Our programmatic ad ops team is excited to expand on our current success, and bring the best go-to market solution to our local media partners. Ryan Tornquist, director of new revenue programs, talks more about the ins and outs of YieldUp by TownNews, our new programmatic ad solution.
Digital programmatic advertising presents a conundrum for local media organizations looking to deliver predictable results. There's huge reven…
How does this affect locally sold ads?
We know how important local ads are for our partners and these will always take priority. YieldUp is designed to complement your local sales efforts. Our goal is to maximize rate and sell through for local and programmatic advertising. With our best practices, we encourage our partners to make the most of their local ads. Our role is then to fill any remaining ad inventory whether that's 20% or 80%. We'll maximize the yield on fill and really strive to produce the most revenue possible across every single impression that's made available to us.
Can I include other ad tags in the programmatic ad stack?
YieldUp by TownNews is a fully managed solution for programmatic advertising. We'll handle any ads running through the ad server. This does not include locally sold ads or passive revenue programs through other partnerships. Particular widgets or modules that are serving on your site are still very much eligible and in play.
What happens if the true CPM comes in below or above the guarantee?
Your guaranteed CPM rate does not change if the true CPM comes in lower. Our goal is to always meet or exceed your guaranteed CPM. If you are given a $2.00 CPM guarantee and the true CPM comes in at $1.80, then TownNews will absorb the $0.20 difference cost of business and rates may be adjusted the following month. Conversely should we exceed the guaranteed CPMs then that goes into the calculation for the next month's guarantee. Meaning the better we're doing month-over-month, the higher your guaranteed CPM will be.
What happens if there are discrepancies from advertisers?
With YieldUp, we're taking away some of the negative components of paying on a true variable rate. This includes invalid traffic revenue, late payments, and clawbacks from our demand sources. No more worrying that a programmatic advertising partner filed for bankruptcy. With YieldUp, TownNews assumes that liability. We'll continue doing what we do today: carefully selecting our demand sources and partnerships to only work with premium demand that consistently performs month in and month out.
Are there any minimum requirements or qualifications for YieldUp?
We have several best practices and requirements for programmatic ads that our team will help you set up. These include enabling ad refresh and lazy loading, and following IAB guidelines for ad sizes. As part of the YieldUp program, these best practices are crucial for guaranteeing your CPM. They can affect your volume, ad performance, viewability performance, and other metrics that go into our calculations. We recommend these best practices for all our partners to get the highest rates possible.
There's huge revenue potential in programmatic, but changing CPM rates, subpar fill rates, and slow payment from unreliable vendors can someti…
Who at my organization gets notified about the guaranteed CPM rate?
Notifications are sent on or around the 10th of each month via automated email. Similar to how we send out our reports today, sites provide the preferred person to receive notifications related to programmatic services. This can be a single point of contact, a group distribution email, or up to as many different contacts as you'd like.
Is there a time commitment when I join YieldUp?
When you join the YieldUp program, there is an initial commitment of 90 days. After that, the program is on a month-to-month basis. Should you not be happy with your new guaranteed rates and faster payment, you can switch back to the variable rate and rev share model. With YieldUp, we're eliminating any revenue sharing by guaranteeing the CPM, and that is what goes into your payout.
What are the fees for this program?
With YieldUp, programmatic ad serving fees are already factored into the guaranteed CPM calculation. Any separate ad serving fees, such as for locally sold inventory, will be listed on the SOW when you sign up.
How will revenue and fees appear on my invoice?
Partners who have opted for invoice credits will see a line item for YieldUp on their statement, similar to how programs are itemized today. You'll know what revenue, or fees, are related to YieldUp at a glance. If the revenue from YieldUp exceeds your total invoice expense, you will have a zero balance and the additional revenue will be sent to you via check. More and more, we're cutting checks for our partners rather than showing a balance due.
Our programmatic ad ops team is excited to expand on our current success, and bring the best go-to market solution to our local media partners…
How does YieldUp work for new partners with no prior history?
This is actually where the idea for YieldUp came to fruition. For many years now, we've collected data points from prospective partners to estimate what a new site's programmatic ad performance will be when they start with our ad ops program. And with the wide variety of partners across the TownNews network, we have enough historical data from niche verticals to local media to broadcast that gives us the ability to provide you with a guaranteed CPM.
YieldUp by TownNews is more direct, more transparent, and confirmed in advance as far as the rates. We're really excited because this is eliminating a lot of the guesswork. (Click here for Part 1 of our YieldUp FAQ.)
Ryan Tornquist is the director of new revenue programs at TownNews.
