Sellers Report – November 2024

Ads.txt Lines

In October 2024, the addition of 71,228 new ads.txt lines and the removal of 57,476 existing lines resulted in a net change of over 13,000+ lines. This is one of the top highest positive net changes seen in this year, which could be because of Q4.

The provided snapshot illustrates the distribution of line changes among different tiers of publishers. While looking in-depth, it appears that Tier-2 SSP’s shows a noticeable net change in ads.txt lines, with an increase of approximately 6,000+ lines.

Tier – 1,2,3 Publishers:

We have noticed a good number of net change increases in the past few weeks. Below are the top SSPs that contributed to that spike. 

• In October Taboola, Magnite, Smartadserver, Xandr and Pubmatic demonstrated significant growth within the top SSP landscape, recording the highest number of new connections.

Big Winners:

Analyzing the changes in direct connections among the connected publishers in the past month, the following SSPs appear as top direct domain gainers across each tier that we segregated SSPs based on their rank/coverage.

• In the last month, Seedtag have connected with more than 600 publishers as a direct partner and their unique offerings like contextual targeting, CTV demand might have brought this. They have recently expanded their Operations to Canada.
• It’s interesting to note that SSP Sonobi and Teads were bumped to top Tier-1 in the big winner list, which were in lower tiers in earlier months. 
• SSPs like Vidazoo, Equativ, Sonobi and PulsePoint were in the top 5 list, for adding new direct connections.

Here’s the list of top domains that were connected with the below mentioned list

Domains Duplication – 33across 

• We choose a SSP every month to help them in eliminating their underperforming intermediaries. This month, we have chosen 33across, as its duplication percentage is 48%. Below mentioned are their top intermediaries with high multiple intermediaries domains percentage.

Methodology- 

• Multiple intermediate domain means 33across is present as a reseller partner through Sharethrough and Rise on the same domain
• Opportunities – These are the available/opportunity domains where 33across isn’t present as direct/reseller partner, where their reseller partner can help them in reaching. 

Leaderboard Dynamics:

We’ve assigned ranks to each SSP based on their direct coverage among the top 10,000 publishers. Below, we highlight the significant jumps in ranks for top SSPs observed in the past couple of weeks.

TrustedStack surged 200 spots in the Tier 3 leaderboard in October 2024, which is the highest positive change for the month.

Auction Duplication: A Critical Issue in the AdTech Industry

• Tier 1 SSPs are expected to have a lower share of Direct Only Domains and a higher share of Direct + Reseller Domains in comparison to other tiers. This is attributed because Tier-2 and Tier-3 SSPs rely on Tier-1 to serve as a demand partner.
• However, during this process, Tier 1 SSPs may inadvertently be listed as a reseller on domains where they are already directly connected, leading to auction duplication and classification as Direct + Reseller Domains.
• For SSPs, especially Tier 1, managing intermediaries in choosing non-duplicate domains is challenging. Additionally, it becomes an added responsibility for SSPs to address both auction duplication and carbon emissions. Choosing the right intermediary is crucial for reaching unique domains where their ads.txt lines are not yet present.

At DataBeat, we offer assistance in identifying and managing ineffective intermediaries, reducing duplicate domains, and improving your green index score while not compromising on your net revenue. Leveraging our Competitive Intelligence (CI) Tool, we enable you to identify & address these challenges effectively.

Breakdown of domain connections to SSPs by relationship types (Direct Only, Reseller Only, Direct + Reseller)

• Direct Only: Domains exclusively connected through direct relationships.
• Reseller Only: Domains exclusively connected through reseller relationships.
• Direct + Reseller: Domains with both direct and reseller connection.

Proportion of unique and duplicate domains, and average number of intermediaries influence on duplicates.

• Unique Domains: Domains exclusively connected to an SSP through a single connection.
• Duplicated Domains:  Domains connected to an SSP through multiple intermediaries or integrations, resulting in duplications.

Need More Insights: 

For additional insights into this report and the CI Dashboard, which serves as the foundation for the seller’s report, don’t hesitate to contact us at [email protected].

Sellers Report DataBeat’s Methodology:

• Analyzing ads.txt files from the top 10k US publishers
• Tracking changes in publishers and SSPs across various categories over the past two weeks
• Publishers are categorized into three tiers based on their ranks, determined by traffic volume:
  • Tier 1: 1 to 500
  • Tier 2: 501 to 2000
  • Tier 3: 2001 to 10000
• Similarly, SSPs are ranked based on the number of direct connections and are classified into three tiers:
  • Tier 1: 1 to 50
  • Tier 2: 51 to 150
  • Tier 3: 151 to 500
• Ads.txt lines, Domain gains, and Ranking dynamics as key metrics