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Introduction to Programmatic FAQ
Introduction to Programmatic FAQ

New to programmatic? This article covers some common questions.

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Written by Marcus Johansson
Updated over 4 years ago

What is the difference between using BidTheatre DSP and buying from an ad network or directly from a publisher?

  • Reach - BidTheatre DSP reaches across several sources of ad inventory, including many ad networks and media houses

  • Transparency - BidTheatre DSP is transparent with what sites you are running, and their prices. The ad network usually has a degree of opaqueness to what where your ads are served and the distribution of them across sites

  • Freedom to choose - BidTheatre DSP lets you choose exactly what domains to bid and buy from, and what not to. Ad networks usually bundle several sites in "Run-Of-Network" solutions. Some of them attractive, some of them usually less attractive.

  • Maximum CPM instead of fixed CPM - prices are varying and determined in real time according to market mechanisms. You decide what you're willing to pay at a maximum.

  • Both branding and performance - depending on what you choose to target, the DSP can be used both to drive initial awareness or end conversions.

How are prices determined in a real time auction?

Buyers bid, and unless the ad category or buyer is blocked by the publisher, the highest bid wins the auction and get to show its ad. Traditionally, the price paid is the price of the second highest bid, but more and more publishers have todayed moved to so called first price auctions where the bid CPM equals the paid CPM.

How the seller determines the winner is a black box, with the mission to maximize yield for the seller while at the same time respecting other business decisions. Because of the real time auctions, there are usually no guarantees about winning a particular impression.

Can I pay per click?

No, in the programmatic ecosystem, buyers and sellers always transact impression-by-impression. To offer CPC, BidTheatre would need to take on risk, which is not in line with the transparent platform approach that we represent. That said, we do build algorithms to optimize buying towards a target effective click cost.


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I'm currently using Google Adwords and GDN. Is using the BidTheatre DSP a good fit for me?

Yes. Complementing or replacing your GDN activities with DSP buying is a nice way to extend your reach into a vast number of inventory sources in addition to those available in GDN. GDN itself is actually reachable from the BidTheatre DSP.


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