NEW YORK, NY --(Marketwired - May 17, 2016) - Index Exchange today announced that it has partnered with AppNexus to accelerate the adoption of header bidding by facilitating integrations between Index Exchange's Header Tag Wrapper and AppNexus's header API, and prebid.js and Index Exchange's header API.
The partnership enables Index Exchange and AppNexus to provide a frictionless path to header bidding integration for publishers, regardless of which wrapper solution publishers opt to integrate. This move signals a mutual commitment to increase the ease of implementing multiple header bidding technologies.
The mutual endorsement of both wrapper solutions represents a stark contrast to the typical ad tech industry norm: whereas proprietary solutions typically reign supreme and generally lead to slow adoption, confusion, and impeded innovation, the partnership brings two competitive solutions together with the intention of advancing programmatic and providing publishers with a turnkey option to allow different sources of liquidity to compete in parallel.
The rise of header is a leap forward in supply chain transparency, and a move away from opaque solutions that have held the marketplace back. A recent study prepared by the research division at Index Exchange showcased the increased value header-based inventory has presented to the marketplace. From April 2015 to March 2016, the average header tag clear price was 218% higher than tag-based clear prices. Adoption of header bidding year over year is up 938%, from 100 publisher domains trading in May 2015 to 1,038 as of May of 2016.
"We're deeply committed to helping publishers and app developers achieve the best price for their inventory, in a fully transparent marketplace," said Brian O'Kelley, CEO of AppNexus. "That's why it is critical that we remove the friction and complexity from header bidding. We're very pleased to work with our partners at Index Exchange to ensure ease of use and integration with both their wrapper solution and prebid.js. We hope that others will join us."
"Today's widespread adoption of header bidding is driven by a marketplace demanding more transparency, and is rapidly reestablishing the supply side technology stack," said Andrew Casale, President & CEO of Index Exchange. "The outcome is that no single platform controls supply. Publishers now have the option to tap into multiple marketplaces, in parallel, to drive the best price for their media. And what better way to signify this trend than to bring two leading exchanges together and give publishers the choice to get them both up and running with ease."
About Index Exchange
Index Exchange is led by an experienced team of industry experts and pioneers in the advertising technology ecosystem. Headquartered in New York City with 5 regional offices, the company employs more than 220 innovative minds, engineering its technology to create a neutral, transparent exchange that enables media companies to sell their digital ad impressions programmatically. An evolution of online media technology pioneer, Casale Media, Index equips enterprise sellers with custom architected solutions with fully transparent sell-side management technology.
About AppNexus
AppNexus is a technology company whose cloud-based software platform enables and optimizes programmatic online advertising. Its enterprise technology platform maximizes yield and campaign performance for sellers and buyers of online inventory. As the world's leading independent ad tech company, AppNexus is led by the pioneers of the web's original ad exchanges. Headquartered in New York City with 23 global offices, AppNexus employs more than 900 of the brightest minds in advertising and technology who believe that advertising powers the Internet.