Ad servers are revolutionizing the online marketing landscape by streamlining the entire media buying and selling process.
They automate and expedite the overall workflow, offering a unified platform to seamlessly execute and oversee your ads while monitoring their performance for strategic improvements.
Both publishers and advertisers can leverage ad servers to display relevant ads, optimizing efficiency and saving valuable time and effort.
In this article, I will explore the top ad servers for your website, allowing you to harness the benefits of these advanced AdTech innovations.
What Is an Advertisement Server?
An ad server refers to a web server that stores advertising content for online marketing and delivers this content to various digital platforms such as websites, mobile and web applications, and social media sites.
Ad servers represent a contemporary advertising technology (AdTech) utilized by marketers, publishers, ad networks, and advertising agencies to execute and manage digital advertising campaigns.
These servers are instrumental in making rapid decisions regarding the types of ads to display on a website and delivering them to the target audience. They collect and report data such as clicks, impressions, etc., providing advertisers and publishers with valuable insights and the ability to monitor ad performance.
Furthermore, companies offering ad-serving platforms provide software to advertising agencies and publishers to help them display relevant ads to their visitors, track them, and carefully select ads that will translate into increased revenue.
First Party Advertisement Server vs. Third Party Advertisement Server
Ad servers typically fall into two categories – first-party ad servers and third-party ad servers. While they share similar technologies, they serve distinct purposes for both publishers and advertisers.
First Party Advertisement Servers
First-party ad servers, also known as publisher’s ad servers, are primarily responsible for hosting and delivering advertisements to users. They aid publishers in managing ad slots on their websites, displaying ads currently available to advertisers through direct campaigns. First-party ad servers can generate tags, place them, and oversee ad inventory.
Advertisers send creative ads to publishers for display. First-party ad servers determine which ads to show on a website based on various criteria such as impressions, click-through rates (CTR), target audience, and more, providing a comprehensive ad solution for publishers.
Third-Party Advertisement Servers
Third-party ad servers, also referred to as marketers’ ad servers, are primarily focused on creating and delivering high-quality advertisements to users. They enable marketers to monitor their digital campaigns, aggregate data, and verify metrics such as clicks, impressions (comments and likes), and more.
Additionally, third-party ad servers play a crucial role in creative optimization, including activities like conducting A/B testing, customizing ad elements, analyzing results, targeting ads, managing campaigns, and more. This functionality empowers marketers to deliver quality ads and experiences to their target audience.
How Do Advertisement Servers Work?
Initially, in the realm of digital marketing, advertising campaigns or media transactions operated manually and directly between publishers and marketers. This process consumed a significant amount of time and involved numerous email exchanges before a deal could be finalized.
As a result, both publishers and marketers recognized the necessity for a system that could expedite this process while providing convenience. Moreover, they sought a unified, straightforward platform to execute and manage their advertising campaigns and monitor their performance.
The solution to this challenge lies in the utilization of ad servers, which can assist both publishers and marketers in delivering targeted advertisements more efficiently and seamlessly.
First-party ad servers and third-party ad servers function slightly differently. Here’s how.
How Do First Party Advertisement Servers Work?
Imagine you are a user exploring a website.
Your web browser will request the server of the publisher’s site or the first-party server to display the website’s content.
The server will respond by delivering the content in HTML format and commence rendering the material.
Subsequently, the publisher’s ad server will receive a request through the already implemented ad placement code to fill the available ad slot on the website.
The ad server will then choose the advertising campaign relevant to the target audience.
This selected advertising campaign will be returned to the website in JavaScript format, which is served to the users.
How Do Third-Party Advertisement Servers Work?
When a visitor opens a website, their web browser requests content from the web server of the publisher’s site.
Upon receiving the request, the server sends the HTML content and begins rendering the requested page material.
Subsequently, the publisher’s ad server receives a request through the already implemented code for ad placement to fill the available ad slot on the website.
The ad server then selects a suitable advertising campaign for the users.
From this point, it returns the chosen advertising campaign as an ad markup or third-party ad tag. This ad markup includes a URL that points to the marketers’ ad server.
The markup now requests the marketers’ ad server to fetch the ad code.
The marketers’ ad server or third-party ad server then sends the selected ad’s code to the publisher’s site, where the ad is displayed to the users.
Finally, ads served through an ad server will gather data on user interaction such as impressions, clicks, engagement rate, dwell time, completion rate, and more. The server also stores this data to help marketers and publishers analyze and enhance the quality of their campaigns.
What Is the Difference Between Advertisement Servers and Advertisement Exchanges?
Ad networks or exchanges represent a form of programmatic marketing wherein publishers and advertisers transact ads without direct interaction.
A publisher is required to integrate specific code into their application or website, reaching out to an ad network that dispatches ads for display. Consequently, the website’s publisher receives compensation for showcasing the ads.
The distinction between an ad server and an ad exchange lies in the fact that the former oversees the entire ad system—direct, indirect (programmatic), and internal promotions—while the latter involves indirect transactions.
Hosted vs. Self Hosted Advertisement Servers
Hosted advertisement servers need no setup from your side. The provider will set up all the updates for you so you can begin utilizing the service right now.
Hosted advertisement server platform will likewise offer you much better dependability and speed together with quality assistance to resolve your issues. However it will cost you some dollars.
On the other hand, self-hosted advertisement servers need you to do all of it on your own. And if you wish to set up updates, you require technical understanding, which not everybody has. Likewise, if you stumble upon any technical problem or problem, you will need to repair it yourself.
This is where it gets more difficult, and individuals choose hosted services even if they need to invest more.
Secret Features and Advantages of Advertisement Servers
Here are some features and advantages of utilizing ad servers:
Targeting: First-party ad servers assist publishers in selecting the appropriate category of ads to display on their websites, effectively catering to their target audience.
Ad Delivery: Ad servers focus on delivering optimal ads that provide the greatest benefit to their visitors, encouraging continued engagement with their websites.
Campaign Management: You can efficiently manage all your digital marketing campaigns using first-party ad servers. This includes categorizing ads, displaying them to the target audience, and monitoring campaign success.
Tracking and Reporting: Monitor campaign metrics such as impressions (likes and comments), clicks, conversions, etc. The ad server also facilitates recording these metrics through its reporting feature.
Advanced Analytics: Utilize well-documented reports to conduct a comprehensive analysis of your digital marketing campaigns. Gain valuable insights into your strengths and weaknesses to improve your strategies.
Automation: Automate the process of displaying ads on your site based on criteria using ad server platforms. This optimization helps enhance monetization by improving ad placement.
Compliance: Reports aid in audits and ensure compliance with relevant regulations in your region or country.
User Management: Efficiently manage all your users within the ad server platform. Easily create logins, schedule reports, and more.
Multiple Server Locations: Access different servers in various geographical locations to efficiently serve ad content to your global visitors and clients.
Advanced Capping: This feature enables advertisers to easily set ad frequencies, cap actions, clicks, and limit event frequency within a given timeframe.
Media Elements: Leveraging rich media elements allows advertisers to assess the quality of web traffic and ad performance through algorithms and analytics.
Ad Optimization Tools: Advertisers have access to ad optimization tools, including banners and other creatives, to deliver the best ads to their audience. Real-time ad optimization ensures a more significant impact.
Cross-Platform Campaigns: Advertisers can effectively run cross-platform campaigns to target users regardless of the platform or device they use. This ensures that ads look appealing across devices, screen sizes, and platforms.
Now, let’s explore some of the best ad server platforms for your website.
Google for Publishers
Whether you’re a blogger, designer, developer, writer, or any creative professional, Google for Publishers can help you monetize your skills effectively. It enables you to identify the right audience and enhance your business.
Utilize the tools provided by Google and spend more time engaging in the creative aspects you love. AdSense offers a free and straightforward method for small publishers to transform their passion into revenue. By placing targeted ads alongside your content, you earn money when someone clicks or views your ad.
Google can automatically resize the ad units based on device size, increasing the potential for higher earnings. All you need to do is add a single piece of code to your site, and Google takes care of the rest in alignment with your website design. It displays only the highest-paying ads to maximize revenue.
Every ad undergoes a thorough screening process to ensure you receive relevant and high-quality ads on your site. You have the option to block ads you don’t prefer and select the most suitable ones that align with your requirements. This approach helps you optimize your publishers’ inventory by managing, delivering, measuring, and scheduling all digital ad placements.
Furthermore, enhance the value of ad impressions with DoubleClick for Publishers (DFP). This platform provides a diverse range of ad formats, including banners, native, video, and interstitials, allowing you to generate income without compromising the user experience. Access more advanced technology, actionable insights, and automated tools to further elevate your advertising strategies.
Kevel
Create a tailored advertising platform and achieve significant revenue with Kevel’s API, providing a fundamental infrastructure for ad serving, reporting, and targeting.
Access sponsored listings, native ads, retail media, digital out-of-home ads, on-site content, and email ad serving. Additionally, develop self-service advertising sites, employ geo-radius targeting, implement cost auctions, and leverage first-party data for targeting.
Effortlessly integrate new features into your custom solution, automate manual processes for time savings, and launch your MVP without the need for hiring engineers. Use the advertisement server APIs to redirect ad blockers and alter the course of advertising.
Ensure that security and user experience are not compromised while driving ad revenue; Kevel offers rapid response times, averaging around 28 ms, a front-end approach without JS tags or cookies, and a SaaS-based pricing model.
OpenX
OpenX facilitates revenue generation by enabling you to secure more deals with leading global marketers. It is a platform designed for publishers seeking to connect with various international organizations and unlock additional growth opportunities.
The platform offers support with identity-based activation partners, customized SPO (Supply Path Optimization) plans, and SSP (Supply-Side Platform) status. OpenX collaborates with diverse buyers to create packages that target specific audiences, thereby delivering enhanced results to buyers and increased revenue to publishers.
Utilize the suite of products to leverage its identity graph and gain deeper insights into your target audience. Create a comprehensive and unified view of users by aligning the data of website visitors with third-party identifiers.
OpenX empowers you to effortlessly build your preferred audiences and provides more efficient and effective solutions. It prioritizes quality, scale, partnerships, and high-touch service. With over 130,000 active publisher domains, CTV apps, and mobile apps, as well as a network of over 100,000 advertisers, processing 200 billion+ ad requests daily, and managing 1 million+ classifieds every day, OpenX is a robust and comprehensive solution.
Broadstreet
Elevate your digital and direct ad sales with Broadstreet, an exceptional ad manager catering to every media company, niche site, and local publisher. From initial meetings to user retention, Broadstreet enables seamless participation in direct ad sales.
Key features include a specialized ad library, secure ad serving, rapid ad delivery, automated reporting, newsletter marketing, high-performing ads, and analytics for sponsored content. Publishers appreciate working with Broadstreet due to its supportive approach, providing assistance for platform setup, informed tech support, swift processes, digital strategy, and sales guidance.
Moreover, Broadstreet presents publishers with an industry-leading solution, offering plug-and-play formats that can be created and sent as specifications to potential clients within minutes. Experience increased margins through reduced design costs and enhanced click-through rates.
Broadstreet simplifies the operation, automates reporting, and enhances retention rates, offering a variety of formats, support, and features to impress your audience and the confidence to deliver outstanding campaigns.
SpringServe
Effectively oversee your video marketing using the independent ad-serving platform, SpringServe, designed specifically for video companies and OTT.
This ad-serving community caters to various entities, including trade desks, DSPs, In-App developers, SSPs, Syndicators, Publishers, and more. Conduct ad transactions through open and private markets seamlessly.
Access advanced features tailored for CTV and OTT environments, along with A/B testing and precision routing for your ad inventory. Effortlessly manage your video ads and receive timely, actionable insights to aid ad managers in their growth.
SpringServe ensures a secure and clean environment for marketers. With its transparency, responsiveness, and autonomy, it enhances your digital video environment experience. You will also benefit from brand protection, transparency, A/B testing, inventory routing, Pod and VMAP management, direct linking, actionable analytics, and more.
AdButler
AdButler serves as the Advertisement Technology Infrastructure for your online content, catering to organizations ranging from startups to large enterprises. Utilizing AdButler’s APIs and software, businesses power their digital marketing operations.
Explore the comprehensive advertisement-serving solutions, dedicated engineering support, and human assistance offered by the AdButler platform. While it functions as a display ad server, AdButler also provides video, email, self-serve marketplaces, digital out-of-home, mobile, custom development, and APIs that save time, reduce costs, and maximize revenue.
Discover all essential solutions in one platform to effectively serve, track, and manage ads on any device. AdButler’s products facilitate ad serving for applications, retailers, connected television, email newsletters, digital out-of-home, websites, and more.
Furthermore, AdButler is hosted on a worldwide cloud infrastructure specifically designed for speed, reliability, and scalability. This enables you to enhance your business by staying at the forefront of innovation and receiving support from experts and managers.
Restore Adserver
Acquire the world’s renowned, open-source, and cost-free ad-serving platform with Revive Adserver. This platform empowers ad networks, advertisers, and publishers to deliver ads across websites, video players, and apps while collecting statistics such as clicks, conversions, and impressions.
Effortlessly manage campaigns for multiple advertisers from various ad networks through a user-friendly interface. Define delivery rules for ads and campaigns, incorporating URL targeting, frequency capping, and geo-targeting.
Monitor the performance of each campaign, including revenue, conversion data, eCPM, conversion rates, and CTR. Create any number of campaigns desired and input or upload banners for each campaign.
Specify your websites and establish a designated zone for the ads to appear. Associate each campaign with the zones and obtain a unique code for each zone to embed into the websites.
Revive Adserver selects the most suitable banner based on your specifications and records every request from the application or browser. Clicks on a banner are counted, and sign-ups are tallied as conversions.
Epom
For a customized white-label ad server, create a branded ad-serving solution with Epom. Instead of building everything from the ground up, Epom assists you tailor every design detail and advance with its advanced ad-serving features.
From branded email alerts or notifications to elements of placement code or interface, Epom ensures a seamless process. It also reduces your R&D costs by providing a white-label solution.
Elevate your brand visibility by focusing on promotion while Epom manages all the technical and maintenance aspects. Easily tailor your requirements to meet customer needs and incorporate new features and functionalities into the existing ad-serving platform.
Integrate your brand identity into every aspect of the ad-serving platform, such as configuring an ad-serving domain and incorporating the company’s logo, to enhance the user experience.
Epom offers an ideal and stable platform with outstanding performance. Their team addresses every technical issue you encounter while using the platform. With Epom’s white-label solution, you can also expedite the growth of your business.
iBILLBOARD
iBILLBOARD addresses all the needs of publishers, covering advertisement sales to campaign management. It understands the multitude of tasks publishers have to oversee and provides reporting tools, marketing formats, and solutions to efficiently manage inventory.
Handle both automated and direct campaigns seamlessly within a unified interface. Access comprehensive inventory reporting, invoicing data, and goal tracking.
Display ads on mobile, video, and desktop without errors. Utilize a video ad server for video ads that seamlessly integrates with the embedded video player. Efficiently manage your inventory and deliver it to advertisers through a programmatic channel.
The Single Sign-On (SSO) and iBILLBOARD ad server collaborate or function independently within a unified interface. iBILLBOARD also propels your growth with a fully automated platform.
Conclusion
Advertisement servers are terrific tools to handle all kinds of advertisements and provide them to the target market. And if you wish to experience the very best service, you can pick a hosted advertisement server for your site to show appropriate advertisements and enhance your projects.
