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The Google Antitrust Case Probably Shut Down AppNexus
They say time ravages all; well, time and AI have now caught up with one of the first big programmatic institutions. AppNexus wasn’t the first to engage in real-time bidding, but it was perhaps the first major platform that basically created and popularized the concept of a DSP. In 2018, AT&T bought AppNexus and renamed it to Xandr, before selling it once again to Microsoft in 2021. The company served ads as Microsoft Invest for a few years, but the tech giant has announced that the DSP will be shutting down for good next year.
It’s a sobering full-circle moment for the industry, but the already bummer of a situation is overshadowed further by Microsoft’s plans for a replacement: a Chatbot. As reported by AdExchanger, the DSP service will be fully automated through a chatbot-style product powered by Microsoft’s Copilot AI. The supply-side of the business – Microsoft Monetize – will remain intact.
Automation can do some incredible things, but it’s a shame to see such a large industry name over-streamlining the ad buying process. Self-serve programmatic solutions are annoying enough when advertisers have a hard time getting support from the platform, and now the possibility of talking to a real person has decreased even further; no-one enjoys talking to a chatbot.
The implications go deeper. The recent antitrust lawsuit against Google was founded on its participation in the open internet, a lawsuit that the Department of Justice just won and could mean substantial changes to the way Google runs its business. Microsoft’s decision to shutter the DSP services are surely linked to the outcome of the case; the major ad providers are moving away from 3rd-party vendors and increasingly stacking up the bricks on their walled gardens.
What does this mean for advertisers? On the one hand, it means that buying from the big players almost guarantees the use of first-party data, which tends to be more reliable in tracking and targeting the ideal audience. The increased emphasis on first-party data is welcome, but it comes at the cost of more closed-off networks that are harder to make work together. This is why it is paramount to not rely just on the big players, but find a partner that has access to the big players as well as the small networks and can consolidate the buy process with ease into one.
Programmatic works best when advertisers can reach their customers through a variety of networks and data sets, and even better when the platform and users are supported by a team of human programmatic experts. This remains the core philosophy of Genius Monkey: fully-managed campaigns delivering ads at precisely the right moment, regardless of the device.
MFA is Struggling, at least according to ANA
A 2023 report from the ANA was a wake-up call for many digital advertisers and publishers: the association suggested that nearly 35% of ad spend was being wasted on bogus placements that did little or nothing to help convert consumers. How could this be happening?
Part of the problem is the industry’s reliance on MFA. Many advertising platforms sell themselves on high page views and clicks, which MFA sites can indeed provide. At the time of the ANA report, many industry analysts suspected that a stark removal of MFA sites from the marketplace would be very disruptive to many legitimate advertising campaigns, since some platforms would suddenly lose a great deal of revenue.
Such a loss in revenue wasn’t an issue for Genius Monkey; our platform uses a triple-verification system to sort through the fraud and useless clicks, granting users confidence that >99% of their ad spend was being used for quality placements that engage the customer. Not every platform uses this kind of verification, however, so a complete removal of MFA wasn’t really in the cards for the industry as whole.
Nevertheless, lots of platforms took small steps to avoid MFA, and those combined efforts have started making a dent in the MFA space. In August 2024, Jounce Media (arguably the leading data platform combating MFA) reported that MFA bid request volume had fallen from a peak of 30% to just 10%.
Even more recently, Equativ – an SSP – reported only good news after two years of completely blocking MFA deals. What was seen as a risky step in 2023 has paid off with a bolstered perception of the company as a high-quality marketplace. More exchanges and platforms are adopting a similar “anti-MFA” policy, and the day may come when MFA is a tiny subset of the market that’s hardly worth worrying about.
The claims at large reductions of MFA are all well and good, but MFA is still at large. Genius Monkey has noted reductions as well, but our triple layer protection filters still catch it often. An industry-wide reduction is to be celebrated, but a thorough validation is still absolutely necessary to weed out the bad placements and truly optimize on performance.
The More Things Change, the More the Stay the Same
Industry trends come and go, big players move around, and new tech emerges to challenge the status quo. Digital advertising is a thrilling landscape that is nevertheless founded on simple principles: getting your message in front of your audience.
In this field, Genius Monkey remains top-of-class and on the bleeding edge. Our unique view-through platform not only lets you place your ads wherever the customer is, but also lets advertisers see the individual touch-points on that consumer’s conversion journey.
If you’re ready to start increasing your conversion and decreasing your costs, get in touch with Genius Monkey today and evolve your marketing strategy to the next level!
