will blink first in battle to topple Google adtech?

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 08:37:31 GMT

Who will blink first in battle to topple Google adtech?

Excerpt shared from Decision Marketing's 'Who will blink first in battle to topple Google adtech?':

With US antitrust enforcers renewing their efforts this week to press for a forced sale of Google’s online ad business, publishers and rival adtech developers are watching closely.

Julia Tarver Wood, an attorney with the Justice Department’s antitrust division, said in her opening statement that making Google sell AdX was necessary to restore competition.

However, will the tech giant, which is notoriously adept at avoiding any sort of crackdown, escape again? Decision Marketing speaks to industry experts.

First up is Limelight Inc co-founder and CEO David Nelson , who says he feels quite ambivalent about the position Google finds itself in.

He argues that the main reason the company consistently finds itself in the firing line is because it has built a hugely successful business, yet it has also used its dominant position for its own benefit.

Nelson added: “The situation currently under scrutiny is a prime example of this, where Google’s ad server and Google’s ad exchange have a preferential relationship. This is clearly not right or defensible, and it’s notable that the DoJ has gone as far as to ask the judge presiding over the trial to order Google to sell its ad exchange. So we shall see.

“Whatever happens, we shouldn’t underestimate Google’s ability to a) come out of this relatively unscathed; and b) drag things out for so long by way of appeals that it has plenty of time to develop a replacement offering for anything it is ordered to dispose of."

Read the full article on Decision Marketing:

Adtech Tarot: DMEXCO 2025 Limelight's David Nelson and James Macdonald

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 08:33:48 GMT

DMEXCO 2025: Limelight Inc. tackles Adtech Tarot

David Nelson and James MacDonald, co-Founders of global programmatic adtech Limelight Inc. work their way through Mediashotz's Adtech Tarot cards to give us a hint of what the future holds…

Beyond the Google vortex: who’s your plus-one?

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 08:47:28 GMT

Beyond the Google vortex: who’s your plus-one?

Both agencies and publishers should prepare themselves as Google steps off the adtech dancefloor.

David Nelson, co-founder and CEO, Limelight Inc., describes how publishers and agencies should be preparing for a post-monopoly ad ecosystem - starting today.

Adtech is bracing itself for a watershed moment. September’s remedies trial will determine how far the US Department of Justice can go in dismantling Google’s dominance of the open-web ad stack. The hearing follows April’s headline-grabbing judgment that the company has been running illegal monopolies in both the publisher ad-server and ad-exchange markets.

For publishers, buyers and tech vendors alike, the question is no longer whether change is coming, but how to navigate the turbulence the change will bring.

Why the remedies phase matters

Traditional antitrust cases often end with a fine or mild behavioural pledge. Not this time. The DOJ is seeking structural relief that could oblige Google to divest core assets such as Ad Manager and AdX, open-source its auction logic, and grant rival exchanges real-time access to bidding data.

Should the court agree, the walled garden could be replaced by a looser constellation of competing services. Hence, September’s hearing is widely regarded as the most consequential antitrust showdown since the break-up of AT&T in 1984.

The risk of a sudden vortex

Publishers have enjoyed years of relatively predictable ad revenue because of a single set of tools - Ad Manager, AdX, and Display & Video 360 - at the centre of buying and selling activity. Yet that same concentration now constitutes a single point of failure.

If assets are spun out or product lines are sunsetted with little notice, revenue flows could stall overnight, creating a vortex in which outlets are left scrambling for liquidity. For businesses already operating on tight margins, even a short-term pause in demand could prove existential.

Building a “plus-one” strategy

Forward-looking publishers are therefore asking a simple question: who is our plus-one if Google steps off the dance floor? A resilient operating model will retain access to existing Google demand while simultaneously cultivating independent channels that are able to scale rapidly if the market fragments.

But this hedging strategy must be more than a boardroom talking point; it needs to be embedded into the technology roadmap, commercial partnerships and sales culture well before the remedies gavel comes down.

What to look for in a partner

The replacement (or supplementary) partner must do three things: First, it has to reach a comparable Total Addressable Market (TAM), ensuring inventory remains attractive to global brand budgets. Second, it should provide transparent, programmatic access rather than opaque bundled deals, allowing publishers to prove yield and for buyers to verify spend. Third, the solution should be modular and standards-based, so components can slot into the evolving supply chain without onerous switch-out costs.

An independent ad server backed by a genuinely neutral exchange is one obvious pillar. Another is a first-party data platform capable of stitching identity signals across environments without leaning on third-party cookies. Together, these tools allow a publisher both to defend existing CPMs and to court budgets that previously defaulted to Google’s ecosystem.

Cooperation over competition

An unexpected upside of the looming upheaval is a renewed appetite for cooperation. Instead of competing in isolation, many mid-tier publishers are exploring shared marketplaces, joint data clean rooms, and even collectively-funded contextual engines.

By pooling scale, they present advertisers with a credible alternative to any single dominant intermediary while retaining editorial independence. Importantly, these alliances can be architected on open-source frameworks that regulators view favourably, reducing antitrust exposure for all parties involved.

A better deal for buyers

Advertisers stand to benefit too. Opening the auction logic (which is certainly one remedy under discussion) would allow DSPs to scrutinise prioritisation rules and pricing algorithms, restoring confidence that bids are treated fairly. Combined with diversified supply paths, this transparency should narrow bid-to-win spreads, improve measurability, and, ultimately, boost Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

It’s time to act

With the remedies trial set for next month, final orders could be handed down as early as the first quarter of 2026, which would leave fewer than 12 months for technical integrations, contract negotiations, and market education. Given typical implementation cycles, the window for decisive action is now.

And we’re not just looking to replace the current model. The post-Google-dominant world will provide publishers with an opportunity to improve it, by taking control of their ad sales environment, as they’re no longer dependent on one big fish in the pond.

September’s courtroom drama will capture headlines, but the real story is being written right now in product backlogs, partnership agreements and board-room strategies across the sector. Those who treat the remedies phase as a catalyst rather than a calamity will help shape a market that is fairer and more transparent. In short: when the music pauses, be ready with a new partner - and perhaps a whole new choreography.

Also shared on Performance Marketing World:

Programmatic Relationship Advice: Don’t Let Your Partner Eat Your Business

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 08:42:43 GMT

Programmatic Relationship Advice: Don’t Let Your Partner Eat Your Business

In business, the line between partner and competitor can be surprisingly thin. A wholesaler might one day decide to bypass retailers and sell direct. A marketing agency could launch a product that rivals one it once promoted. These scenarios are often theoretical and rarely pursued outright.

But what happens when the conflict isn’t hypothetical? When a company supports your business on one side and quietly competes with it on the other, on an ongoing basis? That’s not just a thought experiment. It’s a common, ongoing reality in the programmatic advertising world.

Here’s an example, plucked not entirely at random. Let’s say a programmatic ad platform signs a contract with you, a publisher or ad network, to host your digital advertising environment on a white-label basis – supplying all the necessary infrastructure, support, dashboard and analytics to underpin your profitable ad business.

But then, in parallel, it proceeds to sell the same inventory you’re selling through its own trading arm – at a discount. So it’s supporting your business, driving your revenues – but also competing with you and taking those revenues for itself. Still glad you signed up?

The underbelly of programmatic has always had issues like these. Right now, this double game appears to be a remarkably common state of affairs among ad platforms and their clients, and I think it’s time we all looked at it a bit harder.

Numerous programmatic operators (yes, a handful of the big names) offer a white-label platform for those who want to trade media, while trading the same media themselves – not just blurring, but thoroughly erasing the distinction between supportive platform and ruthless competitor.

The plot gets thicker

Sometimes, there’s more to the play than just quiet competition. Frequently, a programmatic platform will give new suppliers a little extra-contractual bonus when they sign up: we’ll buy your media from you, we’ll provide you with demand, we’ll give you spend. Good news. But over time, that spend often dwindles. And as it does, the supplier’s ability to trade in the way it once did dwindles along with it.

That’s because, in the meantime, the platform has been consistently selling the same inventory for less – which it can afford to do, because it is charging the poor supplier a tech fee. And that fee is clearly removed from the equation if the platform trades the inventory on its own.

Before long, the supplier finds that the partner who came aboard to give them an exciting new platform has in fact stolen, blocked and eroded their business and made off with their relationships.

Is any of this illegal? Not necessarily. But speaking personally, if I was licensing a platform and I found that platform was competing with me, I would question very seriously the value of that partnership. So what would I advise?

Ask the obvious question: Before you make any agreement, ask your platform if they’re trading media too. If the answer is yes, ask who they’re trading media with. Is it the same people you want to trade media with? One of the major DSPs had a banner at Cannes that said something like, ‘You have lots of competitors. Your tech partner should not be one of them.’ And it’s absolutely true, if you are licensing tech from somebody, your interests should be the most important thing in that relationship. That means no side hustles that conflict directly with your interests.

Know who you’re dealing with: Companies that trade media first and foremost, and offer their platform on their side, are media exchanges. When you sign up to use their white-label platform – even when it’s marketed under another name – you may well be signing up with the trading entity itself. Check your contract. If they’re a media trader, they will probably compete with you.

Don’t get drawn into semantics: So, your programmatic partner is openly wearing two hats, and you invite them to explain how it all works – they have access to your data, after all. Now, beware of offering them space to wriggle out here. They may well tell you that everything is properly siloed, that client teams and trading teams don’t have access to each other’s data. Maybe that’s true. All the same, is it appropriate to pay a partner to support your business when they are also competing with you?

There may be certain legitimate caveats. For the first six months of our business, we traded media, simply because we needed to test and trial, to make sure the software we built was working properly. Then we shut it down, because why would we compete with our own clients?

So, what are the benefits of a platform that doesn’t compete with you?

This is an important question, because a platform that is turning its back on substantial trading revenues, and isn’t plundering your business, may charge you a slightly higher tech fee.

What you should get for that is wholehearted support, and the ability to be entirely transparent with your platform partner. When you are able to share with them exactly what you’re doing, they can help you strategise, they can lean into your business, they can give you more of the insights and assistance you need.

The financial upside isn’t only protection against lost revenue to your frenemy; it’s also about capturing more revenue because you’re getting more support, more intelligence, more familiarity with your business.

We’re often asked, ‘if you don’t trade media, how do you help your clients grow?’ It’s a fair question, and the answer is that while we don’t do their business development per se, we do actively support the formation of trading relationships between our partners. This type of introduction-based commercial growth is sustainable and 100% owned by our partners. And that’s the point: putting our partners first, always.

In summary, it’s not right that any partner should be incentivised to undercut and disenfranchise you, or steal your revenues. We think this odd duality in the market is something that merits more attention – and we’d urge you to give it some more of yours.

Also posted on Advertising Week:

Human-organised, AI-delivered: why human equity matters in 2025

Tue, 02 Sep 2025 08:39:02 GMT

Human-organised, AI-delivered:
why human equity matters in 2025

AI is no longer the new kid on the adtech block. It is baked into the way we buy media, measure attention, and personalise experiences. Yet the more embedded AI becomes, the more important it is to handle it with care.

One of my favourite analogies lies in archery: if your aim is a single degree off at the moment the arrow leaves the bow, it will veer wildly off target at inhuman speed and possibly miss the target altogether. The same is true of AI: a tiny calibration error in the model or the data can snowball into reputational damage, wasted budget or even regulatory pain.

The promise and the peril

The promise of AI is, of course, huge. It can already surface audiences we would never have found manually, optimise thousands of creatives in real time, and strip out redundant impressions. In the next decade, it will touch every corner of our lives - from avatar GPs to real-time trading desks that learn on the fly.

The peril is equally real. We all remember search engines that summarised content so well that publishers lost the click-throughs altogether, or product feeds that paired a "kid’s birthday gift" query with the sort of results only a horror fan would love. My own email assistant decided my messages were "too nice", and it didn’t work out. These are not just embarrassing glitches. When AI scales, mistakes scale with it.

Human equity: your competitive edge

If every platform gains access to comparable models, where will differentiation come from? Not from brute processing power, but from human equity - the curiosity, empathy, and commercial judgement that steer the algorithms. Your culture, your values , your secret sauce and the questions your team chooses to ask are the inputs no rival can copy. This is where the intersection between AI and human equity really delivers traction and results.

In practice that means:

Define the outcome first. What problem are you trying to solve and for whom? Shiny tools are seductive, but unless they map to a clear customer need, they will become expensive toys. Efficiencies are always welcome but not at the cost of human empathy and nuance
Interrogate the data. Is it current, complete, and free from hidden bias? Models trained on skewed data will amplify that skew.
Keep the human(s) in the loop. Set guardrails, audit regularly, and give people the authority to pause the machine when something looks off.
Educate everyone. From sales to finance, your teams need a working knowledge of what the AI is doing so they can spot oddities early.

We’ve already seen plenty of practical examples of humans and AI singing in tune. As my fellow panelist at MAD//Fest , Samsung Ads’ Lauren Barnett, highlighted, a recent CTV campaign that paired first-party viewing data with an ML look-alike model increased app opens by nearly 60%, while cutting cost per app open by 13%.

However, the clever bit was not the algorithm itself, but the planners who fed it fresh audience signals every 24 hours, and rewrote the brief when the data suggested a previously hidden sports-mad segment. Without that creative nudge, the model would have stayed in its lane and delivered average results.

Six rules for responsible AI adoption

Based on our experiences so far, the six steps to success with an AI-assisted campaign would be:

Start small, scale fast. Pilot your campaign in a contained channel, measure hard outcomes, then widen the net.
Build multi-disciplinary squads. Pair data analysts with strategists, creatives, and compliance experts. Diversity of thought reduces model myopia.
Stress-test the edge cases. Ask what happens when a parameter drifts, a feed breaks or a brand-safety list lags. Run tabletop exercises before the crisis hits.
Budget for monitoring. Set aside a small proportion of the project cost for ongoing auditing and fine-tuning. If you skimp here and the archery analogy comes back to haunt you.
Champion transparency. Tell customers when AI is involved, why it benefits them, and what safeguards exist. Trust is the currency that buys you permission to innovate.
Work with Partners like Limelight Inc who can help you to deliver the values, vision and results that best represent your specific narrative as a business, don't settle for ubiquitous technology devoid of human direction

Looking ahead

We are at the very beginning of the AI revolution. The winners will be those who embrace the technology yet keep a firm hand on the tiller. In ten years, we will look back at today’s tools the way we now look at dial-up modems: quaint but groundbreaking for their time. What will endure is the insight that machines, however powerful, serve human goals. Our job is to articulate those goals with precision and integrity.

As marketers, let us harness the tech, drive the tech, and retain the human touch. Get that balance right and AI becomes an accelerator rather than a risk factor. Get it wrong and the arrow misses the target - sometimes spectacularly.

Also posted on Marketing Donut:

Team Spotlight: Meet Daniel Nelson, our Customer Success Co-Director at Limelight!

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 12:30:00 GMT

Team Spotlight: Meet Daniel Nelson, our Customer Success

Co-Director at Limelight!

As Co-Director of Customer Success at Limelight, Daniel Nelson leads with a client-first mindset—bridging strategy, support, and relationship-building to help partners succeed in a constantly evolving adtech landscape. Whether he's guiding his team of Customer Success Managers or working directly with partners, Dan ensures every decision reflects what’s best for the client. “It’s my role to be the voice of the client in Limelight,” he says, “and support them in what they need to be successful.”

What makes Limelight’s approach different? For Dan, it’s the commitment to genuine collaboration. “We don’t just chuck an Account Manager at a client and hope it works,” he explains. “We genuinely care about putting the right people in the right room.” That personal touch has helped the team build long-term trust with clients, especially as partner needs shift toward more direct, hands-on control of traffic and connections.

From in-person feedback in Cannes to the rollout of upcoming automation tools tailored to partner goals, Dan finds energy in helping clients realise their full potential. His favourite part of the journey? “The moment clients realise we’re truly aligned with their success—we only succeed when they do.”

For Dan, customer success is more than problem-solving—it’s about building enduring partnerships rooted in trust, transparency, and shared growth.

Efficiency Meets Sustainability: Ad Tech’s Hidden Environmental Cost

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 12:30:00 GMT

Efficiency Meets Sustainability: Ad Tech’s Hidden Environmental Cost

Digital ads may be weightless, but their infrastructure is not. Every programmatic auction, bid request, and pixel fire is powered by electricity. At scale, the carbon impact of digital advertising becomes significant. That’s why sustainability is fast becoming a boardroom concern—and a new frontier in efficiency.

The Carbon Footprint of Complexity

The more intermediaries in a transaction, the more servers are pinged, and the more data is transferred. Each of these activities consumes energy. According to Scope3, programmatic advertising contributes millions of tons of CO2 emissions each year, much of it avoidable.

Redundant bid requests, excessive QPS (queries per second), and poor match rates result in emissions with no upside. Worse, these emissions are invisible to most platforms and advertisers.

Streamlining the Supply Path = Lower Emissions

Just as simplifying supply chains improves economic efficiency, it also reduces energy consumption. When platforms like Limelight give partners the ability to remove unnecessary hops in the supply path, they’re also reducing the carbon footprint of each impression served.

Transparent trading isn’t just good for ROI—it’s good for the planet. Offering tools to optimise against both performance and sustainability KPIs is quickly becoming table stakes.

Efficiency with Purpose

Imagine a platform that lets you choose not just the best-performing bundle, but the one with the lowest emissions. Or an AI engine that suppresses bids on inventory with a high carbon score unless they meet a specific performance threshold. These ideas are not hypothetical. As sustainability becomes a core buying criterion, efficiency will be measured not just in dollars but in emissions saved.

Limelight’s optimisation tools already allow partners to automate trading rules and reduce waste. The next step is marrying this precision with environmental impact data to enable more ethical, efficient decision-making.

Series Summary

Over the course of this series, we’ve explored how efficiency in ad tech goes beyond simple cost-cutting. From eliminating redundant trading and aligning with buyer demand, to creating smarter, more transparent trading ecosystems and reducing our environmental footprint, the message is clear: the future of ad tech belongs to those who optimise with both intelligence and intention.

Team Spotlight: Meet Andrew MacDonald, our Customer Success Co-Director at Limelight!

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 12:30:00 GMT

Team Spotlight: Meet Andrew MacDonald, our Customer Success
Co-Director at Limelight!

At Limelight, Customer Success isn’t just a department—it’s a mindset. Andrew, our Co-Director of Customer Success , oversees a global team of Customer Success Managers who act as strategic partners to our clients. From onboarding and platform training to high-level campaign optimisation and technical troubleshooting, Andrew ensures we’re not just supporting our clients—we’re helping them win.

“One thing that sets us apart is that we’re fully SaaS,” Andy explains. “We don’t run an ad trading business—so when our platform partners succeed, we succeed. Our incentives are completely aligned.”

A standout moment this year? The launch of the Adaptive Rules Center (ARC), a feature that lets partners build their own algorithms and optimise campaigns in real-time, directly in the platform UI. “In an industry obsessed with AI, we’ve built something genuinely useful that puts control back in the partner’s hands,” Andrew says.

Managing expectations is part of the job—especially when it comes to technical investigations or feature rollouts. Andrew’s secret? “Be honest, communicate often, and never make promises you can’t keep.”

From helping partners navigate a constantly evolving landscape to championing new tools like our Self-Serve DSP, Andy’s team makes it look effortless—even though we know it’s anything but.

And behind it all is a strong sense of culture, even in a remote-first world. “People always ask if we miss the office. But we make up for it with our annual World Tour—past trips include Marrakesh, Rio and Cyprus!”

Favourite part of the job? “Getting to know our partners, watching them grow, and smashing the goals they set. There’s no better feeling than helping them exceed their own expectations.”

Andy calls it “Technology with a heartbeat.” We call it Customer Success, the Limelight way.

Beyond Cost-Cutting: Building Ad Tech Efficiency on Transparency, Trading Intelligence & Trust

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 12:30:00 GMT

Beyond Cost-Cutting: Building Ad Tech Efficiency on Transparency, Trading Intelligence & Trust

Efficiency isn’t about shaving budgets—it’s about spending wisely and driving performance. The ad tech platforms that will win in the long run aren’t those with the lowest cost base, but those that deliver clarity, confidence, and control to their partners. In this post, we explore three pillars that redefine what it means to be efficient in modern ad tech.

1. Trading Intelligence: A Competitive Differentiator

Great trading is strategic, not opportunistic. Efficiency requires mechanisms that allow partners to understand the value of inventory before a bid is placed. Limelight, for instance, gives buyers access to granular supply details to help foster trust amongst the demand sources. Why does this matter? Because it allows buyers to fine-tune their bidding strategies in real time, rather than relying on assumptions.

Smart trading also means optimising for quality over quantity. With fewer but better bids, you reduce infrastructure costs and improve win rates. This in turn generates increased demand-side QPS allocations, opening up bigger opportunities.

Trading intelligence allows buyers to segment supply based on performance, so they can prioritise what works and discard what doesn’t.

2. Transparency: The Trust Multiplier

Transparency is a means to an end, not an end in itself. True transparency isn’t just about exposing data—it’s about contextualising it. If a buyer sees that 40% of impressions come from a single SSP but has no way of knowing how those impressions perform, that data is essentially noise.

Platforms like Limelight differentiate themselves by offering real-time sampling of bid requests. This gives partners the tools to trace the path of each impression, understand who’s selling it, and assess how it’s priced. This visibility de-risks investment and fosters more collaborative relationships.

3. Relationship Capital: Efficiency with a Human Touch

Efficiency doesn’t mean impersonal automation. It means empowering teams to act faster, with more clarity and fewer roadblocks. Platforms that combine data transparency with dedicated customer support are better equipped to help their clients scale sustainably.

When a demand partner experiences frictionless onboarding, consistent ROI, and responsive support, they’re far more likely to double down. Efficiency, then, is also a reputational asset. It builds loyalty and reduces churn, allowing both sides to invest in longer-term outcomes.

In our next post, we’ll turn to a topic increasingly shaping procurement and platform strategy alike: how operational efficiency translates to environmental impact.

The Spectre of Inefficiency in Ad Tech: What’s Really Holding Us Back?

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 12:30:00 GMT

The Spectre of Inefficiency in AdTech: What's Really Holding Us Back?

In the intricate world of digital advertising, inefficiency is more than just an operational hiccup; it’s a systemic problem that siphons revenue, erodes trust, and stifles innovation. While headlines tend to obsess over data privacy or the death of cookies, there’s a quieter, more persistent issue haunting the ad tech supply chain: waste.

The Circular Trading Conundrum

Circular trading is a symptom of an over-engineered supply path. It occurs when inventory is passed between SSPs and resold among intermediaries before reaching a demand partner—often ending up where it started. Every additional hop in this chain introduces latency, cost, and complexity. In extreme cases, it even leads to bid duplication, which artificially inflates the volume of available impressions without offering new value. The result? More confusion, less transparency, and fewer wins.

The Supply-Demand Disconnect

Ad tech efficiency breaks down when sellers package inventory in ways that don’t align with buyer needs. Imagine a global campaign set to run only in Western Europe targeting a specific device, ad size and other basic parameters. While each individual targeting component may seem straightforward, the eventual complexity could render the seller’s unfiltered traffic largely irrelevant. This results in the buyer not only wasting time finding relevant traffic but also leads to unnecessary processing costs. This mismatch leads to missed opportunities, diminished performance and overall inefficient trading.

The Cost of Excessive Intermediation

With every middleman adding their own margin, the original value of the impression diminishes. Over-intermediation increases the take rate and distorts the economics of what should be a direct and transparent transaction. The problem isn’t just about money—it’s about trust. If advertisers and publishers can’t see who’s touching the inventory and why, they’re less likely to commit to long-term relationships.

Rethinking Efficiency

Ad tech companies need to audit their supply chains regularly, not just for fraud but for operational redundancy. The era of simply flooding the market with supply and expecting it to sell itself is long behind us. Without streamlining processes, your demand side will outmanoeuver and ultimately replace you.

Efficiency means stripping away what doesn’t serve performance, transparency, or sustainability. It means aligning with demand, simplifying integrations, and removing layers that don’t deliver additive value.

In the next post, we’ll explore how this complexity can be overcome through a smarter approach to transparency, trading intelligence, and partner relationships.

AI, connections, interactions and sweltering temperatures at MAD//FEST 2025

Mon, 21 Jul 2025 10:50:19 GMT

AI, connections, interactions and sweltering temperatures at MAD//FEST 2025

The advertising events season is in full effect here in Europe. But those looking forward to a low-intensity post-Cannes cool-down may have been disappointed, as #MAD//FEST served up searing heat (with the inevitable rainy interlude), fantastic panels, and a busy but highly satisfying opportunity to network and connect with #adtech friends and colleagues from across the industry.

This was Limelight’s first visit to MAD//FEST , and the team deployed in numbers. We had Savina Parvanova, Andrew Macdonald, Graeme Rains and Russell Pegrum all joining the fray at The Digital Voice™ Cabana, and supporting our co-founder and CRO James Macdonald as he took centre stage for ‘The abracadabra magic touch - human or AI?’ panel, hosted by The Digital Voice™’s Julia Linehan.

Other panellists included Alice Anson , Director of Digital Media at Nectar360 , and Lauren Barnett , Head of UK Sales at Samsung Ads EMEA , and there followed a lively debate on the role #AI - buzzword of the moment - has to play in digital advertising.

James suggested that: “The potential for AI in adtech is immense. It’s going to pervade every part of human existence in the next ten years. We’ll soon be visiting avatar doctors when we’re ill, for example.”

But he stressed that AI needs to be used with caution: “Yes, AI will bring huge adtech efficiencies, but think of the bow and arrow analogy. If you fire an arrow that's just a few degrees off as it leaves the bow, that error will be extrapolated wildly as it travels towards the target. You can get yourself in big trouble very quickly with AI, and it needs to be managed properly. It’s a tool - an amazing one, but a tool nonetheless.”

Alice agreed, saying that “AI can go too far. For example, we’re hugely passionate about creativity, but sometimes AI can erode that. GenAI is only as good as the data being used, and for us it's about delegating workflow tasks to AI and freeing up time to focus on creative solutions for our partners.”

For Samsung Ads, AI has become invaluable for ad personalisation and driving creative effectiveness. Lauren said that ultimately “AI has got to be used to serve the users, but you still need people to optimise the technology and retain that critical, human-centric touch.”

And that seemed to sum up the panelists thoughts on AI or, as James put it: “You need to harness the tech, drive the tech, but retain a human touch. Human organised, AI delivered.”

The rest of our week centred around attending panels, making new connections and gathering valuable insights as to the adtech industry’s direction of travel. It was a fantastic few days, and you can next catch us at DMEXCO Digital Marketing Expo & Conference in September.

Watch the full MAD//Fest panel below:

AI and the human touch dominate MAD//Fest 2025

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 09:40:41 GMT

AI and the human touch dominate MADFest 2025

So, another MADFest has been and gone. And, once again, the organizers pulled it off in style – with panels, presentations, and fireside chats. Not to mention a unique roll call of headline speakers from adtech and entertainment, including Ogilvy’s Rory Sutherland, Nescafe’s Jane Aldridge, Disney’s Angela Affinita, and comedians Jimmy Carr and Richard Ayoade. One thing is for sure: the organizers more than did justice to the event’s overarching theme of ‘Be Less Boring’.

For Limelight, this was our first time partnering with the event, as we co-hosted a Cabana with our PR company, the Digital Voice, and three of their other clients, and there was a real buzz about the booth, as all five companies welcomed clients and prospects to chew the adtech fat.

In between meetings, our team of 10 made the most of the opportunity to catch up on the sessions running across the site. Here are the key themes from MADFest 2025 as we saw and heard them.

AI is everywhere, but needs the human touch

AI is now table stakes in adtech. It is increasingly integral to measurement, optimization, targeting, creative production, automation, and attribution. But while there’s no doubt that AI boosts productivity and optimization, it cannot overshadow human intuition. AI needs human guidance if we are to make the most of its undoubted capabilities.

In short – and this aligns perfectly with Limelight’s own mantra of ‘technology with a heartbeat’ – AI is only as good as the people that manage it and guide it. People are still the driving force behind good ideas, and AI tools and platforms should be deployed to help them apply their real intelligence, not replace it.

Even in a business as technologically sophisticated as programmatic advertising, there are things that, for example, an ad network can achieve through personal relationships and human guidance that AI simply can’t replicate. Indeed, as one of the speakers said in a session I attended: “The people are what makes this industry. Events like this wouldn’t happen without other people. There’s a lot of talk at the moment about AI taking all our jobs, but quite frankly, that’s not possible. The things we do, the conversations we have, the things we create, are all down to the amazing people in this industry.” Hear hear.

This was also a key theme that emerged from a panel session I took part in alongside Lauren Barnett, head of UK sales at Samsung Ads, and Alice Anson, director of digital (retail) media at Nectar360. All the panelists agreed that the potential for AI is immense: not just in adtech, but in every part of life. Talking about your health issues to an AI-powered avatar clinician, for example, will just become routine. But the panel was in agreement, too, that AI will only reach its full potential when it is guided by human intuition. Harness the tech, for sure, but make sure you retain the human element.

Nothing is off-limits at MADFest

There were, of course, many other themes up for discussion. Sessions focused on responsible media, carbon-aware campaigns, and eco-products such as organic bouquets and sustainable dairy products, reflected the growing ethical expectations placed on brands and adtech companies. These sessions were a welcome reminder that sustainability is a key consideration for brands, even if AI hogs the headlines. These sessions were also another reminder, given AI’s significant environmental footprint, that we should use it selectively and sensitively, and do all we can to reduce its environmental impact.

I was also pleased to see attention taking center stage, with sessions from companies like Dragonfly AI and Lumen Research, who are focused on providing attention data, including eye tracking and engagement heatmaps, spotlighting attention as a deterministic way of assessing the impact of advertising campaigns.

Elsewhere, we heard about fraud, brand safety, retail media, Connected TV, influencer marketing, transparency, and everything in between, which is the beauty of MADFest. It takes a village to achieve anything in life, and for three glorious days, The Truman Brewery becomes an adtech village, where nothing is off-limits, everyone has the right to express their opinion, and we all come out the other side better informed and better prepared for the weeks and months ahead.

Originally shared on The Drum:

MAD//Fest Minutes – key takeaways from day 1

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 09:37:26 GMT

MAD//Fest Minutes – key takeaways from day 1

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz 'MAD//Fest Minutes – key takeaways from day 1':

London isn’t just basking in record temperatures this week, it’s also sizzling from all the hot topics in play at MAD//Fest London .

We have a crack team on the ground in the form of The Digital Voice™, reporting back some of the takeaways at the sold out marketing and advertising event.

Here’s their take on Tuesday’s hot topics – needless to say AI and retail media very much in focus…

James MacDonald, Co Founder and CRO, Limelight Inc :

“Engage with AI, embrace it but ensure to manage and understand it” - James MacDonald

“Harness the tech, drive the tech, retain a human touch” - James MacDonald

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

Podcast: Limelight x Cannes Captures 2025

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 09:48:26 GMT

Podcast: Limelight x Cannes Captures 2025

Cannes Captures host Ed Steer of Sphere Digital Recruitment speaks with James Macdonald , CRO, to cover all things:

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Sponsored by LoopMe !

Why AI alone isn’t a USP in advertising

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 09:34:13 GMT

Cannes Lions 2025 – Industry comments and takeaways

In a landscape increasingly driven by automation and algorithms, it’s tempting for brands to pin their point of difference on AI. But in today’s crowded market, that’s no longer enough.

David Nelson, Co-Founder and CEO of leading programmatic platform Limelight Inc. , argues that while AI is undeniably a powerful enabler, it’s not a differentiator.

True standout success, he says, lies in how humans harness it — not in the tech itself.

Back in 2004, when a US defence research agency offered a $1m prize for anyone who could create a driverless vehicle capable of negotiating 150 miles of desert between California and Nevada, most of us probably would have supposed our roads would be full of driverless cars within a couple of decades.

In fact, two decades on, there are still no self-driving cars on British roads, and relatively few around the world .

Safety concerns, quite rightly, are the blocker. But there’s also the persistent suspicion that, when it comes down to it, people might just prefer to drive their own cars.

There’s a parallel here with AI in the programmatic advertising space. No one would suggest that it has failed to take off – it is already all around us, and is a remarkably powerful, transformative force that empowers SSPs, DSPs, networks and platforms like our own.

But while AI may be the engine, it is evident that we’ll all be better off if we don’t put it behind the wheel.

Things the AI doesn’t know

In a market where even the most advanced technology rapidly becomes commoditised, one thing is immediately clear: if everyone’s USP is AI, then no one has a USP.

This is no anti-technology diatribe – the fact remains that if AI doesn’t give you the ability to overlay your own individual, human knowledge, then you have a problem.

We talk a lot with the ad network partners who use our platform about what makes them each unique. How do they differentiate in the market? Why would someone buy their inventory instead of somebody else’s? How do they manage their supply path and their demand, and optimise through their operations team?

These are all critical differentiators for ad networks. Because what matters, more fundamentally than technology – though of course that needs to be there, humming cleverly in the background – is the fabric of trading: what your supply is, what your demand is, who your partners are.

Even in a business as technologically sophisticated as programmatic advertising, there are things that an ad network gains through personal relationships that AI couldn’t easily know.

How to marry artificial and human intelligence

First, you need to make it abundantly clear to humans exactly what the AI you’ve given them is doing. Black boxes, however remarkable their inner workings, don’t help anyone run a business.

There needs to be transparency if humans and machines are going to work effectively together.

Likewise, understanding the machines doesn’t help you a great deal if you can’t direct them. So you need to give your teams the ability to tailor and configure the way their AI works. In that way, a network can still bring its USPs, its values – the things that make it special.

If you can bring powerful AI to their business, but complement it, direct it and fine-tune it with real, human intelligence – and while you are at it, use AI to automate that process as well – then you begin to see the best of both worlds.

What do we stand to lose?

What scares people about AI, in all contexts, is the sense of losing control. If you can restore that sense of human governance – the ability to set limits and tolerances – then you begin to see AI as a powerful tool for human hands, rather than an unnerving robot master.

For that reason, it is critical that we have people in charge of driving the car – rather than handing the steering wheel to AI and letting the computers get on with it.

This is especially true if you want to survive in a world that is dominated by giant companies that will swallow you up if you can’t distinguish your values.

If everyone uses much the same AI, with the same capabilities, then in the future there will be no creative ad networks doing smart, clever things, making people’s ideas come to life, and making the uniqueness of these smaller companies very real and tangible.

And if those qualities cease to exist, then all we are left with is Google and Facebook.

Machine learning is only as good as humans it learns from, and this process of human-directed learning is necessarily an ongoing one – which is why a combination of technology and human power will continue to be important.

It is in all our interests to enable that, and to preserve the human touch in what we do. Because in the end, that’s the part that really makes the difference.

Also published in Mediashotz:

Cannes Lions 2025 – Industry comments and takeaways

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 09:26:52 GMT

Cannes Lions 2025 – Industry comments and takeaways

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz 'Cannes Lions 2025 – Industry comments and takeaways':

This year the Cannes Lions Festival of Creativity proved a hotbed for connections, discussing ‘hot’ themes, such as AI, CTV, human creativity, and figuring out new ways to work together.

The sun has now set on the 2025 event, but we were keen to hear what you made of this year’s show.

We asked adtech, creative and marketing leaders from around the world – who braved the sweltering heat, long queues and chaos of the Croisette – for their take on how the iconic festival was for them…

David Nelson, co-Founder and CEO, Limelight Inc. :

“Adtech has an enduring sense of optimism. Despite very obvious global issues, those I spoke with are as determined as ever to make something of their product and themselves on a global stage. I find that energising to say the least.

“The line between reward and business trip seems to become more blurred each year, however. Maybe that’s a personal assessment, but my fear is that this could derail Cannes as companies don’t like to fund expensive, high-profile, jollies any longer.

“That said, meeting with people in a more relaxed environment does often lead to a less defensive attitude, and that makes commitment easier to gain.

“AI is booming, CTV is everywhere, and ad networks are quietly evolving but only time will tell how much progress a candid rosé-fuelled Cannes conversation will unlock.

“The big takeaway from Cannes? AI isn’t the story anymore—how we use it is.

“Combined with the rapid rise of CTV and audio, and the evolving role of ad networks, it’s clear the future of adtech lies in smart integration, not just invention.

“But as always, relationships and real conversations remain the real power play. Human insight, trusted partnerships, and a clearer sense of purpose are what separate the noise from real progress.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

Cannes Lions 2025 – Limelight Inc. Founder David Nelson

Tue, 17 Jun 2025 09:23:27 GMT

Cannes Lions 2025: Limelight Inc. Founder David Nelson

Mediashotz chat with David Nelson, the charismatic Founder of fast-growing programmatic adtech, Limelight Inc. at the Cannes Lions 2025 festival on how the company is growing, bringing new products to the markets, where it’s heading next and what conversations Limelight Inc. is having here in the South of France…

Cannes Lions predictions 2025: Which emerging channel will dominate the discourse?

Wed, 11 Jun 2025 09:28:38 GMT

Cannes Lions predictions 2025: Which emerging channel will dominate the discourse?

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's 'Cannes Lions predictions 2025: Which emerging channel will dominate the discourse?':

As much of adland prepares for a week on the French Riviera, dive into expert predictions from PMW’s panel of experts on all things Cannes Lions 2025.

David Nelson, Co Founder and CEO, Limelight inc, said:

“We’ve already been hearing a buzz around the programmatic activation of digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising and are expecting lots of energy and new ideas to come out of conversations in that space this year as it continues on in popularity.
“And, it’s no surprise that Google is still a huge part of the conversation. Moving on from last year’s ‘will they, won’t they’ cookies debate, now the conversation is centering around whether their ad serving products will even exist next year beyond search. And, in light of this, there’ll be talks around which players we can expect to see emerging in the potential vacuum to support buyers and sellers.
“Finally, we know that adtech is still expensive and those 20% take rates haven’t gone away. I’m interested to see what conversations emerge this year around how our adtech landscape could evolve to a more efficient and transparent standard for all.”

Read the full article on PMW:

Q&A: how trading efficiency and AI will drive the programmatic roadmap

Thu, 10 Apr 2025 09:15:11 GMT

Q&A: how trading efficiency and AI will drive the programmatic roadmap

Limelight’s co-founder and chief revenue officer, James Macdonald, talks about the future of programmatic and explains how the company is rethinking the optimization landscape to drive greater trading efficiency.

Welcome James. What do you see as the key issues for programmatic right now?

JM: Supply chain optimization (SCO) has been with us for some time, and as such, there are many approaches that promote and enhance trading efficiency. For us at Limelight, we know through supporting hundreds of partners successfully, that having a clear strategy on SCO – with tools to support that – delivers results.

We think there needs to be a renewed focus on SCO, and specifically, trading efficiency. For ad networks, we’d define that as the ability to generate the strongest revenues possible with the supply and resources available. That has advantages for their demand relationships, as well as their publisher side commitments, and promotes better commercial outcomes. It also means operating in a greener way. All of these are key components of what makes the trading model financially successful.

QPS (queries per second) is generally considered the currency of programmatic trading, and that is a big part of this. Most large-scale DSPs (demand-side platforms) manage their overhead by managing out any underperforming QPS allocated to ad networks and ad exchanges. Essentially, as a supplier, ad network, or publisher, this means you need to maximize the impact of your allocated QPS through good results – or risk having the quota reduced.

Demand sources are more amenable to suppliers and supply-side partners who are not inhibited by limited volumes of QPS in the initial stages of any campaign or demand action. Ultimately, the ability to experiment to locate and secure the right impressions requires flexible QPS allocation. From the Limelight perspective, offering unlimited QPS, with no cost implications on the demand side, provides our partners with the ability to attract demand with scalable and flexible QPS allocation, making them more attractive as supply partners.

What is your take on AI and the role it has to play in programmatic?

JM: AI is already heavily influencing the direction in which programmatic is evolving. That said, AI is only as good as the people that the machine is learning from, and it’s still people that are the driving force behind good ideas – not the machine. It’s that ability to merge technology and human touch that will still be very important for programmatic trading efficiency. We call it “technology with a heartbeat.”

It’s also important to remember that our AI doesn’t control the supply you receive, and so a great deal of optimization occurs outside the influence of your machine learning. Our approach is to create tools that enable people to use AI to enhance their existing strengths, using their own ‘real intelligence’ to differentiate them from competitors. We provide them the means to better understand their supply chain – and what they’re sending their demand – and to enact change at a speed and scale they couldn't achieve as a human. It’s a potent and effective combination of technology and human power.

So, AI has a huge role to play, but it doesn’t allow for the bespoke elements needed to support a healthy and varied programmatic landscape. Ultimately, if everyone uses the same AI, there will be no creative ad networks doing innovative things in the future, because they are unable to communicate their uniqueness. There is no one-size-fits-all option, and nor should there be.

You mentioned the connection between efficiency and sustainability. Can you spell out the relationship between the two?

JM: While we adjust to and define our relationships with AI, and continue to adapt to the various challenges and opportunities around first-party data and consumer privacy, the industry also needs to maintain a consistent focus on sustainability. We ought to be finding ways to help one another do better, targeting efficiencies for environmental as well as economic motivations.

Allowing ad networks to optimize in real time – reducing the usage of server capacity, and in turn lowering carbon emissions – keeps green credentials rightly at the forefront, and again feeds into the reputational aspect of being an efficient and successful trader.

What’s new at Limelight?

JM: Our most recent development, which is in beta at the moment, is a ‘real intelligence’ engine driven by optimization rules, designed to empower our partners who include ad networks, exchanges, publishers, and SSPs (supply-side platforms), to be more efficient – while remaining true to their unique ideas, attributes, and values. In other words, we’re enabling them to combine ‘real intelligence’ – their own character and USPs – with AI to create a unique trading environment based on efficiency.

In essence, it is a toolkit that allows partners to automate actions that they would otherwise do manually on the platform. While in the past, they had to download, analyze, and extract data by hand, our optimization allows them to automate that process. That includes being able to set up specific time intervals and granular KPIs, such as increasing the volume of traffic being sent to a chosen advertiser, or even blocking traffic that isn’t performing well.

It’s at an exciting stage because, through initial testing, we are seeing different clients engage with it in totally different ways, and dreaming up highly efficient, optimized trading practices that we might never have considered. Not surprisingly, there is also a tangible and significant commercial upside emerging that is very exciting to our partners.

Originally posted on The Drum:

AI is a means to an end, but trading efficiency is the real goal for ad networks

Wed, 09 Apr 2025 09:05:15 GMT

AI is a means to an end, but trading efficiency is the real goal for ad networks

For all their complexities, international politics and programmatic advertising have one thing in common: in the end, it all comes down to trade. And specifically, trading as efficiently and profitably as possible.

From our vantage point at the cutting edge of programmatic trading, where ad networks scour the market for tools that deliver incremental revenues to their business, trading efficiency can be the difference between success and failure, profit and loss. The good news is, a high degree of trading efficiency is eminently achievable, if you do it right.

What is trading efficiency?

In our eyes, this is the practice of delivering your demand partners the exact inventory they require, at the frequency they require, while understanding that their needs are constantly changing. To put it another way, it means generating the maximum revenue using the supply and the tools at your disposal.

The benefits of efficiency

For ad networks specifically, trading efficiency has three key justifications:

1. Strengthening your demand relationships

QPS is a measure of the volume of traffic your DSP partner is allowing you to send them. The trick is to use this QPS allocation to ensure you are sending your DSP as much of the most valuable supply as possible.

DSPs will use a performance KPI such as an Ad Request RPM (Ad revenue per thousand requests) or Fill Rate % (the percentage of ad requests which resulted in an impression) as indicators of whether the partner is being successful in their collaboration.

Good networks will understand their DSPs’ KPIs well, and be able to walk the line effectively between maximising scale (QPS) and achieving the required efficiency (performance KPI) to make their demand happy.

Most large-scale DSPs manage their overhead by cutting any underperforming QPS allocated to ad networks and ad exchanges. Essentially this means you need to maximise the impact of your allocated QPS through good results - or risk having the quota reduced.

Conversely, a platform like ours will offer unlimited QPS. This is because, from the outset, we want our clients to be able to freely explore trading opportunities without worrying about platform costs. If clients perform well, they should have the ability to scale that without their tech holding them back. Once they have settled on an approach, efficiency becomes more important.

2. Propelling your revenue potential

The more efficient your trading, the more revenue you can generate, as your demand partner allocates you more QPS and is more inclined to spend advertiser budget with you. Additionally, on a platform like ours, efficient traders also pay less, and a lower overhead means your profit margin will be higher, allowing you to reinvest, hire more sales people and create more business. Programmatic trading efficiencies, in other words, give you a cascading opportunity to make your business exponentially more efficient.

3. Building a more sustainable ecosystem

Being an efficient trader means that you're also being a green trader. In a time of net zero targets, when green credentials are becoming ever more important, an efficient model means less server capacity is required, with a corresponding reduction in carbon emissions.

So, how can you trade more efficiently?

The popular advice for those seeking business improvements of all kinds is to lean into AI, which many now consider a one-stop efficiency solution. However, AI does not dictate the supply you receive. Efficiency begins on the supply side - which is why supply path optimisation is such a big priority for so many now.

What really matters here, more fundamentally than the technology itself, is the fabric of trading: what the supply is, what the demand is, who your partners are. So where trading efficiency is concerned, we believe the real requirement is for transparent, interactive tools - not black-box AI - that give companies enhanced oversight and control of those factors.

If people understand what their machines are doing, and have the ability to tailor and configure them, they can not only better understand their supply chain and inventory, but act at a speed and scale they couldn't achieve alone. In our case, this can be demonstrated through two innovations:

1. Depth of data: From granular data to seat ID, SSP ID and bundle ID, the volume of data available is vast. But the kind of functionality that really empowers partners is the ability to sample their own bid requests. Rather than relying on a spreadsheet, they can see first-hand what their supply chain looks like, survey the bids they are receiving - and, in turn - use that information to create further efficiencies.

2. Custom optimisation: More radically still, our Real Intelligence engine, currently in beta, allows ad networks to set optimisation rules that automate previously manual actions. Humans have always been able to change the domains they’re sending to a buyer, block traffic that isn't working well, or increase the volume of traffic they’re delivering to a particular advertiser - all important efficiency and revenue drivers on the buy side. But the optimisation rules engine allows them to set up their data and their KPIs, then automate that process - not only saving time, but essentially allowing platform partners to build their own bespoke algorithms on top of their RTB exchanges.

In both cases, that level of interactivity gives ad networks the ability to bring their USPs, their values - the qualities that make them special - to an AI-assisted platform, combining enhanced speed and scale with the real intelligence that already powers their business.In doing so, it allows them to rediscover what AI sometimes encourages them to lose: the ownership, the power to set limits and tolerances.

Efficiency, technology and character all work together

Technology, we all know, is critical, but so is human intelligence and the distinctive character of any given ad network. If we keep the focus on combining these elements, we will allow creative ad networks to keep doing smart things in the future. And a strategy that leverages each element to maximise trading efficiency is the way to get there.

Originally posted in Martech Edge:

Accelerate Action: Media leaders share their IWD 2025 hopes

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 09:11:15 GMT

Accelerate Action: Media leaders share their IWD 2025 hopes

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz 'Accelerate Action: Media leaders share their IWD 2025 hopes':

International Women’s Day takes place Saturday 8 March, with this year’s theme being “Accelerate Action”.

So how do we do that?

Below, leaders from across the media, marketing and advertising world share their views and comments on what needs to happen next and what we can all do, regardless of our gender, to move towards a more balanced gender parity…

Savina Parvanova, Global Marketing Director, Limelight Inc:

“When I think back to my early days in the industry, when I would routinely walk into meetings in which I was the only woman in the room, I think we have come a long, long way.

“And when I look at the work being done collectively by communities such as the Women In Programmatic network, I am encouraged by what’s being achieved.

“Statistically, I hear, the adtech industry lags behind others in terms of the number or female founders and leaders, but when you look at the number of women coming up through the ranks, I think the future looks bright.

“What we can’t afford, however, is complacency. We all – men and women – need to continue to push for equality in hiring, pay, and in representation on industry events and initiatives.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

What Will Define the Future of Publishing?

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 09:08:46 GMT

What Will Define the Future of Publishing?

Excerpt shared from ExchangeWire's 'What Will Define the Future of Publishing?':

How can the publishing industry overcome the myriad challenges it faces? Writer Avya Chaudhary takes a look...

AI, big tech and social media are battering publishers from all sides. With walled gardens, the open web, and programmatic solutions gaining ground, will 2025 finally turn the tide?

The double-edged sword of social media

For Savina Parvanova, global marketing director at Limelight, the biggest danger for publishers is overreliance on social media platforms that marginalise them. “These channels deprioritise journalism, threaten business models, and damage independent, reliable, verified journalism.”

She also points to how social media platforms, including TikTok and Instagram, now favour personal content and ads with publishers scrambling for their audience share.

Her concerns aren’t unfounded. X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk has limited news traffic and suspended reporters, leading outlets like The Guardian to exit despite 27M+ followers. Meta, meanwhile, has axed its news feed and scaled back fact-checking to curate more personal “feeds.”

Read the full article on ExchangeWire:

Limelight names Russell Pegrum as Global Sales Director

Thu, 30 Jan 2025 09:00:04 GMT

Limelight names Russell Pegrum as Global Sales Director

London, UK - 30th January 2025 - Limelight Inc. has appointed Russell Pegrum to the role of Global Sales Director. In his new role, Russell will build on Limelight’s strong foundation, driving growth by expanding into new markets, while fostering innovation and strengthening the company’s global presence.

Russell brings over 20 years’ experience to the role. He was a pioneer of UK ad networks for over a decade, and for the past seven years has been immersed in every aspect of programmatic advertising - working in ad verification at Adloox, in publishing as Digital Group Head at Reach plc, and successfully launching a new DSP for Aidem. His success lies in his ability to understand client needs and tailor solutions that drive business outcomes.

Russell said: “Limelight’s ethos, “technology with a heartbeat’, reflects our commitment to combining innovation with a human touch in the increasingly complex adtech landscape. This resonates with me, and I aim to contribute by fostering meaningful connections, championing collaboration, and ensuring that our human-centred approach continues to drive our, and our clients’ success.”

Russell’s appointment comes after an exceptional 2024 for Limelight and its partners, who have grown together and exceeded targets on both sides. As the company enters its 7th year, Limelight is excited to continue to deliver exceptional growth for its platform partners.

“Russell is exactly what Limelight needs right now,” said Limelight co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer, James Macdonald. “We have a solid, proven, mature platform that our customers trust and that delivers results. With his connections and his commitment to understanding client needs, Russell will enable us to engage with even more partners globally, bringing them the benefits and revenue growth enjoyed by our existing partners.”

Press Contacts:

Maryum Sheikh, Global Press Lead at The Digital Voice™

press@thedigitalvoice.co.uk

Limelight Inc. marketing@limelight.inc

Understanding QPS in programmatic advertising

savina@limelightdigital.com (Savina Parvanova) — Thu, 30 Jan 2025 07:08:30 GMT

Understanding QPS in programmatic advertising

In the ever-evolving world of programmatic, QPS (Queries Per Second) is a fundamental metric that underpins the entire ecosystem. But what exactly does QPS mean, and why is it so critical?

What is QPS?

QPS refers to the number of ad requests or bid opportunities that an ad exchange, supply-side platform (SSP) or demand-side platform (DSP) processes in a single second. It is a measure of how efficiently these platforms handle the immense flow of data in real-time advertising.

Key points to understand about QPS

1. Relevance to the programmatic ecosystem: QPS serves as a critical benchmark for assessing the performance and scalability of platforms within the programmatic advertising ecosystem. For DSPs, it indicates the number of bidding opportunities they can handle at any given time. Meanwhile, for SSPs and ad exchanges, it shows the volume of impressions or ad requests they can process in real-time.

2. Impact on performance: Platforms with high QPS capabilities (such as our own) can process more requests simultaneously, making them ideal for handling large-scale campaigns. This is particularly vital during high-traffic events such as Black Friday or major sports tournaments. Meanwhile, platforms with limited QPS capacity may struggle to keep up with demand, potentially leading to missed opportunities and suboptimal campaign performance.

3. Optimisation and filtering: To ensure efficiency, many platforms optimise and filter QPS. For example, advertisers and DSPs often filter ad requests to focus on inventory that aligns with their targeting criteria - while SSPs may limit QPS to balance server load while prioritising premium inventory for better monetisation.

4. Scalability: A platform’s ability to handle high QPS is a strong indicator of its scalability. Platforms with robust QPS capacity can support global campaigns with ease, but they can also perform reliably during peak demand periods without compromising speed or accuracy.

5. Costs: Processing high QPS comes with its own challenges. It demands significant infrastructure and server capabilities, which can drive up operational costs. However, these costs are often justified by the platform’s ability to deliver superior performance and scalability.

Why QPS matters

For advertisers, QPS ensures that ads participate in relevant auctions, increasing the chances of reaching the right audience, while for publishers, QPS maximises the fill rate of their ad inventory, boosting revenue potential.

On the other hand, for technology providers, it acts as a benchmark for efficiency and scalability, showcasing their ability to handle large-scale programmatic operations.

And finally, for ad networks, high QPS is essential for ad networks to remain competitive in a fast-paced marketplace. By handling a larger volume of ad requests, ad networks can:

Offer a broader inventory to advertisers, increasing the diversity of options for campaign targeting
Enhance their reputation among publishers by efficiently filling ad slots and minimising latency
Ensure robust performance during peak demand periods, such as holiday shopping seasons, thereby retaining both advertisers and publishers in their network
Gain insights from the increased data flow, enabling better optimisation and reporting capabilities for stakeholders.

The true costs of QPS

Across all platforms, it is necessary to analyse the benefits and the value of all queries. Underperforming partners can generate unnecessary costs and will ultimately have QPS allocations reduced, compared to better performing ones. A reduction in the allocated QPS can significantly impact a company's potential revenues.

Challenges with fixed-fee QPS

Many platforms charge a fixed fee for QPS, which can limit opportunities for ad networks. These fixed-fee models often come with additional charges once a certain capacity is exceeded. For ad networks, this structure can pose significant challenges:

Lost revenue potential : Ad networks may leave profit on the table due to capped QPS limits.
Inhibited growth : Limited QPS capacity can stifle the ability to scale operations effectively, especially during periods of high demand.
Rising costs : Increasing data costs associated with QPS can strain budgets, making it difficult to sustain long-term growth.

Selecting the right vendor that offers flexible QPS solutions is key to enabling ad networks to maximise their potential.

Another core challenge is that demand can impact your allocated QPS based upon your supply performance. DSPs carefully allocate QPS to the best-performing supply side partners, which means you need to maximise the QPS you are given - or risk having the allocation reduced. In short, all the QPS capability in the world won’t help if you are not fully in control of your trading.

Why choose Limelight Inc?

At Limelight, we understand the challenges ad networks face with fixed-fee QPS models. That’s why we offer unlimited QPS, empowering ad networks to:

Scale their operations without constraints
Minimise costs associated with additional fees
Seize every opportunity to fill ad inventory and increase revenue

With Limelight Inc, ad networks can focus on growth and innovation, without being held back by limitations on QPS.

See the bigger picture

QPS is more than just a number; it is the currency of programmatic advertising. It ensures the ecosystem operates smoothly, enabling platforms to process vast amounts of data at lightning speed. However, success in this space requires more than just robust QPS capacity. The relationship between platforms and performance metrics plays a pivotal role.

Maximising allocated QPS, maintaining strong performance metrics, and optimising trading strategies to achieve maximum efficiency are essential for staying competitive. By partnering with the right solutions provider, you can unlock unlimited QPS potential and position your business for success in the dynamic world of programmatic advertising.

Meta scraps fact-checking: Industry reactions

Wed, 08 Jan 2025 08:54:19 GMT

Meta scraps fact-checking: Industry reactions

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz 'Meta scraps fact-checking: Industry reactions':

Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg has been explaining his reasons for axing the company’s fact-checking program on its platforms.

It comes on the first full trading week of the 2025, and likely sets a precedent for a year of major change in the global technology and social media spaces.

So we’ve been gauging initial reaction from leaders in the advertising, marketing, media and adtech sectors, on the implications of Meta’s major policy shift…

Savina Parvanova, Global Marketing Director, Limelight:

“I think Facebook dumping it’s fact checkers programme is terrible for users, advertisers and agencies alike.

“It has officially become an unsafe ad environment and I think brands should cut all advertising budget from there and repurpose it into trusted channels.

“The walls of the garden are becoming taller and taller and I think this threat can be seen by advertisers as an opportunity to build their own safe advertising environments via white label platforms that put them in control.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

What trends will we see in adtech in 2025?

Thu, 12 Dec 2024 08:50:50 GMT

What trends will we see in adtech in 2025?

Excerpt shared from Shawn Lim's 'What trends will we see in adtech in 2025?' on Human Algorithm:

So what actionable steps can ad networks and brands take to protect their investments in DOOH from increasing cybersecurity risks, and how can transparency be maintained without compromising ad effectiveness?

Savina Parvanova, global marketing director, Limelight, says it is a shared responsibility of the whole industry to assure a safe digital environment. There are a variety of approaches towards protecting DOOH advertising from cybersecurity risks for brands.

Key among these is to leverage technology and to partner with the right vendors, ad networks and tech providers, as well as regulatory bodies such as IAB, MRC and others. Regular audits and vendor assessment must be priorities as well.

“Open and transparent reporting should be requested and provided. Also, brands should leverage Content Management Systems to enable real-time updates in order to quickly adapt and maintain ad effectiveness, without risking security,” explains Parvanova.

“The question is, how can transparency be maintained without decreasing ad effectiveness? The answer is simple. Ad effectiveness is only achieved if transparency is there as standard.”

Read the full article on Human Algorithm:

Limelight Inc.’s annual ad network report hails digital marketing’s “great survivors”

Thu, 05 Dec 2024 11:39:02 GMT

Limelight Inc.’s annual ad network report hails digital marketing’s “great survivors”

White paper considers the current challenges and opportunities for the sector, amid great leaps in AI and first-party data use

London, UK - 3rd December 2024 - Ad networks face a broad range of challenges in 2025 as they grapple with privacy concerns, regulatory issues and a $50bn ad fraud threat. But the opportunities presented by new technology, contextual targeting and growth potential in emerging markets offer the promise of a bright future for those with the ability to evolve.

The latest annual report from programmatic enabler Limelight Inc., Progress & Possibility: Ad networks in 2025 , examines the current ad network ecosystem in 2025 and draws on insights from Limelight and its ad network partners. It takes a hard look at key trends shaping the sector, including the rapid growth of CTV and the increasing influence of AI.

The report also considers key challenges such as ad fraud - which the World Federation of Advertisers estimates could surpass $50bn globally next year - as well as the rising use of ad blockers and the ongoing challenge of stringent data privacy regulations.

But technology offers numerous paths forward for ad networks, as they move past the era of third-party cookies with major investments in first-party data and privacy-friendly contextual targeting, plus enhanced measurement and attribution, including multi-touch. Emerging markets such as India, Indonesia, Brazil and Mexico also represent attractive opportunities for growth, while white-label platforms offer rapid, off-the-shelf technological upgrades.

“Ad networks are the great survivors of the digital marketing industry,” said Limelight Inc. Co-founder and CEO David Nelson. “They have been around since the dawn of digital advertising, and have survived by constant shapeshifting and evolution to meet the needs of a market that moves at breakneck speed. Whether you were there for the first 25 years or not, our white paper offers a ton of useful insights and advice to ad networks looking to get through the next 25.”

The digital ad industry’s to-do list, meanwhile, includes the need for robust positions on adtech innovations such as blockchain and augmented reality, as well as a mature plan for greater sustainability and a road map for responsible AI use.

Despite the pace of change in the digital advertising sector, the report concludes, ad networks remain a vibrant and important part of the ecosystem, connecting advertisers with publishers to facilitate the effective and efficient buying and selling of ad inventory.

You can download the whitepaper here.

Originally published in Martech Record.

MarTech Top Voice: Interview with Limelight Inc.’s James Macdonald

Sun, 01 Dec 2024 09:33:24 GMT

MarTech Top Voice: Interview with Limelight Inc.’s James Macdonald

Today’s MarTech Top Voice features the Co-founder and Chief Revenue Officer of Limelight Inc., James Macdonald.

As we look ahead to 2025, programmatic advertising continues to be a driving force in the digital marketing landscape, fueled by data and automation. Its ability to deliver targeted, performance-driven campaigns has revolutionized how businesses connect with consumers, making it an essential tool for advertisers. As the programmatic ecosystem has rapidly expanded, it has become increasingly complex, with new technologies, strategies, and regulatory challenges emerging. For ad networks and other players in the programmatic space, this growth has brought about several key challenges:

1) delivering exceptional service at competitive prices,

2) developing cutting-edge technology,

3) staying ahead of evolving regulations, and

4) providing consistent incremental revenue for clients.

Many ad networks find these hurdles difficult to overcome, especially given the high costs and expertise required to build and maintain in-house solutions.

The answer to these challenges often lies in white-label programmatic platforms.

Join us as we explore James’ insights on his AdTec journey and the prospects of partnerships in the digital advertising markets.

MarTech Insights (MTI): Please tell us about your AdTech journey and how you started with Limelight.

James: I started in newspapers on Fleet Street before the days of PCs and the internet, when it was just ‘smile and dial’. Over the years I’ve had jobs in many verticals and areas, including agency side, publisher side, as well as ad networks.

I joined Unanimis as Head of Mobile just as mobile advertising and media were emerging, and went on to join O2 Media (Telefonica) as Sales Director just as the iPhone launched in the UK. After that, I spent a few years in the USA, developing and launching Mobile DSPs.

When I returned to the UK, the market had developed and I moved into consulting and teamed up with [Limelight co-founder and CEO] David Nelson. We specialize in helping to deliver and scale supply and demand engagements, allied to best practice operations and technology. Our approach was to do this as a service for our clients.

It was very much a natural progression for us to want to distill the experience, market knowledge, contact book, and values in our “own shop”. As a result, we started to look closely at the platform landscape and the challenges, both from an economic and a functional perspective. There were some good white-label products in the market, but none really offered a clear advantage or holistic approach.

As a result of 12 months’ R&D we emerged with a Beta and MVP platform which was the early version of Limelight. We made a clear decision to be a software-led, tech-only, white-label business that enables partners to run their own Exchange, SSP, network or DSP, and also at the same time we caught the wave of OpenRTB, and were one of the first fully oRTB-enabled platforms with no capacity issues or limitations on Queries Per Second.

Seven years on, we have grown to a position where we have hundreds of global partners, with several hundred millions of dollars of trade powered by Limelight. We have achieved this by focusing on delivering function-rich, problem-solving, future-proof technology that is fairly priced and, most importantly, with great customer service and support for our clients.

MTI: How have AdTech partnerships evolved in the post-pandemic years? Could you tell us how AdTech partnerships impact growth?

James: The world keeps getting smaller, and AdTech partnerships have evolved massively since the pandemic. There’s been a cultural shift whereby people are more remote in terms of location, but more involved in each other’s lives on a daily basis.

In terms of impacting growth, AdTech always finds a way. It is predisposed to finding solutions to people’s challenges in a fast-changing marketplace. Good AdTech partnerships enable companies to reach their ambitions and manage scalability goals. Whether that’s building something in-house, with all the challenges around development costs and future-proofing, or working with a respected, flexible, and deeply capable third-party partner like Limelight, the work needs to always be geared to maximising the potential of the owner or the partner.

MTI: 2024 will be known as the year Google backtracked their cookie deprecation plan. How has this plan triggered new innovations in the market?

James: Given how Google dictates much of what happens in the programmatic space, you might have expected an audible sigh of relief from a marketplace that was desperately seeking better guidance from them.

But what we are seeing is a greater drive to self-determination and not being at the whim of Google or other market-controlling forces. It means being able to activate our own approach to unlocking the targeting requirement because cookies will be with us in some shape or form for some time to come.

MTI: How do you balance the results for better experiences for audiences through Limelight’s offerings? What sets your platform apart in the AdTech landscape?

James: Limelight empowers partners to develop better experiences for their audiences. We also help them to build, curate and manage audiences that are relevant and results-orientated for their demand partners, and in doing that, we also support the publisher.

What sets us apart is the human element – we pride ourselves on the level of support and service we offer to our clients. Added to that, we do not offer an ad exchange and the elixir of supply and demand to our partners, because we don’t want to compete for the same dollar as them. Our goal is merely to support their ambitions with flexible, deeply capable technology, which makes us unique.

MTI: OpenAI and Google have announced new AI-powered AdTech features on their platforms. What are your predictions for the future of programmatic advertising in 2025?

James: There’s no reason to believe programmatic won’t continue to grow and flourish and retain its position as the largest and fastest-growing part of digital budgets, especially as it comes more into play in channels like CTV and DOOH.

It will continue to refine what it can do, and we are already seeing that with a raft of audience targeting, curation and yield optimization tools in platforms like Limelight, that allow you to maintain a leading-edge proposition, without forgetting the need to robustly deliver at scale for success. So it’s a balance between being the fastest, most technical racing car on the track, and still doing the hard yards as well as, if not better than, anyone else.

MTI: Please mention an AdTech/MarTech expert you would like to recommend to be featured on our martech top voice series: (why did you choose the expert, please mention the reason)

James: Craig Mytton at Airtory. He is developing and distributing the best rich media and social media creative platform in the market.

Thank you so much, James for sharing your insights with our audience. We look forward to having you again with us.

Originally published in Marketing Technology Insights:

White label platforms: Drivers of incremental revenue for ad networks and their partners

Thu, 21 Nov 2024 12:33:04 GMT

White label platforms: Drivers of incremental revenue for ad networks and their partners

Driven by data, programmatic advertising exploded in popularity thanks to its ability to drive performance. Subsequently, the programmatic ecosystem has grown at pace - both in size and complexity.

For ad networks (or any other part of the programmatic ecosystem) that has led to certain problems: how to provide a fantastic service to clients at a decent price; how to develop the necessary technology; how to stay ahead of regulatory developments; how to provide incremental revenue for customers. These are important concerns, and the truth is that for many ad networks out there, the barriers to success on many of these fronts are very high.

Salvation comes in the form of white label programmatic platforms. These solutions allow ad networks the ability to scale in sophistication, scope and effectiveness, without the need to develop expensive technology, knowledge and tools in-house. In turn, networks can offer their clients incremental revenue, service expansion and expertise in a complex sector.

What is a white label platform?

A white label platform is an off-the-peg programmatic product that allows ad networks to provide their customers with the necessary tools and features to buy and sell digital advertising. There are many different types of programmatic white label platform out there, catering for a wide variety of different needs. Whether you want to build a DSP, or create an in house API integration solution for the buying and selling of ads - there is a white label platform for that.

These customisable solutions are popular because they do the heavy lifting for ad networks and their clients. They vastly reduce the cost, time and energy associated with building a platform, and provide a product that is future-proofed, fairly priced and plug-and-play. Limelight’s platform allows ad networks to curate, build and manage audiences at significant scale, connecting them to a huge new world of partners and supply partners.

Why white label makes sense

The ease of integration, the fact that the technical aspects of developing a platform’s feature set is taken care of, and their future-proofed nature are just a few examples of the benefits a white label platform offers ad networks. Here are a few more:

Incremental revenue - Limelight’s white label platform allows ad networks to monetise web and in-app channels with a variety of cutting edge, rich media formats, including CTV, DOOH and native. The ability to drive incremental revenue is at the core of what the product is designed to do. As a result, the Limelight platform offers unlimited Queries Per Second (QPS). This means no irritating, expensive capacity limits on your bidding, making you more attractive to the demand side, with fast ad delivery and an amazing user experience.
Bespoke design and fast access - Our platform can be entirely reskinned to match any company’s branding, making it a versatile offering that an ad network’s clients can quickly integrate into their brand world. Not only that, the platform takes just 48 hours to get up and running - significantly quicker than much of the competition.
Smart integrations - Limelight’s platform integrates seamlessly into both the demand and supply side. With the former, the platform’s prebid demand footprint is the most advanced on the market, while for the latter we offer not only oRTB Endpoints, JS tags, vPaid and Vast, but also prebid Header bidding tags, as well.
Contextual targeting - No one really knows what’s going on with cookie depreciation anymore, and many smart adtech providers have switched their targeting attention to contextual. This privacy-centric targeting method engages consumers at the right place and time, and is proving a highly effective method of reaching and building audiences.
Private garden - The likes of Google and Meta dictate so much of what happens in the programmatic space, and operating at their mercy can come with significant negatives. A white label programmatic product allows you to build your own walled garden, unlocking a world of potential with regard to harnessing first party data, ad revenue, personalisation and brand safety for an ad network’s clients.
Customer support - Unlike many of our competitors, Limelight’s white label platform offers a wealth of customer support. Programmatic technology is complicated stuff, but every day our account managers help clients to make the most of the platform and drive the outcomes they want.
Analytics, AI, IVT - A wide range of other features help an ad network’s clients get the best from the Limelight white label platform. These include granular campaign analysis, free invalid traffic (IVT) tools and the careful use of AI. We see AI as a useful tool that is best used to augment human experience, rather than a means to an end in itself.

Select the right white platform for you

Choosing the right white label platform is critical to success. We feel that customer support is one key element. The world of programmatic advertising can be highly technical and occasionally confusing, but our customer support team will help you navigate these waters and drive success.

Check with any prospective partners the number of features on offer, and how regularly they will be advanced and developed. Some platforms offer significantly more functions than others. It’s worth checking you’re happy with the features on offer and that you’re confident they will enable you to offer a dynamic, leading proposition while not forgetting that the ability to deliver solid scale is also important.

Also ensure the platform is easy to navigate and work with on a day-to-day basis, and that the solution offers attractive pricing models that augment your capacity. Finally, the platform must be future proofed regarding industry regulations, and deploy stringent data protection measures.

Get started today

A white label product integrates seamlessly into a tech stack. It should augment an advertiser’s programmatic capabilities, and be a source of creativity and inspiration in their marketing activities.

Working with a respected, powerful white label product will help marketers manage their scalability and meet their ambitions without the time, energy, cost and technical know-how to hold them back. It will also help drive incremental revenues. With just a 48-hour setup process, it’s never been quicker to launch your own programmatic white label product with Limelight.

Get in Touch

The value of ad networks: why they are still essential for digital marketers

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 12:41:13 GMT

The value of ad networks: why they are still essential for digital marketers

Ad networks have been part of the digital advertising scene for decades, but they have continually evolved to remain relevant. In today’s world of programmatic advertising, ad networks are still critical for marketers on both the demand and supply sides.

Rather than standing apart from programmatic processes, they have integrated themselves into the system, offering benefits that neither advertisers nor publishers can afford to overlook.

Here’s why ad networks continue to play a key role in the digital marketing ecosystem.

A bridge between advertisers and publishers

Ad networks initially emerged as a solution for publishers to sell their unsold inventory, and for advertisers to reach audiences across a wide variety of platforms. Their primary function was to aggregate inventory and offer it to advertisers in bundles, making it easier to match supply with demand.

Over time, the growth of programmatic advertising has led many to question whether ad networks still hold value. Real-time bidding platforms have automated much of the process, allowing advertisers to purchase individual ad impressions in milliseconds. Despite this shift, ad networks have not disappeared—they’ve adapted, taking on a complementary role within the programmatic ecosystem.

By acting as intermediaries between advertisers and publishers, ad networks help fill gaps that open exchanges and automated buying platforms can’t always address. They remain a vital link that ensures both parties can navigate the complex digital landscape effectively.

Offering exclusive access to premium inventory

One of the major reasons ad networks remain essential is their access to premium or niche inventory that isn’t available on open exchanges.

While real-time bidding platforms provide enormous reach, they don’t always offer the level of control or exclusivity that some advertisers seek. Many publishers prefer to sell their high-quality ad space through networks, especially when they can negotiate better rates or retain more control over how their inventory is used.

This exclusive access is particularly important for brands looking to advertise in environments where quality matters.

Whether it’s targeting high-end websites, specific niche content, or trusted media outlets, ad networks often offer unique opportunities for advertisers that would be difficult to find elsewhere.

In this sense, they are not just brokers of ad space—they are curators of premium inventory.

Ensuring brand safety and transparency

One of the major concerns with open programmatic platforms is the risk of ads appearing in unsuitable or unsafe environments. Ad fraud and brand safety have been significant issues in digital advertising for years, leading many advertisers to seek more controlled and transparent solutions.

Ad networks offer a safeguard by pre-vetting their inventory and ensuring that ads appear in trustworthy, high-quality environments. Because of their long-standing relationships with publishers, they can offer transparency and control that is sometimes lacking in the programmatic space. This additional layer of security is particularly attractive to brands that need to ensure their reputation is protected, avoiding the pitfalls of inappropriate ad placements.

By working through an ad network, advertisers can have greater confidence in where their ads will appear, which is essential for maintaining brand integrity in today’s highly competitive markets.

Supporting both buyers and sellers

For publishers, ad networks offer a flexible way to monetise their inventory without relying solely on direct deals or open exchanges. Inventory that might otherwise go unsold can be placed within a network, ensuring that no ad space is wasted. This creates a valuable revenue stream for publishers, particularly when combined with the ability to segment their offerings and target specific buyers.

On the advertiser’s side, ad networks provide more control over where ads are placed and offer different pricing models, allowing them to better tailor their campaigns. Whether it’s cost-per-impression, cost-per-click, or performance-based pricing, advertisers can choose the structure that best fits their goals. Networks also provide access to detailed reports and insights, giving advertisers valuable information on campaign performance and helping them adjust their strategies.

The evolution of ad networks in the programmatic world

While programmatic advertising has become the dominant method for buying and selling ads, ad networks have continued to evolve alongside it. Many networks now incorporate programmatic technology into their operations, allowing them to offer the same automation and precision as real-time bidding platforms.

By blending manual, relationship-driven processes with programmatic efficiency, ad networks provide advertisers with a hybrid approach. This approach offers the best of both worlds—access to premium inventory through trusted relationships, along with the speed and scalability of programmatic buying.

Some ad networks also offer private marketplaces, where advertisers can bid on high-quality inventory in a controlled, brand-safe environment. These private deals provide greater transparency and control, while still benefiting from the automated processes of programmatic technology.

Why ad networks remain indispensable

Ad networks are not relics of a bygone era. They have continuously adapted to meet the needs of modern digital marketers, providing value in ways that programmatic platforms alone cannot. Their ability to connect advertisers with high-quality, niche inventory, while ensuring transparency and brand safety, makes them an indispensable tool in today’s advertising world.

The role of ad networks has certainly changed, but they remain critical to the success of both advertisers and publishers. As part of the larger programmatic ecosystem, ad networks offer a blend of automation and relationship-driven strategies, allowing brands to reach their target audiences effectively, while still maintaining control over their campaigns.

For publishers, they offer an efficient way to fill inventory and maximise revenue. For advertisers, they provide access to premium placements, added control, and the assurance that their ads will appear in the right places. In this way, ad networks continue to be an essential piece of the digital marketing puzzle.

The privacy ecosystem: what’s next for Chrome and cookies?

camealia@thedigitalvoice.co.uk (Camealia Xavier-Chihota) — Thu, 10 Oct 2024 14:09:43 GMT

The privacy ecosystem: What’s next for Chrome and cookies?

It has been four years since Google announced their original intention to phase out third-party cookies. And it has been a few months since, in July, they ultimately backtracked on the decision. Since the turnaround announcement, Google has pledged to introduce a new experience in Chrome that enables people to make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and we are still waiting for that.

So where do we go now, as an industry operating in the shadow of Google? Do we slide back to where we were four years ago, with certain adjustments? Or have we all - including Google - glimpsed a better path forward?

Where next?

In the short term, Google’s decision has obliged the adtech world to get over the countless hours it has spent planning for a future that hasn’t transpired. While third-party cookies may have survived, the trauma of its slow apparent demise will surely live on in some people’s nervous systems.

The longer-term impact, of course, depends on the details of Google’s new privacy approach, and how much it impacts the digital advertising ecosystem. A great deal also depends on the development of the browser landscape: Safari hasn’t accepted third-party cookies in a long time, and a lot of content consumption is happening in Safari, in-app browsers, CTV, gaming consoles and so on.

So as new privacy applications emerge, it is unlikely that digital advertising will return completely to business as usual. Hopefully, Google will learn from the past and actively listen to industry views before future deadlines are put in place. Undoubtedly, it will continue to develop new privacy-focused technologies, such as its Privacy Sandbox initiative, and we will see an ongoing shift towards more transparent and user-centric practices.

Google has backtracked, but privacy is still crucial

Privacy remains a key issue in the digital ecosystem, and we can be certain all those impacted await Google’s eventual proposal with interest. Detail is currently lacking around how a user’s choice might be implemented in Chrome. Will it be auto opt-in or auto opt-out? I suspect the latter.

Either way, in the meantime, businesses should continue to build solutions based on data they can consider their own, rather than hope they will be able to still use a cookie to track users.

Browsers such as Safari and Firefox already restrict third-party cookies which places an importance on brands needing a robust privacy-centric strategy. In a privacy-first world, if businesses are to thrive, the time to act is now. Adopting a cross-browser strategy is non-negotiable, ensuring consistent reach and performance.

In the short term, there may be breathing space for the industry, particularly for publishers, but in the long term, everyone should continue to invest in first-party data. Privacy concerns will only increase, so it’s unwise to depend on a solution that is out of your control.

We have seen signal loss across all major platforms (e.g. Meta and Apple), and this will only continue. What’s more, first-party addressable data and other methods of targeting will continue to drive higher performance than cookies. Large corporations and SMEs alike should place focus on how they educate consumers about their respect for privacy and the measures they are taking.

Changes to privacy requirements can come from anywhere - ICO, Google, Apple - so it’s vital for the industry to remain consistent and to resist regarding Google’s U-turn as a signal to return to what was comfortable.

Google has announced it will give consumers a choice by ‘letting them make an informed choice that applies across their web browsing, and they are able to adjust that choice at any time’. If they follow Apple, this may be a pop-up on Chrome on first use, which won’t prompt the user to change if they choose to reject at first, despite having the ability to. This could, therefore, have the same impact as cookies being removed.

Just because Google hasn’t killed off cookies doesn’t mean the past four years never happened. A more privacy-conscious web is under construction, and it will be very like the one we have been preparing for all along.

The rise and fall and rise of ad networks

camealia@thedigitalvoice.co.uk (Camealia Xavier-Chihota) — Wed, 09 Oct 2024 11:47:22 GMT

The rise and fall and rise of ad networks

James Macdonald, co-founder and chief revenue officer, Limelight, considers the impressive staying power of ad networks

Ad networks are the great survivors of the digital marketing industry. In the late ‘90s, when the digital advertising landscape was fragmented, with countless websites offering ad space but no efficient way for advertisers to reach them at scale, ad networks plugged the gap by aggregating inventory from multiple publishers and selling it to advertisers, often at discounted rates.

Both sides benefitted. Publishers got access to a broader range of advertisers, helping them to monetise unsold inventory, while advertisers were able to reach larger audiences across multiple sites through a single point of contact. The win-win nature of the ad network offering meant they soon came to dominate the digital advertising space.

Under siege

But if there’s one thing this industry teaches you it’s that things move fast, and laurels are not to be rested on. And by the early 2010s, under siege from the rise of programmatic; transparency concerns over the “black box” nature of the ad network model; quality issues; and the emergence of direct deals, and of ad exchanges, with their more transparent, auction-based model for buying and selling inventory, the days of the ad network seemed numbered. The rise of sophisticated demand-side platforms (DSPs) representing advertisers’ interests, and supply-side platforms (SSPs) representing those of publishers, squeezed the traditional ad network even further.

But almost a decade and a half later, and ad networks have not only survived, but thrived. So how have they pulled it off? It’s been down to a number of factors. The first is specialisation. By focusing on specific niches, such as mobile, video or native advertising, ad networks have been able to show how they offer unique value in an increasingly complex ecosystem.

Data has also been a key factor. By becoming more data-driven, integrating first-party and third-party data, ad networks have tapped into the zeitgeist of better informed and targeted advertising campaigns. Tied in with this has been a focus on privacy. With the spectre of Google phasing out of third-party cookies now shelved and increased privacy regulations, some ad networks have found success by positioning themselves as privacy-compliant alternatives for reaching audiences.

The programmatic revolution

The ad networks also made a wise and conscious decision not to fight the programmatic revolution, but instead, to join it. The modern ad network successfully blends the automation and scale of programmatic with the curation and targeting of their more data-driven approach. This has also enabled them to up their quality game, by prioritizing inventory quality and brand safety to address previous concerns about fraud and inappropriate placements.

Finally, the ad networks remembered why they were so popular in the first place – simplicity. In an increasingly complex ad tech landscape, many advertisers and publishers appreciate the relative ease of working with ad networks, often on a managed service basis, with help at hand when they need it.

So while ad networks have survived, they have only done so by evolving, and today’s ad network doesn’t look much like its forebears. Many modern ad networks operate as both traditional networks and programmatic platforms, offering flexibility to advertisers and publishers, leveraging both contextual and audience data to provide precise targeting capabilities.

As more inventory, and more types of inventory, are traded programmatically, they offer cross-channel reach, across display, mobile, video, audio, DOOH and connected TV, as well as additional services beyond matching media sellers and buyers. These include creative services, analytics and optimisation tools. They also offer a level of transparency that the ad networks of old shied away from, giving advertisers detailed insights into where their ads appeared and how they performed.

Develop and evolve

All of these factors have enabled ad networks to remain relevant for much longer than it once appeared they would. But while digital advertising continues to move at lightning speed, some things never change, so the ad networks know that to continue to thrive, they need to keep developing and evolving.

Here and now, that means the further integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning for improved targeting and optimisation. The continued development of cookieless targeting solutions in response to privacy changes. Expansion into the new, emerging channels such as audio advertising and in-game advertising. And an enhanced focus on first-party data partnerships to provide unique audience insights. Not least amongst the key drivers for success is the ability to operate with the right technology and the flexibility to maintain relevance in a fast moving landscape, choosing the right partner that can facilitate service and support growth is Vital to health, in addition, finding a partner like Limelight inc who specialise in the tech without competing themselves as an exchange and competing for the same dollar creates trust and clarity.

Looking back at the history of ad networks, however, I don’t doubt their ability to navigate the ever-changing digital landscape. Rather, I look forward to seeing how they continue to shapeshift to not only cope with, but profit from, whatever the industry can throw at them.

To help navigate the programmatic landscape, Limelight Inc. alongside other partners from our space, will be publishing its annual State of the Ad Networks Report, where we will discuss the big challenges and opportunities for ad networks as it stands today. Stay tuned!

Originally published in The Drum

Prime Day 2024: Agencies and adtechs share marketing insights

Mon, 07 Oct 2024 09:27:54 GMT

Prime Day 2024: Agencies and adtechs share marketing insights

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz's 'Prime Day 2024: Agencies and adtechs share marketing insights':

The global online retail bonanza known as the Amazon Prime Day 2024 falls Tuesday and Wednesday (8 – 9 October), as well-prepared shoppers start their search for early deals and bargains.

For brands it will deliver a vital insight into next month’s now traditional melee of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, so what should they be doing to maximise their marketing strategies ahead the the retail event?

Our leading agencies and adtechs offer their top tips, views and insights on ‘Fall Prime Day’…

Savina Parvanova, Global Marketing Director, Limelight :

“I think attention has been the standard for a while, and even though the technology for attention measurement out there is still not perfect I’m sure it will continue improving, especially with the advances in AI we’ve seen in the last couple of years.

“But this will become one of the standard metrics that runs in the back and is in every report available, as we see is already happening.

“So now that the industry knows how to get the attention of the audience, they will focus on what to do with that attention, namely, the emotional resonance of an ad on individuals, something AI cannot really understand.

“How do you actually get someone to relate to your product and eventually buy it? Marketers always say “content is king” but I think in the next few years, marketing messaging will become more important than ever.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

The Future of Targeting: Why Context Beats Identity Graphs

camealia@thedigitalvoice.co.uk (Camealia Xavier-Chihota) — Mon, 07 Oct 2024 09:26:38 GMT

The Future of Targeting: Why Context Beats Identity Graphs

The deprecation of third-party cookies has sent ongoing shockwaves through the advertising industry for several years now. It is forcing a rethink of how we approach audience targeting.

Identity graphs, which stitch together user data from various sources, have been touted as a potential solution. However, at Limelight, we believe that relying too heavily on these ID-based solutions is misguided and unsustainable in the long run.

Instead, we believe that a shift towards a context-driven approach to targeting - one that aligns with evolving data privacy regulations and user expectations - is the answer.

The Shortcomings of Identity Graphs

On the surface, identity graphs may seem like a clever way to continue tracking users across the web.

By combining data from multiple sources, they promise to deliver the same level of audience insights as third-party cookies.

However, there are several significant drawbacks to this approach:

Privacy Concerns : Identity graphs rely on cross-site user tracking, which raises significant privacy concerns. As data protection laws tighten, these solutions are likely to face increased scrutiny from regulators and backlash from privacy-conscious consumers.
Technical Challenges : Building and maintaining accurate identity graphs is a complex technical feat. As users switch between devices, clear their browsing data or use privacy tools, the accuracy of these graphs deteriorates rapidly.
Limited Scale : Identity graphs often struggle to achieve the scale and reach of third-party cookies, leaving advertisers with incomplete audience segments and blind spots.

The Power of Context

Instead of chasing identity-based solutions, we believe the industry should embrace the power of contextual targeting.

This approach leverages the content and context of a web page to deliver relevant ads, without relying on intrusive user tracking:

Privacy-Friendly : Contextual targeting doesn't require collecting or storing personal user data, making it fully compliant with data privacy regulations and respectful of user privacy.
Proven Effectiveness : Contextual targeting has been around for decades and has consistently delivered strong results for advertisers. It's a tried-and-true method that doesn't rely on emerging technologies or unproven solutions.
Scalable : By focusing on the content itself, contextual targeting can achieve broad reach and scale across the open web, without the limitations of identity graphs.
Future-Proof : As privacy regulations continue to evolve, contextual targeting will remain a viable and compliant solution, immune to the challenges facing identity-based approaches.

Embracing Context in Programmatic Advertising

To fully realise the potential of contextual targeting, the programmatic advertising ecosystem must adapt to take advantage of:

Advanced Semantic Analysis : Leveraging natural language processing and machine learning to analyse page content, sentiment and context at scale.
Contextual Taxonomie s: Developing robust contextual taxonomies that map content to relevant interest categories and advertising verticals.
Programmatic Integration : Integrating contextual data and signals into programmatic buying platforms, allowing for real-time optimization and targeting based on context.
Measurement and Attribution : Refining measurement methodologies to attribute conversions and outcomes to contextual targeting strategies accurately.

While the shift towards a context-driven approach will require adjustments, it represents a sustainable and future-proof solution for the advertising industry.

By embracing context, we can deliver relevant and effective advertising while respecting user privacy and staying ahead of emerging data protection regulations.

In conclusion

With GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy laws in full effect, and Google phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome, traditional tracking and targeting methods are at risk. To replace cookies with another user id graph or fingerprinting solution is a short-term fix and we at Limelight Inc. we believe that such mechanisms will also come short.

They seek to allow user tracking without consent. Ad networks should utilise contextual data that gives them a level of targeting and optimisation without tracking a user who has not given consent. Additional way providers such as Limelight Inc. can enrich strategies for ad networks is by enabling its partners to utilise non-user information we can access in the bid request size, such as channel, time of day and others.

Types of Demand Integration and the benefits of each

savina@limelightdigital.com (Savina Parvanova) — Mon, 23 Sep 2024 05:41:32 GMT

Types of Demand Integration and the benefits of each

Programmatic advertising has revolutionised the digital advertising landscape by automating the buying and selling of ad space.

Publishers can leverage various demand integrations to optimise their ad revenue.

Here’s a detailed look at different types of demand integrations and their benefits for publishers:

VAST (Video Ad Serving Template)

VAST is a standardised protocol for serving video ads. It allows publishers to deliver video ads across different platforms and devices seamlessly.

Benefits:

Standardisation : Ensures compatibility across various ad servers and players.
Flexibility : Supports various ad formats like linear, non-linear, and companion ads.
Tracking : Provides detailed metrics on ad performance, enhancing optimisation efforts.

VPAID (Video Player-Ad Interface Definition)

VPAID is an extension of VAST that allows for interactive video ads. It enables richer ad experiences by allowing ads to interact with the video player.

Benefits:

Interactivity : Enhances user engagement through interactive elements.
Advanced Metrics : Offers deeper insights into user interactions and ad performance.
Compatibility : Works with VAST, ensuring broad compatibility.

iFrame

iFrame integrations involve embedding ads within an HTML document, isolating the ad content from the publisher’s content.

Benefits:

Security : Isolates ad content, reducing the risk of malicious code affecting the publisher’s site.
Flexibility : Allows for various ad formats and sizes.
Ease of Implementation : Simple to implement without affecting the main content.

Header Bidding

Header bidding is an advanced programmatic technique where publishers offer inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously before making calls to their ad servers.

Benefits:

Increased Revenue : Creates a competitive bidding environment, often leading to higher CPMs.
Transparency : Provides greater visibility into the bidding process.
Reduced Latency : Improves page load times by reducing the number of ad calls.

oRTB Endpoints (Open Real-Time Bidding)

oRTB endpoints facilitate real-time bidding by allowing multiple demand sources to bid on inventory in real-time.

Benefits:

Efficiency : Automates the bidding process, ensuring the highest bid wins.
Scalability : Handles large volumes of bid requests efficiently.
Optimisation : Uses data to optimise bids and improve ad performance.

Custom oRTB Endpoints

Custom oRTB endpoints are tailored real-time bidding solutions that cater to specific needs of publishers or advertisers.

Benefits:

Customisation : Allows for tailored bidding strategies and rules.
Enhanced Control : Provides greater control over the bidding process and inventory management.
Improved Performance : Optimises ad delivery based on specific criteria and goals.

Pre-Bid Demand

Pre-bid demand involves evaluating bids before the ad server call, ensuring the highest bid is selected.

Benefits:

Revenue Maximisation : Ensures the highest possible bid is selected, increasing revenue.
Efficiency : Reduces the need for multiple ad server calls.
Transparency : Offers clear insights into the bidding process and ad performance.

By leveraging these demand integrations, publishers can optimise their ad inventory, enhance user experience, and maximise revenue.

Each integration offers unique benefits, allowing publishers to choose the best fit for their specific needs and goals.

DMEXCO Briefing: Ad tech leaders argue for a balanced approach to ‘Founder Mode’ concept

Thu, 19 Sep 2024 09:24:42 GMT

DMEXCO Briefing: Ad tech leaders argue for a balanced approach to ‘Founder Mode’ concept

Excerpt shared from Digiday's 'DMEXCO Briefing: Ad tech leaders argue for a balanced approach to ‘Founder Mode’ concept':

Ad tech execs love nothing more than a good, old-fashioned debate — whether it’s about auction dynamics or yield management, no topic is too hot to handle. That’s what makes the chatter around “founder mode” at DMEXCO so surprising: it seems ad tech has finally reached a rare consensus. Who knew?

What they’re saying is this: Founder mode isn’t inherently bad. Being hands-on can spark genuine connections with team members. But let’s be honest — it’s not a sustainable game plan. The most effective founder-mode leaders typically have a trusted manager (or even a whole team) at their side to ensure everything stays on track.

This isn’t a new debate, but it’s gained fresh traction since Y-Combinator co-founder Paul Graham’s blog post last month. It resonated with execs navigating ad tech’s tricky balancing act of profitability, growth, and keeping restless investors satisfied.

In case you missed it, founder mode encourages founders to trust their instincts and run their companies like they did in the early startup days. This approach demands deep involvement in every aspect of the business, rather than diving into managerial books that preach, “hire good people and let them do their jobs,” as Graham puts it. On the flip side, manager mode is all about delegation and keeping an eye on the big picture.

Graham’s argument is straightforward, if a bit out of left field: he warns founders of successful businesses to be cautious of advice tailored to professional CEOs, whom he describes as “some of the most skillful liars in the world,” people who could “drive the company into the ground.”

Unsurprisingly, for an industry brimming with egos, this part of the post struck a chord with many. But Graham didn’t stop there; he asserted that “there are things founders can do that managers can’t, and not doing them feels wrong to founders — because it is.”

That assertion, however, is precisely where ad tech founders have pushed back, insisting that this debate over leadership styles isn’t black and white — it’s a spectrum of grays, each shade telling a different story. Because, of course, nothing screams “I’ve got it all figured out” like running a company solo, as if the weight of the world can be comfortably balanced on one privileged set of shoulders.

“Yes, there’s a degree of micro management that comes with being a founder, especially when the company is young, but as the business develops you have to learn to trust people to do the jobs they’re paid to do,” said James MacDonald, co-founder and chief revenue officer of ad tech business Limelight.inc.

Over his eight years running the company with his business partner, he realized that its chances of success greatly improved when he empowered others to handle what he couldn’t. Now, with 40 employees managing “hundreds of millions of dollars through our platform,” he notes that none of this would have been possible without learning to let go and trust his team.

What he and many other ad tech founders are getting at is that while Graham’s insights ring true — hands-on, visionary founders can build great businesses — it doesn’t mean one causes the other. In the end, it’s about finding the right balance between vision and trust, and navigating that spectrum with care.

“Look at Taboola over there,” said an exec on the sidelines of DMEXCO. “He [Adam Singolda] was very hands-on at the beginning but once the company started to grow he understood very quickly that he had to delegate. Yes, he’s the face of the company, but he also has the right people around him to manage other aspects of the business.”

That kind of foresight is what separates successful leaders. After all, there’s a reason large corporations send high-potential leaders off to business school. Granted, few small businesses can afford those costs or the absence of a founder for long stretches. Then again, the cost of ignorance isn’t cheap either.

Read the full article on Digiday:

Interview: DMEXCO 2024 Limelight CEO, David Nelson

Wed, 18 Sep 2024 09:19:25 GMT

Interview: DMEXCO 2024 Limelight CEO, David Nelson

David Nelson, CEO of Limelight, the programmatic platform for ad networks, publishers and agencies, chats to us from DMEXCO about rebranding, programmatic challenges and why Amazon’s Jeff Bezos needs to ‘wise up’…

Boost Your Revenue: Monetise with Programmatic Ads

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 09:47:56 GMT

Boost Your Revenue: Monetise with Programmatic Ads

Publishers, are you looking to maximise your revenue from web and app audiences? If so, programmatic advertising via Limelight could be the answer.

This automated process connects advertisers to your inventory in real-time, making it a win-win for everyone involved. Let's explore how it works and why you should hop on board.

What is Programmatic Advertising?

Instead of traditional ad sales models with human negotiations, programmatic uses cutting-edge platforms like Limelight, algorithms and machine learning to buy and sell ad space.

Within milliseconds, publishers can offer their inventory to multiple ad networks and exchanges simultaneously. Advertisers then bid for the ad impressions most relevant to their target audience.

The Benefits for Publishers

Increased Revenue Potential

By opening up your inventory to more buyers in an auction-style marketplace, programmatic drives up competition and secures higher ad rates. Those premium ad spots will be snapped up by the highest bidder.

Precise Audience Targeting

Programmatic leverages rich audience data like browsing behaviours, demographics, and interests. This allows relevant ads to be served to the right users at the ideal moment for maximum impact and engagement.

Operational Efficiency

No more laborious manual processes and back-and-forth negotiations with advertisers. The automated programmatic systems handle the heavy lifting, giving you more time to focus on your core publishing business.

Getting Started

Implement the Right Tech Stack

To participate in programmatic auctions, you'll need a supply-side platform (SSP) or ad exchange that can receive and manage bid requests for your inventory. Ensure your SSP integrates with major demand partners (HINT Limelight does!).

Optimise Your Inventory

Organise your ad placements into packages with detailed targeting data. Premium ad spots and exclusive placements can be sold through private marketplace deals for top dollar.

Monitor and Adjust

Leverage reporting insights to identify high-performing inventory and audience segments. Continuously tweak your ad stack and strategies to drive the best results.

Making the Programmatic Shift

There's no denying that programmatic is rapidly becoming the preferred way to buy and sell ads online and in-apps.

By embracing this data-driven, automated approach, publishers can streamline operations, access a wealth of advertiser demand, and ultimately boost their revenue potential.

So the only question left is, what are you waiting for? Drop us a line to find out more and together we’ll get your publishing business set up for programmatic success today!

Google abandons cookies plan: APAC experts weigh in

Wed, 24 Jul 2024 09:14:36 GMT

Google abandons cookies plan: APAC experts weigh in

Excerpt shared from Campaign's 'Google abandons cookies plan: APAC experts weigh in ':

Google's decision to backtrack on removing cookies has left the ad industry in a tailspin. As the dust settles, Campaign speaks to industry experts to find out how marketers can cope with the latest news.

After four years of efforts to phase out cookies, Google has decided to keep them in its Chrome browser. Instead of eliminating cookies, Google will now offer users a new experience in Chrome that allows them to make an informed choice regarding their cookie

preferences, which they can adjust anytime.

This decision prompts businesses worldwide, which had been preparing for a future without cookies, to rethink their strategies again. Although this shift might seem sudden, it follows a series of delays and setbacks.

Google first announced its intention to remove cookies in 2020, with an initial phase-out target of the following year. However, the plan faced significant resistance from advertisers and close scrutiny from regulators worried about potential anti-competitive impacts, leading

to repeated postponements.

Campaign speaks to industry experts to find out what Google’s decision means for advertisers in Asia Pacific and the industry at large.

David Nelson – Co-founder and CEO, Limelight

Is this a smart decision by Google?

There is a common belief that Google and other whales of ad tech have a skillfully crafted master plan. In some way, their executives and senior directors have insight and abilities that minnows don't possess. Yet repeatedly, these whales demonstrate that this is not the case. It's time ad tech woke up to the fact that following a whale will only get you into deep water. No motive exists here other than Google acting in the best way for Google today. I am sure that a new decision will be made as soon as Google thinks a new direction is best for them. I don't mean that as a criticism, just a statement of reality. We can't and shouldn't expect Google to do anything else. So why do we think that they will act differently? Why are so many publishers, agencies and ad tech firms so eager to follow in their wake? The answer is

simple, of course: it's money. Yes, this is a sensible decision by Google. It gives them options for when they are possibly broken up, and they are sensibly hedging their bets.

What can we expect to see from Google next regarding privacy now that cookies are staying?

This overwhelming control of ad spending is terrible for our industry, and I hope we will see a future where the Google we know today is broken down into its constituent parts. I don't wish Google any damage, but hope for a more open and cooperative digital marketing world. One where standards of all kinds are governed by the whole industry, not dictated to by one company.

Read the full article on Campaign:

Google’s cookie crumble: Adland industry reactions

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 09:09:24 GMT

‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn

Excerpt shared from Mediashotz's '‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn':

The advertising industry has been reacting to Google ‘s announcement that, after four years of work on killing-off the so-called cookie tech in its browsers, it now plans to keep the controversial digital activity-tracking widgets after all.

Anthony Chavez, vice president of the Google’s Privacy Sandbox initiative, made the statement Monday .

Here’s what some of the top adland leaders in the world are saying about the change of plan and what it means for tech firms, brands and web users…

James Macdonald, Co-founder & Chief Revenue Officer, Limelight Inc :

“Google’s volte-face comes as no real surprise. It’s clear that the status quo of maintaining cookies looks, at least in the shorter term to be all about…Google, rather than anything of any real benefit to the industry.,

“What seems clear is that Google is yet again setting the agenda, managing to control and influence gigantic chunks of revenue in the ad tech world. This really can’t be a healthy situation in the longer term.

“So how will the industry react to this handbrake 180? I’m sure there was a broad collective intake of relief-laden breath from a broad section of the community this morning, but also some serious head-scratching from the nascent industry that has emerged to deliver targeting solutions based on the direction Google seemed to be headed in until last night.

“The dollars spent across the landscape forging solutions and alternatives may feel wasted, but this is not so.

“What is still clear is that businesses should continue to develop first-party data options, as well as forensic contextual strategy, and ultimately be more self-determining and in charge of their own destinies.”

Read the full article on Mediashotz:

‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn

Tue, 23 Jul 2024 09:06:21 GMT

‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn

Excerpt shared from Performance Marketing World's '‘Their plan has failed’: Industry reacts to Google’s cookie u-turn':

The tech giant’s shock reversal has been met with a mix of relief and frustration from adland, with questions over its ‘new path’ of user choice. PMW spoke to 10 experts to discuss the implications on publishers, adtech vendors and the wider industry.

Last night in a major shift, Google decided to scrap its four-year effort to eliminate cookies from its Chrome browser, following numerous delays and opposition from the advertising industry. In a blog post, Google announced that it doesn’t intend to deprecate third party cookies. Instead, it suggests offering users a choice between third-party cookies and other tech, such as Privacy Sandbox, in its browser.

The move to keep cookies comes after several setbacks, with both digital advertisers and regulators expressing concerns about Google's proposed replacements. PMW spoke to a panel of marketing leaders to ascertain how the sudden u-turn will impact marketers plans going into the golden quarter.

“Contextual targeting and first-party data have been proven more effective”

David Nelson, Co Founder and CEO Limelight Inc., said: “Despite not deprecating third-party cookies, Google continues to develop new privacy-focused technologies, such as Privacy Sandbox, so we will still see a shift towards more transparent and user-centric practices. The announcement doesn’t come as a massive surprise after the third delay, and users will still have the choice to give consent.

“At the same time, contextual targeting and first-party data have been proven more effective and one option is to combine the two, but users will value brands who respect their privacy, rather than use their data. SMEs will likely be relieved by the news, and while enterprise investment in privacy-first solutions will inevitably raise some concerns internally, it will still be justified as the industry moves towards more transparent, privacy-oriented processes.

This move shows once again how Google dictates the rules of ad tech, and that we should move towards acting independently from Google as much as possible.”

Read the full article on Performance Marketing World:

The Enduring Role of Ad Networks in the Programmatic Landscape

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 08:18:59 GMT

The Enduring Role of Ad Networks in the Programmatic Landscape

An Ad Network is a platform that pulls together ad availability from multiple publishers and provides a single point of access for advertisers to purchase that inventory.

Ad Networks have been around since the early days of online advertising and continue to play a vital role in the modern programmatic ecosystem.

How Ad Networks Fit Into the Digital Landscape

Ad Networks operate as middlemen, connecting publishers that hold a surplus of ad inventory to advertisers seeking additional impressions beyond those they can secure directly from publishers. They offer a streamlined way for advertisers to extend their reach and for publishers to monetise their remnant inventory.

In the programmatic landscape, Ad Networks work alongside other channels like ad exchanges, supply-side platforms, direct publisher buys and other programmatic partners. They provide access to a diverse set of ad inventory that includes long-tail websites and niche audiences that may be harder to access through other channels.

Best Practices for Effective Ad Network Strategies

To maximise the value of Ad Networks, both advertisers and publishers should follow a handful of best practices:

Inventory Quality Control: Ad Networks should implement robust measures to ensure inventory quality, including ad fraud protection, brand safety controls and viewability monitoring.
Contextual Data: With GDPR, CCPA, and other privacy laws in full effect, and Google phasing out third-party cookies in Chrome, traditional tracking and targeting methods are at risk. To replace cookies with another user id graph or fingerprinting solution is a short-term fix and we at Limelight Inc. we believe that such mechanisms will also come short. They seek to allow user tracking without consent. Ad networks should utilise contextual data that gives them a level of targeting and optimisation without tracking a user who has not given consent. Additional way, providers such as Limelight Inc. can enrich strategies for ad networks is by enabling its partners to utilise non-user information we can access in the bid request size, such as channel, time of day and others.
Use Audience Data: Leveraging audience data from third-party providers or advertisers' first-party data can enhance targeting and improve campaign performance across Ad Networks.
Transparency and Reporting: Ad Networks should provide granular reporting on campaign performance, including metrics like viewability, invalid traffic rates, and audience data. Transparency builds trust with partners.
Optimisation and Testing: Continuously optimising campaigns based on performance data and testing different targeting strategies, ad formats and traffic sources can drive better results from Ad Networks.

The Importance of Human Expertise

While Ad Networks leverage technology for automation and scale, at Limelight we believe that human expertise remains invaluable for several reasons:

Account Management: Our dedicated account managers can provide strategic guidance, optimise campaigns, and resolve issues for both advertisers and publishers.
Publisher Relationships: Ad Networks with strong publisher relationships can secure premium inventory and negotiate favourable terms for their partners. Understanding Context, Context & Context!!
Campaign Strategy: Experienced professionals can help advertisers develop effective strategies, allocate budgets across channels, and navigate the complexities of the programmatic landscape.
Supply & Demand Relationships. Connecting publishers to untapped additional demand and introducing advertisers and agencies to brand safe publishers.
Expanding Commercial Opportunities. Knowledge of additional working strategies that the ad network acquired due to their broader view of the market.

Generating Incremental Revenue with Ad Networks

For publishers, Ad Networks offer an opportunity to generate incremental revenue from unsold or remnant inventory. By integrating with multiple Ad Networks, publishers can:

Increase monetisation: Accessing a broader pool of advertisers bidding on remnant inventory can lead to higher CPMs and fill rates.
Diversify revenue streams: Ad Networks provide an additional revenue channel beyond direct sales and programmatic channels like SSPs and ad exchanges.
Gain audience insights: Data from Ad Networks can provide valuable insights into audience composition and interests, informing content and monetisation strategies.

There are advantages to Ad Networks for advertisers as well.
They enable them to:

Extend reach: By tapping into long-tail and niche inventory sources, advertisers can expand their reach beyond what's available through direct buys and other programmatic channels.
Leveraging Context: Contextual Data has been proven more successful in delivering impactful campaigns than traditional 3rd party cookie targeting. Brands can tap into unique privacy-driven data provided by ad networks and vendors to better utilise their budgets and be more effective and efficient with their ad spend.
Access unique audiences: Ad Networks offer access to hard-to-reach or specialised audiences that may be underrepresented on other platforms. Direct knowledge of the supply enables access to the audience without the reliance on 3rd party cookies.
Complement Existing Buys: Ad Networks can be used to supplement other programmatic buys, providing incremental impressions and conversions.

As the digital advertising landscape continues to evolve, Ad Networks remain an essential component, offering scale, reach and unique opportunities for both publishers and advertisers to achieve their goals.

Limelight Inc. has helped hundreds of ad networks to utilise the power of programmatic, gain incremental revenues and maximise their own potential. If you are interested in free programmatic health check, contact us via the form below.

Powerful Role of Ad Exchanges in Programmatic Advertising

Wed, 17 Jul 2024 12:26:45 GMT

Powerful Role of Ad Exchanges in Programmatic Advertising

An Ad Exchange is an online marketplace that allows publishers to sell their ad inventory to multiple ad networks and demand sources through an auction-based model. It brings efficiency to the buying and selling of online ad space across websites and apps and plays a crucial role in publishers being able to maximise their advertising revenues.

Ad Exchanges play a critical role in programmatic advertising by facilitating real-time bidding and automated buying. They provide a centralised platform where publishers list their available ad impressions and advertisers bid to secure the most relevant and valuable placements for their campaigns.

The Value of Ad Exchanges

Ad Exchanges have revolutionised the way online advertising is bought and sold. They offer several key advantages:

Increased Efficiency: Automating the ad buying process through real-time bidding eliminates manual negotiations, leading to faster transactions and better use of ad budgets.

Audience Targeting: Ad Exchanges enable precise targeting by leveraging data about users' online behaviour, demographics, and interests. This helps match ads to the most relevant audiences and, therefore, increase CPMs.
Price Optimisation: The auction model ensures that ad inventory is sold at the highest possible price based on supply and demand dynamics ensuring that publishers receive much needed revenue.
Transparency: Ad Exchanges provide detailed reporting and insights, allowing advertisers to track their campaigns' performance and optimise accordingly.

The Evolution of Ad Exchanges

Ad Exchanges have undergone significant changes over the past decade:

Increased Adoption: Most importantly, what started as a niche market has now become mainstream, with major publishers and advertisers embracing programmatic buying.

Advanced Targeting: The ability to target audiences has become more sophisticated, incorporating data from multiple sources and the construction of models using advanced algorithms.
Header Bidding: This innovation allows publishers to offer their inventory to multiple ad exchanges simultaneously, increasing competition and revenue.
Consolidation: Major players like Google, Amazon and others have acquired or developed their own Ad Exchanges, leading to increased market concentration.

The Importance of Human Expertise

At Limelight, we’ve always believed that technology needs to have a heartbeat: that technology working alongside human expertise is the best way of producing outstanding results.

It’s the same with Ad Exchanges. While they offer powerful automation, human expertise remains crucial. Our experienced teams of professionals are always on hand to:

Set campaign strategies and budgets aligned with business goals.
Interpret data and optimise campaigns based on performance metrics.
Ensure brand safety by vetting ad placements and maintaining quality standards.
Negotiate deals and build relationships with key publishers and demand sources.

Final word

For publishers, Ad Exchanges have been a game-changer. They have allowed them to:

Maximise revenue by tapping into a global pool of advertisers bidding for their inventory.

Focus on what they’re best at: creating high-quality content while delegating ad sales and operations to the exchange.

Gain valuable data insights to understand their audience better and improve monetisation strategies.

As programmatic advertising continues to grow, Ad Exchanges seem destined to remain at the heart of the ecosystem. They will drive efficiency, reach and revenue for both advertisers and publishers, as both sides of the advertising chain work ever more closely together.

Limelight Inc. makes it possible for you to enter the market as an ad exchange under your own white labelled brand.

If you want to get more information and a free programmatic health check, contact us via the form below.

Boosting ROAS with Programmatic Demand-Side Platforms

Tue, 11 Jun 2024 08:43:34 GMT

Boosting ROAS with Programmatic Demand-Side Platforms

When it comes to buying advertising digitally, demand-side platforms (DSPs) have emerged as game-changers for driving strong returns on ad spend (ROAS).

Powerful platforms like Limelight combine automation, data-driven insights and human expertise to help advertisers maximise their campaign effectiveness and ROI.

What is a DSP?

A demand-side platform is a centralised piece of software that enables advertisers to purchase ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges and networks. It serves as a one-stop shop for managing programmatic campaigns, streamlining the media buying process, and providing advanced targeting and optimisation capabilities.

The Automation Advantage

One of the key benefits of DSPs is their ability to automate various aspects of the media buying process. Advertisers can set up their campaigns once, and the platform will handle the intricacies of real-time bidding, audience targeting, and ongoing optimisation.

This automation not only saves time and resources but also ensures that campaigns are consistently optimised based on real-time data and performance metrics.

Precision Targeting and Real-Time Bidding

DSPs leverage advanced data sets, including first-party, third-party and contextual data, to identify and target highly relevant audience segments with pinpoint accuracy.

By facilitating real-time bidding (RTB), DSPs enable advertisers to bid on ad impressions as they become available, ensuring that their ads are served to the right audiences at the right time.

Data-Driven Optimisation

Comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities are at the core of DSPs. This allows advertisers to track key performance metrics such as impressions, clicks, conversions, and ROAS.

This data-driven approach empowers advertisers to make informed decisions and optimise their campaigns in real-time based on performance data.

Many DSPs also employ machine learning algorithms to continually refine targeting and bidding strategies, ensuring that ad spend is allocated efficiently to the most effective channels and audiences.

The Human Touch

While DSPs offer powerful automation and optimisation capabilities, human expertise remains essential for achieving maximum ROAS.

Experienced media buyers and strategists play a crucial role in setting up campaigns effectively, interpreting data insights, and making strategic decisions to fine-tune campaigns.

From initial campaign setup and strategy development to creative optimisation and testing, the human touch is invaluable.

Media buyers collaborate with creative teams to develop compelling ad creatives, test different variations, and optimise based on performance data. This iterative process is crucial for driving better engagement, click-through rates, and ultimately, ROAS.

Striking the Right Balance

To truly power and drive ROAS in programmatic advertising, we at Limelight believe that advertisers must strike a balance between leveraging the automation and optimisation capabilities of DSPs and maintaining a strong human touch. Technology has to have a heartbeat.

By combining the efficiency of automated bidding and targeting with the strategic insights and creative expertise of our team of programmatic professionals, advertisers can maximise the impact of their programmatic campaigns and achieve their desired ROAS objectives.

Final thoughts:

When it comes to the programmatic landscape, DSPs have become indispensable tools for advertisers seeking to drive strong ROAS.

By harnessing the power of automation, data-driven insights, and human expertise, advertisers can unlock the full potential of programmatic advertising and achieve a competitive edge in their marketing efforts.

If are interested in leveraging the Limelight Inc. platform to drive incremental revenues contact us via the form below.

Programmatic: 5 Mins with... James Macdonald

Thu, 06 Jun 2024 08:02:38 GMT

Publishers face a rapidly changing ad tech ecosystem. We grab five minutes with James MacDonald, co-founder and CRO at Limelight Inc, to see what advice he would give them.

Q: What are the biggest challenges facing publishers today?

A: They face a number of them, including over-diversified demand that is difficult to manage, and gaining access to global demand outside of the walled gardens. There are also convoluted and complex technology layers in the programmatic ecosystem that dilute efficiency, as well as fast-moving and changing regulations, along with activity around data privacy and restrictions on tracking users. All of this is exacerbated by a lack of in-house expertise to deal with these challenges.

Q: How can AI help publishers overcome these challenges?

A: There’s a lot of hype around AI, and it can definitely help, but it needs the human touch. Human-guided AI can drive better outcomes for publishers by defining a strategy for the AI to work on, and then refining that strategy as you learn what’s working and what isn’t. This kind of strategic AI can deliver real scale, at real speed. Without human guidance, however, AI will just lead you down one rabbit hole after another.

Q: Why are some publishers afraid of it?

A: It often comes back to a lack of in-house expertise – people who understand both the programmatic landscape, and the power of AI, who can harness it for good – and the lack of a foundational AI management platform. There is great potential for AI to take companies a long way in completely the wrong direction very quickly if it’s not managed by someone who understands the technology.

Q: What would you say to calm their fears?

A: The right blend of human-directed AI implementation can revolutionise your business. AI plus the right technology, the right people and the right strategy will deliver results.

Q: What else do publishers need to harness the power of AI?

A: They need support and education from technology experts who are well versed both in AI and in the workings of the programmatic marketplace. They also need to be able to identify any in-house knowledge they have in these areas and put it to work on their AI strategy.

Q: What’s in the pipeline from Limelight Inc.?

A: We will continue on our mission to develop future-proof technology that delivers efficiency, direction and results, putting control back in the hands of publishers by giving them the best-in-class tools they need to deliver incremental revenues in a challenging marketplace.

Originally published in InPublishing

How Publishers Leverage Real-Time Bidding to Maximise Ad Revenue

Wed, 29 May 2024 12:30:46 GMT

How Publishers Leverage Real-Time Bidding to Maximise Ad Revenue

In the world of digital advertising, programmatic has become the norm rather than the exception. By the end of 2024, it’s expected that nearly $221 billion of global ad spend will be executed programmatically.

Programmatic advertising allows publishers to sell their ad inventory through real-time auctions using advanced algorithms and data insights. At the heart of this process lies the oRTB (open real-time bidding) protocol, which facilitates seamless and efficient ad transactions.

But what exactly is an oRTB solution, and how do publishers use one to drive revenue and growth? Let’s take a deeper dive into how things work.

What is oRTB?

An oRTB solution, is a technology platform that helps publishers navigate the programmatic landscape by connecting them with multiple ad exchanges and demand sources simultaneously.

It acts as an intermediary, effectively bringing programmatic supply and demand together. An oRTB receives bid requests from the publisher's ad server and passes them along to various demand partners (DSPs, ad networks, etc.).

The oRTB then collects bids from these partners and facilitates the sale of the ad impression to the highest bidder all while the web page loads.

Building White-Labelled Environments

One of the key advantages of оRTB solutions is their ability to create bespoke, white-labelled environments tailored to a publisher's specific needs. This level of customisation ensures that the platform seamlessly integrates with the publisher's existing ad tech stack, providing a cohesive and streamlined experience.

Top-tier oRTB solutions allow publishers to configure various settings, such as ad formats, pricing rules, targeting parameters, and more. As such, publishers can optimise their ad inventory and revenue streams effectively.

This level of control and flexibility is crucial in today's highly competitive digital advertising landscape.

Stepping Up Profitability

By deploying advanced algorithms and data-driven insights, oRTBs help publishers maximise their ad revenue. These platforms employ sophisticated calculations to ensure that each ad impression is matched with the most relevant and highest-paying demand source.

Additionally, oRTB solutions often offer features like real-time analytics and reporting, providing publishers with valuable insights into the performance of their ad inventory.

Armed with this data, publishers can make informed decisions about pricing strategies, inventory allocation, and optimisations - all with the aim of increasing their profitability.

Performance at Scale

As digital advertising continues to grow, scalability becomes a critical factor for publishers. oRTBs are designed to handle massive volumes of ad requests and bid responses, ensuring seamless and efficient ad delivery at scale.

The most powerful platforms, like Limelight Inc. own and leverage cutting-edge technologies, such as AI and distributed systems, to process billions of ad requests per second without compromising performance or latency. This level of scalability is essential for publishers looking to instantly access global demand and increase yields while maintaining a consistent user experience.

Final thoughts

To sum things up, publishers who embrace programmatic oRTB solutions gain a powerful competitive edge in the digital advertising landscape.

By using bespoke white-labelled environments, advanced yield management techniques, and scalable performance, publishers can unlock new revenue streams, optimise their ad inventory, and deliver exceptional experiences to both advertisers and end-users.

Next up, we’ll look at how programmatic works if you’re an advertiser.

Navigating the Programmatic Advertising Maze

Wed, 29 May 2024 11:43:24 GMT

Navigating the Programmatic Advertising Maze

David Nelson, Co-founder, offers a guide to the complex programmatic landscape and the players at the heart of it.

The world of programmatic advertising can seem daunting, with an overabundance of three-letter acronyms and a vast array of companies involved in matching advertiser demand with publisher supply. However, understanding the key players and how they fit together is crucial for unlocking the power of a sector that is projected to account for nearly $221 billion of global ad spend in 2024.

Why programmatic exists

So how did we get to where we are today? Programmatic emerged in the mid-2000s in response to the explosion of the commercial internet. Before then, advertising was a largely manual process. Advertisers, helped by their agencies, decided which TV/radio stations, magazines, newspapers and outdoor sites they wanted their ads to appear on, negotiated a price and placed an order. The explosion of the internet demanded a degree of automation, so in its infancy, programmatic existed in order to match advertisers with publishers. Today, 20 years later, programmatic advertising is still all about using software and algorithms to automate the buying, placement and optimisation of online ads in real-time.

How does the programmatic puzzle fit together? Let’s break it down piece by piece:

Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs)

A DSP is the platform that allows advertisers and agencies to buy ad inventory across multiple sources through one interface. Using real-time bidding (RTB), DSPs automatically identify the optimal impression opportunities that fit an advertiser’s targeting parameters.

Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)

On the other side of the equation, SSPs are where publishers list their ad inventory to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. These platforms aggregate supply from various sources like websites, apps and ad exchanges and provide a centralised location for advertisers to see where they can place their ads.

Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Bringing buy-side DSPs and sell-side SSPs together is RTB, the process matches ad inventory with interested advertisers through lightning-fast auctions that take place in around 100 milliseconds – quicker than the blink of an eye.

Each time a user loads a webpage or an ad-funded app, anonymised information about them is passed into the RTB system, allowing advertisers to bid only on the impressions that meet their criteria. Advertisers looking to target a particular type of user, with particular interests and a history of using particular websites and apps, will bid more to ensure that specific user sees their ad when they land on a certain page.

The supporting cast

Beyond DSPs, SSPs, and RTB, the programmatic realm has several other supporting players. Ad exchanges are marketplaces connecting multiple SSPs and DSPs for the buying and selling of inventory. Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) house audience data for more precise targeting. And ad servers are responsible for actually serving the winning ads and tracking metrics.

Navigating complexity

The programmatic ecosystem has many components, but you can navigate it more easily by partnering with the right DSP. A powerful DSP integrates with thousands of SSPs and ad exchanges to open up a world of quality, targetable inventory. Prioritise finding a DSP with robust data integrations, including access to CDPs or its own rich data marketplace for audience targeting.

You should also look for user-friendly interfaces, AI/machine-learning optimisation capabilities, and transparent reporting and analytics. Also, in an area dominated by automation and computer processing power, look for a DSP with experienced, approachable people. It’s true that in the programmatic world, machines (computers) do a lot of the heavy lifting, but for the foreseeable future, someone needs to tell the machines what to lift.

Foundational tips

As you lay the groundwork for your programmatic strategy, keep these tips in mind:

When building out audience segments to target, start small, with five to ten high-impact audience segments. Learn as you go, and then build from there.
Look at ways to reduce “ad fatigue” among your target users, by constantly refreshing the creative, and frequency capping, to avoid the same users being overexposed to your ads.
Invest in reporting tools and dashboards to quickly visualise campaign performance across channels so that you can optimise campaigns on the fly.
Consider hiring a programmatic trader to leverage algorithms and manage bidding. More brands are embracing programmatic ad buying each year. By understanding the ecosystem and partnering with the right DSP solution, you’ll be equipped to harness its precision and efficiency.

Originally published in Techedge AI

Demystifying Programmatic Advertising and the AdTech Ecosystem

Tue, 21 May 2024 13:10:09 GMT

Demystifying Programmatic Advertising and the AdTech Ecosystem

The world of programmatic advertising can seem daunting with its complex technology stack and abundance of acronyms.

DSPs, SSPs, RTB - it's enough to make your head spin.

However, understanding the key players and how they fit together is crucial for unlocking the power of a sector that is projected to account for nearly $221 billion of global ad spend in 2024.

At its core, programmatic advertising is all about using software and algorithms to automate the buying, placement and optimisation of online ads in real-time. This streamlined ecosystem effectively replaced the traditional process of human negotiations and manual insertions.

So how does the programmatic puzzle fit together? Let's break it down piece by piece:

Demand-Side Platforms (DSPs)

Supply-Side Platforms (SSPs)

On the other side of things, SSPs are where publishers list their ad inventory to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

These platforms aggregate supply from various sources like websites, apps and ad exchanges and provide a centralised location for advertisers to see where they can place their ads.

The magic of Real-Time Bidding (RTB)

Bringing buy-side DSPs and sell-side SSPs together is RTB, the process that matches ad inventory with interested advertisers through lightning-fast auctions of about 100 milliseconds - that’s quicker than a blink of an eye.

Each time a user loads a webpage or app, their demographic info is passed into the RTB system, allowing advertisers to bid only on the impressions that meet their criteria.

The Supporting Cast

Beyond DSPs, SSPs, and RTB, the programmatic realm has several other supporting players:

Ad exchanges: Marketplaces connecting multiple SSPs and DSPs for buying/selling inventory
Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): Housing audience data for more precise targeting
Ad servers: Responsible for actually serving the winning ads and tracking metrics
Ad networks: An ad network is defined as a mediator between publishers and advertisers, to curate a large repository of ad inventory from publishers and sell it to advertisers.

Hundreds of ad networks use our programmatic oRTB solution to build bespoke white labelled trading environments and drive profitability and performance - with ease.

Navigation Made Simple

While the programmatic ecosystem has many components, you can easily navigate it by partnering with the right DSP. A powerful DSP integrates with thousands of SSPs and ad exchanges to open up a world of targetable inventory.

Prioritise finding a DSP with robust data integrations, including access to CDPs or its own rich data marketplace for audience targeting.

User-friendly interfaces, AI/machine-learning optimisation capabilities, and transparent reporting/analytics are also must-haves.

Foundational Tips

As you lay the groundwork for your programmatic strategy, keep these tips in mind:

Don't go overboard with dozens of data segments right away. Start focused, with 5-10 high-impact audience segments.
Constantly refresh creative ads to reduce "ad fatigue" among your target users.
Invest in reporting tools/dashboards to quickly visualise campaign performance across channels.
Consider hiring a programmatic trader to leverage algorithms and manage bidding. More brands are embracing programmatic ad buying each year. By understanding the ecosystem and partnering with the right DSP solution, you'll be equipped to harness its precision and efficiency.

Look out for next week’s blog on how publishers can step up profitability from programmatic.

Limelight Inc. is here for all ad tech professionals. If you’re interested in getting started, contact us via the form below and we’ll be in touch!

Will zero-party data restore consumers' trust in brand value?

Mon, 20 May 2024 09:00:13 GMT

Will zero-party data restore consumers' trust in brand value?

Excerpt shared from Campaign's 'Will zero-party data restore consumers' trust in brand value?':

Allowing individuals to willingly and conveniently share their data in exchange for better experiences can be a win-win. But as Campaign discovers, certain conditions and challenges must be met for all to benefit.

As marketers prepare for the impact of cookie deprecation, there has been a growing interest in zero-party data (ZPD). ZPD is the information consumers willingly and directly share with companies in exchange for specific benefits or values, such as personalised offers and services, as they understand how their shared data will enhance their interactions with a brand. Let’s take James, for example. He is an avid traveller who visits a website to plan his next adventure. By proactively indicating his travel preferences, James provides the travel company with invaluable insights into his specific interests, a prime example of ZPD. Unlike other forms of data, ZPD is characterised by its accuracy and consensual nature, making it a precious source for businesses seeking more profound insights into their customers. ZPD stands out as a beacon of trust and accuracy in a complex data environment. As data privacy regulations like the GDPR and CCPA tighten, businesses can rely on consented and accurate data sources like ZPD to reduce legal risks and dependence on external data pools. Campaign explores how fostering direct communication channels with consumers with ZPD enables companies to personalise experiences and whether they can do so effectively, thereby actually enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty.

How ZPD will evolve

With regulations developing globally, we will see a similar evolution in the role, impact, and importance of ZPD. As privacy regulations evolve, businesses will be under increasing pressure to keep up with these changes and adhere to them. David Nelson, co-founder and CEO at Limelight, notes that increased privacy regulations and the loss of third-party cookies have broken the connection between advertisers and consumers. “ID-based solutions backed will likely run into the same issues as cookies. There is no single solution to precision targeting across domains. We will work with partners that offer privacy-first solutions that are sustainable, scaleable and ethical,” explains Nelson.

Read the full article on Campaign:

Limelight Inc. rebrands for fifth anniversary to cement its leading position in the programmatic ecosystem

Mon, 28 Mar 2022 13:38:08 GMT

The digital ad platform renews its commitment to cutting-edge technology and great customer service

London, UK - April 30th, 2024 - Programmatic enabler Limelight Inc., formerly Project Limelight, has announced a rebrand as it celebrates its fifth anniversary.

Limelight Inc. helps companies in the ad tech ecosystem to navigate the complex programmatic landscape, blending cutting-edge technology with best-in-class expertise and genuine human support. Over the past five years, Limelight has seen consistent revenue increases, doubling its client base each year for the last two years.

David Nelson, co-founder and CEO at Limelight Inc. says:

“We felt that five years was the right time to put a flag in the ground to mark the fact that we are now firmly established. We are ready to take our programmatic offering to the next level, while remaining firmly grounded in the roots that have got us to where we are today.”

Ad networks, publishers and agencies use Limelight’s programmatic oRTB solution to build bespoke, white-label trading environments and drive profitability and performance at scale, rapidly. The timespan from order to first trade is typically no longer than 48 hours.

Limelight allows ad networks to collate valuable supply at scale, while enabling publishers to instantly access global demand and increase yields, and agencies to develop clean supply channels for their clients.

The Limelight Inc. platform offers supply integration by Header Bidding, oRTB Endpoint, Tag (js, Vast or Vpaid), and demand integration by oRTB endpoint or Tag (Vast, Vpaid). It also offers support for banner, video, CTV, native and audio formats, and for desktop, mobile web and in-app channels, as well as advanced data analytics and bespoke reporting.

But while the company’s success has been partly built on the technical sophistication of its platform, Limelight’s ethos is firmly centred on human support and strong partnerships.

“Our Client Services team is always there for our clients,” says James Macdonald, co-founder and CRO of the company

“They know that if they hit any sort of obstacle, or just want to run an idea past us, get help with some aspect of the complex programmatic ecosystem they are struggling with, or get our take on the latest moves from the regulators or big tech, we are there for them.”

Lior Nir, Ad Operation Manager at OMS, adds:

“The Limelight platform consistently demonstrates a deep understanding of technological concepts and an unwavering commitment to delivering high-quality results, helping us to reach our partner’s KPIs at scale. The high level service we get from the customer success team has been reliable and trustworthy for years.”

“Limelight Inc. is here to redefine the principle and culture of ad tech. We are a partner-first company that is dedicated to building a future where programmatic advertising is as straightforward. The most important driver of the Limelight Inc. community is to contribute to the individual growth of our partners and team members and to foster a culture of shared success” wraps up David Nelson, CEO at Limelight Inc.

Press Contact:
marketing@limelight.inc

About Limelight Inc.
Limelight Inc. helps companies in the ad tech ecosystem to easily navigate the complex programmatic landscape, blending cutting-edge technology with best-in-class expertise and human support.

Hundreds of ad networks, publishers and agencies use Limelight’s programmatic oRTB solution to build bespoke, white-labelled trading environments and drive profitability and performance at scale - immediately.

The platform was launched in 2019, and has since helped hundreds of companies unlock new opportunities for trade and incremental revenues.

Limelight is more than a service provider, our ethos is firmly centred on human support and strong partnerships for the global Limelight community.

For inquiries - marketing@limelight.inc

Originally published in Marcomm News