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Romans_I_XVI's avatar
Romans_I_XVI
Roku Guru
7 years ago

How To Minimize Unfilled Ad Impressions (when using Roku ad server)?

So in my games I use Roku as the ad provider with a revenue split agreement . In general it is a good setup. Very simple to implement and most of the time has a good fill. However, currently only about 10%-20% of my ad requests are being fulfilled, reminiscent of what renojim experienced back in January (I experienced that same dip in January as well). I reached out to publisheradservices about the issue and they reassured me that it's similar to January in that July was the start of new quarter.

I fully understand the logic of ads simply not being available for multiple reasons during different times of the year. The only question I would like to solve is, is there anything I can do on my end to minimize the damages? In particular since I'm using the revenue split agreement with Roku. If I am requesting an ad from Roku ad servers first (per my revenue split agreement) and they don't give me anything to show, am I then allowed to attempt to fill that slot with an ad from a 3rd party provider?

Also just for reference this is for the games Retaliate, Snake, Rainbow Dash, Tiles and Neon Party Games.

Thanks in advance.
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2 Replies

  • necrotek's avatar
    necrotek
    Roku Guru
    7 years ago
    Ditto!!

    I am working with another video ad provider for a channel that has gone over six months without being put on a live Roku ad server (which is a continuing saga of "Please be patient we are looking into this" thanks Team Roku.)

    Anyway, the other video ad provider has also only been filling 10-20% lately. So, filling in with another ad provider will only fill in 10-20% of the missing 90% and at a lower CPM . which I guess is better than nothing.  The trouble is finding video ad providers that will handle less than a million ad requests a month.  I am looking into another ad provider that wants to charge a start up fee that is probably more than I will make in the first 6 month to a year given that particular channels play rate.

    The on demand ad space has been around for a few years now. How is this not a solved issue, to look ahead and make sure the ad bucket is full?  Do they spend the first month of each quarter signing partners then forget to renew until the the next quarter arrives then spending the first  month of each quarter scrambling to secure more ad deals while the bucket remains empty? There is not a drop off in the number of ad requests my channels make. Relatively same number of eyeballs day to day.  I know the online video arena is different than the over the air ad space, When I am watching live TV during these times there is no dead ad space on tv.  I get that there is a drop. I don't expect 100% but 10% feels like I am giving content away for free.  I feel bad for content creators that have to answer to higher ups that have monetary goals to meet, server bills for served content, licensing for viewed content that are not seeing the expected ad revenue during this time.
  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert
    7 years ago
    When I saw the title of this thread I was hoping it was a "How To" on minimizing unfilled ad impressions.  ğŸ™‚  Like you guys, I'm seeing most ad requests going unfilled, although it does seem to be getting slightly better day by day.  I don't believe using a 3rd party to fill requests after giving Roku the first opportunity would violate the agreement, but I'd have to look more closely at what I signed.  Finding a 3rd party ad service might be hard to do since they may only be used at the beginning of each quarter and then sporadically after that.

    I too wonder why this happens every new quarter.  I hate to say it, but I also wonder if the new "Roku Channel" has anything to do with our unfilled requests.  I don't use the channel, but are its ad slots going unfilled?  I doubt it.

    Overall, I've been mostly happy with the agreement.  The process has seemed to improve over time, but there have been several stumbling blocks and lots of back and forth at times when there's been a problem, but it also seems that every time I think things are running smoothly something like the beginning of this quarter comes along that makes me think, "What the heck is going on?".

    -JT