Publisher economics after RTB.
Real-time bidding was supposed to reward quality publishers. It rewarded scale and fraud instead. Here's what happens when you strip it out.
Real-time bidding was supposed to reward quality publishers. In reality, it rewarded scale and fraud. Take the auction out and you get a shorter value chain, honest numbers, and publishers who can actually plan.
Where the money goes in an RTB flow
A single impression touches anywhere from 50 to 200 servers before it clears. Each hop takes a cut. The publisher at the end of the chain is often lucky to see 40% of the original spend.
A flatter model
A fixed CPM rate, with a transparent split between the network and the publisher, removes most of that machinery. The result is a larger take for the publisher, more predictable pricing for the advertiser, and no auction latency on the page.
