February AdTech Roundup: Key Highlights, Expert webinar & Trends!

Hey DataBeat Community,

This month is all about reclaiming lost revenue and maximizing efficiency. Are hidden auction duplications silently draining your ad spend? We’ll expose how multiple bid requests are inflating costs and harming campaign performance. Plus, we'll also equip you to decode ads.txt complexities, CPM trends & master traffic shaping for optimal bid quality.

Ready to take control? Join our expert Panel webinar on March 6th on key media trends shaping 2025 and their impact on the AdTech ecosystem. Then, bring your burning questions to our Open Office Hours on March 13th. Secure your spots now, and let's build a more profitable future, together!

Thank you for being a valued part of our community!

SSP Trends Report 

In January 2025, there was a net change of approximately +3.7K ads.txt lines, with 69,177 new lines added and 65,478 existing lines removed. This positive trend aligns with last year's +6K net change in January 2024.

Tier-1 SSPs show a strong positive net change, increasing by approximately 2,500+ lines.

Market Shakers:

• Freewheel has partnered with over 2,000 publishers, potentially driven by their recent programmatic partnership with Roku.

• Equativ, Sharethrough, Pubmatic, and others continue to show improvement in new direct entries.

Auction Duplication Challenges

• Tier-1 SSPs often face auction duplication as they’re listed both as resellers and direct connections on domains.

• This issue not only impacts auction efficiency but also increases carbon emissions.

At DataBeat, we help SSPs streamline intermediaries and eliminate duplicates to optimize revenue and enhance green index scores. By leveraging our Competitive Intelligence (CI) Tool, you can effectively identify and address these challenges while maximizing your net revenue.

What this means for Sellers:
Focus on direct connections and choose intermediaries strategically to minimize duplication and maximize revenue potential.

Publisher Trends Report

This month's theme focuses on analyzing bidding behavior, competition dynamics, and SSP performance across different bid ranges to identify opportunities for optimizing bid strategies.

Observations:

• High bid density exists in lower CPM ranges, but bids above 50% CPM drop to around 35%–40%.

• SSPs are not bidding aggressively at higher CPMs, with win rates as low as 1%, potentially due to DSPs starting with lower bids, poor CPM transfer to the demand side, or inefficient demand allocation.

CPM Trends: 

• MoM, Display CPMs declined by 42%, and Video CPMs decreased by 26%, resulting in an overall CPM drop of 40%.

• YoY, Display CPMs declined by 33%, and Video CPMs dropped by 39.2%, leading to an overall CPM decrease of 35%.

Actionable Strategies for Publishers:

1. Diversify demand sources.

2. Optimize floor prices.

3. Leverage header bidding to increase competition.

4. Explore high-performing ad formats and strengthen direct deals to stabilize revenue.

Don't Get Left Behind: Uncover the AdTech Trends That Will Define 2025!

Join DataBeat's expert panel for an exclusive live webinar on March 6th and dive deep into the future of media and advertising.

AdTech Tool of the month

Each month, we spotlight a standout tool from DataBeat’s innovative suite. This month, enhance your revenue with CueBeat— real-time alerts, customized notifications, and instant anomaly detection in your ad performance metrics.

DataBeat's Open Office Hours: Turn AdTech Challenges into Your Competitive Advantage (March 13th, 12:00 PM EST)

Articles of the month

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