Bustle Digital Group and Rubicon Project Form Tighter Private Marketplace Bond
The publisher is also transitioning to support Prebid on its sites
Rubicon Project is now the preferred supply-side platform for executing private marketplace (PMP) deals for Bustle Digital Group.
The two companies said on Tuesday that Rubicon Project will now be the main conduit for media buyers to execute PMPs across Bustle Digital Group’s portfolio of nine sites, such as Bustle, Elite Daily, Mic, Input and The Outline.
“PMPs are a great alternative to open markets because we are able to generate higher CPMs,” Evan Pfeffer, vp of programmatic solutions at Bustle Digital Group, said in a statement. “In turn, we are able to guarantee specific inventory and audience segments to our advertisers.”
Bustle Digital Group declined to comment beyond its prepared statement.
PMPs are becoming an increasingly popular real-time bidding option. This year is set to be the first time more ad dollars will flow through PMPs than the open exchange, according to eMarketer.
Bustle Digital Group is also transitioning all of its sites to Prebid, an open-source header bidding platform. Rubicon Project, an early member of Prebid, will help implement the technology.
The publisher is consolidating its ad-tech stack after introducing a new content management system that’s structured around “card story” ad formats, all in a play to entice more advertisers.
Rubicon Project, which is set to close on its merger with Telaria in early April, will run the majority of PMPs for a publisher that attracted over 55 million unique visitors in January, according to Comscore.
