Another Day, Another Private Exchange

Collective is looking to entice big brands into the ad-exchange space with the debut of a new private exchange capability.

Collective linked up with AppNexus, the ad-tech platform powering the Microsoft ad exchange, has announced the launch of the AMP Exchange, which is aimed at premium publishers. According to Collective CEO Joe Apprendi, the AMP Exchange will meld AppNexus’ real-time-bidding platform with AMP, Collective’s own data management and analytics suite of services.

What does all that mean? Apprendi says that publishers will be able to set up private exchanges, where they can invite select buyers to access remnant inventory while setting price parameters. So-called private exchanges have become a popular means for publishers like NBC Universal and CBS to test the ad-exchange, audience-based buying world with some semblance of control. The sector is hot right now, as evidenced by Google’s $390 million acquisition of Admeld.

But beyond private exchanges, Apprendi sees an even bigger potential differentiator for the AMP Exchange. He contends that unlike supply-side selling platforms like Admeld or The Rubicon Project, which help publishers maximize yield for their remnant inventory, AMP Exchange is designed to help publishers decide which inventory should and shouldn’t be sold by a direct sales force.

And he believes that Collective’s own ad network will bring to the table more premium-brand advertisers, which have so far been hesitant to enter the exchange realm — which is often viewed as the domain of direct response.

“Publishers have a direct sales force which takes certain inventory, and that inventory is not made available for real-time bidding. They make a choice upfront,” said Apprendi. “But the two sides of the business don’t talk to each other. It’s in publishers’ best interest to see across all their inventory.”

For example, per Apprendi, a publisher could be earning a 50-percent premium bid on a particular audience, which may represent a better price that what that publisher can achieve by selling certain inventory directory.