Ad Exchange

The media market is entering a brave new world of real time auctions and inventory management

eBay is increasingly moving away from the traditional auction model towards more ‘buy it now’ sales. They now allow major retailers such as Argos and Littlewoods to list items at fixed prices.

The business had dramatic success since the emergence of dotcom largely because the auction model is much fairer for people with the price linked to supply and demand, not set at some arbitrary level by the seller.
So it’s funny to see that the display media market is actually moving in the other direction, towards the auction model made so famous by eBay (and paid search, of course). What was an antiquated marketplace of rate-cards, unsold inventory and protected yields is now recognising that the auction model might just be the way forward, for the benefit of both advertisers and publishers.
The Ad exchange model that brings together buyer and seller in a real time marketplace is much like the eBay auction model - if you’ve got some ad inventory to sell then there’ll be someone out there who’ll buy it, provided you don’t set the reserve too high; and buyers can decide what they’re prepared to pay for it.
eBay is a pioneer of the internet but these rule changes seem to be a step backwards - it has upset the auction sellers who are reportedly drifting back to flea markets and car boot sales. Meanwhile, the media market is entering a brave new world of real time auctions and inventory management; with data housed in vast server farms and campaigns optimised through complex bid-management systems. It’s funny how things turn out.